West Virginia women close out No. 18 Iowa State, 73-64

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Lucky Rudd poured in a career-high 22 points and Tynice Martin added 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as West Virginia upset No. 18 Iowa State 73-64 on Wednesday night in women’s basketball.

Naomi Davenport chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers (12-4, 3-2), who built a 12-point first-half lead and rallied from seven down in the second half before fending off the Cyclones (13-4, 3-2).

“This was a big win for us,” coach Mike Carey said. “In the fourth quarter, I thought Tynice stepped up, Naomi stepped up, and I thought Kari hit a couple big shots from the paint. We really needed those.”

After Martin’s basket gave WVU a 25-13, Iowa State executed a 17-2 run that took up nearly eight minutes.

WVU, which survived 13 first-half turnovers, led 31-30 at the break thanks to Rudd’s 13 points.

The Cyclones led 43-36 with 5:10 to play in the third period when WVU climbed back.

With the game tied at 50 in the fourth quarter, Kari Niblack cashed in on a 3-point play to give the Mountaineers an advantage it didn’t surrender.

From there, WVU got the job done at the free-throw line, shooting 15-of-17. The Mountaineers shot 24-of-29 from the line overall.

WVU finished 22-of-50 from the field and held a 43-32 edge in rebounding.

Iowa State, which was led by Bridget Carleton’s 26 points, shot 21-of-63 from the field. The Cyclones made just five of their final 21 shots down the stretch.

“I thought West Virginia played with a lot more physical toughness than we did,” Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly said. “We just didn’t handle that very well and that’s a credit to them. Second game in a row we couldn’t shoot it at all and another game where we put the other guy at the free-throw line.

“You need to be more physical than a team like this on the road.”

Up next, West Virginia travels to No. 2 Baylor on Sunday. Tipoff at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas, is set for 5 p.m. on FS1.





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