MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The collapse of the West Virginia women’s basketball team was completed Saturday.
What was once a 13-1 and nationally-ranked WVU team finished losing 11 of its final 15 games, including a 77-63 loss against TCU in front of 2,680 fans on Senior Night inside the WVU Coliseum.
“Terrible, just terrible,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said of a WVU defense that gave up 77 points on 46% percent shooting from the Horned Frogs. “Normally, we’re not terrible on defense, but we were tonight. Slow. It started at shoot-around. We were slow, terrible. I told my assistants after the shoot-around that it was going to be a long game. You could just see it.”
It was indeed just that.
WVU never led and TCU forward Amber Heard finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“She can score at all three levels,” WVU senior guard Tynice Martin said. “She can get into the paint. She pulled up and shot the three-ball. It was just her night.”
On her Senior Night, it was not the best game for Martin, who scored 17 points, but was just 8 of 21 shooting from the floor and made only one of her 10 3-point attempts.
Just how far the Mountaineers (17-12, 7-11 Big 12) fall in the Big 12 standings after the latest setback won’t be determined until today.
If Oklahoma State beats Texas today, the Mountaineers would fall to the No. 7 seed and play Kansas on Thursday night in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament.
If Texas wins, WVU would remain the No. 6 seed and would play the Longhorns in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
In either situation, the Mountaineers now face a situation of anything short of winning the Big 12 tournament keeping them out of the NCAA tournament.
That could mean a third-straight season of playing in the WNIT, which would be the longest NCAA-tournament drought for WVU under Carey.
“I don’t know,” Martin said when asked if there was any interest in playing in the WNIT again. “I’m not thinking that far ahead. I’m only thinking about getting to the Big 12 tournament and taking it one day at a time.”
Meanwhile, TCU (22-7, 13-5) secured the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament. That, after being picked to finish eighth in the coaches’ preseason conference poll.
“Honestly, we never talk about (preseason polls),” TCU head coach Raegan Pebley said. “What’s most important for us is letting our work do the talking. We want our work, our chemistry and our culture dictate what kind of season we’re going to have. I felt like this team really locked in on each other all season.”
Outside of a small run in the fourth quarter that cut TCU’s lead, 71-61, with 3:43 left, the Mountaineers were never in position to make a serious challenge.
Martin said that was because of a lack of communication on defense.
Carey said it also had a lot do with a lack of leadership and talent from his players.
“Our attitude has to change. Our work ethic has to change. Discipline has to change,” Carey said. “I’m just frustrated right now. They’re good girls. I told them this isn’t about you being a good person or a bad person. This is about you as a basketball player.”
“They’re good young people. They all make good grades and they’re all going to graduate. They’re just not great basketball players right now. They’re not disciplined and they don’t work hard enough.”
Kianna Ray added 18 points for TCU.
Kari Niblack scored 15 for the Mountaineers, but the Mountaineers’ leading rebounder didn’t get a single board against the Horned Frogs.
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