Gondrezick, Martinez Push No. 24 WVU Past TCU for 8th Straight Win
Kysre Gondrezick and Esmery Martinez are becoming quite the duo for No. 24 West Virginia. The two combined for 53 points to beat TCU on Saturday 79-70.
Gondrezick netted a career-high 30 points and grabbed 9 rebounds while shooting a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line, and Esmery Martinez scored 23 points to push the Mountaineers to their eighth straight win.
“Well, they were over-playing her.” West Virginia head coach Mike Carey said of Gondrezick’s performance. “But, see, Kysre is a smart player. She knows how to use on-ball picks. She’s one of the best players I’ve ever had that knew how to use on-ball picks.”
“Esmery played extremely well too. So I was very pleased with Esmery too,” Carey said.
West Virginia (13-2, 7-2 Big 12) needed the big game from Gondrezick and Martinez to overcome a huge game from Horned Frogs guard Lauren Heard, who scored a career-high 34 points.
TCU fought early in the first quarter to build an 11-4 lead before the Mountaineers fought back to take the lead at 18-17.
TCU (7-8, 2-8) proved to be a tough matchup as they went back and forth with the Mountaineers in the second quarter.
“Give TCU a lot of credit, they’re a good team,” West Virginia head coach Mike Carey said. “They’re a lot better than what their record is in conference.”
West Virginia pulled ahead 28-24, but that was as far as the Horned Frogs would let them go. Yummy Morris traded layups with Kari Niblack before TCU hit two layups and two free throws to put them up 32-30 with 3:28 remaining in the second quarter.
Gondrezick sunk two jumpers just before the half to give the Mountaineers a 38-35 lead. The power duo of Gondrezick and Martinez had a combined 25 going into the locker room, 12 and 13 points.
The third quarter was the deciding factor when the Mountaineers went on a 16-5 run to give them a 56-45 lead.
Bob Huggins Explains Lack of Hustle and Competitiveness is Behind the Loss to Florida
The Horned Frogs pulled back within six with 4:17 remaining. Martinez buried a pair of free throws for West Virginia, which was quickly answered by a layup from Lauren Heard to put the score at 65-59.
West Virginia answered back with two quick shots and the Horned Frogs wouldn’t get any closer than seven the rest of the game.
Gondrezick and Martinez also combined for 18 of 29 from the field, including 3 for 7 from three.
“We got girls with great character right now and we got girls that really want to win. They have a lot of heart,” Carey said.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @WVUonSI
Twitter - @SI_WVU and Matt Thornsbury at @mthornsburyap
