Mountaineers Drop Third Straight in loss to Oklahoma State
The West Virginia women’s basketball team dropped their third straight game on Wednesday while falling to Oklahoma State, 57-55.
The Mountaineers raced out to an early eight-point lead halfway through the opening quarter behind Kysre Gondrezick’s seven points which included a three to begin her streak of points.
The quarter concluded with West Virginia and Oklahoma State trading points. Lauren Fields dribbled in for a layup and Vivian Gray hit a jumper for the Cowgirls before Lucky Rudd nailed a three to end the quarter.
Oklahoma State began the second quarter on a 9-4 run and pulled within three points behind a Ja’mee Asberry three which slimmed the lead down to 22-19 four minutes into the second.
“It’s not like in the scout we didn’t say ‘No. 21 is their second-best three-point shooter stay onto her’, it’s just not urgent right now,” said Carey. “We have taken a big step back for some reason.”
Esmery Martinez then sank a pair of layups as Tynice Martin drained a pair of free throws to end the half and send the Mountaineers to the locker room with a 28-22 advantage.
The Cowgirls fought back hard after halftime as Vivian Gray nailed a three to put Oklahoma State ahead by three with two minutes remaining in the third.
Gray then sank a pair of free throws before Rudd and Kirsten Deans each dribbled in for layups to end the third and give Oklahoma State the 38-37 lead.
“I feel it in myself and I’m sure other players feel it too, sluggish, slow, running up and down the court once or twice then feeling out of breath, it happens, I’m not sure why or what we need to do,” said Martin.
WVU G Tynice Martin
The Mountaineers retook the lead early in the fourth following an Ejiofor jumper before Deans and Martin nailed a pair of free throws and Martin knocked down a jumper of her own for the six-point advantage.
Ja’Mee Asberry struck back with a pair of threes to quickly tie the ballgame while Clitan De Sousa also sank a three. Only thirty seconds later Asberry hit another three for the two-point lead before De Sousa nailed another jumper for the 57-55 win.
“I’ve been in this business for thirty years, I’ve never seen a team go like this, if you’re not hitting your shots you usually pick up your defense and get to the rim or get fouled, we’re not doing anything,” explained Carey.
Gondrezick was the only Mountaineer to finish the night in double digits while Martin and Niblack totaled nine points apiece on the night.
West Virginia will now travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on TCU on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. which will be aired on FS1.