Hot Start Helps WVU Past TCU

Saturday, February 16

Morgantown, W.Va.

2:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

18-6/9-4

TCU

18-7/8-6

TCU

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

February 16, 2019 04:56 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Postgame Quotes

By: Ashley Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After leading by as many as 24 points in the second half, the West Virginia University women's basketball team fought off a late comeback attempt to take down TCU, 79-65, on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.

Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin scored a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and three steals to help WVU earn the victory, while freshman guard Madisen Smith added 17 points and eight assists. Two more Mountaineers reached double-figures, as senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, while junior guard Lucky Rudd chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals.

WVU made 12 3-pointers as a team in the win.

"I thought (it was a) great effort," coach Mike Carey said. "(We) shot the ball extremely well in the first half. I thought we settled for jump shots in the second half when we should have attacked. (Freshman forward) Kari (Niblack) did a great job for us. (She had) a lot of energy. She and (senior guard/forward) Naomi (Davenport) both rebounded the ball very well. Overall, we needed that win. We got it, but we need a lot more wins."

Smith drained a 3-pointer to open the contest, one of five the Mountaineers (18-6, 9-4) would hit in the opening frame. Davenport and Martin also hit shots from beyond the arc in back-to-back possessions, giving WVU an early, 9-7 lead.

Later, Martin sank another 3 at the 3:22 mark of the first period, before Davenport swished another trey to make it 15-10. WVU went 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point line and made all seven of its free throws to lead 22-12 after 10 minutes.

The hot start didn't end there. Smith and Martin made two more triples to bump the Mountaineers' lead to 30-15 by the 6:21 mark of the second period. That led to Davenport finding a wide-open senior center Theresa Ekhelar on the low block for an easy bucket under the hoop with 5:57 to play before the half.

After a pair of Davenport buckets, Martin sank her fourth 3-pointer of the half with 1:20 to play, making it 42-25. West Virginia went on to outscore TCU, 22-13, in the frame and took a 44-25 advantage into the locker room.

Davenport (12), Martin (12) and Smith (10) all reached double-figures in the first half, as WVU shot 45.2 percent from the field and 8-of-14 (57.1%) from 3.

Ekhelar and Smith started the second half with baskets for WVU, before Martin hit two more 3s and the 4:44 and 3:18 marks. From there, though, the Horned Frogs found their first spark of the afternoon, converting on an 11-0 run at one point to get within 13 of the lead.

WVU turned the ball over 11 times in the third quarter but still took a 60-45 lead into the final frame.

TCU (18-7, 8-6) executed a 9-0 run to begin the fourth, cutting its deficit to 60-52 with 8:19 to play. Then, Rudd got a tough basketball to go to haul the momentum.

After the Horned Frogs got within six of the lead, freshman forward Kari Niblack scored on a lay-up before gathering a steal on the defensive end moments later. That led to a 3-pointer by Smith to bump the WVU lead to 71-60 with 1:59 to play.

Then, Rudd closed the game in style. First, she swished a 3 with 1:16 to go before converting on a three-point play with 41 seconds to go. The Mountaineer scored 13 of the game's final 18 points to finish off the home victory.

The Mountaineers finished 25-of-58 (43.1%) from the field, including 12-of-21 (57.1%) from downtown. WVU made 17 of its 25 free throws (68%) and rebounded the Horned Frogs, 45-33.
Despite forcing 22 turnovers in the loss, TCU, which was led by Jordan Moore's 17 points, shot 24-of-59 (40.7%) as a team.

Up next, WVU returns to the road to take on Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Notes: West Virginia improved to 14-3 all-time against TCU … redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin finished 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, tying a career high … Martin finished with 21 points, her 25th career 20-point performance … senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, her 11th career double-double and sixth of the season … Davenport also reached double-figures in scoring for the 10th consecutive game … freshman guard Madisen Smith tallied a career-high eight assists in the win.