West Virginia fell on the road to the No. 10 ranked Kansas State Wildcats 73-64 in overtime.
In the first quarter the defense of the Mountaineers showed, forcing 10 turnovers and only allowing two field goals. West Virginia used their defensive effort to jump out to a 13-5 lead after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter the Wildcats were able to find their rhythm on offense, going on a 9-5 run in the first four minutes to cut the lead down to three.
West Virginia halted the run after a JJ Quinerly layup to bring the lead out to 20-15 in favor of West Virginia. The two teams would trade baskets before Kansas State tied the game at 22 after a layup from Eliza Maupin. The final two minutes of the half would be scoreless, sending the teams to the locker room tied at 24.
The second half started strong for both teams, with the Wildcats Ayoka Lee making a layup just to be answered with a three from JJ Quinerly to give WVU a 27-26 lead. Kansas State took the lead right back at 30-27 before a layup from Danelle Arigbabu and a pair of free throws from Quinerly gave WVU a 31-30 lead.
West Virginia would ride this momentum and go on a 11-5 run in the final six minutes of the third quarter and take a 41-35 lead into the final quarter.
The final quarter of play would be nothing but chaos, as the game would be tied once again after just three minutes of play.
The two would then trade three pointers as Kyah Watson would knock one down for the Mountaineers whilst Kansas State’s Taryn Sides would answer immediately to tie the game at 47.
With a minute to play Kansas State jumped out to a 55-51 lead. A layup from Quinnerly would make it 55-53 with 30 seconds to play. The Mountaineers would intentionally foul Brylee Glenn who went one for two from the line, before West Virginia would call their final timeout.
West Virginia turned the ball over on the inbound, leading to another intentional foul, this time on Maupin. Maupin would also go one for two from the line, giving the Wildcats a 57-53 lead.
Quinerly would knock down a quick three for West Virginia, cutting the lead to one with just five seconds remaining.
West Virginia would intentionally foul once again, this time on Ayoka Lee, who would also go one for two from the line. The Mountaineers’ Jordan Harrison would go the length of the court to make a left handed layup at the buzzer to tie the game at 58 and send it to overtime.
In the end, Kansas State would prove to be too much for the Mountaineers in overtime, outscoring West Virginia 15-6 in the extra five minutes of play. West Virginia would shoot 2-9 from the field in overtime, while Kansas State shot 3-4, but the difference proved to be the Wildcats’ ability to get to the free throw line, going 9-11 in overtime.
West Virginia will be in action again this Saturday as they play host to the No. 24 ranked Baylor Bears, with tip-off set for 2:00.
