Iowa women NCAA Tournament notebook: West Virginia’s dynamic backcourt; Hannah Stuelke health update
By Susan Harman
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The West Virginia team that plays Iowa Monday night in the NCAA tournament is led by its dynamic guards, 5-foot-8 junior J.J. Quinerly and 5-6 sophomore Jordan Harrison. They are normal-sized people in a big person’s game, but they are double trouble.
They spearhead the top of the Mountaineers’ full-court press and have racked up 189 steals this season. For perspective Iowa has to combine five players’ steals to get to that point.
Quickness and an ability to exploit every opportunity a careless offense gives them makes them a daunting force.
“That’s the strength of their team is their pressure defense that they apply,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “They forced 23 turnovers a game throughout the Big 12. That’s pretty amazing.”
West Virginia forced 21 against a normally disciplined Princeton in its first-round victory and won the game because of that.
“On the ball they’re ball hawks defensively,” coach Mark Kellogg said. “They both love to do that.”
Offensively the two combine for 33.4 points per game with transition baskets and drives to the rim in the half court.
“I think their guard play is really where they thrive offensively,” Iowa senior Caitlin Clark said. “I think J.J. specifically is somebody that’s really going to put her head down and want to get to the basket. I think that goes for all their guards, and that’s what they hang their hat on.
“They are capable shooters, but I think they want to drive first and create opportunities there.”
What’s interesting is how well the two have blended together. Harrison came with Kellogg from Stephen F. Austin as a transfer. Quinerly was an already established star who was now on her third coach in three seasons. Both were point guards.
“She just kind of brought me up under her wing,” Harrison said. “She’s a super cool person and so easy to play with. Honestly we did it pretty easily.”
“I know Jordan was super excited to play with J.J., and we later found out that J.J. had looked up Jordan and watched some of her film and her stats and was equally excited to play with Jordan,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg admitted he wasn’t sure how he’d use the pair.
“Both can handle the ball; both can lead the team,” he said. “J.J. being a big-time scorer, I thought Jordan could take some of the ball-handling load off of J.J., so we decided to move J.J. a little more off the ball at least for most of the game. When it gets late we can mix and match.”
“We’re pretty much the same player,” Quinerly said with a smile. “Speed, we’re both short; we can shoot the ball; we can get to the hoop.”
Quinerly got help from Harrison in learning Kellogg’s new offensive and defensive systems.
“That helped along with all of us being so together and loving each other and being friends off the court,” Quinerly said. “Honestly I thought she was going to be an introverted person like me, but she’s more of a talker.”
Asked who’s the better defender of the two, Quinerly deferred.
“That’s a hard one,” Harrison said. “I think I’ve taken more charges than her, but she probably gets more steals than I do.”
For the record Harrison has one more steal than Quinerly.
“Jordan and J.J. are incredible,” Bluder said. “I think they feed off each other really well. They are very quick going downhill. Defensively it’s hard to match up with them just because of their speed.”
“It’s really been a great fit,” Kellogg said.
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Stuelke returns. Hannah Stuelke, who played only 10 minutes in Iowa’s opening game because of illness, pronounced herself fit for Monday’s 7 p.m. game.
“I’m feeling great,” she said Sunday.
Stuelke and the rest of Iowa’s posts will face a number of different posts with different skill sets. Kylee Blacksten, a 6-3 senior, starts, but 6-4 Danielle Arigbabu comes off the bench. She is a more strong, physical presence than Blacksten, who ranges far and wide on offense and runs like a deer. Then there’s Kyah Watson, a 5-10 guard who leads the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg).
“They have a lot of height. It’ll be a challenge for me personally, but I’m ready,” Stuelke said.
“They kind of have it all,” Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen said. “Like we have different centers we can bring in. They can bring in different ones. They start (Blacksten) who can stretch you and go out and hit the three. It’s going to challenge us because depending on who we have and want to play at a particular time, it’s kind of going to be a chess match.”
Blacksten in particular is hard to categorize. Maybe part of the reason is she started her career at Colorado as a guard.
“And then last year I became a center, more like a five,” Blacksten said. “And now I’m more like a four, stretch five, just more like somebody who can bring (the defense) out.”
“Kylee is a forward that we play at the five, if you want to put a position on it,” Kellogg said. “But that’s not really what she is. She guards the other team’s five. But offensively that’s not the way she plays. She’s more of a forward that faces up, can shoot it, put it on the floor a little bit.”
Blacksten said it’s not been easy adjusting to being used in so many different ways, but it has made her a much more versatile player. “I feel like that it’s actually really improved my game a lot,” she said.
She’s also had to adjust to three different coaches, CU’s JR Payne and two at West Virginia.
“It’s tough with a bunch of change, but it also gives you that opportunity to grown and kind of change the way you play or adapt to a new culture and a new system.”
Blacksten runs the court easily for a player of her size, and Kellogg said he’s had to curtail the player’s desire to pile up miles outside of the basketball court in order to save her body.
“She’s a good player,” Stuelke said. “I’ll have to get out on the threes and guard her on the inside, so it’s going to be a good matchup for me.”
Against Princeton, Blacksten made a three, scored on cuts to the basket and posted up. That’s a lot for a regular post to defend, but Iowa’s big kids showed well in Saturday’s game.