Baylor beats West Virginia 76-50 for Big 12 crown

Posted March 14, 2021 7:00 am

By AVERY OSEN

West Virginia's Jayla Hemingway, right, passes the ball under pressure from Baylor's DiJonai Carrington during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the final round of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo, Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Queen Egbo scored 18 points and 11 rebounds and No. 6 Baylor beat West Virginia 76-50 to win the Big 12 Tournament on Sunday.

It is the ninth Big 12 Championship in the last 10 tournaments for top-seeded Baylor (25-2).

Dijonai Carrington added 14 and Moon Ursin had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Bears won their 17th straight game.

'œLast year we didn't have a chance so this year I'm just more appreciative and I need to make the most of every moment I have to play,'ť Egbo said. 'œThey need this on a consistent basis and I feel like we're all starting to peak at the right time.'ť

Kirsten Deans scored 15 and Kysre Gondrezick had 13 for West Virginia, which was trying to win their second Big 12 Tournament in the last four years.

'œWe didn't shoot the ball well and took a lot of bad shots,'ť West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. 'œThe offense was just terrible today.'ť

West Virginia (21-6) went 17 of 63 (27%) from the field and Baylor was 33 for 66 (50%).

The Lady Bears dominated in the paint outrebounding West Virginia 46-33 and scoring 54 points in the paint.

'œFatigue set in with both teams and I'm not surprised,'ť Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. 'œIt happens but we were able to weather the fatigue.'ť

The Mountaineers never got closer than 10 in the second half as Baylor has won 12 of its last 13 games by double digits.

'œWe have depth and I wasn't surprised we spread the lead late,'ť Mulkey said about finishing the game on a 12-0 run. 'œI was absolutely proud because it's hard coming in there late. They had fresh legs and attacked in transition. That's how you want to finish a game.'ť

It's been nearly two months since the Lady Bears last defeat, which was a 75-71 loss against Iowa State on January 16.

'œI feel for the four seniors who didn't get to do this last year,'ť Mulkey said. 'œWe had a team that could have won it all last year and I feel for those seniors.

BIG PICTURE

West Virginia: They never really got within striking distance in the second half. Earlier this month they lost to Baylor by 23 so they've improved since that game.

Baylor: The Lady Bears are the gold standard of this conference and prove it every year. The other nine teams in the Big 12 have a lot of catching up to do.

UP NEXT

Both teams will be in the NCAA Tournament which starts on March 21.

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

Baylor's DiDi Richards celebrates a basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against West Virginia in the final round of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo, Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) The Associated Press

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey talks to her team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against West Virginia in the final round of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo, Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) The Associated Press

West Virginia head coach Mike Carey talks to his players during the first half of an of an NCAA college basketball game against Baylor in the final round of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo, Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) The Associated Press

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