MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — When it came to hustle plays Monday night, 17th-ranked West Virginia was a few steps slow against No. 6 Baylor.
Queen Egbo scored a career high 26 points and added 10 rebounds and teammate Dijonai Carringston added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Baylor ran away with a 96-73 victory inside the Ferrell Center.
“We were right there with them and had a lead (in the first half),” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “They pounded us on the boards and we started going one-on-five. It was bad shots.”
The difference came down to rebounds, second-chance points and points in the paint.
And while the Mountaineers kept it as close as a five-point game midway through the third quarter, Baylor (22-2, 17-1 Big 12) still dominated in all of those categories.
The Bears held a 53-28 advantage on the boards and a 23-8 lead in offensive rebounds. That led to Baylor’s 28 second-chance points and an amazing 64 points in the paint.
“We were giving up offensive rebounds on foul shots,” Carey said. “That’s unheard of. That’s just a matter of not stepping back and blocking out.”
It was the most points scored against the Mountaineers in any Big 12 game ever. WVU joined the conference in 2012. It was the most in any game since Ohio State went for 96 on Dec. 22, 2014.
It didn’t help WVU much that Esmery Martinez had three quick fouls called on her in the first quarter and teammate Kari Niblack had two and the two forwards were forced to sit on the bench for much of the first half.
“They wouldn’t have been in foul trouble if they would have stepped back and boxed out,” Carey said. “We got lazy in the paint and you can’t get lazy against Baylor or else this happens. You get in foul trouble and they start pounding it inside.”
WVU’s leading scorer, Kysre Gondrezick, was held to seven points on just 3 of 11 shooting, and the senior came up limping in the third quarter when it appeared she twisted her left ankle.
After getting helped to the bench, Gondrezick did go back into the game moments later, but was never able to find any offensive rhythm.
Carey said she would be OK to play in the Big 12 Tournament later this week.
“I think she’ll be OK,” Carey said. “We’ve got three days to get it back. She didn’t sprain it bad. We’ve just got to make sure we keep the swelling down and keep treating it and get her back.”
The Mountaineers (19-5, 13-5) were swept by the Bears for the seventh consecutive regular season and haven’t registered a victory over Baylor since the championship game of the 2017 Big 12 Tournament.
Baylor and WVU are the top two seeds in the conference tournament that begins Thursday in Kansas City.
The Mountaineers, who are traveling straight to Kansas City without returning to Morgantown, will not play until the quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m. Friday, against either Texas Tech or Kansas.
WVU swept both teams during the regular season.
KK Deans led WVU with 22 points. Martinez added 13 for WVU.
“They’re not going to let us on the (playing) floor a whole lot, so they’re having floors at the hotel and a couple of other places,” Carey said. “We’ll make that work. We’ll get started on Wednesday.”
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