No. 22 West Virginia women blow big lead, edge Orange 71-69
WINTER PARK, Fla. -- Tynice Martin scored 24 points, Kysre Gondrezick added 23 and No. 22 West Virginia held on to defeat Syracuse 71-69 on Sunday after blowing a 20-point first-half lead.
Madisen Smith added 10 points for the Mountaineers (9-1), who went 2-0 in the Florida Sunshine Classic. They beat No. 19 Michigan State on Saturday.
Kiara Lewis poured in career-high 32 points with six assists for the Orange (6-5), who found themselves down 20 less than four minutes into the second quarter. That's when Lewis took over and made it a game.
Gondrezick scored five points as the Mountaineers closed the first quarter with a 15-0 run to lead 20-6. Martin scored seven straight West Virginia points with her 3-pointer making it 30-10 at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter.
Lewis then scored five straight points and nine in an 11-0 Syracuse run. The Orange got within eight before West Virginia took a 37-25 lead at the half.
Lewis scored the first six points of an 8-0 run that closed the third quarter, pulling Syracuse within 52-51 and Amaya Finklea-Guity's layup to start the fourth quarter gave the Orange a lead.
Lewis gave Syracuse its last lead, 69-68 with 42.5 seconds to play. West Virginia regained the lead with two Martin free throws at 35 seconds. Syracuse lost the ball on a 3-second violation with 9 seconds to go. Gondrezick made a free throw before a potential winning 3-pointer by Emily Engstler missed the mark.
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More AP women's basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
Game Information
- Referees:
- Nykesha Thompson
- Kevin Pethtel
- Natasha Curry
2024-25 Big 12 Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| BYU | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| Kansas State | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| Oklahoma State | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| TCU | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| Texas Tech | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| West Virginia | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| UCF | 0-0 | - | 4-0 |
| Arizona | 0-0 | - | 5-1 |
| Colorado | 0-0 | - | 5-1 |
| Iowa State | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Kansas | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Baylor | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
| Cincinnati | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
| Utah | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
| Arizona State | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
| Houston | 0-0 | - | 2-3 |
2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 0-0 | - | 5-0 |
| Georgia Tech | 0-0 | - | 4-0 |
| Miami | 0-0 | - | 4-0 |
| Notre Dame | 0-0 | - | 4-0 |
| Boston College | 0-0 | - | 5-1 |
| Duke | 0-0 | - | 5-1 |
| Florida State | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Pittsburgh | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Stanford | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Virginia | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Virginia Tech | 0-0 | - | 4-1 |
| Clemson | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
| North Carolina | 0-0 | - | 3-1 |
| Louisville | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
| NC State | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
| Wake Forest | 0-0 | - | 3-2 |
| SMU | 0-0 | - | 2-3 |
| Syracuse | 0-0 | - | 2-3 |
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