MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Kysre Gondrezick’s right hand was gashed open.
KK Deans limped to the locker room at halftime after twisting her right ankle.
Kari Niblack took a shot to the mouth and Esmery Martinez needed help from trainers just to get back to the bench.
By the time Baylor had clinched its 10th Big 12 tournament championship over the last 12 years with a 76-50 victory Saturday against West Virginia, the Mountaineers looked like they had been through hell.
And maybe they had.
“Give Baylor a lot of credit, because they’re really good,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “We’re better than what we played today, so we’re going to have to regroup and get ready for the NCAA.”
It was the seventh consecutive game WVU (21-6) had played away from home, so if there is any silver lining, it’s that the Mountaineers will finally return to Morgantown for at least a few days.
“We’ll treat (players) Monday and Tuesday and just have a practice Wednesday,” Carey said. “Once we get (to Texas), we have to quarantine and test for two days once we get there, so that’s two more days. We should be OK and healed up by then.”
As for the game, the Bears (25-2) dominated with defense, holding Kysre Gondrezick — the Mountaineers’ leading scorer — scoreless until 2:36 remained in the second quarter.
It wasn’t any easier for the rest of the team, as WVU was held to just 27% shooting (17 of 63) and made only 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
“The offense was just terrible today, terrible,” Carey said. “I changed up four different offenses and we just couldn’t get them to move it.”
West Virginia finished with just four assists — “That’s really all you need to know,” Carey said. — while Baylor point guard DiDi Richards had six by herself.
While leading by double digits for the entire second half, the Bears broke the game open in the fourth quarter.
Baylor outscored the Mountaineers, 24-8, in the fourth, as junior center Queen Egbo began to open up the middle (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Dijonai Carrington (14 points) sliced through the lane on drives.
Gondrezick, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 13 points, but needed 17 shots to get them.
She played much of the second half with a deep cut on her right hand that was eventually taped up.
Deans, who was the hero in WVU’s quarterfinal win on Friday against Kansas State, scored 15 points, but played gingerly on a sore ankle in the second half.
Martinez led the Mountaineers with 11 rebounds.
But, there was no matching Baylor’s size and athleticism.
The Bears held a 46-33 edge in rebounds and a 54-22 advantage in points in the paint and Baylor also blocked eight shots.
“When we would drive, they were sending three to the ball, so that means someone is open,” Carey said. “We weren’t moving the ball, so we end up taking a lot of tough shots.”
WVU will find out its fate Monday for its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017, the year WVU upset Baylor in the Big 12 championship game.
The Mountaineers are projected to be a No. 4 seed and the entire women’s tournament is scheduled to be played in the state of Texas.
The first-round games (March 21-22) will be spread out between San Antonio, Austin and San Marcos, while the rest of the tournament will be held in San Antonio.
“We need to put this behind us,” Carey said. “We’ll pout today and then tomorrow we need to forget about it. Once we find out who we’re playing, our concentration needs to be on who we’re playing and forget about this game.”
TWEET @bigjax3211
