Esmery Martinez Double-Double Leads WVU Women Past Kansas State

The No. 20 West Virginia University women’s basketball team won its 13th conference game of the season Wednesday with a 72-64 victory at Kansas State.

The win gives the Mountaineers (19-4, 13-4 Big 12) the most regular season wins in Big 12 play since the 2013-2014 team won 16 conference games.

Sophomore forward Esmery Martinez led WVU on Wednesday with her 13th double-double of the season — tying her career high with 23 points to go with 12 rebounds. Senior guard Kysre Gonfrezick finished with 14 points while sophomore guard Kirsten Deans had 13 points and junior guard Jasmine Carson chipped in with 11 points.

WVU connected on 27 of 54 field goal attempts Wednesday with a 10 of 19 mark behind the 3-point line.

Both teams traded the lead in the first half before the Mountaineers began to pull away with a 41-32 lead after two quarters. That lead would stretch to as many as 13 points in the third quarter before K-State (8-16, 3-14 Big 12) stormed back to take a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but West Virginia would quickly reclaim its advantage and held Kansas State off down the stretch for the win.

WVU returns to action next week on Monday in its regular-season finale at Baylor. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. with the broadcast streaming on ESPN+