2026 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2026

Mark Kellogg

Jordan Harrison

Kierra Wheeler

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West Virginia Mountaineers

Postgame Press Conference

West Virginia - 48, Colorado - 47

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg and student-athletes Meme Wheeler and Jordan Harrison.

MARK KELLOGG: Great college basketball game. Two teams that are pretty good defensively. That's probably an understatement. Really, really good on the defensive end.

All credit to Colorado. We probably saw a game like this coming. Thought maybe we could get it out of the 40s, but knew this was two good defensive teams.

Back and forth in the first. Thought we made our run in the third to get up 10. And then I don't know, they went on a 16-to-whatever run, maybe four or five, it felt like.

And then I just loved our kids' resilience again. We were there last night where they kind of punched us a little bit in the fourth quarter. We talk a lot about wanting to win the last five minutes in the fourth quarter and kind of staying poised, stay together, kind of trust the process. We did that.

I thought these two were really, really good for us. Jordan Harrison, obviously a senior and been there. But I thought she controlled most of the game. And then we played a lot through Meme. Obviously Gia chipped in. We didn't get a lot else of offensive production. But they just kept battling.

So really proud of that effort. Jordan, being the defensive player of the year, the irony that she makes the big defensive stop there late. I'm proud of her. I'm proud of our team.

The goal was to come and win a championship and play the next one and play tomorrow. And we're still here. We'll go give this a great shot tomorrow.

Q. The defensive player of the year making the game winning play. Jordan, what did you see?

JORDAN HARRISON: Honestly I just saw the ball. I saw the back of her numbers. So, I mean, that's what they teach us, to dig if we see the back of the numbers. My eyes lit up and I just went for it.

Q. Meme or Coach, the physicality and the length of the Colorado in the interior, how did you guys try to combat that? And was that frustrating at times?

KIERRA WHEELER: I think it was frustrating in the first half, but after we settled in, it was much more open in the paint, and us being dominant and just to keep fighting down there. It's hard to keep up with us. Me and Carter are just like a tandem. And how much pressure we put in the paint. So usually by the second half we got it figured out.

Q. Coach, the offense kind of struggled in the first half. What message did you give the team at half to spark a hot start at the third quarter?

MARK KELLOGG: I don't know if there was any great message. I mean we just talked a few things through, slowing down a little bit at the rim. I thought we left a little bit there at the rim.

I thought we settled for way too many mid-range jump shots, which is exactly what Colorado wants you to do. I thought we had great looks from three, some that were right on, either long, maybe in and out. So I liked those looks. Probably could have taking a few more even in transition if we could have found the right person.

We just talked through what we saw in the first and then tried to kind of help that through, you know, kind of move some posts around a little bit to get them into some different spots to give Meme maybe more room to operate. And then when she got the room she was able to finish. She made the huge pass to Gia on the big three. So some unselfish basketball there, too. So just taking what the defense gave us.

Q. You guys have long been know as a great defensive team. This year the offense has been stronger. But do you like the fact that when you need to win a game like this that is a grind it out game you guys can still do that really as well as anybody?

MARK KELLOGG: Yeah, I think we want to be versatile enough to win whatever the game calls for is what we just kind of even talked about, is that we're good enough defensively, if we need to 48-47 win, I think we can do that. If the game calls for us to get going offensively and it's a little more free flowing, I think we've shown we have the ability to put up some points.

So it gets a little bit harder this time of year because possessions kind of decrease, they're all magnified, you're hanging on to every one of those. Yeah, I think we're good enough to defend this. But I do think we're certainly capable to score it a little bit better than we have in the past just because of the inside-out balance with some of these guys that we haven't had in the paint the last couple years.

Q. Jordan, you guys have had two really close games against TCU, so this will be the third time facing them. Is there anything you can sort of tell us that you guys maybe got from those two games that you could take into tomorrow?

JORDAN HARRISON: I think those two games have came down to the fourth quarter. They've been less-than-double-digit wins for TCU. So I think just knowing that we're right there, and we just need to make a couple adjustments and some changes to get over that hump and actually get the dub this time.

Q. Coach, talk about the Big 12 in general. The bubble is like half the Big 12. Like how difficult has it been? I mean, both games Colorado came down to the wire. There's been so many down-to-the-wire games in this tournament as well.

MARK KELLOGG: I think it shows, obviously, the parity. But the league has been fantastic. I think Colorado's gotten better as the year goes on. I don't remember how many newcomers they have. It was like 10 offensive rebounds, something -- yeah, 10 newcomers. So it was probably going to take them a second. But that team deserves to be in. I said that Arizona State last night, I'm not necessarily just trying to plug the Big 12, that's a NCAA Tournament-worthy basketball team. They have earned the right to be in the tournament. Our league has earned the right to probably have more teams in than some of even the projections.

We had a much better non-conference than we even had a year ago. And so I think we should be reaping some of those benefits. But in reference to Colorado, that team is deserving.

JR is one of the best coaches in the country. She does a phenomenal job. She's been in that situation before. So much respect to that group, and certainly would hope to see their name called here.