Davenport Leads WVU in Loss to Longhorns

Sunday, January 6

Morgantown, W.Va.

4:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

9-4/0-2

Texas

12-2/2-0

Texas

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

January 06, 2019 07:03 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Ashley Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport scored a season-high 26 points, but it wasn't enough in the West Virginia University women's basketball team's 70-58 loss to No. 13 Texas on Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.

Davenport shot 10-of-17 from the field in the setback, adding seven rebounds, two steals and two assists for the Mountaineers, who dropped their second consecutive game to begin Big 12 Conference play.

Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin and freshman guard Madison Smith each added nine points in the loss. Down by as many as 18, WVU (9-4, 0-2) cut the deficit to six with 49 seconds to play but could draw no closer.

"I thought, especially (in) the first quarter and even most of the second quarter, we were focused, playing hard," coach Mike Carey said. "I thought (in) the third quarter we came out not focused; same with the fourth quarter. (We) can't give up all of those offensive rebounds. We had times where we had posts on us and we didn't drive them. We settled for threes. It was won in the paint, won and lost in the paint. Then we lost focus when the score was close in the third quarter and gave up six straight points. I thought the first half, even though we weren't shooting well, and we weren't getting good shots, I thought, defensively, rebounding was pretty good. Then in the second half, we just wore down. We wore down, and they just kept substituting, putting other people in there."

After Martin opened the game with a 3-pointer, Smith scored on a fast-break layup to give the Mountaineers an early 5-0 advantage. From there, Davenport made a pair of shots, before senior guard Katrina Pardee's bucket with 2:36 to play in the opening frame.

The Mountaineers led, 11-10, after 10 minutes, holding Texas (12-2, 2-0) to just 4-of-15 from the field.

Davenport made two more shots to start the second quarter, bumping WVU's lead to 15-14. Then, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native drained a shot from beyond the arc to give WVU a 20-16 lead with 3:49 to play before halftime.

Davenport added another make with 1:01 to play, which allowed West Virginia to take a 24-22 lead into the locker room. The senior scored nine of the Mountaineers' 13 second-quarter points.

Martin canned her second 3 of the day at the 9:17 mark of the third quarter, moments before Texas' offense got going. The Longhorns went on to outscore WVU, 26-16, in the period, despite a 3-pointer by senior guard Katrina Pardee with 4:39 to go in the frame. That, however, was West Virginia's final field goal of the third quarter, allowing Texas to build its second-half lead.

The Longhorns led, 48-40, after three quarters.

Trailing by 15 early in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers showed some fight, as freshman forward Kari Niblack converted on a three-point play with 8:08 to play in the game, cutting Texas' lead to 55-43. Then, Martin made another 3-pointer, before Davenport and Smith made layups on back-to-back possessions.

Davenport swished a triple with 3:20 to play, making it a 64-53 game, before she added to the Mountaineers' fourth-quarter comeback with another made shot a minute later.

Smith hit WVU's seventh, and final, 3 of the day with 49 seconds to play, getting the Mountaineers to within six with 49 seconds to play. WVU enjoyed a 12-1 run at one point, but Texas scored the final six points of the game to hold onto the road victory.

West Virginia finished 19-of-49 (38.8%) from the field, shot 13-of-15 from the free-throw line and forced 17 turnovers in the loss. However, the Mountaineers were dominated on the glass, as Texas outrebounded WVU, 45-27, and it held a 19-4 edge in offensive rebounds.

Texas shot 26-of-62 (41.9%) as a team and were led by Sug Sutton's 19 points. The Longhorns finished with four players in double figures in the win.

The Mountaineers return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 9, when they host Oklahoma State at the WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Notes: Senior guard/forward guard Naomi Davenport scored a game-high 26 points on Sunday, a season high … Davenport is averaging 24 points per game in Big 12 play … with the performance, Davenport earned her 11th career 20-point game … senior guard Katrina Pardee made a 3-pointer in the loss; she has made at least one shot from downtown in all 13 games this season … WVU is now 3-4 all-time against Texas in Morgantown … West Virginia also fell to 24-55 against ranked opponents at home.