MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Missouri trounced hurting and short-handed West Virginia, 68-51, in front of 1,273 fans inside the WVU Coliseum Sunday, as part of the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
West Virginia guard scored her 1,000th career point in the loss. She also tied former standout Bria Holmes for No. 8 on the Mountaineers’ all-time made 3-point field goals list with 189.
“Probably the only good thing of this game is that Katrina got her 1,000 points. That’s good to see,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said.
Little else was.
The Mountaineers (4-2) entered the game without senior center Theresa Ekhelar, who was out attending to a personal matter, according to the school.
Sophomore point guard Kysre Gondrezick played 21 minutes on a hurt hamstring and was held scoreless.
“I saw that she’s on crutches,” Carey said. “I’m sure it was the hamstring still. Give her credit for trying it. (She) tried to come because of the lack of bodies, lack of players. She wasn’t herself, couldn’t play like she normally does.”
Tynice Martin led WVU with 18 points and Pardee finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
Freshman forward Kari Niblack made her first career start and finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Naomi Davenport, who is already playing out of position as a power forward, moved to center to replace Ekhelar.
The move did not help the stat sheet. Davenport shot just 4 of 20 from the field and finished with nine points.
“She had been playing well and (had) been scoring well inside and out,” Carey said. “It just seemed like she didn’t have any energy today. (She) didn’t have lift on her shot. I think she got a little frustrated, missing some easy ones she normally makes.”
Missouri (6-2), which led, 34-23, at halftime, held the Mountaineers to 17 of 61 (27.9 percent) shooting.
