Mountaineers Squeeze by Texas Tech
The West Virginia women’s basketball team secured their 17th victory of the season Wednesday night over Texas Tech, 71-69.
After West Virginia secured the opening tip off, Madisen Smith drained a three following a pair of Kari Niblack layups. Texas Tech then got out to a 17-9 lead after a Brittany Brewer jumper with four minutes left in the first.
Kysre Gondrezick was able to make it a three point game heading into the second quarter by hitting from deep. The Mountaineers were able to tie the ball game up in the second quarter after a Kirsten Deans three and a pair of jumpers off the fingers of Smith and Niblack.
Esmery Martinez then dribbled in for a layup as well as knocking down a jumper before Gondrezick hit a three to extend the lead to five points, 30-25.
Texas Tech was then able to tie the game up following an Andrayah Adams jumper halfway through the third. Rochelle Norris and Tynice Martin helped West Virginia extend their lead to six points by the end of the third, 51-45.
The Red Raiders tied things up four minutes into the fourth as Adams and Chrislyn Carr paced Texas Tech while still leading the Mountaineers, 63-62.
Gondrezick guided the Mountaineers to a four-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation as Smith also hit a pair of free throws. Carr knocked down a three for Texas Tech with time expiring but it was not enough as West Virginia was able to hold on for the two point win.
The Mountaineer victory comes at the perfect time after falling to Baylor and Iowa State in their last two matchups.
Gondrezick led all scorers on the night by notching 19 points which was followed by Martin’s 16 points and Niblack with 12.
Despite the win, the Red Raiders shot higher than the Mountaineers from the field after knocking down 43.5% of their shots as opposed to West Virginia’s 40% mark.
West Virginia will now come back home for their last regular season matchup of the season on March 7th to take on TCU at 6 p.m. for a gold rush as well as senior day events inside the Coliseum.
