MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Sydney Shaw had 19 points and nine rebounds, Gia Cooke scored 18 and West Virginia used an early defensive lockdown to take control in a 82-54 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
West Virginia (28-6), the fourth seed in the Fort Worth region, will meet No. 5 seed Kentucky in the second round on Monday. The Wildcats beat 12th-seeded James Madison earlier Saturday.
Jordan Harrison had 15 points and eight assists, while Kierra Wheeler added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Mountaineers.
Amber Scalia led Miami with 14 points, Amber Tretter added 13 and Ilse de Vries 12.
Miami (28-7), the No. 13 seed, fell to 0-2 all-time in the tournament. It’s other appearance came in 2008.
West Virginia showed no rust from a nearly two-week layoff after beating TCU for the Big 12 tournament title.
Buoyed by a record crowd of 13,000 for a women's game at its home arena, West Virginia used a 16-3 run spanning the halves to put away Miami.
“I think we definitely feed off of the crowd's energy,” Harrison said.
But it was a flurry of earlier steals that turned the tide and sank the RedHawks.
West Virginia trailed 14-11 late in the first quarter when its pressure defense went into overdrive. Miami committed five turnovers in a three-minute stretch, and the Mountaineers took control with an ensuing 17-0 run.
“It was kind of a domino effect at one point,” Tretter said.
Miami, the Mid-American Conference tournament champion, went more than five minutes between field goals and fell behind 40-26 by halftime.
The RedHawks seemed to wear down under the defensive pressure. There was a 10-second violation trying to get the ball past halfcourt, passes that were thrown to nobody, and Miami defenders who were a step behind. West Virginia held a 48-22 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded Miami 40-24.
“We never played against someone that plays defense like that,” de Vries said. ”I have to give credit to them."
West Virginia is a host in the tournament for the first time since 1992. The Mountaineers have said all week they only felt positive vibes, not pressure, of playing in their home arena. And it showed.
“I really woke up at peace, excited about it,” West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg said.
Late in the third quarter, Cooke scored on a wild shot close to the basket while landing on her back. She was fouled and made the ensuing free throw. Then Harrison closed the period by driving the right side of the baseline and tossing in a blind layup for a 69-41 lead.
Miami's men's team, the only one in Division I team to go undefeated in the regular season at 31-0, saw its magical season end Friday in the NCAA first round against Tennessee.
Then came Saturday, when the women's team picked an inopportune time to allow the most points all season while scoring its second-fewest in a game.
“We ran into a buzzsaw today,” Miami coach Glenn Box said. “We ran into a really good team. They hit us with a whole lot of different things.”
But like the men, the Miami women set a program record for wins in a season.
West Virginia has never won twice in the same NCAA Tournament in 16 previous appearances. The Mountaineers will try to break that streak Monday.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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