Box Score NORMAN, Okla. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team fell to No. 18/18 Oklahoma, 101-99, in double overtime on Saturday evening, at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
 
In a game that featured nine lead changes and 12 ties, West Virginia scored 19 or more points in three periods and led by as many as 12 in the game.
 
Fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray tallied a WVU-high 25 points in the win to go along with eight rebounds. Senior forward Kari Niblack hauled in a team-best 12 rebounds and scored 22 points for her first double-double of the season.
 
Additionally, senior guard Madisen Smith, who played all 50 minutes of the game, scored 18 points for the second consecutive game, while junior guard Jayla Hemingway chipped in a career-best 16 points.
 
Niblack opened the game by scoring the first four points for WVU, while Gray tacked on the next three for the Mountaineers. West Virginia held Oklahoma to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting over the first 5:08 of the game and led by five at the first media break.
 
Gray kept up her scoring after the break and pushed WVU's lead to 9-2. The Sooners' offense then erupted for six unanswered points to cut West Virginia's advantage to one. Following a pair of Mountaineer free throws, an Oklahoma 3-pointer took the lead away and forced WVU to call a timeout.
 
OU ended the quarter on a 15-8 run following the media break to take the lead, but 10 first-quarter points from Niblack kept the Mountaineers in the game heading to the second quarter.
 
West Virginia tacked on a pair of 3-pointers to begin the second quarter, but nine points by the Sooners helped them widen the gap to 26-21 with 6:45 remaining in the half. Following an and-1 try by Gray, OU sank another triple, but Smith fired right back with a 3 of her own, as WVU trailed Oklahoma, 29-26, at the media timeout.
 
The two teams traded out of the break, but Smith's third 3-pointer of the game tied the game up with 3:20 to play in the half. Gray then added a floater in the lane to give WVU the lead with 2:17 left in the quarter. West Virginia rode a 9-0 into the halftime locker room and led Oklahoma, 37-31.
 
After OU pulled within three to begin the second half, West Virginia ripped off a 9-0 run, which included four points from Gray and three from Hemingway to jump out to a 10-point lead over the Sooners. Oklahoma was forced to call a timeout at the 6:52 mark in the period.
 
West Virginia's lead was cut to five at the media break, as the Sooners ripped off a 7-2 run following their timeout. WVU led OU, 48-43, with less than five minutes to go in the quarter.
 
After each team sank a pair of free throws, Smith netted a trio at the line to make it a 53-45 game in favor of the Mountaineers. Oklahoma responded with a 14-6 run to close out the quarter, as the two teams were tied heading into the fourth period.
 
Smith sank her fourth triple of the game to open the quarter to reclaim the lead, but Oklahoma followed up with a score on its end. The two teams then commenced to jockey for the lead until WVU called a timeout with 6:13 remaining in the game, when the Mountaineers held a 69-68 lead.
 
WVU went on a 6-0 run after the timeout to stretch its lead to 75-68 with 3:22 remaining in regulation. Oklahoma cut it to five a couple of times over the next two minutes, but West Virginia led 77-72 with just under two minutes to play in the quarter. Oklahoma cut WVU's lead to two points with 36 seconds remaining with a 3-pointer.
 
Following a pair of Smith free throws, OU's Taylor Robertson was fouled while shooting and went to the free-throw line. Robertson would make all three free throws with 18 seconds remaining to force overtime.
 
The two teams traded scores to open the first overtime period, but WVU added four unanswered to take an 84-80 lead with 3:45 to play. Oklahoma cut into West Virginia's lead at the stripe, but another score by Gray at the 2:34 mark made it an 86-81 WVU game. The two teams played even for the rest of the period to force a second overtime.
 
West Virginia fell behind, 94-89, to begin double overtime, but quickly countered to cut the game to one. Oklahoma sank another 3-pointer to go up by four with less than three minutes to play. West Virginia cut it to two twice over the next two minutes, before freshman guard JJ Quinerly tied the game with 32 seconds left. However, OU's Madi Williams came up with the score of the game, as she scored with seven seconds to play to seal the Sooners' victory.
 
The Mountaineers finished the game shooting 37of-74 (50%) from the field, including 8-of-15 (53.3%) from 3-point range. WVU forced 24 Oklahoma turnovers in the game, while the bench scored 35 points. Additionally, 50 of West Virginia's 99 points came in the paint.
 
Next up, West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Wednesday, Feb. 9, as the Mountaineers play host to Kansas. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, inside the WVU Coliseum. The contest against the Jayhawks will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.