MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia women plummeted to their fourth consecutive Big 12 loss, 55-45, on Wednesday night, suffering through abysmal 3-point shooting and watching Texas Tech reel off 14 unanswered points in the second half.
Outside of Bria Holmes scoring 16 points and Averee Fields adding 14, the rest of the Mountaineers (10-6, 0-4) were 7-of-34 from the floor. After entering as the Big 12’s worst-shooting 3-point team (26 percent), West Virginia finished 1-of-16 from the perimeter.
Those struggles were evident on free throws too, where WVU went 2-of-11 compared to Tech’s 11-of-18.
“It’s pretty easy to see why we lost—30 percent from floor, 6.3 percent from 3-point, 18 percent from the foul line,” said West Virginia coach Mike Carey. “I can’t explain it. It’s unbelievable.”
Amber Battled led Texas Tech (12-4, 2-2) with 20 points and Minta Spears scored 10 as the Red Raiders snapped a 17-game losing streak away from home.
WVU trailed 22-21 at the break before Texas Tech opened the second half with a 14-0 run spanning four minutes. The margin never shrank within single digits again.
“When the second half started, we didn’t have any energy,” Carey said. “You get behind by 12 or 15 points and you start playing hard—you can’t do that.”
Though West Virginia center Lanay Montgomery grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked four shots, she was 0-of-5 from the foul line and finished with four points. Crystal Leary grabbed nine rebounds off the bench, helping the Mountaineers to a 46-40 edge.
Texas Tech shot 38 percent overall to WVU’s 31 percent.
“They only scored 55 points. It’s our offense—bottom line is you’ve got to hit some shots,” Carey said. “When (defenses) sag in the paint, then people need to step up and hit some shots.”
