Mountaineers Fall to Baylor in Big 12 Title Game

Queen Egbo dropped a double-double effort scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the Bears past West Virginia 76-50 to claim theBig 12 Championship trophy on Sunday.

Dijonai Carrington added 14 points followed by another double-double performance from Moon Ursin with 12 points and 10 rebounds for No. 6/No. 1 Baylor (25-2).

Kirsten “KK” Deans scored 15 points for No. 17/No. 2 West Virginia (21-6). Kysre Gondrezick had to battle through tough Baylor defense to end the day with 13 points and Esmery Martinez had 8 points and 11 rebounds.

After winning their 11th straight regular-season title, the Bears have now captured their 11th Big 12 Tournament title. The juggernaut Baylor team hasn't lost since January 16th and used a quick start to keep that streak alive against the Mountaineers.

After KK Deans buried a three to put West Virginia up 5-2 early, the Bears roared back with a 19-7 run. A run that ended with three straight baskets to end the first, including a layup from Ursin to beat the buzzer and lock the Baylor lead at 21-12.

West Virginia couldn’t find an answer to the smothering Baylor defense for most of the game. The Mountaineers could only get 17 of their 63 (27%) attempts through the net, including 3 of 16 (18%) from beyond the arc.

But the Mountaineers found their groove in the second and it seemed as if they were yanking back all the momentum. DiDi Richards converted two free throws and Baylor went up 31-19, but West Virginia showed some life.

The Mountaineers used an Ejiofor jumper, a Carson layup, and three free throws from Gondrezick and Carson to rattle off a 7-0 run to put them right back in it 31-26 with 2:36 remaining in the half.

The two teams traded buckets and Caitlin Bickle laid in a layup to put the Bears back up by double-digits going into the locker room.

Shooting woes and sloppy play plagued the Mountaineers in the second half. They missed their first seven shots to open the third quarter and gave the ball away three times. That tough stretch extended the Bears' lead back to 15.

Gondrezick kept the Mountaineers' hopes alive as she trudged through the lane and threw in a tough layup with contact, and buried the free throw to peel back the lead to 10 just before the fourth quarter.

The Bears proved to be too much in the fourth. As the offensive pains continued to hinder West Virginia, the offense was coming easy for Baylor. They out-scoured West Virginia 24-8 in the final quarter of play as Ursin and Egbo combined for 16 of their 24 points that sealed the deal for the Bears.

Even though that puts an end to the Big 12 tournament, both teams will be back in action for the NCAA tournament. 

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