MORGANTOWN, W.Va.: DiJonai Carrington scored 14 of her 19 points in the decisive third quarter and No. 7 Baylor pulled away for a 65-45 victory over West Virginia in their Big 12 opener Thursday night.
Moon Ursin added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Didi Richards and NaLyssa Smith each scored 10 for the Lady Bears (3-1, 1-0 Big 12), who bounced back from an 83-78 loss at No. 13 Arkansas on Sunday.
Carrington scored five points and Smith had four during an 11-2 run to open the third quarter as Baylor broke out of a halftime tie to build a 39-30 lead. During the spurt, Carrington hit her back hard on the floor coming down with a rebound, but she got up and immediately hit a 3-pointer.
Carrington later scored nine straight points for Baylor, including back-to-back 3s, and Richards followed with a jumper to put the Lady Bears ahead 52-34 with 2:12 left in the quarter.
West Virginia got no closer than 13 the rest of the game.
Kirsten Deans led the Mountaineers with 10 points. Esmery Martinez had nine points and 12 rebounds. Leading scorer Kysre Gondrezick scored nine but was shut out after halftime and held 14 below her average.
Baylor outrebounded West Virginia 48-37, including 17-13 on the offensive end.
BIG PICTURE
Baylor: The Lady Bears made as many 3-pointers in this game as they did in their first three combined. Baylor had gone 6 of 37 (16%) previously.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers entered as the last remaining unbeaten team in the Big 12 but were held to 15-of-54 shooting (28%) and their lowest point output of the season.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Baylor should at least maintain its ranking in the AP Top 25 after winning its only game of the week.
UP NEXT
Baylor hosts Texas Tech on Monday.
West Virginia hosts James Madison on Sunday.
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More AP womens basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25