Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite holding Oklahoma State (21-10) to more than 10 points below its season average of 76.8 points per game in quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, the West Virginia University women's basketball team (19-11) fell, 62-61, following a last-second shot by OSU inside Municipal Auditorium on Friday afternoon.
 
Fifth-year senior guard Madisen Smith (23) and sophomore guard JJ Quinerly (18) combined for 41 of West Virginia's 61 points.
 
Smith is the first player since Kysre Gondrezick in 2021 to produce four straight 20-point scoring performances, as well as surpassed Yolanda Paige (2002-2005) to become the program's all-time leader in minutes played with 4,580 off the back of a 37-minute effort against Oklahoma State.
 
After the two teams traded layups and 3-pointers to open the game tied up at 5-5, WVU found itself down three entering the first media timeout. The Mountaineers responded by closing out the first quarter on a 10-4 run, capped off by a pass from fifth-year senior guard Danni Nichols to a floating redshirt sophomore forward Isis Beh to hold 17-14 lead at the end of one.  
 
Nichols opened the scoring for West Virginia in the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the far wing to extend its lead to six, as the team continued toward its largest lead of 12 with 2:09 remaining. WVU went into the break leading 34-24, as OSU's Terryn Milton hit a jumper to close out the scoring for the half. 
 
The Mountaineers kept the Cowgirls at bay, limiting them to 38.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 35.7 percent in the second quarter after OSU started out shooting 67 percent in the first five minutes of action.
 
To begin the second half, Quinerly delivered back-to-back baskets two minutes in to keep the Mountaineers' lead at double digits (38-27). OSU responded with a 6-0 run to pull within five (38-33), forcing WVU to call a 30-second timeout.

OSU cut the deficit to three, scoring the first bucket out of the timeout, before WVU's Smith found Nichols with the shot clock running down in the near corner for a three. Quinerly added a layup off a steal to put West Virginia in front by eight (43-35).
 
Two free throws by Smith and a three-point play by Quinerly pushed the Mountaineers' lead back up to ten with 2:30 left in the third quarter. Then on the next two possessions, Quinerly found Beh for the easy layup and Smith on the far wing to extend the Mountaineers' lead to 13 and eventually led by 11 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Both the Mountaineers and Cowgirls started out slow in the fourth, but the Cowgirls rattled off seven points to be down just five with 5:19 left in regulation.
 
The Cowgirls made two free throws and tallied a three-point basket by Lior Garzon to make it a one-point game. The Mountaineers prevented them from converting off a steal, as Smith took the ball back the other way, stepped back, and swished her fifth 3-pointer to put WVU back up by four. Garzon responded with another three to push the deficit to one at the 1:30 mark.

Thirty seconds later with the Mountaineers still up one (61-60) and less than a minute to go, Milton of OSU committed an offensive foul to give the ball back to the Mountaineers with 38.2 seconds remaining in the game. A missed shot by Watson resulted in a jump ball, which gave the ball to OSU. Milton made up for her previous mistake and put the ball off the backboard. It hit the front of the rim and dropped in to allow OSU to escape with a one-point victory.
 
Next up, West Virginia awaits its postseason fate on Sunday, March 12, during the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show. The show will be broadcast on ESPN, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.