Box Score AUSTIN, Texas – The West Virginia University women's basketball team fell to No. 13/12 Texas, 73-57, on Saturday night, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
 
West Virginia's (8-6, 1-3 Big 12) scoring efforts were co-led by junior guard KK Deans and freshman guard JJ Quinerly, who each tallied 19 points in the game. Junior forward Esmery Martinez tallied five rebounds to pace WVU on the glass.
 
Deans and Quinerly accounted for 38 of WVU's 57 points scored.
 
Texas (12-3, 2-2 Big 12) saw four players finish the game in double figures, including guard Aliyah Matharu, who tallied a game-high 26 points.
 
Deans opened game scoring with a baseline jumper, which led to a 7-0 run for the Mountaineers early in the contest. After Texas missed its first five shots of the game, UT broke its scoring drought at the line but WVU countered on the other end to make it a 10-2 game. The Longhorns then rattled off a 7-0 run of their own, which cut West Virginia's lead to one at the first media timeout.
 
Deans scored seven of WVU's first 10 points to begin the contest.
 
Texas took the lead with a pair of free throws coming out of the break, and then added another bucket in transition. West Virginia found themselves trailing after UT ripped off a 15-1 following its first score. Quinerly halted the Longhorns' onslaught, and fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray added a score before the quarter ended, but WVU trailed, 19-15, at the end of the first.
 
West Virginia found themselves behind 23-15 to begin the second period, as Texas netted back-to-back, putback scores. After the Longhorns extended their run to 6-0, WVU was forced to call timeout.
 
UT continued to score following the break, as WVU found itself in a scoring drought for the next four minutes. Another steal-and-score by Quinerly got the Mountaineers back on the board. The two teams played even for the next three minutes, but two scores by Texas increased the deficit to 15 points with 1:35 remaining. West Virginia got three points before the end of the quarter and trailed at halftime by 14.
 
West Virginia fell behind by 23 to begin the second half, as the Longhorns opened the third quarter on an 13-2 run. Senior forward Kari Niblack got a score before the media break, where the Mountaineers trailed, 52-31, with 4:38 to go in the period.
 
West Virginia finished the quarter the quarter on a 9-4 run, which included four points from Deans and a 3-pointer for Quinerly. The Mountaineers trailed Texas, 56-40, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
The two teams traded to begin the fourth quarter, but five points from Quinerly made it a 62-49 game in favor of Texas with 5:12 remaining in the game. Despite the Mountaineers' attack, Texas continued to counter on the other end. WVU called a timeout with 3:48 to go and trailed by 15.
 
WVU continued to attack, and UT continued to counter for the remainder of the game. A jumper by Deans cut deficit to 14 with 52 seconds to go, but that was as close at the Mountaineers would get, as they fell to Longhorns, 73-57.
 
Next up, West Virginia returns to Morgantown to square off against No. 23/25 Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Wednesday's contest against the Sooners will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.