WVU Women’s Basketball wins Big 12 title

Tynice Martin led the way for the West Virginia as they upset No. 2 Baylor, 77-66, in the Big 12 Tournament final on Monday night.

The win gave the Mountaineers an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and their first conference title since winning the Atlantic 10 in 1989.

After a back-and-forth first few minutes, Martin led WVU on a 7-0 run to close the 1st quarter up 22-14.

After bringing the game to double digits, the Mountaineers surrendered a couple of shots in the last minute to the Lady Bears to go into the locker room only up nine, 39-30.

In the third quarter, Martin and Teana Muldrow led the Mountaineers as they nearly doubled up Baylor 26-14 to take a 65-44 lead to close the quarter.

It seemed like West Virginia would cruise to victory.

But we all know better than that don’t we?

Kim Mulkey’s Lady Bears’ suffocating defense allowed only two shots from the field in the course of nine and a half minutes and narrowed the Mountaineer lead to six with 28 seconds left.

Free throws by Martin and Alexis Brewer saved the game for West Virginia.

Martin finished a game-high 32 points in the upset and won Most Outstanding Player honors.

The loss for Baylor marks the first time since 2010 that they have not clinched an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament (not that they would ever need it).

West Virginia now has a week off before figuring out where they will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is on Monday, March 13 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.