White Sulphur Springs, WV – The No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers (4-0) gutted out a 66-53 win against the Northwestern Wildcats (1-3) Friday evening in the Greenbrier Tipoff.  

West Virginia senior guard Gia Coole led all scorers with 22 points, a team-high six rebounds, and three assists, and during the final stretch of action, recorded her 1,000th career point. Meanwhile, senior guard Zahirah Walton registered 16 points, four rebounds, and three assists, and senior center Khyala Ngodu produced 10 points and four rebounds.

West Virginia turned its defense into offense to open the game on a 7-2 run, but Northwestern kept up with the frantic pace, and cut the deficit to one after a three from junior guard Lexi Blue.

The Mountaineers stretched their lead back to five, following a pair of free throws from Cooke, then Walton pulled down the defensive rebound and raced down the floor for the lay-in for a 12-7 advantage at the 3:25 mark of the first quarter.

Northwestern sophomore guard Camdyn Nelson responded by driving the lane, earning the bucket and the foul to pull right back within two.

West Virginia climbed to a six-point lead with senior forward Skylar Forbes attacking the rim for the contested layup and a defensive rebound by redshirt senior Marya Hudgins led to a lay-in from redshirt freshman Divine Tumba off the assist of Cooke.

However, Northwestern scored six straight, propelled by freshman forward Brooke Golden’s consecutive buckets at the rim, as the Wildcats tied the game at 16 heading into the second quarter.

After scoring 10 first quarter points, Walton picked up where she left off, sticking her hand in the passing lane for the steal and raced for the lay-in as the Mountaineers were off and running to begin the second.

The Wildcats were able to keep up with the tempo the Mountaineers were creating with press and stayed within striking distance throughout the quarter. Nonetheless, West Virginia maintained its edge, building its largest first half lead of eight and took a 36-30 lead into halftime.

Northwestern opened the second half with an 8-2 run, with senior guard Casey Harter and junior guard Lilly Carmody hitting threes during the stretch to tie the game at 38.

West Virginia held Northwestern scoreless for over five and a half minutes, but the Mountaineers were unable to pull away, holding a six-point advantage before Golden buried jumper to end the Wildcat drought.

Northwestern outscored WVU 6-2 in the final minutes of the third quarter to pull within two heading in the final period of play.

Field goals continued to come at a premium to open the fourth quarter. Cooke started the scoring on a fast break off the defensive rebound from sophomore Nylah Wilson.

However, the pesky Wildcats refused to be turned away and tied the game at 51 with junior Kat Righeimer scoring the bucket and the foul for the three-point play with 4:36 remaining in the game.

West Virginia began to flex its muscle with Tumba taking control of the lane with an offensive putback and Walton followed with a race to the rim to spark a 15-2 run to pull away with a 66-53 victory.

The Mountaineers are back in action Tuesday morning against the Akron Zips at Hope Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 10:30 a.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.