MORGANTOWN — No. 4 West Virginia women’s basketball couldn’t play its signature post-win song, “Country Roads,” after it rolled No. 13 Miami (OH), 82-54. Even if WVU’s women’s basketball game was playing in Hope Coliseum. It’s against NCAA tournament rules. WVU couldn’t display its sponsors on the walls, either. That’s also against the rules.

There are rules to make it somewhat of a fair playing field. But, sitting down on the floor, not being able to hear the person next to you without yelling, it felt nothing like a fair playing field. That’s the advantage of hosting.

There was a sea of gold and blue, and limited amounts of Miami (OH) fans. There was a small section, but that was the traveling parents and friends down in the lower bowl. WVU sold out the arena for the highest attended women’s basketball game in the Coliseum, coming in at a whopping 13,504.

“It met what the expectation would be,” head coach Mark Kellogg said.

“We hadn’t seen it yet, so you’re always kind of in dream mode, and I think when we took over three years ago, you had ideas, you have goals, you have visions where you want to get your program. That was certainly one of them.”

It looked like a home game on the most grandiose scale. Before the game started, the jumbotron showed a kid wearing WVU gear, and the crowd cheered. Then, a Miami fan, trying to remain neutral, and everyone booed. Instead of “Country Roads,” WVU played “Sweet Caroline,” so Pitt caught a stray. And before the game, WVU played “The Stroke” by Billy Squier, which is a tradition Rich Rodriguez created before this year. Everyone clapped in sync like before football kickoffs. The jumbotron even featured former WVU player J.J. Quinerly, so she received a big applause.

The crowd went crazy when the team trotted out for warm-ups. Guard Jordan Harrison quickly looked to guard Sydney Shaw while running out.

“‘Can you believe this?'” Harrison said.

After getting out on the court, forward Kierra Wheeler looked up and was amazed that people were sitting up in the nosebleeds.

“It brought excitement to us, just to see everybody come and support us and the fans show love,” Wheeler said. It was amazing.”

Miami head coach Glenn Box welcomed the packed-out arena the day before the game. They definitely answered his request and were against his team. The RedHawks were booed when they ran out on the court. Miami said it wasn’t phased by the crowd, but it was definitely the biggest audience they’ve played in front of.

“I really enjoyed it,” forward Ilse de Vries said. “We never played for such a big crowd as we had today. We came running in, and everyone’s screaming ‘boo.’ Honestly, motivation to me.”

Right from the jump, the Mountaineers fed off the environment. A WVU player would make a shot, and everyone went wild. Shaw had a couple of and-1s, and that got everyone to their feet. It helped that the Mountaineers were dominating and had a double-digit lead for most of the game. And, WVU made shots at over 50% a clip and drained seven 3-pointers, adding more fuel to the fans.

“I think we definitely feed off the crowd’s energy,” Harrison said. “It was great. I appreciate everybody for coming out, and as a player, it’s so exciting playing in front of that many fans.”

Just before the first half ended, the RedHawks had the ball. Kellogg, while focusing on the game, was motioning for the crowd to get loud, and it roared.

“What a great environment,” Kellogg said. “It was electric. It was everything I think you want.”

The challenge, now, becomes bringing the same energy to the second round, where it’s needed a lot more as WVU faces No. 5-seeded Kentucky. The issue is that the game is on a Monday. The game is at 5.m., so it’s not a terrible time, but it’ll be interesting to see if the same crowd shows.

But, in Round 1, WVU hosting for the first time in three decades was everything Kellogg had envisioned when he took the job back in 2023.

“Let’s run it back Monday, maybe,” Kellogg said. “I guess would be the challenge now to see if we can do that against because that was special for all of us. An opportunity to reflect and even through my whole year and end up at this point at home hosting an NCAA tournament game was really, really special.”