No. 20 West Virginia travels to Kansas State with opportunity to secure second place in the Big 12

MORGANTOWN — With Baylor having clinched its 11th Big 12 championship, No. 20 West Virginia now finds itself in a battle with Oklahoma State for second place in the conference.

The short-handed Mountaineers (18-4, 12-4 Big 12) could take a positive step in that direction with a victory on the road against Kansas State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“They’re aware,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said of his players. “I tell them at the end of the year, everyone is playing for seeding, whether it be for the Big 12 Tournament, whether it be for the NCAA or whatever. Everybody is playing a little bit harder right now.”

WVU STATS

WVU will have one game remaining — on the road at Baylor — after facing the Wildcats (8-15, 3-13) on Wednesday.

The Mountaineers need at least a split to secure a tie for second place with Oklahoma State, which has concluded its regular season.

If WVU and Oklahoma State tie, the Mountaineers own the tiebreaker courtesy of their season sweep of Texas.

WVU, which is playing without starting point guard Madisen Smith (hamstring), returned to Morgantown after splitting a pair of road games last week against Iowa State and Kansas.

The Mountaineers are playing their final games with just eight scholarship players, due to injuries and other players transferring.

Yet, WVU dropped two spots in the AP Top 25, despite the injuries and playing its final four games of the season on the road.

“Let’s face it, we go lose a game on the road and win a game on the road and we drop in the AP,” Carey said. “It’s just amazing to me how that happens.

“We just have to stay focused. I don’t know of any other team that has to play its last four games on the road. It’s not a good situation right now. We have limited players. It is what it is, we have to go play.”

The Mountaineers beat Kansas State, 65-56, on Jan. 20, but needed a 26-9 fourth-quarter run to pull that game out.

WVU had a full compliment of players then, something it will not have for the rematch.

“It’s a big game, but with that being said, I’m not going to practice our players hard for two hours right now,” Carey said. “We’ve got some illnesses and injuries. We don’t have fresh legs.”

Kansas State is led by sophomore center Akoya Lee, who averages 18.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. She had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting against the Mountaineers.

Kysre Gondrezick is tied for second in the league in scoring at 21.0 points per game for the Mountaineers, while teammate Esmery Martinez is third in rebounding, averaging 12.0 boards per game.

Both players will have to step up again without Smith in the lineup.

“She definitely won’t be playing in the Big 12 Tournament,” Carey said of Smith. “We’ll have to evaluate her after the Big 12 Tournament.”

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