AUSTIN, Texas — The West Virginia University women’s basketball team fell to No. 13/12 Texas, 73-57, Saturday night at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.

West Virginia’s scoring efforts (8-6, 1-3 Big 12) were co-led by the junior guard Deans KK and first-year guard JJ Quinerly, who each had 19 points in the game. junior striker Esmery Martinez collected five rebounds to set the pace for WVU on the glass.

Deans and Quinerly accounted for 38 of WVU’s 57 points.

Texas (12-3, 2-2 Big 12) saw four players finish the game in double figures, including guard Aliyah Matharu, who had a game-high 26 points.

Deans opened the game scoring with a base jumper, which led to a 7-0 run for the Mountaineers early in the contest. After Texas missed its first five shots of the game, UT broke its scoring drought down the line, but WVU countered at the other end to make it 10-2. The Longhorns then launched their own 7-0 series, which cut West Virginia’s lead to one in the first media timeout.

Deans scored seven of WVU’s first 10 points to start the contest.

Texas took the lead with a pair of free throws coming off the break, then added another bucket in transition. West Virginia found themselves trailing after UT pulled out a 15-1 after their first score. Quinerly stopped the Longhorns’ onslaught and fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray added a score before the end of the quarter, but WVU trailed, 19-15, at the end of the first.

West Virginia trailed 23-15 to start the second period, as Texas scored back-to-back goals. After the Longhorns extended their run to 6-0, WVU was forced to call a timeout.

UT continued to score after the break, as WVU found themselves in a scoring drought for the next four minutes. Another steal and score from Quinerly brought the climbers back to the plateau. The two teams played tied for the next three minutes, but two Texas scores increased the deficit to 15 points with 1:35 to go. West Virginia had three points before the end of the quarter and trailed at halftime by 14.

West Virginia trailed by 23 to start the second half, as the Longhorns opened the third quarter on a 13-2 run. Senior striker Kari Niblack scored before the media break, where the Mountaineers trailed 52-31 with 4:38 left in the period.

West Virginia finished the quarter-final on a 9-4 run, which included four points from Deans and a 3-pointer for Quinerly. The Mountaineers trailed Texas, 56-40, going into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

The two teams traded to start the fourth quarter, but five points from Quinerly made it 62-49 in Texas’ favor with 5:12 remaining in the game. Despite the Mountaineers’ attack, Texas continued to counter at the other end. WVU called a timeout with 3:48 to go and trailed by 15.

WVU continued to attack and UT continued to counter for the rest of the game. A Deans jumper cut the deficit to 14 with 52 seconds left, but that was as close as the Mountaineers would get, as they fell to the Longhorns, 73-57.

Next, West Virginia returns to Morgantown to take on No. 23/25 Oklahoma on Wednesday, January 19. Tipping is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Wednesday’s contest against the Sooners will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.