Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team fell to No. 14/19 Oklahoma, 88-76, in a hard-fought contest on Wednesday evening, at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
 
West Virginia attacked Oklahoma shot-for-shot throughout the first half and outscored the Sooners, 24-15, in the second quarter to take a 46-44 lead at halftime. The Mountaineers also outscored OU, 18-16, in the fourth period, but a 28-12 third quarter by Oklahoma ultimately decided the contest.
 
WVU was led in scoring and rebounding by junior forward Esmery Martinez, who tallied a career-high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds, good for her 20th double-double of her career. The Hato Mayor Del Ray, Dominican Republic, native is now tied for No. 8 in program history in double-doubles along with Lanay Montgomery (20, 2014-17).
 
Martinez was joined in double figures by junior guard KK Deans (14), senior forward Kari Niblack (13) and senior guard Madisen Smith (10). Of note, Niblack now has 979 career points and needs 21 to become the 38th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
 
Oklahoma got on the board first, but West Virginia commenced to trade scores with the Sooners for the first four minutes of the game. After OU guard Taylor Robertson sank her first triple for OU, WVU called its first timeout of the game.
 
A score from Niblack cut the deficit to 9-8 after the break, and WVU tacked on a pair of scores from junior guard Jayla Hemingway and Smith over the next two minutes. However, on the other end of the court, Oklahoma made a trio of 3-pointers as part of a 13-point scoring flurry to take a 10-point lead with 3:11 remaining in the quarter.
 
West Virginia got eight more points to close out the first period, including seven points from Martinez, but trailed Oklahoma, 29-22, heading into the second quarter.
 
The two teams traded baskets to begin the second period, as WVU cut the game to 34-31 with 5:37 remaining in the half. Oklahoma got a pair of scores before the media break to lead by seven.
 
Following the media timeout, West Virginia came out firing. After getting four at the free-throw line, Deans scored on a fast break to cut OU's lead to one. Oklahoma netted five points to counter, but a couple of Mountaineer 3-pointers helped WVU close out the half on a 15-6 run. West Virginia held a 46-44 lead over Oklahoma at halftime.
 
Deans sank a 3-pointer to begin the second half, which stretched its lead to five, but the Sooners countered with five points of their own to tie the game. After another WVU score, OU netted five points to take back the lead with 6:17 to go in the quarter, forcing West Virginia to call timeout.
 
Following an Oklahoma free throw, the Mountaineers got a pair of buckets to make it a 56-55 OU lead at the media break.
 
West Virginia continued to chip away following the timeout and cut the game to 58-57 with 4:19 remaining in the quarter, but OU continued to hold its lead. West Virginia mustered three points following the media break and trailed Oklahoma, 72-58, heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Sooners stretched its lead to 18 points to begin the final 10 minutes of the game before Niblack scored a pair at the stripe with eight minutes to play. OU then called a timeout with 7:54 remaining.
 
Even though West Virginia held Oklahoma scoreless for nearly four minutes through the middle part of the period, the Sooners continued to hold a double-digit lead. Under four minutes to go in the game, the Mountaineers attempted to mount a comeback and even cut the Sooners' lead to nine points with 2:56 remaining in the game.
 
However, Oklahoma netted three more baskets over the final two minutes of the contest, including a 3-pointer, to hang on and secure the win.
 
Next up, West Virginia travels to Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Jan. 22, to square off against Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET, from Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Saturday's contest against the Cowgirls will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.