With only five players available for the entire second half, West Virginia stunned No. 15 Duke 57-49 on Friday in a short-handed upset at The Greenbrier Tip-Off.
The Mountaineers (4-0) lost six players to ejection after a skirmish just before halftime, leaving guards Sydney Shaw, Sydney Woodley and Loghan Johnson and forwards Celia Riviere and Riley Makalusky to finish the game. Despite trailing 23-20 at the break and losing first-half leading scorer Gia Cooke to the ejections, West Virginia controlled the final 20 minutes.
“You see in sports things like that happen; there’s just something where you rally around each other,” coach Mark Kellogg told ESPNU. “I’m so proud of that group of five. That’s as good a win as I’ve probably ever had.
Riviere delivered a breakout performance with 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. She played the final six minutes with four fouls, avoiding disqualification. Shaw led the Mountaineers with 16 points and seven rebounds, including five straight free throws in the closing minutes to seal the upset.
The incident stemmed from Duke’s Jordan Wood blocking Jordan Harrison’s last-second shot to end the first half and taunting her. Harrison shoved Wood, triggering a brief confrontation. Five Mountaineers were ejected for leaving the bench, along with Harrison and Wood.
Duke (2-2), which has leaned on defense all season, again struggled offensively, shooting 38% from the field. Senior Taina Mair led the Blue Devils with 10 points.
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