OKLAHOMA CITY - The No. 3-seed West Virginia University women’s basketball team could not overcome a pair of big runs by No. 2-seed Texas in a 67-51 loss in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Basketball Championship semifinal round on Sunday evening at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Chania Ray hit a three-pointer to open the game, but Texas (28-3) used an 11-3 run to take an early lead. The No. 6/7-ranked Longhorns led by 15 at the half and started the third quarter on a 10-2 spurt to extend their advantage to 23. No. 22 WVU (24-9) outscored UT, 15-8, in the final period and trimmed the game to 14, but Texas maintained its lead and will play No. 1-seed Baylor in the Big 12 Championship final on Monday, March 7.
Senior Jessica Morton netted a team-high 13 points and dished out five assists in the setback. Teana Muldrow followed with 12 points. Bria Holmes tallied eight points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out a pair of assists and blocked two shots. Lanay Montgomery led WVU with seven rebounds and blocked two shots in 20 minutes of action.
The Mountaineers were held to 33.9 percent (20-of-59) shooting from the field compared to UT’s 48.1 percent (25-of-52). WVU hit just three treys in 23 attempts (13.0), while Texas made 5-of-13 (38.5 percent). West Virginia outrebounded Texas, 39-30, but the Longhorns converted 22 Mountaineer turnovers into 22 points. WVU distributed 10 assists, collected seven steals and deflected five blocks.
"Give Texas credit. We didn't handle the dribble penetration," coach Mike Carey said. "We haven't all year against them. They got into the paint, got our bigs in foul trouble. I thought we competed for about five minutes the second half. And we can't win games against a team like Texas not competing for 40 minutes. Very disappointed in our effort."
Ray hit a trey to open the game, but West Virginia missed nine of its first 10 shots as Texas jumped out to an 11-3 advantage. Alexis Brewer’s field goal snapped a five minute scoring skid and allowed the Mountaineers to open on a 7-2 run. However, a Brooke McCarty three-pointer pushed the UT lead to 18-11 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, WVU battled back to trim the game to seven points after Holmes connected on a layup. However, Texas again used another big eight-point run to take a 30-15 lead with 5:42 remaining in the contest. The Mountaineers suffered another three-minute drought as UT extended its lead to 17 late in the quarter. Texas led 38-23 at the break.
Offensively, WVU was limited to 30.8 percent shooting from the field (8-of-26) compared to Texas’ 51.9 percent (14-of-27). The Mountaineers narrowly won the rebound column, 17-15. However, UT converted 10 Mountaineer turnovers into 12 points. Holmes led WVU with six points, while three Longhorns each had eight.
Texas started the third quarter on a 10-2 run in the first four minutes to push its lead to 23. The Longhorns held a 59-36 lead after three quarters.
The Mountaineers used an 11-point run to trim the deficit to 14 in the fourth quarter. However, the comeback was too late, as Texas picked up its third consecutive win over WVU and advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship final to face No. 1-seed Baylor on Monday evening.
West Virginia, which finished third in the Big 12 Conference after being preseason picked to finish sixth, will learn its postseason fate next week. The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship bracket will be announced Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
NOTES: West Virginia and Texas met for the third time this season at the Big 12 Championship semifinal on March 6 … WVU made its 16th overall semifinal appearance and seventh under coach Mike Carey … the Mountaineers are 3-3 overall in conference tournaments as No. 3 seed … WVU is now 4-4 in Big 12 Championship games … West Virginia’s two lowest scoring games this year have been against Texas, with a season low 50 points on Feb. 21 and 51 today, March 6 … Bria Holmes’ 1,954 points are the most among active Big 12 players … she is 46 points away from becoming the third Mountaineer to reach the 2,000-point club … WVU outrebounded Texas, 39-30, marking on the second time this season that WVU has lost when outrebounding its opponent (21-2).
