MANHATTAN, Kan. — Esmery Martinez scored 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds to help No. 20 West Virginia beat Kansas State 72-64 on Wednesday night.
Kysre Gondrezick added 14 points, Kirsten Deans and 13 points and nine assists, and Jasmine Carson scored 11 points for West Virginia (19-4, 13-4 Big 12).
Kansas State (8-16, 3-14) scored 10 consecutive points to take its first lead at 20-19 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, but Martinez answered with a layup 30 seconds later and the Mountaineers led the rest of the way.
Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-6 sophomore center, scored 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds for Kansas State. The rest of the Wildcats made just 14 of 45 (31%) from the field.
Kansas State, which is tied with Kansas at the bottom of the conference standings, closes its regular season Sunday at Oklahoma.
The Mountaineers play No. 6 and Big 12-leading Baylor on Monday with a chance to lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, which begins March 11 in Kansas City, Missouri.
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