Program Record Crowd Packs Coliseum, WVU Advances to NCAA Second Round

Saturday, March 21

Morgantown, W.Va.

5 P.M.

West Virginia University

28-6,14-4Big 12

Miami (OH)

28-7,16-2MAC

Miami (OH)

West Virginia

Program Record Crowd Packs Coliseum, WVU Advances to NCAA Second Round

March 21, 2026 08:56 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Chris Coombs

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4-seeded West Virginia women's basketball team collected a win in the NCAA First Round for the third straight season, in front of a program record 13,504 fans inside Hope Coliseum. WVU raced past No. 13 Miami 82-54, as the 28-point win is the largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

West Virginia's defense forced 15 Miami turnovers, converting them into 21 points, while also winning the rebounding battle 40–24. The Mountaineers were especially effective inside, scoring 48 points in the paint, and shared the ball well with 16 assists on 32 made field goals. Miami struggled to keep pace offensively, shooting 20-of-51 from the floor and committing costly turnovers during several WVU scoring runs.

West Virginia had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures. WVU shot 32-of-63 (50.8%) from the field, and recorded 11 steals. Sydney Shaw led the way with a game-high 19 points and added nine rebounds. Jordan Harrison had 15 points to go along with eight assists, four rebounds and two steals. Kierra Wheeler finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block while Gia Cooke finished with 18 points.

Cooke opened the scoring on the Mountaineers opening possession, before the game stalled out at a 4-4 tie with four minutes gone. Shaw knocked down a wing triple before Wheeler finished strong in the paint over two defenders to give WVU a 9-0 advantage at the first media timeout.

Miami took its first lead of the contest out of the break with the help of back-to-back threes to lead 14-11with just over two minutes to play. Shaw leveled the score at 14 with a corner three before a barrage of three straight West Virginia steals led to four straight makes for WVU and a 22-14 advantage after one.

West Virginia extended its lead out to as many as 14 points twice over the opening five minutes of the second. The Mountaineers used a 17-0 run that extended from the first frame to lead 28-14 with two minutes gone. The RedHawks trimmed the WVU lead down to nine points with three minutes on the clock before an 8-0 run pushed WVU out to its largest lead of the game, 17 points, in the final minute. Miami connected on a late three-pointer as WVU took a 40-26 lead into the locker room.

WVU scored the second half's opening eight points, pounding the paint, to score on each of its first four possessions. Miami managed its first bucket at the seven-minute mark before a Harrison wing three pushed WVU out to a 23-point lead.

Leading by 17 out of the media timeout, Cooke made her first of two threes around a Shaw and one to give the Mountaineers a commanding 26-point lead with two on the clock. A last-second layup from Harrison pushed WVU to a 69-41 lead after three.

The Mountaineers collected their fifth win in March, as both Miami and WVU scored 14 points in the fourth on their way to an 82-54 victory.

WVU has now won 78 games across the last three seasons to match the most in such a span. The win also marks the third straight season the Mountaineers have won a game in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mountaineers are now 13-2 all-time in first-round tournament games. WVU will now look to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history and win two tournament games for the first time.

Next up, West Virginia will face No. 5 seed Kentucky on Monday. Tipoff time inside Hope Coliseum, as well as the game time, has not yet been released.