LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tynice Martin moved into the top five in the West Virginia women’s basketball all-time scoring list and the No. 19 Mountaineers pulled away from Kansas with a stingy fourth-quarter defense to pull out a 68-49 victory on Wednesday.
WVU (12-1, 2-0 Big 12) completed a two-game road swing to open league play with a sweep of the Jayhawks and Kansas State.
The win against Kansas wasn’t sealed, though, until WVU outscored the Jayhawks (11-2, 0-2), 18-6, in the final quarter.
The Mountaineers only led, 50-43, heading into the fourth, but that changed when Madisen Smith scored on a lay-up with 8:15 remaining that began a scoring spree for WVU.
Aniya Thomas made two free throws for Kansas seconds later, but West Virginia held the Jayhawks scoreless for the next five minutes in building up a 66-45 advantage with 3:09 left.
Martin finished with 23 points to lead WVU. She moved past former standout Talisha Hargis and into fifth-place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,767 career points.
Up next is former teammate Teana Muldrow, who is fourth with 1,819 points.
Kysre Gondrezick added 21, as her and Martin nearly outscored the Jayhawks by themselves.
The two WVU guards combined for 12 points during that crucial 14-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Kari Niblack had 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers, which held a 45-34 advantage on the glass.
Freshman guard Kirsten Deans added eight points off the bench.
It was not the best shooting night for the Mountaineers, as they were held to just 24 of 65 (37%) from the floor. They were worse from 3-point range, finishing just 2 of 18 from behind the arc.
The Jayhawks had a tougher shooting night, finishing at 24% (16 of 67) from the field.
Mariane De Carvalho led Kansas with 12 points.
The Mountaineers return home for a showdown against Texas at 1 p.m. Sunday, in a game that could help determine the top of the conference standings.
Texas was picked ahead of the Mountaineers in the coaches’ preseason poll, but has had an up-and-down season thus far.
The Longhorns knocked off then-No. 1 Stanford, but fell to TCU in its Big 12 opener.
Texas also has a win against Tennessee, but losses to South Florida, Arizona and No. 9 North Carolina State.
