Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Powered by a trio of double-figure scoring performances, the No. 4-seeded West Virginia University women's basketball team (22-6, 13-5 Big 12) defeated No. 13-seed Lehigh, 77-53, on Sunday evening in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio.
 
The Mountaineers were led in scoring by redshirt senior guard Kysre Gondrezick, who tallied 26 points. With her 26 points against Lehigh, Gondrezick surpassed 1,000 points during her WVU career to become the 37th 1,000-point scorer in program history. Of note, the Benton Harbor, Michigan native now has 1,500 points in her NCAA career.
 
Sophomore guard Kirsten Deans also scored in double figures against the Mountain Hawks, notching 19 points, to surpass 500 points in her Mountaineer career. Sophomore forward Esmery Martinez tallied her 15th double-double of the season against LU, with 16 points and a team-best 11 rebounds.
 
The No. 4-seeded Mountaineers led by as many as 26 points in tonight's game and held the lead for 32:49.
 
West Virginia tied the game on a score from Martinez after the Mountain Hawks took an early lead in the first quarter. Both teams tallied a pair of steals before LU netted five points, including a triple from guard/forward Frannie Hottinger. Deans silenced the scoring flurry shortly after with a jumper from the wing, as the Mountaineers trailed Lehigh by three at the first media break.
 
WVU ripped off a 6-0 run following the timeout to take its first lead of the game with 3:19 remaining in the quarter. Lehigh continued to fire on the offensive end, but the Mountaineers countered with scores from Deans, Niblack and Martinez to hold the advantage. LU's Mackenzie Kramer cut West Virginia's lead to 15-13 with a pair of free throws at the end of the first quarter.
 
After Deans scored opened the second quarter, Gondrezick followed up with a pair of 3-pointers just before WVU called a timeout at the 5:44 mark of the frame. West Virginia led, 23-15, at the middle part of the quarter.
 
The Mountain Hawks converted three triples of their own following the break, and Hottinger tacked on one more to tie the game with 3:49 remaining in the half. The Mountaineers' offense then went on the attack over the final minutes of the second quarter, scoring 10 unanswered points to close out the first half, including a 3-pointer by Deans at the buzzer. WVU led Lehigh, 36-26, after two quarters of play.
 
West Virginia kept up its offensive attack at the beginning of the third quarter and jumped out to a 14-point in the opening minutes of the second half. Lehigh countered with a pair of 3-pointers to cut WVU's advantage to eight points, but the Mountaineers utilized a 7-2 run before the third-quarter media break to get their lead back into double digits.
 
Following the timeout, WVU put together another scoring run that ran all the way to the end of the quarter. Over the last 3:30 of the third quarter, West Virginia scored 16 unanswered points, including eight points from Gondrezick, to take a 65-39 lead over Lehigh heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
 
Lehigh cut WVU's lead to under 20 points before calling a timeout at the 5:44 mark of the fourth quarter, but Gondrezick sank two more 3-pointers and Deans added a score of her own down the stretch to help West Virginia seal the win.
 
Next up, West Virginia advances to the NCAA Tournament's round of 32 to face No. 5-seed Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 23. The venue, tip time and broadcast information for Tuesday's game against the Yellow Jackets will be announced on Monday, March 20.