No. 19 West Virginia women beat Kansas, win 11th straight

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Kysre Gondrezick scored 19 points, Esmery Martinez and Kari Niblack added 17 apiece, and No. 19 West Virginia beat Kansas 69-61 on Wednesday night for its 11th straight win.

West Virginia (16-2, 10-2 Big 12) led by 16 points early in the third quarter and had a 63-53 advantage with 2:11 remaining. Holly Kersgieter converted a four-point play as part of an 8-2 surge to pull the Jayhawks to 65-61 with 24 seconds left, but they didn’t get closer.

The Mountaineers’ win streak is their longest since 2018-19, when they won 13 consecutive contests. It’s also the longest active win streak in the Big 12.

Gondrezick, who averages 21.5 points, made three of West Virginia’s five 3-pointers. Martinez had a career-best five steals and Niblack was 7-of-9 shooting. Kirsten Deans added 11 points.

Kersgieter had career highs with 25 points and four steals to lead Kansas (7-10, 3-8), which has lost five of its last six. Tina Stephens had 11 points.

Kansas plays at Kansas State on Saturday. West Virginia hosts Oklahoma on Sunday.


More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.