Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team (14-8, 4-7 Big 12) fell to Kansas State, 56-55, on Tuesday evening at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
A trio of Mountaineers scored in double figures in the loss, as redshirt senior guard
Tynice Martin and sophomore forward
Kari Niblack added 12 points apiece. Redshirt junior guard
Kysre Gondrezick also scored in double figures with 10 points. Niblack and Martin also led the way in rebounding, as they each grabbed seven boards.
"We had an 18-point lead. We got the 18-point lead by playing defense, getting up in the passing lanes and getting our running game going," WVU coach
Mike Carey said. "Then, all of a sudden, we just quit playing. We let the point guard hit a couple of 3's. Number 43 (KSU forward Christianna Carr) is their best shooter, and we let (her shoot), and then they lobbed inside.
Even when we went back up by two when (redshirt senior guard) Tynice (Martin) hit the 3, (there was) no ball pressure on the ball, and we didn't go with the lob. Instead of fouling her (KSU center Ayoka Lee) or whatever, she got a 3-point play, and they went back up one. You have a shot at the end, (but) we go in the possession before and, instead of using our left hand, we went in right-handed and got it blocked."
Kansas State opened the game on an 8-2 run, but Niblack picked up a Wildcat turnover to get a layup. Martin then added two at the line to bring WVU back within two leading into the first-quarter media timeout. Martin picked up another basket following the break, and junior center
Blessing Ejiofor hit a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 10-10 with 2:52 to go in the first.
Freshman forward
Esmery Martinez gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the game with a second-chance layup under the basket, but K-State knotted it up again on the other end. The Wildcats hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 left in the frame to take a 15-12 lead into the end of the quarter.
West Virginia opened the second quarter with a foul shot and a layup from Niblack to tie things up again at 15-15. Kansas State jumped out in front with a jumper, but Martin added a bucket to put the score at 17-17l. A Wildcat jumper was followed by a basket from Martinez, before K-State jumped back in front with a basket just before the media break. In the final minutes of the first half, Kansas State jumped out to a 24-19 lead, but a triple from Martin and a layup from Martinez knotted the game at 24-24 to end the half.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the second half, but Niblack responded with a layup on the other end. Gondrezick countered another K-State jumper with a 3-pointer, her first bucket of the game, giving WVU its first lead since the 2:38 mark of the first quarter. The Mountaineers picked up a KSU miss and turned it into points, as senior guard
Lucky Rudd scored a layup to put WVU up 31-28.
Rudd extended WVU's lead with a pair of free throws at the 4:20 mark of the third quarter. Redshirt freshman center
Rochelle Norris then helped the Mountaineers jump out to a six-point lead with a three-point play after converting the and-one. West Virginia's advantage was extended to 11 points after Gondrezick knocked down a trey and added a pair of foul shots at the line to end the third.
A free throw from Niblack began the fourth-quarter scoring, followed by layups from Norris and Gondrezick, extending WVU's lead to 46-32. Niblack tacked on four more points with a pair of jumpers just before the 7:00 mark, forcing K-State to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, KSU went on a 17-0 run, shortening WVU's lead to one.
The Wildcats added another layup following a timeout to claim the lead for the first time since the 8:37 mark of the third quarter. Martin then knocked down a trey with 0:38 to go, but KSU converted the and-one at the opposite basket to again lead by one. With just three seconds left, the Mountaineers were forced to foul, and Kansas State converted both shots at the line. Ejiofor connected on a last-second 2-point jumper, but it wasn't enough, as WVU fell, 56-55.
West Virginia finished the contest shooting 21-of-64 (32.8 percent) from the field and 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Mountaineers only missed two free throws in the game, shooting 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the line. WVU led KSU in rebounding, 39-37, and tallied eight blocks in the defeat.
Kansas State shot 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) from the floor, while connecting on 4-of-17 3-pointers to shoot 23.5 percent beyond the arc. The Wildcats edged the Mountaineers in bench points (15-4), second-chance points (11-3) and points off turnovers (11-9), while forcing 14 West Virginia turnovers.
West Virginia is set to conclude its two-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 15, when it hosts Texas Tech for a 5 p.m. ET tip at the WVU Coliseum. Saturday's contest is the Mountaineers' annual Pink Game, and all fans will receive free admission courtesy of WVU Medicine. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet, with Robby Incmikoski and Meg Bulger on the call.
