MORGANTOWN — The WVU women’s basketball team tallied its 10th win of the season on Tuesday evening, as the Mountaineers defeated TCU 66-54 at the WVU Coliseum.
Junior forward Esmery Martinez netted her third consecutive double-double in the victory and led the team in scoring, with 16 points. The Hato Mayor Del Ray, Dominican Republic, native also tallied 10 rebounds in the contest. Martinez now has seven double-doubles on the year and 22 in her career, tied for No. 7 in program history with Lisa Szymczak (1993-96).
Martinez was joined in double figures by freshman guard JJ Quinerly, who tallied 11 points. It marks Quinerly’s fourth game with 10 or more points this season. Fifth-year senior center Blessing Ejiofor finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to pace West Virginia on the glass.
Additionally, senior forward Kari Niblack tallied seven points in the game and has 990 tallies in her WVU career. She needs 10 points to become the 38th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
“We started the game well. We finished the game well,” WVU coach Mike Carey said. “We executed well at the end of the game. In between, we fouled too much. We could never get into a rhythm because we kept fouling and putting them at the foul line. So, we could never get out. That’s disappointing, but I thought the last four minutes, five minutes of the game, we executed very well. We got the ball where it needed to be.”
West Virginia (10-7, 3-4 Big 12) struck first and led 8-1 in the early going, as junior guard KK Deans struck from 3-point range twice. Following the media break, the Mountaineers tacked on nine more points, including five from junior guard Jayla Hemingway, to hold a 17-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
WVU held TCU to 0-9 from the field in the first period, and the one point allowed set a new program record. West Virginia also forced 11 Horned Frogs turnovers in the quarter.
The Mountaineers stretched their lead to 19 points thanks to a Quinerly 3-pointer to begin the second quarter. Over the next two minutes, TCU’s offense came alive and cut WVU’s lead to 11 points, but West Virginia kept its distance with a pair of scores. The Mountaineers led the Horned Frogs, 30-17, at the second-quarter media break.
West Virginia ripped off a 7-1 run coming out of the break, which forced TCU to call a timeout with just over a minute to play in the quarter. The Horned Frogs countered the Mountaineer run with a 3, but another basket helped WVU hold a 39-22 at halftime.
Quinerly finished the first half with 11 points to lead all scorers.
After TCU opened the second half on a 6-0 run, West Virginia called a timeout but continued to lead, 39-28.
Following another Horned Frogs’ basket, the Mountaineers jumped out to an 8-0 run, which included 3’s from Martinez and Hemingway. TCU then netted three points, as WVU led by 14 at the media timeout.
Fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray scored twice before the end of the quarter to keep the Mountaineers out in front, as West Virginia held a 51-39 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
WVU’s lead was cut to single digits over the opening minutes fourth quarter, but the Mountaineers countered with seven points, including a 3-pointer from senior guard Madisen Smith, to jump out in front by 13 with just over six minutes to play.
TCU continued to chip away at West Virginia’s lead, but WVU continued to respond on its end of the court, which helped it hold on and secure its 10th victory of the season.
Next up, West Virginia plays host to No. 11 Baylor on Saturday at the Coliseum. Saturday’s tilt is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The contest against the Bears is West Virginia’s annual “I Belong” event, which celebrates diversity and inclusion in the Morgantown community.
