No. 25 WVU Rolls Past Eastern Kentucky

Saturday, November 24

Bimini, The Bahamas

4:15 p.m.

West Virginia University

4-1

Eastern Kentucky

0-5

Eastern Kentucky

West Virginia

Photo by: Katie MacCrory

November 24, 2018 07:18 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Ashley Bailey

BIMINI, The Bahamas – Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin had a double-double to lead five Mountaineers in double-figure scoring as the No. 25/20 West Virginia University women's basketball team capped Junkanoo Jam with an 81-39 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at Gateway Christian Academy in Bimini, Bahamas.

Martin tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Redshirt sophomore guard Kysre Gondrezick also had 17 points, adding six assists to the scoresheet as well. Senior forward Naomi Davenport finished with 13 points, while senior guard Katrina Pardee added 12 and freshman guard Madisen Smith recorded her second straight game in double digits with 11 points.

Pardee remains seven points shy of hitting the 1,000-point plateau.

West Virginia (4-1) shot 45.9 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, holding a 43-29 edge in rebounds and committing just four turnovers.

The Mountaineers scored five straight to open the game before EKU made back-to-back triples and added a three-point play to knot the score at 9-9 with 5:33 to play in the first. A jumper by Martin, then a 3-pointer by Smith, gave WVU the three-point lead at 21-18. Smith added another trey after a layup by Pardee as West Virginia took a 26-21 advantage at the end of the first.

A pair of Davenport layups, followed by yet another 3-pointer by Smith, pushed WVU's lead into double digits at 33-21 early in the second. Davenport added two more points on the fast break to make it 35-21 with 6:31 to play in the second.

Five straight points by sophomore guard Nia Staples put the WVU advantage at 20 points before Gondrezick drained a three and later added a free-throw for a 47-24 West Virginia lead at the half.

The Colonels scored six of the first seven points of the third quarter, cutting the WVU lead to 18 points with just over six to play at 48-30. The Mountaineers struck back with six points in the paint before a 3-pointer by Martin pushed WVU to a 57-30 lead with just under three to go in the third. Martin nailed another trey and Gondrezick went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line for a 64-30 lead over Eastern Kentucky to end the third.

Gondrezick had four straight points to start the fourth, pushing WVU's advantage to 38 at 68-30 in the first three minutes of play in the fourth. A fast-break layup by Martin put the score at 72-33 midway through the frame. A trip to the charity stripe by Pardee was good for two points, and she added a late 3-pointer for the 81-39 West Virginia win.

Eastern Kentucky (0-5) was led by 13 points from Catie Kaifes. The Colonels shot 29.2 percent from the field with 18 turnovers. WVU and EKU will meet again on Dec. 15 at the Charleston Coliseum & Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

The Mountaineers return to Morgantown to host Missouri on Sunday, Dec. 2, as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum.