Box Score STILLWATER, Okla. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team edged out Oklahoma State, 61-57, in bounce-back fashion on Saturday afternoon, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
 
After a 25-10 quarter to give WVU the lead, OSU attempted to claw its way back for the final three quarters, but the Mountaineers always came up with an answer on their end of the court. With under two minutes to play, junior guard KK Deans came up with a clutch 3-point basket, which helped create the separation West Virginia needed to seal the win.
 
Deans led the Mountaineers' scoring attack with a team-high 20 points for her third 20-point performance of the season. Junior forward Esmery Martinez notched her second consecutive double-double and led WVU in rebounding, with 13 points and 18 rebounds.
 
Her 21 double-doubles rank No. 8 in program history. Additionally, senior forward Kari Niblack tallied four points in the contest and now has 983 points in her Mountaineer career and needs 17 to reach 1,000.
 
West Virginia fell behind in the early going, as Oklahoma State opened the game on a 6-0 run. Martinez then scored WVU's first four points of the game, which helped the Mountaineers amass a 13-1 that ran into the first media break.
 
Fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray kept West Virginia rolling out of the break. The Mountaineers scored six in a flurry to make its run 19-1, which forced Oklahoma State to call a timeout. WVU led OSU, 19-7.
 
The Mountaineers netted three more buckets following the timeout to take a 25-10 lead heading into the second period. After the Cowgirls scored with 7:28 to go in the quarter, West Virginia did not allow Oklahoma State to score until 34 seconds remained in the period.
 
The Mountaineers tacked on six more points to begin the second quarter, as the Cowgirls mustered just one score. OSU called another timeout with 7:49 remaining in the half with WVU up, 31-12.
 
Following Oklahoma State's score at 9:33 of the second, the Mountaineers held the Cowgirls scoreless for the next four minutes and led by as many as 18 points with 5:11 to go in the half. WVU scored four more points before heading to the locker room, but OSU added nine points on its end of the court to cut into the lead. West Virginia led Oklahoma State, 38-25, at the midway point.
 
OSU cut WVU's lead to single digits over the opening minutes of the second half. The Mountaineers called a timeout with 6:14 remaining and led, 39-32. The Cowgirls began the third quarter on a 7-1 run.
 
Oklahoma State tacked on four more points to cut West Virginia's lead to three with 5:15 remaining in the quarter, but the Mountaineers countered with an and-1 try by Gray at the media timeout.
 
WVU continued its 7-0 run following the media break and got its lead back up to 10 points with under three minutes to play in the quarter. Another and-1 by sophomore guard Savannah Samuel made it a 49-36 game in favor of the Mountaineers.
 
Oklahoma State banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, as West Virginia led by 10 heading to the fourth.
 
The Mountaineers' lead got cut back to single digits to open the fourth period, as the Cowgirls outscored them, 7-3, up until the media break. WVU got a 3-pointer from Martinez to hold a 54-48 lead with 4:53 to play.
 
Oklahoma State cut the game to 56-55 with 1:35 to go in the game.
 
With 1:04 remaining in the contest, Deans provided the answer for West Virginia and hit a 3-pointer to help the Mountaineers go up by four. OSU responded on the other end with a score, but the Cowgirls put senior guard Madisen Smith on the line with three seconds remaining, where WVU ultimately sealed the win.
 
Next up, West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Tuesday, Jan. 25, as the Mountaineers play host to TCU. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, inside the WVU Coliseum. Tuesday's contest against the Horned Frogs will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+