No. 25 WVU Stumbles Late, Falls to No. 12 Iowa

Friday, November 23

Bimini, The Bahamas

5:15 p.m.

West Virginia University

3-1

Iowa

4-0

West Virginia

Iowa

Photo by: Katie MacCrory

November 23, 2018 09:19 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Ashley Bailey

BIMINI, The Bahamas – After a 22-point lead slipped away late in the game, the No. 25/20 West Virginia University women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 84-81 setback to No. 12/14 Iowa at Gateway Christian Academy on Friday as part of Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas.

The loss was the first of the season for the Mountaineers, who moved to 3-1 on the season. They will face Eastern Kentucky for third place on Saturday in a 4:15 p.m. tipoff.

Five players finished in double-figure scoring for WVU, led by sophomore guard Kysre Gondrezick's 22 points and six steals. Senior forward Naomi Davenport had 16 points, while freshman guard Madisen Smith came off the bench for a career-high 13 points, hitting double figures for the first time in her career. Freshman forward Kari Niblack and redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin added 11 each.

WVU made 10 3-pointers in the game and shot 43.3 percent from the field. The Mountaineers totaled 13 steals in the game and forced the Hawkeyes (4-0) into 16 turnovers.

Senior guard Katrina Pardee put the Mountaineers on the board, up 3-0, with a 3-pointer in the first minute of action. The Hawkeyes cut the lead to one with a layup, but back-to-back buckets put the Mountaineers ahead 7-2 on a Gondrezick layup. The teams then traded free throws, with WVU keeping the lead at 9-4 after Gondrezick hit the charity stripe. Soon after, a 3-pointer by Smith gave West Virginia a five-point advantage at 7-12 with just under three minutes to play in the quarter.

An Iowa jumper, followed by a pair of free throws, put the Hawkeyes on top, 15-12, with 2:11 to go in the first. Davenport drained a 3-pointer, and Niblack made a layup with 12 seconds to play in the quarter to tie the score at 17-17.

Starting things off with a Gondrezick jumper, the Mountaineers scored eight straight for a 25-17 lead just over two minutes into the second quarter. Following an Iowa layup, WVU drained four 3-pointers as part of a 16-point scoring run, taking a 22-point advantage when a layup from Davenport put the score at 41-19. Smith added another trey, and the Hawkeyes hit the free-throw line for a pair as West Virginia took a 48-29 lead at the half.

Gondrezick and the Hawkeyes traded 3-pointers to start the third quarter. A fast-break layup by Martin kept WVU ahead 56-37 before Iowa hit the free-throw line, making all 10 attempts to cut the Mountaineer lead to 12 at 63-51. Niblack went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe to put the lead back up to 16 with just over 90 seconds to play, but the Hawkeyes drained a three and added another free-throw. A late bucket from Martin kept the WVU lead at 14 with the score at 69-55 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Mountaineer offense stalled in the fourth, as the team hit just three field goals in the quarter. After a free throw by Pardee, the Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 run to cut the VWU lead to three, 70-67, midway through the quarter.

Martin hit a pair of free throws and Niblack added a layup before an 8-0 Iowa scoring run tied the game at 75-75 with 1:40 to play. Martin broke the tie soon with a layup soon after, but seven straight by the Hawkeyes put the Mountaineers in a six-point hole, down 83-77. Gondrezick sank a 3-pointer and hit a free-throw with less than 15 seconds to play, but Iowa hit another free throw to make it a three-point Iowa lead. The Mountaineers never got the ball back as Iowa claimed the 84-81 win.

Megan Gustafson had a game-high 28 points for the Hawkeyes, who shot 42.6 percent from the field and held a 43-35 edge on rebounds.