West Virginia’s Danni Nichols (4) puts up a shot while being defended by Oklahoma State’s Taylen Collins during a Big 12 women’s basketball tournament quarterfinal game Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
West Virginia's JJ Quinerly (11) chases down a ball against Oklahoma State during a Big 12 women's basketball tournament quarterfinal game Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
West Virginia’s Danni Nichols (4) puts up a shot while being defended by Oklahoma State’s Taylen Collins during a Big 12 women’s basketball tournament quarterfinal game Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
SCOTT D. WEAVER | Big 12 Conference
West Virginia's JJ Quinerly (11) chases down a ball against Oklahoma State during a Big 12 women's basketball tournament quarterfinal game Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The West Virginia women’s basketball team was left waiting to find out if it had done enough throughout the season to make the NCAA Tournament after falling 62-61 to Oklahoma State on a buzzer beater Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
First-year WVU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit thought her team had the resume to play in March, and the selection committee agreed.
The Mountaineers will be the No. 10 seed in Greenville Regional 1 and face No. 7 seed Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in College Park, Maryland.
"It was pretty disappointing the way the [Oklahoma State] game ended," WVU fifth-year point guard Madisen Smith said Monday. "But we have another opportunity and we're just excited to get out there and show what we can do."
WVU went 19-10 in the regular season - the most wins for a WVU first-year head coach in program history - and entered last week’s conference tournament on the bubble.
The Mountaineers had been playing their best basketball at the tail end of the regular season. They won five of their final seven games, including three straight leading into the conference tournament. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme had WVU listed in the “first four out” category at that point.
"I believed that our young ladies deserved to be in from before the Big 12 Tournament," WVU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said Monday. "I thought they had put themselves in a spot where they had earned that right as the team that was tied for fourth in the Big 12. Then you look at quality wins and you compare our resume to other teams that they say are on the bubble, and all of it appears we are in a really good spot.
"Again, ultimately every selection committee is a little bit different. I've had the fortune of being on the side we were on last night and I've had the misfortune or unfortunate situation of being on the other side of it. You don't know for sure until your name pops up or it doesn't."
WVU didn’t have a strong nonconference schedule - its best win prior to league play was against Georgia in West Palm Beach, Florida - but the Mountaineers finished the year with wins over five teams in the top 50 of the NET rankings, including two over Baylor. WVU also upset two AP ranked teams.
The Mountaineers were 60th in the NET rankings.
"I'm just excited about the experience and getting to play in the NCAA Tournament," WVU sophomore guard JJ Quinerly said Monday. "It's been a dream of mine probably all my life. I've been watching teams go to the NCAA Tournament, watching South Carolina win it my high school years, but me, I'm just ready, honestly."
Arizona went 21-9 and lost to UCLA in its first game of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday.
The WVU/Arizona winner will face the winner of No. 2 Maryland and No. 15 Holy Cross in the second round.
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Also in the region is top overall seed South Carolina, which will face No. 16 Norfolk State in the first round. Other first-round matchups in Greenville Regional 1 include No. 8 South Florida versus Marquette, No. 5 Oklahoma versus Portland, No. 4 UCLA versus No. 13 Sacramento State, No. 6 Creighton versus the winner of the first four game between Illinois and Mississippi State, and No. 3 Notre Dame versus No. 14 Utah.
The other No. 1 seeds, besides South Carolina, are Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford.
WVU last made the NCAA tournament in the 2020-21 season, where they took down Lehigh in the first round before falling to Georgia Tech.
Jared MacDonald covers WVU athletics. He can be reached at jmacdonald@hdmediallc.com. Follow @JMacDonaldSport on Twitter.
