FORT WORTH, Texas — Despite 24 points from redshirt senior guard Tynice Martin, the No. 25 West Virginia women’s basketball team suffered a 73-60 loss to TCU, on Sunday night at Schollmaier Arena.
Martin connected on six 3-pointers to record her fifth 20-point performance of her senior campaign. She shot 6-of-13 from beyond the arc and 9-of-20 from the field to collect 24 on the night. With Sunday’s performance, Martin moves into No. 4 on WVU’s all-time scoring list, with 1,839 career points. The Atlanta native surpasses Teana Muldrow (2014-18; 1,819) for the No. 4 spot, and she needs 63 points to surpass Bria Holmes (2013-16; 2,001) and sit at No. 3.
Redshirt junior guard Kysre Gondrezick also scored in double figures at TCU, adding 13 points and three treys for West Virginia. Junior center Blessing Ejiofor and sophomore forward Kari Niblack paced the Mountaineer defensively, tallying eight rebounds and two blocks apiece. Junior guard Lucky Rudd also dished out six assists in the loss.
TCU struck first by converting a lay-up just 20 seconds in and a 3-pointer on a fast break, but Niblack countered the scores with a jumper just outside the paint. Two more scores helped the Horned Frogs jump out to an eight-point lead early, forcing the Mountaineers to call a timeout.
West Virginia (13-4, 3-4) scored coming out of the timeout thanks to a Martin jumper, but TCU (14-4, 5-2) scored five more points to add to its lead. Martin then sank a 3-pointer and redshirt freshman center Rochelle Norris added a lay-up on a dish from Rudd. TCU (kept up its scoring barrage over the final five minutes, adding 12 points to its lead. West Virginia was held scoreless over the final three minutes of the first, as TCU led 28-9.
The Mountaineers shortened the gap early in the second quarter with a 3-pointer from Gondrezick and a lay-up from Niblack, but the Horned Frogs responded with two triples of their own. The two teams traded scores before West Virginia cut into TCU’s lead with a 10-0 run, which included a pair of treys from Martin. The Horned Frogs responded by adding seven points, but Martin sank another 3-pointer just before halftime to keep the game within reach. West Virginia trailed TCU 42-31 at the half.
Both teams experienced a slow start offensively as the second half began. WVU scored once on a jumper from Gondrezick, while TCU added a lay-up and a free throw. The Mountaineers trailed by 13 at the third-quarter media timeout.
Coming out of the break, West Virginia cut TCU’s lead to 10 after Norris converted an and-one. The Horned Frogs then countered with a triple on a fast break, before the Mountaineers called their first timeout of the second half. WVU added two more scores after the break on a Gondrezick trey and a jumper by Norris. TCU added six points to keep the deficit in double digits, as the Mountaineers trailed by 15 heading into the final quarter.
Martin hit a jumper a minute and a half into the fourth, which Gondrezick followed up with a 3-point basket. Then, a TCU turnover led to a trey from Rudd, cutting the lead to single digits. WVU and TCU continued to trade baskets back and forth in the final minutes, with Martin hitting a jumper and Niblack adding a lay-up. However, the Horned Frogs made buckets of their own on the other end. With 1:43 left in the contest, Martin connected on her sixth triple of the night, but it wasn’t enough, as the Mountaineers fell 73-60.
West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Sunday, as the Mountaineers get set to host Iowa State at 2 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
