West Virginia took care of business Saturday, the way a top 20 team should against a struggling foe without its best player in the lineup.

That the 20th-ranked Mountaineers ran away from Arizona, 87-68, inside the Hope Coliseum wasn’t exactly what caught the eye of Arizona head coach Becky Burke.

It was how the Mountaineers accomplished the feat, pouring in one 3-point shot after another in the first half.

There were nine of them in all over the first 20 minutes from WVU (20-5, 10-3 Big 12), with both Sydney Shaw and Gia Cooke combining for six of them.

“I didn’t know that,” said Shaw, who finished with 16 points and five rebounds. “It felt great. I can tell you that.”

WVU added another one in the second half – there wasn’t much need to shoot any more of them by then, as the Mountaineers held a 50-26 lead at halftime – and it was Burke’s observation if the Mountaineers can keep up that type of shooting, then they have a real opportunity to capture the Big 12 title.

“I will say this about West Virginia: I think out of all the Big 12 teams we’ve played, I’ve been most impressed by them,” Burke said. “Their speed and athleticism and their ability to turn you over is impressive. We’ve played all of the top dogs already and (WVU) is right up there in the conversation, if not at the top.”

WVU is in its third season under head coach Mark Kellogg, who now has three 20-win seasons on his resumé with the Mountaineers, all of them built on the strength of defensive full-court pressure, forcing turnovers and scoring points in bunches.

This season, with the addition of Kierra Wheeler – she finished with 17 points and six rebounds against the Wildcats – WVU also has the ability to matchup down low and get some scoring in the paint

If the Mountaineers are able to connect on 43.5% of their 3-point attempts, which is what they did against Arizona (11-12, 2-10), they suddenly become that much bigger of a headache for opposing teams.

“When they’re making threes and doing what they do, they’re going to be hard to beat,” Burke said. “If they’re not shooting well from the 3-point line, there is a chance for teams to play really well in other areas to be able to beat them. If they do what they do in all areas and make threes, I think they’re going to be really hard to beat.”

Arizona played without guard Mickayla Perdue, who leads the Wildcats in scoring at 17 points per game. Not having the extra ball-handler showed, because WVU’s defense came up with 13 steals and forced 29 turnovers. Those led to 38 of WVU’s points.

And the threes just started flying. Jordan Harrison had two of them in the first half, including one at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter on her way to 14 points and five assists. Cooke had two in the second quarter and one in the first, while Shaw did the opposite.

“I feel like we’re very good in the paint and we dominate in the paint,” Shaw said. “When we’re able to spread the floor out and make them play honestly and not pack it in the paint, because we’re hitting shots, it makes us much harder to guard.”

As to WVU’s chances in the Big 12, well, the Mountaineers became the first Big 12 team this season to reach 10 conference victories. Baylor joined them a few hours later Saturday, and TCU can add its name to that list if the Horned Frogs can go on the road and defeat Colorado on Sunday.

WVU has five games remaining in the regular season, with a road showdown looming against No. 14 TCU on Feb. 15 and a critical home game against Oklahoma State on Feb. 21.

Crunch time is definitely here for the Mountaineers.

“We’re trying to get better, that’s the goal,” Kellogg said. “The rest, we don’t address it much. We may talk about it a little bit. We have a standings board in our locker room, so they can see that. They know what it looks like. We have five games left, three at home, two on the road.

“If we take care of business, we’re going to be in a great spot. I’m getting asked about (a conference title) and it’s only Feb. 7, so I think that’s a good thing. There’s no reason to standings watch and see who is playing who or who might drop games. We’ve got to get better and focus just on us. If we do that, then I think we’ll be there and have a chance when it’s all said and done.”