Pardee Reaches Milestone in Loss to Mizzou

Sunday, December 2

Morgantown, W.Va.

5:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

4-2

Missouri

6-2

Missouri

West Virginia

Photo by: Katie MacCrory

December 02, 2018 07:51 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Joe Mitchin

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior guard Katrina Pardee scored her 1,000th career point but it wasn't enough for the No. 21 West Virginia University women's basketball team in a 68-51 loss to Missouri in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Sunday evening at the WVU Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (4-2) battled through a tough shooting night and never found a rhythm, allowing the Tigers (6-2) to capitalize in the annual competition between the two conferences.

Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin scored a team-high 18 points, while freshman forward Kari Niblack added 10 more, but the Mountaineers shot just 27.9 percent as a team in the loss.

"Needless to say, you can't shoot 12 percent in the second quarter," coach Mike Carey said. "We probably missed 10 layups and a lot of easy shots. (It's) very disappointing. We just don't have enough numbers right now."

Pardee got the scoring started with a made jump shot in the opening minute of the contest before finding Martin for a corner 3-pointer on the next trip down, giving the Mountaineers an early 5-2 lead.

Later in the period, freshman forward Jala Jordan drained a 3 of her own to tie the game at 12. However, the Mountaineers fought through a chilly start from the field for much of the opening 10 minutes, as the team made just three of its first 12 shots. The Tigers, meanwhile, made their first five shot attempts of the game and finished the opening period 8-of-10 from the floor.

Missouri led by as many as seven in the frame, before senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport scored on a layup and Martin swished a jumper from the top of the key to cut the deficit to three. The Tigers led, 20-17, heading into the second period.

Missouri went on to score the first six points of the second frame, extending its lead to 26-17, before Martin hit her second 3-pointer of the game. The Atlanta, Georgia, native scored 12 of the team's first 20 points in the game to help keep the Mountaineers close.

Then, freshman guard Madison Smith drained a trey with 4:13 to play in the half, cutting the Missouri lead to 29-23. That, though, was WVU's last field goal of the first half.

On the defensive end, West Virginia forced 11 first-half turnovers and held Missouri without a field goal for a spurt of more than three minutes. The Tigers, though, took a 34-23 lead into the locker room.

The Mountaineers made just eight of their 34 first-half attempts from the field.

Davenport started the second half of play in a big way, scoring back-to-back buckets in the paint to make it a 34-27 game. From there, Pardee used the glass to get a runner in the lane to fall, making it 39-30 Missouri with 5:43 to play in the third period.

After Davenport and Niblack made layups, Pardee swished a 3 with 55 seconds to play in the period, bringing the Mountaineers within eight at 46-38. The Cedar Park, Texas, native earned her 1,000th career point with the make, becoming the 35th Mountaineer to accomplish the feat in program history.

However, the Tigers ended the third period with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give them a 49-38 advantage heading into the final frame.

In the fourth, Niblack converted on a three-point play with 5:49 to go, getting WVU to within nine again at 54-43. From there, she scored four more points from the free-throw line, while Martin added six fourth-quarter points of her own. But it wasn't enough, as Missouri outscored WVU, 19-13, in the final 10 minutes, earning the road victory.

Along with her team-high 18 points, Martin added seven rebounds for the Mountaineers. Davenport finished with nine points and six rebounds, while Pardee had seven points, seven rebounds and two assists.

WVU finished 17-of-61 from the field and were 5-of-18 (27.8%) from behind the arc. The Tigers shot 25-of-52 (48.1%) as a team and outrebounded the Mountaineers, 42-34.

Amber Smith led the Tigers with a game-high 28 points.

West Virginia returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 8, when it travels to rival Pitt for the Backyard Brawl. Tipoff at the Petersen Events Center is set for 3 p.m.

Notes: West Virginia and Missouri met for the second time overall and first since 1996 on Sunday … the all-time series is tied at 1-1 … the Mountaineers fell to 2-1 all-time in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge … WVU also fell to 8-23 all-time against Southeastern Conference opponents … senior guard Katrina Pardee scored her 1,000th career point, becoming the 35th Mountaineer to reach the milestone in program history … Pardee also tied Bria Holmes (2013-16) for No. 8 on the Mountaineers' all-time made 3-point field goals list … redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin earned her 58th career double-figure scoring game and led the Mountaineers in scoring the fourth time this season and 32nd time in her career … freshman forward Kari Niblack made her first career start on Sunday, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.