Box Score LAWRENCE, Kan. – Junior
Naomi Davenport notched her sixth 20-point game this season as the No. 15 West Virginia University women's basketball team defeated Kansas 74-54 in Lawrence, Kansas,
at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday.
Davenport led the Mountaineers with a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds, while
Chania Ray added a double-double scoring 12 points and dished out a game-high 10 assists.
Teana Muldrow (19) and
Katrina Pardee (15) also scored in double figures.
Kristina King grabbed 12 rebounds to lead both teams.
"I'll tell you what, Kansas is five times better than they were last year," WVU coach
Mike Carey said. "He (Kansas coach Brandon Schneider) has done a great job here, great job. He has them playing hard, they are going downhill and they are playing hard. We got in foul trouble, we kept letting them drive us and fouling them and all of that. Give them credit, he does a great job.
The two teams combined for four turnovers in the opening minute of play before King put WVU on the board to tie the score at 2-2. The bucket started a 7-0 run by the Mountaineers, putting them ahead 7-2 midway through the opening frame. Davenport and
Theresa Ekhelar each added a bucket to make it an 11-7 WVU advantage at the end of the first quarter.
A trey by Davenport started the third for WVU, pushing the lead to five at 14-9. Back-to-back buckets by the Jayhawks brought them within one at 14-13 before Muldrow hit the free-throw line for a pair to make it a 16-13 contest. However, KU struck back with a triple to tie the game at 16-16 with 6:38 to play in the second.
Four straight from Davenport provided separation for the Mountaineers, who went on to take a 24-19 lead on a jumper by Ray with just under three to play in the half. Ray hit a pair at the line then added a trey for a 12-point WVU lead at 32-20. Pardee made a trip to the free-throw line for a pair as the Mountaineers took a 34-25 lead into the locker room at the half.
Pardee converted a 3-point play early in the third for a 41-32 WVU advantage. A pair of 3-pointers from Davenport helped an 11-0 run by WVU that saw the Mountaineers go up 52-33 with just over four minutes to play in the period. Pardee would knock down a three with 1:17 to go in the quarter to put the Mountaineers ahead 55-37 heading into the final period.
WVU stumbled out of the break as the Jayhawks went on a 5-0 run to begin the quarter to make the score 55-44.
Teana Muldrow would knock down two shots from the charity stripe to halt the run and move the Mountaineer's lead to 13. WVU and Kansas traded buckets until Muldrow scored a layup to make the score 69-52 with 4:26 remaining in the contest. Following a 2:34 scoring drought from both teams, Muldrow would hit a shot from downtown and Davenport added a layup to give the Mountaineers the final advantage 74-54.
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