Gia Cooke Scores a Career-High 28 as No. 24 West Virginia Holds Off Rhode Island 68-64
Gia Cooke scored a career-high 28 points as No. 24 West Virginia beat Rhode Island 68-64 on Tuesday night at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
Photo: West Virginia Athletics. Official roster headshot of Gia Cooke, guard, West Virginia women's basketball, 2026-27 season.
Gia Cooke scored a career-high 28 points as No. 24 West Virginia beat Rhode Island 68-64 on Tuesday night at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown. It was West Virginia's 13th straight season-opening win, per the Associated Press. Rhode Island cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to four and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Cooke shot 8 of 17 from the field, 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 9 of 12 at the line in 34 minutes, per ESPN's box score. She added three assists and two steals. Her 28 points were 41.2% of West Virginia's total, by our count.
She scored 13 points in the first 10 minutes and had 16 at halftime, per the AP. In the fourth quarter she scored 10 of West Virginia's 16 points, per West Virginia Athletics.
Up 17, then 10-0
Rhode Island started fast. The Rams had 10 assists on their 10 first-quarter field goals and led 19-12, per Rhode Island Athletics, and they were up 24-22 after one.
The second quarter flipped it. West Virginia scored eight straight points across the quarter break, by our count from the play-by-play, and held Rhode Island to six points in the period, per the AP. The Rams shot 1 of 9 in the quarter, per Rhode Island Athletics, and went 7 minutes and 24 seconds without a field goal from 6:12 of the second quarter to 8:48 of the third, by our count. West Virginia led 39-30 at halftime.
The lead was 52-40 after three. Cooke's 3-pointer made it 60-43 with 6:28 left, the Mountaineers' largest lead, per the AP.
Then West Virginia stopped scoring. It made one of its next nine field goals, per the AP, and Rhode Island went on a 10-0 run to cut it to 60-53 at 2:56. Cooke's third 3-pointer of the night pushed the lead back to 10, per Rhode Island Athletics.
West Virginia struggled at the line late, per the AP. Alex Newson hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to make it 68-64. West Virginia turned it over on the inbounds pass, and Delanie Hill missed a 3-point try at the buzzer.
Delanie Hill's 26
Hill scored 26 points and made 7 of 10 from 3-point range, a career best, per Rhode Island Athletics. She scored 12 in the fourth quarter, by our count. The rest of the Rams went 3 of 14 from deep, by our count.
Sophia Vital had nine assists in 39 minutes, and Newson, a freshman, scored 12. It was Colleen Mullen's first game as Rhode Island's coach.
Team totals, per ESPN's box score:
| Category | West Virginia | Rhode Island | | --- | --- | --- | | Field goals | 23-59 (39.0%) | 24-55 (43.6%) | | 3-pointers | 5-15 | 10-24 | | Free throws | 17-25 | 6-13 | | Rebounds | 39 | 35 | | Offensive rebounds | 17 | 13 | | Turnovers | 17 | 20 | | Points off turnovers | 18 | 10 | | Points in the paint | 34 | 22 |
Rhode Island made more field goals and five more 3-pointers. West Virginia won it at the line, where it made 11 more free throws, and on the offensive glass, by our count. Khyala Ngodu had eight rebounds, five of them offensive.
Zahirah Walton added 12 points for West Virginia. Skylar Forbes had eight points and seven rebounds.
The context
West Virginia won the Big 12 Tournament last season and returns two players alongside 10 newcomers, per the AP. It was picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll. Rhode Island was picked ninth in the Atlantic 10.
Cooke started 34 games and led West Virginia at 15.0 points per game last season, per the AP. The Mountaineers are 32-4 in nonconference games over the past four seasons and 44-7 under Mark Kellogg in Morgantown, per West Virginia Athletics.
West Virginia entered the season No. 24 in the AP Top 25. It hosts George Washington on Thursday. Rhode Island plays Columbia on Friday. The crowd was 3,419.
Sources:
- West Virginia Athletics: Cooke's Career Night Lifts West Virginia to Win Over Rhode Island
- Rhode Island Athletics: Rhody's Battle Back Falls Short at No. 24 West Virginia
- Associated Press: No. 24 West Virginia women survive Rhode Island 68-64 behind Gia Cooke's career-high 28 points
- ESPN: Rhode Island vs. West Virginia box score and play-by-play
- NCAA.com: AP Top 25 women's basketball poll
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