MORGANTOWN, W.VA. (KXAN) — No. 24 Texas dominated the boards and rode a balanced offensive attack Wednesday to top West Virginia 69-56 in a Big 12 Conference women’s basketball game at the WVU Coliseum.
The Longhorns won their fourth consecutive game and picked up a key road win with another game away from Moody Center against Kansas on Saturday, and they did it by clobbering the Mountaineers with a 39-25 rebounding advantage, including a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass. That led to 33 scores in 71 possessions for the Longhorns against just 27 scores in 70 possessions for West Virginia. The teams shot about the same percentage but Texas put more up and made more. The Longhorns sank 26-of-61 shots while the Mountaineers made 21-of-50.
MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters
Four Longhorns scored double figures led by Sonya Morris. She scored 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers with five rebounds. Rori Harmon, at least by her standards, had a rough shooting night at 5-for-16, but she managed to score 14 points while chipping in six rebounds and six assists. Taylor Jones scored 12 points off the bench with six boards and Shaylee Gonzales scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists. Deyona Gaston scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Texas built a 31-22 halftime lead and quelled a third-quarter rally by the Mountaineers with a 21-11 advantage in the fourth. Texas scored 17 second-chance points to West Virginia’s five and the Longhorns had 14 assists to the Mountaineers’ three. Both teams committed 18 turnovers.
The Longhorns (17-6, 8-2 Big 12 Conference) hold on to first place in the Big 12 with the win. Iowa State lost to Kansas State 78-76 to fall a game behind Texas in the standings.