Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Off the heels of fifth-year senior guard Madisen Smith's eighth career 20-point performance, the West Virginia University women's basketball team (17-10, 8-8 Big 12) picked up a senior night win over Kansas State, 67-58, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Saturday.
 
Smith scored 20 points for the fourth time this season, on 8-of-13 shooting, while adding six boards and two steals. Her rebounds were a team-high, leading the Mountaineers in that category for the first time this season.
 
West Virginia never trailed in the contest after scoring on their opening possession, leading for over 39 minutes, in a game that was only tied twice, at tipoff and in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
 
Senior guard Jayla Hemingway finished in double-figures for the 11th time this season, while adding five steals and five rebounds. Her steals are a career-best performance. All ten Mountaineers that saw action in the game contributed with points as eight finished with at least two rebounds.  
 
As a team, WVU shot 37.3% (22-of-59) from the floor, including 80.0% (16-of-20) from the charity stripe. The Wildcats were more efficient on the night, knocking down 23-of-55 (41.8%) of their attempts.
 
Leading 10-9 with six minutes gone in the first, West Virginia used a 13-0 run, capped off by junior guard Savannah Samuel's buzzer-beater, to lead by 14. The run came after shooting 50 percent from the floor as seven Mountaineers scored. Kansas State coughed up nine turnovers, resulting in 13 points for WVU.
 
WVU and the Wildcats matched scoring efforts to the midway point of the second eight points. Leading 31-19 at 4:05, West Virginia scored on three straight possessions, increasing their lead to its largest of the half at 19 points. Kansas State scored the final six points of the half, over the last two minutes, as the Mountaineers took a 38-25 lead into the locker room.
 
Kansas State clawed back into the game in the third, producing a 13-0 run in the middle part of the quarter. The scoring spurt cut the WVU lead down to five, at 43-38 with just under four to play. Despite knocking down 2-of-3 attempts to open the quarter, WVU's offense went cold, failing to score for over eight minutes until Smith's layup with four seconds to play. The bucket gave the Mountaineers a 45-40 lead at the end of three.
 
The Wildcats leveled the score at 45-45 with back-to-back buckets to open the final frame. A Hemingway 3-pointer and a Smith driving layup quickly pushed the WVU lead back to five with 8:30 to play. The Mountaineers shot 50 percent from the floor in the quarter, extending their lead to as many as 12 points with just over a minute to play, before securing a nine-point, 67-58 victory.
 
With the result, West Virginia moves to 18-7 all-time against Kansas State, including 8-3 in games played in Morgantown.
 
West Virginia stays home for fan appreciation night on Wednesday at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The matchup is against Oklahoma State with tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the Mountaineer Sports Network, including 100.9 WZST-FM.