On Wednesday night, the West Virginia women’s basketball team picked up its second straight Big 12 home win in dramatic fashion, winning 62-60 after a Kansas layup barely rolled off the rim at the end.
Heading into the game, head coach Dawn Plitzuweit knew she would be without starters Jayla Hemingway and Kylee Blacksten, who combined, average over 16 points and nine rebounds a game. Despite dealing with the injury bug, West Virginia (16-8, 7-6 Big 12) saw a consistent performance from fifth-year senior guard Madisen Smith, who registered a team-high 17 points, but also found valuable minutes in Isis Beh and Kyah Watson, who stepped up and combined for 27 points to help take down the Jayhawks in the second meeting of the season.
“I thought some young ladies had to step up and make things happen, and I thought we were able to do that,” head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said when asked about the depth of the team.
The Mountaineers appeared sloppy out of the gate against Kansas without the services of starters Jayla Hemingway and Kylee Blacksten, as the Jayhawks took an early 7-0 lead to begin the first quarter.
Despite the shaky start, West Virginia adjusted and got production from Madisen Smith, Kyah Watson, and Sarah Bates to claw their way back into the young contest. Smith and Watson each connected on two three-pointers, helping lead the Mountaineers with six points a piece in the opening frame, while Bates added a three-ball herself.
After giving up seven points in the first three minutes, the WVU adjusted to the talented Kansas offense that features three players that average 14 points per game or more. The Jayhawks would only score seven more points across a seven-minute span, and with the effeciency of Smith and Watson on offense, WVU took a 17-14 lead into the second quarter.
In the second, an unsuspecting Mountaineer stepped up to maintain the first quarter lead, and that was backup forward Isis Beh. With starting forward Kylee Backsten, who averages over six points and three rebounds, out with an injury, something would have to give for Dawn Plitzuweit’s squad, and Beh stepped up in the second quarter, recording nine points while shooting 3-for-4 from the field.
Along with Beh’s efforts off the bench, WVU got another seven points from the combination of Watson and Smith, and Danni Nichols added a three-pointer to help the Mountaineers keep the pressure on the Kansas offense.
As for Kansas, the shots started to fall a bit in the second quarter, as the Jayhawks shot 5-for-8 from the field as a team. Zakiyah Franklin, who finished the game with 16 points, added five of points in the quarter to bring her halftime total to 11. Despite the shots starting to fall, West Virginia outscored Kansas 19-15 in the period, and with a Beh three-pointer with two seconds remaining in the half, the Mountaineers took a 36-29 lead into the break.
The third quarter was an evenly matched frame, as both teams put up 14 points in the ten minutes. Kansas got most of its third quarter production from forward Taiyanna Jackson, a 6-foot-6 senior who averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds going into the contest. Jackson finished the night with 20 points, eight of which came in the third quarter as she shot 4-for-4 from the field.
Leading 47-43 in the final seconds of the third quarter, Madisen Smith made a play only she could make for the Mountaineers, as the fifth-year guard split two Kansas defenders and hoisted a long three-pointer at the buzzer, banking the shot in off the glass to extend WVU’s lead to 50-43 going into the game’s final quarter.
In the fourth, the drama intensified until the game’s final seconds. While protecting a 56-51 lead with just over five minutes left to play, WVU guard JJ Quinerly knocked down a huge three-pointer to extend WVU’s lead to 59-51. With time dwindling, Kansas made a push when Wyvette Mayberry made a three-pointer to cut the WVU lead to 60-56 with just over two minutes to play. After the Mayberry three-ball, WVU got a clutch basket from Beh off a turnover that made the score 62-56 with 1:26 left to play.
With 22 seconds left, Kansas’s Holly Kersgieter made a second-chance basket to cut the lead to 62-58 and keep the pressure on the Mountaineers. The pressure intensified when Kansas’s Chandler Prater stole the ball from Smith which led to Mayberry layup, cutting the deficit to 62-60 with nine seconds left to play.
Needing another steal, Kansas could not stop the Mountaineers, so a foul was given on WVU’s Danni Nichols. Nichols missed both free throws, and now the door was open for the Jayhawks.
The ball was in Franklin’s hands, as just seconds before time expired, she dished the ball to Jackson who was 9-for-9 from the field in the game. Franklin put up a layup and the ball narrowly missed off the rim and Watson secured the rebound at the buzzer and West Virginia held on to the 62-60 win.
“That was a stressful moment, definitely,” Smith said after the win. “I told Kyah (Watson) to rebound it, she got it, game over.”
The Mountaineers will be back in action on Sunday, February 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The action can be viewed on ESPNU.
