Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.  – Unable to overcome a rocky start, the West Virginia University women's basketball team suffered a 72-59 setback to Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Saturday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
 
The Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7) hit just three shots from the field in the first quarter and finished the game shooting 38 percent from the field. They went 4-for-14 from beyond the arc and had no points on the fast break, giving in to 25 turnovers.
 
Senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport and freshman forward Kari Niblack were the only Mountaineers in double figures. Davenport went 6-for-13 for 14 points, leading WVU with six assists as well. Niblack went 7-of-10 at the free-throw line on her way to a 13-point performance.
 
Senior center Theresa Ekhelar, redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin and senior guard Katrina Pardee all had nine points, with Pardee hitting a trio of 3-pointers. Ekhelar led the rebounding effort with seven boards, while Martin and freshman guard Madisen Smith each had six
 
"Just look at the hustle plays," coach Mike Carey said. "They out-hustled us. (The) points off turnovers, 18-3; second-chance points, 18-7; fast break points, 8-0. That says all you need to know on that. We cut it to one or two and then came down and turned it over three times, took some bad shots and didn't defend on the other end. They outworked us."
 
A Martin jumper got the Mountaineers on the board before Niblack hit the free-throw line and went 1-for-2. Davenport hit a shot to tie the game at 5-5 with 5:41 to play before an 11-0 run by the Wildcats put them on top, 16-5.
 
Ekhelar headed to the charity stripe, hitting a shot to end the run before junior guard Lucky Rudd came through with a layup. However, K-State hit the free-throw line and added a jumper, using seven WVU turnovers to take a 21-8 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
 
Pardee drained a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, but the Wildcats countered with one of their own. The teams then traded jumpers before Ekhelar put up a bucket in the paint and Davenport hit a jumper to bring the deficit to nine and forcing K-State into a timeout.
 
K-State used a trey to build its lead back up to 13, but Pardee hit a 3-pointer from the corner to jump-start a 9-0 Mountaineer run. Martin was fouled on a 3-point attempt, hitting all three at the charity stripe before Pardee netted another trey as West Virginia entered the break with just a six-point deficit at 35-29.
 
Niblack hit a layup 90 seconds into the third quarter to get the scoring started, but K-State struck back with a 3-pointer. Davenport netted a 3-pointer before driving in for a bucket and the foul, bringing the Mountaineers within one at the free-throw line the score at 38-37.
 
An Ekhelar layup kept them within one soon after, though back-to-back KSU jumpers made it a five-point advantage for the Wildcats with 4:10 to go in the half. A 6-0 run put Kansas State ahead by nine before Ekhelar added a layup as West Virginia ended the quarter trailing 50-43.
 
Niblack used an early jumper to start a 5-0 Mountaineer run in the opening minutes of the fourth as WVU came within two on a bucket from Smith. Both Ekhelar and Martin went 2-for-2 at the line, but the Wildcats scored six in a row for a 59-52 advantage, forcing WVU into a timeout midway through the quarter.
 
A K-State trey put the WVU deficit back at 10 as Niblack went 3-of-4 at the free-throw line across the next few minutes. With the Mountaineers in a nine-point hole, they surrendered back-to-back 3-pointers to the Wildcats, who took a 14-point advantage at 69-44 with under two to play. Niblack hit a pair of shots at the line with under a minute to play, but it wasn't enough as West Virginia took the 72-59 loss.
 
Kansas State (21-10, 11-7) got a pair of 20-point performances from Peyton Williams (22 points) and Rachel Ranke (21 points) as the Wildcats shot 35.3 percent from the field and 31.0 percent from the perimeter. They scored 18 points off turnovers and had 19 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds.
 
West Virginia will await its postseason fate, which is set to be announced as part of Selection Monday on March 18.