Mountaineers Fall to TCU on Senior Day
The Mountaineers dropped their senior day game as well as their last matchup of the season against TCU on Saturday night.
The Horned Frogs were able to get out to a 9-4 advantage through the first opening minutes of the game after a Lauren Heard three as well as a pair of layups from Heard and Yummy Morris.
Kari Niblack helped tie the game for the Mountaineers after knocking down a jumper with just under four minutes remaining in the first for the 13-13 knotted score.
Morris then helped TCU pull away again at the end of the opening quarter after a pair of layups made it a seven-point lead before Heard went up for another layup to extend the Horned Frog lead to 23-16 heading into the second.
It didn’t take very long for TCU to extend their margin even further as Kianna Ray nailed a three a few minutes into the second to push the lead to 12 points, 30-18. Michelle Berry then added on with a three of her own for the 17-point lead with five minutes left before halftime.
West Virginia was able to cut into their deficit before heading to halftime following a Smith three as well as a Tynice Martin jumper to notch the score at 39-30 heading into the locker room.
TCU came out of the gates firing in the second half after beginning the half on an 11-4 run which saw Heard account for seven of the 11 Horned Frog points through that stretch.
"Normally, we're not terrible on defense. We were terrible tonight," WVU head coach Mike Carey said. "Slow, it started at shoot around, slow, terrible. That's where it started. I told my assistants after shoot around, 'It's going to be a long game.' You just see it. (When) you've been in the business this long, you can see if they're ready or not ready. They're nowhere ready for this game, especially a team that plays six seniors and starts four seniors. We weren't ready."
Niblack was able to help keep the Mountaineer deficit under 20 points heading to the fourth quarter after the sophomore hit a layup to keep the deficit at 17 points, 62-45.
Both teams traded points through the opening minutes of the fourth before Martin knocked down a three and Esmery Martinez went in for a layup and the ten-point deficit, 71-61.
TCU then went on a 6-2 run to finish the game behind a Jayde Woods layup and free throw as well as a Ray layup and a Heard free throw to notch the final score at 77-63.
Martin led the way for the Mountaineers on the night after totaling 17 points while Niblack chipped in for 15 points in the loss.
The Mountaineers dominated the boards on their end of the court after snatching 16 rebounds as opposed to the Horned Frogs 12 offensive rebounds on the day.
West Virginia will now wait to be seeded for the Big 12 tournament which will take place following the conclusion of all Big 12 regular season matchups.
