MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — After knocking off a storied program in Tennessee for the first time in school history, the West Virginia women’s basketball team doesn’t exactly have time to enjoy its reward.
Up next: No. 7 Baylor, the top program in the Big 12 for the past 10 seasons.
“That was a big win right there,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said following the Mountaineers’ 79-73 overtime victory against the Volunteers last Sunday.
Another one against the Bears (2-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the WVU Coliseum in the Big 12 opener would be another milestone.
No fans will be permitted at the game due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Mountaineers (4-0) will face the same rebounding issue against Baylor that it did against Tennessee.
The Volunteers came away with a commanding 56-34 advantage on the boards, and, well, the Bears are the top rebounding team in the Big 12, averaging 53.7 rebounds per game.
“Again, just because they were big, doesn’t mean we can’t box out,” Carey said. “We’ve got to do a better job of stepping back and boxing out.
“It’s not just our post players. It’s the guards, too. It’s everybody.”
Baylor is led by forward NaLyssa Smith, the conference’s preseason Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-2 junior is averaging 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
She is joined down low with 6-3 center Queen Egbo, who adds 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
“To go through a little adversity early in the season is good for us,” WVU guard Kysre Gondrezick said. “Playing against Tennessee was a test for us. The fact that we overcame it, I’m really proud of it. We’ll see if we can carry that momentum over to Baylor.”
The Bears are coming off an 83-78 loss against No. 13 Arkansas, a game in which Baylor out-rebounded the Razorbacks by 13, but Baylor also committed 22 turnovers and sent Arkansas to the free-throw line 39 times.
“I’m not in there just going nuts and crazy,” Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said after the loss. “You only lost by five, you had a chance to win the game. We just didn’t do it. We didn’t have enough poise and composure and experience to win today.”
Baylor senior guard DiDi Richards has also developed into a good story.
In a preseason practice, she suffered a spinal cord injury after colliding with teammate Moon Ursin.
She was able to come back after missing only one game and is back in the Bears’ starting rotation. Richards leads the team with 15 assists and averages 6.0 points per game.
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