Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  — Despite senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport's double-double, the West Virginia University women's basketball team (20-9, 11-7 Big 12) was edged by No. 1 Baylor, 63-57, on Monday evening at the WVU Coliseum to close out the regular season.
 
"I thought it came down to about four possessions," coach Mike Carey said. "One time, we gave up a layup. Next time, we fell down, gave up another layup. We came down and missed about three out of four foul shots. But give our team credit, (they) played hard. (We) played hard, battled, kept playing."
 
Three Mountaineers finished in double figures against Baylor, including freshman forward Kari Niblack (13 points) and redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin (18 points). Davenport led the team in scoring with 20 points and collected her eighth double-double of the season with 13 rebounds.  
 
Prior to tipoff, WVU honored Davenport, senior center Theresa Ekhelar and senior guard Katrina Pardee, along with former letterwinner Anja Martin, as part of the annual Senior Night celebration.
 
West Virginia shot 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field, including 6-of-18 (33.3%) behind the arc, and forced 19 Baylor turnovers. The Mountaineers assisted on 10 of their 20 field goals. Freshman guard Madisen Smith tallied a team-leading six assists. Davenport led the team with 13 rebounds, while Martin tallied three steals.
 
A defensive battle to start, each team had just one bucket through the first three minutes of action. An 8-0 Baylor run put the Lady Bears on top, 10-2, with four to play in the quarter. Niblack provided a spark off the bench, hitting a jumper that was followed by a pair of Martin free throws to bring WVU within four, trailing 13-6.
 
Baylor hit a 3-pointer, but Niblack finished a three-point play at the line to put the score at 13-9, as West Virginia trailed with 90 seconds to play in the quarter. Martin hit a jumper off a pass from Smith, but Baylor added a pair at the charity stripe to lead 15-11 at the end of the first.
 
Niblack took a pair of trips to the free-throw line inside the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, going 3-for-4 as WVU trailed BU, 19-14. Niblack added a layup in the paint before Davenport drained a trey, keeping the Mountaineers within six with just over three to play in the frame.
 
Martin hit a jumper, followed by a layup from Davenport to bring WVU within four, down 27-24 with just under two to go in the half. Though the Mountaineers forced three Baylor turnovers inside the closing minutes of the quarter, the Lady Bears capped the period at the free-throw line and led WVU, 31-23, at the half.
 
The Lady Bears came out of the locker room and hit a layup, followed by a free throw soon after for an 11-point lead to start the third. Davenport hit a shot in the paint, which was followed by a Martin trey to cut the WVU deficit to eight at 36-28 with 7:01 to play in the quarter.
 
Baylor scored six straight for a 44-31 lead, but a Niblack jumper started a 7-point streak, capped by a 3-pointer buzzer-beater from Davenport that brought WVU within six, trailing 44-38 to close the third.
 
Junior guard Lucky Rudd traded jumpers with Baylor, then added a free throw to open play in the fourth. Davenport scored on the fast break, bringing the Mountaineers within three at 46-43 with 7:48 to play in regulation.
 
Two free throws by Pardee cut the Lady Bears' lead to four with just under four minutes to play, but Baylor countered with a layup and a pair of free throws. Two 3-pointers by Davenport and Martin cut the deficit back to four with under 30 seconds to play, but it wouldn't be enough, as Baylor would go to the free-throw line four times, scoring six points, to close out the final quarter of play.
 
Baylor shot 21-of-50 (42.0%) from the field and went 1-of-3 (33.3%) from 3-point range. Forward Lauren Cox led all scorers with 22 points and finished with a double-double (10 rebounds). The Lady Bears held a 40-27 advantage on the boards and tallied six blocks.
 
West Virginia will travel to Oklahoma City this weekend for the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, which runs Friday through Monday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Mountaineers' game time and opponent is expected to be announced late Tuesday.