Bussie leads No. 7 West Virginia past TCU

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Zahna Medley was hitting everything.

She even got a 3-pointer to drop after at least four bounces on the rim.

Her good luck and season-high 32 points weren't enough. Asya Bussie had 18 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 7 West Virginia defeat TCU 67-59 Saturday night in the Big Ten women's tournament quarterfinals.

Medley tried her best. The 5-foot-6 sophomore fell three points short of her career high.

"I'll tell you what, she was amazing tonight," TCU coach Jeff Mittie said. "She had a look. I thought we were able to find her a lot of different ways."

The Mountaineers won each of the two regular-season meetings by four points, and this one was just as tough.

"Let's give TCU a lot of credit, came out and played extremely hard," West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. "They played us extremely hard all three times. I knew this was going to be like this, this game, and I told the team when we knew we were playing them last night that they're a great team."

Taylor Palmer scored 11 points and Christal Caldwell added 10 for the Mountaineers, (28-3), who won their 11th consecutive game and advanced to Sunday's semifinals.

Medley made 8 of 17 field goals and 6 of 12 3-pointers, but none of her teammates scored more than six points. TCU made just 2 of 11 3-pointers in the second half after making 4 of 8 in the first.

The biggest difference was on the boards. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Horned Frogs 42-27 and had 20 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. Bussie, a 6-foot-4 center, had seven offensive boards.

West Virginia grabbed an early 11-4 lead, but Medley rallied the TCU with a pair of 3-pointers that cut the Mountaineers' lead to 15-14.

WVU pulled ahead, but Medley responded with back-to-back 3s again to give TCU a 24-23 lead.

The teams were tied at 31 at halftime. Medley scored 19 points and made 4 of 6 3-pointers in the first half.

Caldwell scored 10 points before the break for West Virginia before the break.

A 3-pointer by Medley, her sixth of the game, put the Horned Frogs up 43-39, but West Virginia quickly recovered, and a 3 by Palmer put the Mountaineers up 47-45. Palmer made another 3 to put the Mountaineers ahead 54-47 with about 8 minutes to play.

TCU chipped away until the final minutes, but couldn't regain the lead. The Horned Frogs believe they've done enough to extend their season.

"I would say I don't think we're done playing," Mittie said. "I don't think we're in the NCAA Tournament, but I do think we'll be a postseason team."

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.