LAWRENCE, Kan. – West Virginia used a second half scoring streak to push its winning streak to eleven straight as the Mountaineers topped Kansas, 65-55, in the Big 12 opener for both teams at Allen Fieldhouse Thursday night.
The Mountaineers (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) turned their biggest deficit into their biggest lead with a 16-0 run starting near the midpoint of the second half and limited the Jayhawks (7-6, 0-1 Big 12) to just three field goals over the final 11:45 of the game to secure the win.
KU’s Natalie Knight scored a game-high 15 points, one of three Jayhawks in double figures, and helped Kansas to a 46-41 lead in the second half, but an 8:16 scoring drought saw West Virginia take control and eventually claim the victory. Asia Boyd chipped in 12 and Chelsea Gardner had 10 for Kansas.
Christal Caldwell led the Mountaineers with 14 points and was joined in double figures by Asya Bussie (13) and Taylor Palmer (11). West Virginia didn’t shoot particularly well, hitting just 34.9 percent (22-of-63) shots from the field, but the Mountaineers out-rebounded KU, 47-28, including 23 offensive rebounds.
“They had 23 offensive rebounds and we had seven,” Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “That was the difference in the game – the extra possessions.”
Kansas trailed by double digits early at 13-3, but Knight poured in five of the first six points and an offense that looked to run in transition cut the lead to 13-12, then a Knight three tied the game at 15-15 with 11:35 to play before half.
No matter how hard the Jayhawks pushed, however, West Virginia seemed to push the lead back out. KU forward Jada Brown tied the game at 19-19, but WVU’s Brooke Hampton hit a three to provide some distance.
Kansas drew close in the final minute of the half as Boyd connected on a long jumper to make it 27-26, before half, then Dakota Gonzalez finally tipped the scale in KU’s favor by intercepting an inbounds pass with five ticks before the break and laid it in to give the Jayhawks a 28-27 lead going into the locker rooms.
The point total was the third-fewest points in a half for Kansas as the season hits its middle third, but held West Virginia to its lowest first half point total of the season.
Kansas pushed the lead to as many as five points in the second half. Boyd hit a contested lay-up and added a free throw to complete the three-point play to give Kansas a 46-41 edge with 11:45 to go.
WVU scored four straight and nearly flipped the script on Boyd, who fouled Linda Stepney on a made lay-up, but a missed bonus kept KU on top 46-45. That would be KU’s final lead, however.
Caldwell drained a jumper to give WVU a 47-46 advantage at 9:04 that prompted a timeout from the Kansas head coach. The Mountaineers then turned their turned KU’s largest lead into its largest deficit.
Kansas went scoreless for more than eight minutes as the Mountaineers rolled up 16 total unanswered points and to a 57-46 advantage.
Jayhawk guard Keyla Morgan hit a three with 3:30 to end the drought and cut the deficit to eight, then hit another three with 1:15 to play but couldn’t draw KU any closer than 60-52. Cece Harper added a three in the final seconds for KU’s third bucket in the last 11 minutes of the game and West Virginia prevailed by 10.
— KU Sports Information —