AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Kirsten Deans scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting, Kysre Gondrezick added 20 points, and No. 21 West Virginia beat Texas 81-75 on Saturday night for the Mountaineers’ 10th win in a row.
Esmery Martinez had 12 points and 13 rebounds — her 10th double-double of the season — and Kari Niblack scored 10 points for West Virginia (15-2, 9-2 Big 12).
Lauren Ebo made a jumper that trimmed the Longhorns’ deficit to 74-72 with 2:47 to play but about 30 seconds later they were called for a 5-second violation on an inbounds play. Deans answered with a jumper and then, after the West Virginia defense got a stop, Martinez made a layup to make it a six-point lead with 1:23 to go.
The Longhorns twice pulled within a point in the fourth quarter on Saturday but, each time, Gondrezick responded. Kyra Lambert converted a three-point play to make it 67-66 with 6:48 remaining before Gondrezick hit a 3-pointer just eight seconds later. Allen-Taylor made a 3 with 4:54 to play but Gondrezick hit two free throws to make it 72-69 and Texas shot 1 of 8 from the field thereon.
Niblack and Deans each had two of West Virginia’s four blocks, all in the final 6:04.
Charli Collier led Texas (13-5, 7-4) with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 15 and Ebo finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
West Virginia completed a sweep of its season series with the Longhorns. Texas lost 92-58 — its worst loss in a Big 12 game since 2013 — when the teams faced off in Morgantown on Jan. 9.
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