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WVU Plays for Big 12 Title Tonight in OKC
March 06, 2017 02:32 PM | Women's Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The sixth-seeded West Virginia University women’s basketball team plays in its second Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship title game against top-seeded Baylor on Monday, March 6, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT in the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
Monday’s contest is televised nationally on FS1 with Ron Thulin, Brenda VanLengen and Missy Heidrick on the broadcast.
Dan Zangrilli and Meg Bulger will have the call on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to various affiliates across the state (click here for full list), WVUsports.com, the WVU Gameday app and TuneIn.
West Virginia (22-10) and Baylor (30-2) meet for the second time in the Big 12 Championship final. The two squads previously met in 2014, with the Lady Bears collecting a 74-71 win in Oklahoma City. Overall, the Lady Bears own an 11-2 edge in the all-time series and have won seven straight.
“It’s going to take the same effort. The game is going to be won in the paint,” coach Mike Carey noted. “We know that, so if we don't defend in the paint, stop dribble penetration and keep them off the offensive boards it's going to be a long game. We understand where the game is going to be won. They have great players, no doubt about it, and they just keep coming in with post players. They have a great team. We'll come out. We'll fight and see what happens.”
Overall, the Mountaineers are making their fifth conference tournament title game appearance – the fourth under Carey. Other appearances include the 1989, 2006, 2010 and 2014. WVU’s lone conference tournament title came in 1989, when the Mountaineers beat Temple, 63-54, to claim the Atlantic 10 Tournament crown. Since 2014, only three Big 12 teams have made the Big 12 Championship title game; Baylor has appeared in the finals four times and WVU and Texas appearing two games apiece.
WVU became the fourth No. 6-seed to advance to the Big 12 title game and the first since Texas in 2015 by routing No. 3-seed Oklahoma, 82-58, on Saturday in the quarterfinals and outlasting No. 2-seed Texas, 62-59, on Sunday in the semifinals. Tynice Martin scored 21 points against the Sooners and tallied 29 points in the win over the Longhorns. Teana Muldrow is second with 14.5 points per game and leads the team in rebounds with 8.0 boards per game. Katrina Pardee is also in double-figures with 13.0 points per contest.
No. 2 Baylor (30-2) comes into the matchup as winners of seven in a row and is seeking its seventh consecutive Big 12 Championship crown. The Lady Bears dropped Texas Tech, 95-63, in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals on Saturday and outlasted Kansas State, 88-71, in the semifinals on Sunday.
The Lady Bears are led by All-Big 12 First Team member Kalani Brown, who averages 15.1 points per game. Fellow All-Big 12 First Team member Alexis Jones ranks second on the team with 13.9 points per game this season.
Baylor defeated WVU in the two previous matchups this season. BU won, 91-56, in Morgantown on Jan. 4 and was able to escape with a win, 79-73, in Waco on Jan. 21. The Mountaineers and Lady Bears have met once with the Big 12 Championship on the line. Baylor held on to defeat WVU, 74-71, on March 10, 2014.
A West Virginia victory on Monday would mark only the second time in program history that a six seed has won the Big 12 Tournament title. Oklahoma defeated No. 1 Texas, 66-47, in Dallas to win the 2004 championship.
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