NORMAN, Okla. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team concludes its two-game Big 12 Conference road trip on Saturday, Feb. 5, as the Mountaineers get set to square off against Oklahoma.
Tipoff against the Sooners is set for 4 p.m. ET, from the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on Bally Sports Oklahoma. Additionally, fans can listen to the game on the WVU Gameday App, WVUsports.com or on the Mountaineer Sports Network, including 1490 AM and 98.3 FM (WBKE), with
Dan Zangrilli on the call. Live stats will be available on WVUsports.com.
West Virginia and Oklahoma meet for the 24th time on Saturday. WVU is 10-13 all-time against OU and is 4-6 against the Sooners when playing in Norman.
Earlier this season, Oklahoma took the first meeting between the two teams, defeating West Virginia, 88-76, on Jan. 19, at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
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. Martinez was joined in double figures by junior guard
KK Deans (14), senior forward
Kari Niblack (13) and senior guard
Madisen Smith (10).
Oklahoma enters Saturday's tilt after upsetting No. 9 Baylor, 78-77, on Feb. 2, at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. The win marked OU's eighth Big 12 victory of the season.
Guard Madi Williams led the Sooners' offense with 20 points and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds in the win. It marked the fourth time in the last six games that Williams has finished as OU's leading scorer. Additionally, the senior guard has paced Oklahoma's rebounding efforts four times in the last six games.
The Sooners continue to be one of the most potent offenses in the nation this season, featuring four players who are averaging 11.6 points per game or better.
Williams continues to lead the charge for OU this season, with team highs in points (18.4) and rebounds (8.0). She is followed by senior guards Taylor Robertson (17.6) and Ana Llanusa (17.3), who both are averaging 17 or more points per game this year.
Of note, Oklahoma's offense has produced at least one 20-point scorer in 16 of its 22 games this season.
Last time out, West Virginia bounced back from its Jan. 29 loss to Baylor by defeating TCU, 70-62, on Feb. 2, at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
With the win, WVU has now swept the regular-season series and has defeated TCU in four consecutive matchups.
Senior guard
Madisen Smith led the Mountaineers' offense with a season-high 18 points and was one of three players to finish in double figures. She was joined by freshman guard
JJ Quinerly (16) and junior forward
Esmery Martinez (11).
Of note, Quinerly made the first start of her career at TCU, replacing junior guard
KK Deans, who is out for the season with a knee injury.
Senior forward
Kari Niblack finished the game with eight points to eclipse 1,000 career points in her four seasons at WVU.
Martinez, Niblack and Quinerly all tied for team lead in rebounding and tallied six boards apiece. The trio accounted for 58.1% of WVU's rebounding in the contest.