MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia had a 14-point lead on senior day, desperately needing to fortify its postseason resume with a win over No. 25 Oklahoma State.
But despite Teana Muldrow’s 23 points and Chania Ray’s 16, their home finale devolved into a 79-69 loss Saturday, potentially wrecking the Mountaineers’ search for an NCAA bid.
“I know what we have to do — we’re not going to do it right now,” said WVU coach Mike Carey. “When you need a game to go to the NCAA (Tournament) and I have to beg people during timeouts and beg people to play hard, we have a problem.”
The visitors took control by outscoring WVU 26-11 in the third quarter.
Freshman Braxtin Miller scored 23 for Oklahoma State (19-9, 14-3) while Lloryn Goodwin scored 22. Kaylee Jensen contributed a huge double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
“I think we were down 14 or 15 at one point and they just kept grinding away. Very proud of our group,” said Cowgirls coach Jim Litell. “Miller was pretty special tonight. Every time we penetrated and they came off to help, she hit a big 3.”
Juniors Katrina Pardee and Naomi Davenport also finished with 14 and 10 points respectively for WVU, which will be a heavy underdog Monday night when it ends the regular season in Waco against No. 3 Baylor.