Morgantown, W.Va. ? West Virginia held Kansas to 15 first-half points and hung on for a 59-56 victory in Big 12 women’s basketball Tuesday night.
Chelsea Gardner and Asia Boyd led KU with 18 points apiece, and Gardner added 12 rebounds.
The Jayhawks trailed 27-15 at halftime after going the final 5:15 of the first half without scoring.
KU, which never led, tied the game at 53 on a jumper by Gardner at 2:34. The Jayhawks later sliced West Virginia’s lead to one point, 57-56, on three free throws by Asia Boyd.
But West Virginia sealed the victory on two free throws by Linda Stepney with six seconds left.
KU fell to 13-12 overall and 4-8 in Big 12 play, while West Virginia improved to 15-9 and 5-7. The Jayhawks will host Texas at 7 p.m. Saturday.
KANSAS (56)
MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Chelsea Gardner 40 9-14 0-0 3-12 1 18
Natalie Knight 39 3-11 0-0 2-4 3 8
Lauren Aldridge 40 2-8 0-0 0-2 2 5
Chayla Cheadle 14 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 0
Jada Brown 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0
Asia Boyd 29 6-14 3-5 0-3 3 18
Terriell Bradley 31 2-4 0-0 0-2 2 5
C. Manning-Allen 5 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 2
team 3-5
Totals 23-55 3-5 8-32 14 56
Three-point goals: 7-21 (Boyd 3-9, Knight 2-4, Bradley 1-3, Aldridge 1-4, Cheadle 0-1). Assists: 15 (Aldridge 6, Knight 3, Boyd 3, Gardner, Cheadle, Bradley). Turnovers: 13 (Boyd 5, Bradley 3, Knight 2, Brown 2, Aldridge). Blocked shots: 3 (Gardner 3). Steals: 4 (Knight 2, Aldridge, Bradley).
WEST VIRGINIA (59)
MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Bria Homes 38 1-14 5-8 0-1 2 27
Averee Fields 38 5-11 0-0 3-7 1 10
L. Montgomery 25 3-8 0-0 1-8 4 6
Bre McDonald 24 1-6 2-3 0-2 4 4
Linda Stepney 37 0-2 3-4 0-7 1 3
Jessica Morton 15 2-7 0-0 0-1 0 4
Teana Muldrow 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 3
Crystal Leary 14 1-1 0-1 0-0 0 2
K. Montgomery 3 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0
team 1-4
Totals 24-51 10-16 6-31 12 59
Three-point goals: 1-4 (Muldrow 1-1, Holmes 0-1, McDonald 0-1, Morton 0-1). Assists: 11 (Holmes 4, Stepney 3, Fields 2, L. Montgomery, Morton). Turnovers: 9 (Holmes 4, Morton 2, L. Montgomery, McDonald, Stepney). Blocked shots: 6 (L. Montgomery 3, Morton, Muldrow, Leary). Steals: 7 (Holmes 2, Fields 2, L. Montgomery, McDonald, Leary).
Kansas 15 41 — 56
West Virginia 27 32 — 59
Officials: Beverly Roberts, Brian Hall, Maj Forsberg. Attendance: 1,563.
