No. 23 West Virginia women top Appalachian State 80-51 for coach Mark Kellogg’s 500th career victory

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Gia Cooke scored 19 points, Kierra Wheeler added 15 and No. 23 West Virginia beat Appalachian State 80-51 on Thursday for coach Mark Kellogg’s 500th career victory.

West Virginia (5-0) won its 21st straight home game, spanning three seasons. West Virginia has also won 39 consecutive nonconference regular-season contests inside the WVU Coliseum dating to the 2018-19 season.

Sydney Shaw made her only two 3-pointers during a 15-0 run in the second quarter and Sydney Woodley scored five of her nine points during the spurt to help push West Virginia ahead 39-20. The Mountaineers led 46-29 at the break.

Cooke scored 11 of her points in the third quarter, including six in a 12-0 run to go ahead by 30 at 62-32. West Virginia entered averaging 79.3 points per game and 51 points allowed — to nearly match the final score.

Jordan Thomas had 10 points for West Virginia. Wheeler and Shaw each had five of West Virginia’s 17 steals.

Emma Smith led Appalachian State (3-2) with 17 points and three 3-pointers. App State turned it over 27 times, leading to 30 West Virginia points.

Up next

App State: Continues its road trip at UNC Asheville on Saturday.

West Virginia: Travels to Nassau, Bahamas to face McNeese on Monday in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball