MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Dawn Plitzuweit’s first public appearance at the Coliseum since she was hired to lead the WVU women’s basketball program was a successful one on the scoreboard and in terms of making needed improvements. The Mountaineers defeated Fairmont State, 83-49 in WVU’s preseason finale.
West Virginia jumped out to a 27-7 lead after one quarter and they pulled away in the second half against the Falcons.
“They are very willing to be coached and make adjustments. It is just not necessarily natural. They will do things that are kind of what’s comfortable for them. I think the biggest thing I learned is that they want to compete and they want to be really good. They just have a lot of learning to do and a lot of experience they have to gain on the fly,” Plitzuweit said.
“It is good to play against somebody that doesn’t know what you are about to do. That’s why we work on those things in practice. In the game, it is a lot easier because we know that we have worked on it,” said WVU fifth year guard Madisen Smith.
All 13 players on the WVU roster played at least six minutes in the exhibition contest. Jayla Hemingway led all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor.
“She got to the rim. She took care of the basketball,” Plitzuweit said.
Smith [13 points] and fellow guard JJ Quinerly [12 points] also scored in double figures.
“This is a new system so there’s some mistakes every now and then. But we have done a good job of working hard. That’s the most important part when you want to develop,” said Hemingway.
“I learned we need to lock in a little bit more and focus on the things we talked about before the game — to play with each other and trust each other and communicate,” said WVU sophomore guard Savannah Samuel.
WVU forced 30 turnovers in the contest.
Parkersburg Catholic graduate Aaliyah Brunny led the Falcons with 11 points.
The Mountaineers open the regular season at home against USC-Upstate on November 10.
(Dawn Plitzuweit postgame press conference)