No. 19 West Virginia women beat Kansas, win 11th straight

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (AP) — Kysre Gondrezick scored 19 points, Esmery Martinez and Kari Niblack added 17 apiece, and No. 19 West Virginia beat Kansas 69-61 on Wednesday night for its 11th straight win.

West Virginia (16-2, 10-2 Big 12) led by 16 points early in the third quarter and had a 63-53 advantage with 2:11 remaining. Holly Kersgieter converted a four-point play as part of an 8-2 surge to pull the Jayhawks to 65-61 with 24 seconds left, but they didn’t get closer.

The Mountaineers' win streak is their longest since 2018-19, when they won 13 consecutive contests. It’s also the longest active win streak in the Big 12.

Gondrezick, who averages 21.5 points, made three of West Virginia's five 3-pointers. Martinez had a career-best five steals and Niblack was 7-of-9 shooting. Kirsten Deans added 11 points.

Kersgieter had career highs with 25 points and four steals to lead Kansas (7-10, 3-8), which has lost five of its last six. Tina Stephens had 11 points.

Kansas plays at Kansas State on Saturday. West Virginia hosts Oklahoma on Sunday.

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