MORGANTOWN — Texas Tech cut West Virginia’s lead to five midway through the fourth quarter Saturday at the WVU Coliseum, but Jayla Hemingway quickly took over.
The 5-foot-11 senior guard had a shot in the post blocked, but grabbed the ball and went back up to finish the play while getting fouled. Shortly thereafter, she knocked down a midrange jumper and a corner 3-pointer for a personal 7-0 run to give the Mountaineers breathing room in what ended up being a 67-57 women’s basketball victory.
It was right on par with what Hemingway had done during a busy week for WVU. The Mountaineers have won four of their last five games, and Hemingway is a big reason why.
“I thought she played really aggressively down the stretch — really, throughout the game — but really down the stretch against Texas Tech. She got to the free throw line, got some offensive rebounds, and she’s been doing that, getting to the rim and making a lot of things happen for us,” WVU coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.
“I think her awareness of when to do different things and how to do different things to be really efficient is really improving. It’s really fun to watch her growth.”
Hemingway has posted three double-doubles this season, two of those coming last week.
She finished the game against Texas Tech with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and on Jan. 15 against Baylor she had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
WVU (13-5 overall, 4-3 Big 12) suffered a 77-58 midweek setback at Kansas between those wins. Hemingway had 12 points against the Jayhawks.
She’s now averaging double-figure scoring after Saturday’s win, and has scored in double figures in four of the last five games. For the season, Hemingway is averaging 10.3 points per game, but since the start of Big 12 play, she’s been averaging 11.6.
She’s shooting 38.2% from the field and 79.3% from the free throw line this season — including four makes in the final 21 seconds against Texas Tech to ice the 10-point win.
“I think with Coach P and the way that she coaches, it really fits my game because we like to go in transition and we like to find different ways to score,” Hemingway said. “Scoring, for us, starts on the defensive end. I think that’s been a really big part of our success.”
Plitzuweit, WVU’s first-year coach, said where Hemingway’s growth stands out most is with her decision-making. She said Hemingway has “always been someone that’s in attack mode,” but she’s learning when best to and when to continue moving the ball.
“I think she fits how we want to play at a really high level,” Plitzuweit said. “An ideal setting for us in a motion offense — and you haven’t seen as much of it because it takes time to put all the pieces together — she’s someone who can shoot it, she’s someone who can attack on the dribble and she’s someone who can post up and she can offensive rebound, and she’s a good passer on top of all of it.
“I think she fits our overall mentality and the way we want to attack really well.”
Hemingway has been just as important, and maybe more important, on the boards.
WVU has been led by its defense throughout the season. The Mountaineers are second in the Big 12 with 57.5 points allowed per game. They’re in the top half of the league in opponent field goal percentage, second in opponent 3-point percentage and first in steals, but in the bottom half of the league in each rebounding category.
Hemingway, despite being a guard, has provided toughness inside and leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game. Against Big 12 opponents, that number jumps to 7.3.
“She’s always moving,” point guard Madisen Smith said. “To be a good rebounder, you have to keep your feet moving and just be able to track down balls. ... And you’ve just got to have heart to want to go get it, and she has that.”
Hemingway also has 24 steals and 20 assists and has started each game.
“Jayla is very important,” guard JJ Quinerly said. “She does the little stuff — gets those rebounds, she gets those little steals or she can guard any player and she can switch onto a post. She can play out on the perimeter with their point guard. She’s just a versatile player and a great fit for us. Having her in there and having her do what she can do and in the right mindset is wonderful for us.”
Hemingway, who started her college career with a season at Mississippi State after being named the 2019 Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year out of Houston High School in Tennessee, says the little things come from her days playing AAU ball on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit with Tennessee Flight.
Playing with teammates like Anastasia Hayes and Brinae Alexander, Hemingway had to find ways to make an impact.
Hayes is now at Mississippi State after being named a McDonald’s All-American in high school and went on to be the 2018 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year as a freshman at Tennessee and the Conference USA Newcomer and Player of the Year at Middle Tennessee. Alexander, who was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection while at Vanderbilt, now plays at Maryland.
Hemingway also grew up an only child, and since she didn’t have siblings, she learned some of her toughness playing against boys at the local YMCA.
She did get help from her family, though. Her parents, Jeff and Nicole, met at Newberry College, where they both played, Hemingway said. She described that dynamic as like a good cop, bad cop situation, where her mother helped her more on the mental side and her father would help her find ways to improve after every game, even when she played well.
“I don’t know what her parents did, if they allowed her to play ball in the house or catch in the house, but she’s got great hands,” Plitzuweit said.
WVU now sits fourth in the Big 12. The Mountaineers are in the middle of a week off before heading to TCU for a game Saturday at 2 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Honestly, I think that the only way that we could not be able to be successful is if we get in our own way,” Hemingway said. “I think this team could be very successful because everybody here wants the same things.
“We all want to win, we all want to improve every day — and I think this team is going to go very far.”
