WACO, Texas – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team’s valiant effort fell short in a 69-64 loss at No. 6/7-ranked Baylor on Tuesday evening at the Ferrell Center.
The game went back and forth all evening as WVU led 35-34 at the half. Tynice Martin’s jumper at the 3:10 mark in the fourth quarter gave West Virginia a 60-58 edge. Baylor’s Khadijiah Cave scored five straight to push the BU lead back to three. On the next possession, Kristy Wallace nailed a three-pointer to give the Lady Bears a 66-60 advantage with 37 seconds remaining. Back-to-back jumpers from Bria Holmes cut the game to 67-64, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Bears (17-1, 4-1 Big 12) made two free throws down the stretch to secure their 33rd straight win in Waco. West Virginia fell to 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the league.
“I think the difference in the game is they executed with three minutes to go and we didn’t,” said coach Mike Carey. “We broke down a couple of times defensively and I thought we had the wrong people taking the shots the last three minutes. I thought it was a good game. Both teams battled and played hard.”
Holmes finished with a team-best 14 points, while Martin tallied 10. Arielle Roberson grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds, while Chania Ray finished with eight points and four assists. Jessica Morton scored nine points, while Alexis Brewer and Teana Muldrow each netted seven points.
Baylor had four players reach double figures. Alexis Jones paced the Lady Bears with 20 points, including 3-of-4 from the field.
WVU shot 40.0 percent (26-of-65) from the field compared to Baylor’s 40.4 percent (23-of-57). BU outrebounded West Virginia, 40-35, and outscored WVU in the paint, 34-36. At the free throw line, Baylor knocked down 18-of-25 (72 percent) compared to 7-of-10 (70.0 percent) for the Mountaineers.
Katrina Pardee used a jumper and a three-pointer to give WVU a 5-4 lead. However, Baylor used a six-point run to take a 10-5 advantage. A Muldrow three-pointer cut the game to within three at the four-minute mark. However, Baylor proceeded to outscore WVU, 11-7, the remaining of a quarter to hold a seven-point advantage.
West Virginia used a 15-5 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter to take a 29-26 lead. Teana Muldrow’s three-pointer gave the Mountaineers a three-point edge, forcing a Baylor timeout. The two teams continued to play physical, as Baylor netted five free throws in the quarter. Niya Johnson’s layup with 26 seconds gave the Lady Bears a 34-33 lead. However, Roberson connected on a last second bucket in the paint to give WVU a 35-34 halftime edge.
West Virginia finished the first half shooting 40.5 percent (15-of-37), including 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) behind the three-point line. Baylor made 40.6 percent (13-of-32) from the field and out rebounded WVU, 21-19. The Lady Bears had nine points off five Mountaineer turnovers. Morton led WVU with nine points, while Brown scored 10 for Baylor.
Jones scored 12 of Baylor’s first 13 points in the third quarter, sparking a 13-2 run and giving the Lady Bears a 47-39 lead. Martin’s layup cut the game to 49-47 with 2:46 remaining in the period. Baylor pushed its lead back to eight, but WVU continued to fight and used four consecutive to close the stanza and trail 55-51.
In the fourth quarter, WVU cut the game to one, 56-55, after Holmes made a free throw. The Mountaineers took a 60-58 lead after a Martin jumper with 3:10 remaining. However, BU would make an 11-4 run down the stretch to take the victory. A Cave layup and free throw, along with a Wallace triple would put BU up six. WVU cut the game to 67-64, but committed a turnover as Baylor sealed the win.
West Virginia returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 16, in a 7 p.m. contest versus Kansas at the WVU Coliseum. Saturday is Superhero Day and $1 admission courtesy of United Bank. The game is also televised regionally on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
