Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jordan Harrison recorded 21 points, six rebounds and three steals to lead West Virginia to a 62-53 victory over top-seeded TCU to win the Big 12 tournament championship game in Kansas City and claim the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Sydney Shaw contributed 17 points and seven rebounds and Kierra Wheeler added 10 points and eight rebounds for second-seeded West Virginia (27-6), which won the tournament for the first time since 2017.
Olivia Miles scored 17 points but was affected by foul trouble for TCU (29-5). Marta Suarez added 16 points and eight rebounds but was just 6-of-19 shooting before fouling out for the 10th-ranked Horned Frogs, who will receive a high at-large seed into the NCAA field.
Wheeler drove down the lane for a layup to make it 54-43 with 1:52 left in the game and Harrison added two free throws 22 seconds later as the 15th-ranked Mountaineers led by 13.
Suarez answered with five straight points to keep TCU alive, but she fouled out with 56.1 seconds left. Veronica Sheffey added two free throws as the Horned Frogs crept within 56-50 with 38.1 seconds left.
Harrison then knocked down two free throws with 33.4 seconds to go and Shaw scored on a fastbreak layup to make it a 10-point margin and seal it for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia shot 40% from the field, including 5 of 15 from 3-point range. The Mountaineers owned the boards by a 41-34 count and claimed a 15-8 advantage on points off turnovers.
The Horned Frogs connected on 33.3% of their attempts and were just 8 of 31 from behind the arc.
A key sequence occurred 39 seconds into the third quarter when Miles was called for her fourth foul. Harrison made both free throws to give the Mountaineers a 28-23 lead.
Though Miles returned to the game less than three minutes later, she reined in her aggressive style to avoid the risk of fouling out.
West Virginia later ripped off an 11-2 burst to open up a 41-30 lead. Harrison added a buzzer-beating layup as West Virginia took a 43-32 lead into the final quarter.
A putback by Wheeler gave the Mountaineers a 48-34 advantage — the game’s largest lead — with 7:56 remaining in the game.
TCU displayed life when Miles buried a trey and Taylor Bigby followed with a layup to bring the Horned Frogs within nine with 4:50 left.
Earlier, West Virginia scored the final seven points of the second quarter to take a 26-23 halftime lead that it never relinquished.
–Field Level Media
