AUSTIN, Texas — West Virginia coach Mike Carey saw his team trailing by 30 points, allowing the guards for No. 8 Texas to carve through the defense. By the end of a 73-50 loss Sunday, he called it “probably the worst defense we’ve played all year.”
Behind guard Brooke McCarty’s 18 points, the Longhorns (24-2, 13-2) outscored West Virginia 48-16 in the paint and swept the season series.
“Texas played hard, we didn’t,” Carey said. “We were turned sideways and letting them have layups. We didn’t defend on the ball pick and we let them in the lane. We weren’t rotating. Then when we did rotate, we didn’t get back out and they were hitting wide-open shots.”
Tynice Martin scored 12, Chania Ray added 10 and Arielle Roberson grabbed 13 rebounds for the Mountaineers (20-8, 9-6), who fell to 0-4 in Austin. They committed 21 turnovers and forced only nine, the fewest by Texas all season.
Bria Holmes finished 2-of-11 shooting for six points as WVU shot only 33 percent overall.
“We have been trying to find our energy and personality back again, and I think we found it today,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “We seemed to play stress-free and really focused.”
McCarty made 8-of-13 shots and was joined in double figures by Imani Boyette with 12 points and Ariel Atkins with 10.
“What was really good was (McCarty) being aggressive, along with the rest of our guards, and not thinking whether something is a good shot,” Aston said. “Our team found her because they were patient and made extra passes, and some of it was her creation. She was terrific today.”
Texas shot 48 percent overall and took the lead with an 18-5 run in the second quarter before a 15-0 run in the third quarter turned the game into a blowout.
“This is probably the worst defense we’ve played all year, but (Texas) made us do that,” Carey said. “They played well, they played aggressive and did what they had to do.”
West Virginia host TCU on Wednesday.