AUSTIN, Texas — Tynice Martin scored 16 of her season-high 27 points in the first quarter and West Virginia snapped an 0-6 streak at the Frank Erwin Center with a 64-58 upset of No. 12 Texas on Monday night.
Martin’s explosive opening period, in which she made 7-of-8 shots from the floor, staked the Mountaineers (15-5, 6-3) to a 23-13 lead.
Martin finished 2-of-10 the rest of the way, but Naomi Davenport chipped in 15 points and Kari Niblack scored 10 points for WVU, which forced 21 Longhorns turnovers. Two of those miscues came in the final 1:20 after Texas (17-4, 7-2) drew within four points.
Joyner Holmes scored 16 points to pace Texas, while Jatarie White scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and pulled down eight rebounds. Sug Sutton recorded 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
The Longhorns had dominated the series in Austin and won 70-58 in Morgantown on Jan. 6. This time turned out differently asWest Virginia picked up a win sure to boost its NCAA tournament resume.
Niblack scored off a putback to and later recorded a three-point play with 5.5 seconds in the half to give West Virginia a 38-27 lead.
Davenport opened the second half by swishing two 3s, extending WVU’s lead to 44-30.
Texas cut the deficit to 51-49 with 6:43 to go I the game until Davenport made a jumper in the lane to jump-start 6-0 run by West Virginia.
The Mountaineers shot 40 percent from the field, including 7-of-17 from deep. Though it was outrebounded 40-27, WVU held a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers.