Mountaineers women’s basketball look to avoid end of year let down like 2019 campaign
MORGANTOWN, W.Va (BVM) — Coming into the 2020-21 season the West Virginia women’s basketball team had a significantly large chip on their collective shoulder. The disappointing end to the previous season must have left a sour taste in the mouths of head coach Mike Carey as well as the returning players to the roster.
Last season after an 11-1 record at the end of non-conference play, including a trio of impressive victories over fellow Power 5 programs in Mississippi State, Michigan State and Syracuse, the Mountaineers kicked off their Big 12 schedule with three consecutive wins. Unfortunately for them, the early season success was short lived as WVU would go on to lose their next four conference games and go just 2-8 in their first ten conference games. Overall, the Mountaineers would finish with a record of 17-12, with a 7-11 record in the conference. To add insult to injury, the Mountaineers’ second leading scorer, Tynese Martin, graduated from the program along with her 14.5 point per game.
Despite all the potential adversity a team might face when coming off a discouraging season, all the while losing their second leading scorer, the Mountaineers find themselves winners of six in a row and third in the Big 12. Additionally, WVU has begun to be recognized nationally as they came in at No. 24 in this past week’s AP Poll, cracking the top 25 for the first time all season.
The Mountaineers’ success this season has not been defined by one player nor can it be accredited to West Virginia’s dominance in a single facet of the game. The mantra “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is what truly explains how the Mountaineers have attained a record of 11-2 at the end of January.
Martin left a major void in the scoring department with over 14 points a game average. It would have been difficult for one, even two, players to make up for the loss in scoring that Martin provided. It would take a group effort for the team to mitigate the absence of Martin, and that is exactly what has transpired.
Redshirt senior and last year’s team leader in points per game, Kysre Gondrezick, has upped her points per game average from a little over 15 to 20.5. Sophomore forward Esmery Martinez has almost tripled her scoring output from a little over five points per game last year to over 13 in the 2020-21 campaign. Kirsten Deans has done the same, increasing her scoring average from 5.4 points per game to 12.6. Add in solid contributions from junior forward Kari Niblack and junior guard Madisen Smith and what the Mountaineers have is a much deeper team than last year’s that is capable of prolonged, sustained success.
