Box Score WACO, Texas – The No. 17/18 West Virginia University women's basketball team (13-3, 3-2 Big 12) suffered a 91-51 defeat at No. 2/1 Baylor, on Saturday evening, at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
 
Redshirt junior guard Kysre Gondrezick led the Mountaineers with 15 points, shooting 6-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Madisen Smith also scored in double figures, posting 12 points, while connecting on two 3-pointers. Freshman forward Esmery Martinez paced WVU in rebounding, grabbing a career-high 15 boards in the loss.
 
Baylor opened the game on a 5-0 run, before junior center Blessing Ejiofor put WVU on the board with a free throw. The Lady Bears then converted on a jumper from DiDi Richards and a triple by Te'a Cooper to jump out to a 10-1 lead, before the Mountaineers called their first timeout of the game. Gondrezick countered the BU scoring run with a pair of 3-pointers coming out of the timeout. Baylor then went on a 10-1 over the final five minutes of the first, with WVU's lone point coming on a free throw by senior guard Lucky Rudd.
 
Following a pair of scores by Baylor, West Virginia got on the board in the second quarter with a 3-pointer from redshirt senior guard Tynice Martin and a layup from Gondrezick. The Mountaineers' offense hit a road block over the final six minutes of the first half, as the Lady Bears closed out the second quarter on a 12-4 run and led by 25 at halftime.
 
Through the opening minutes of the second half, Baylor jumped out to 6-0 run, before Smith converted a triple and a layup. Martin then added a jumper and a pair of free throws, but a 7-0 run and a 9-0 run helped the Lady Bears continue to stretch their lead. Martinez knocked down her first career 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to cut into the deficit, but Baylor closed out the quarter by making seven straight baskets to lead by 43 at the start of the final quarter.
 
Niblack opened the scoring for WVU in the fourth, hitting a jumper at the 9:21 mark, followed by a 3-pointer from Smith to start WVU on an 8-0 scoring run in the first minutes of the final quarter. The Mountaineers and Lady Bears continued to trade baskets back and forth through the final minutes of play, with Smith and Martinez adding a pair of layups before Gondrezick connected on a mid-range jumper. WVU outscored Baylor 18-13 down the stretch, but it wasn't enough, as the Mountaineers fell, 91-51.
 
WVU finished the contest shooting 26.2 percent (17-of-65) from the field and 25 percent (7-of-28) from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers also connected on 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line. Baylor topped WVU in nearly every catergory, but the Mountaineers edged the Lady Bears in steals, 5-4.
 
Baylor was nearly unstoppable in the contest, finishing with a 50.7 field goal percentage (34-of-67) and 62.5 3-point field goal percentage (5-of-8). BU outscored WVU in the paint, 38-14, and in bench points, 46-9. The Lady Bears grabbed 58 rebounds in the contest, while the Mountaineers hauled in 31.
 
West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Wednesday, Jan. 22, as the Mountaineers host Oklahoma State at the WVU Coliseum. Wednesday's contest againt OSU is Dress Like Mike Night, with Basketball Bingo throughout the game. Tickets are available at WVUGAME.com. A live stream of the game will be broadcast on WVUsports.com.