ED. NOTE: The WVU-Kansas game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 2 has been postponed due to Kansas not meeting Big 12 roster requirements over COVID-19 protocols. Additionally, the West Virginia at Oklahoma game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16, has been moved to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 3, at the Lloyd Noble Center.
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — To make sure he got his points across to Esmery Martinez during timeouts a year ago, WVU women’s basketball head coach Mike Carey had assistants use hand signals to help breach the language barrier.
A year later, Martinez, a 6-foot-2 forward who hailed from the Dominican Republic before moving to Tennessee in high school, has a better grasp of English, but still has her moments.
“She understands the terminology much better,” Carey said. “The other day in practice, she was supposed to yell, ‘switch,’ and she couldn’t think of the word, so she just screamed. We asked her what she was doing, but she couldn’t think of the word and just screamed and scared everybody on the floor.”
As far as rebounding the basketball, well, Martinez has no problems with that.
As the Mountaineers (6-2, 0-2 Big 12) travel to Kansas at 6 p.m. Saturday looking to pick up their first conference win of the season, Martinez sits atop the Big 12 averaging 14.0 boards per game. That average is also good for second-best nationally.
“She’s doing a great job,” Carey said. “She’s a great young lady and is doing a good job in the classroom also. She’s really adapted very well.”
Martinez’s emergence as a rebounder has allowed Carey to alter his lineup and bring centers Rochelle Norris and Blessing Ejifor off the bench, while starting three guards in Kysre Gondrezick, Madisen Smith and K.K. Deans.
Those guards have combined for 42.7 points and 10.9 assists per game.
“Esmery is such a good rebounder, so I’d like to have her around the rim,” Carey said. “Rochelle and Blessing could both be in there right from the get-go, but we need them to contribute when they get in there. We need their size and rebounding, but we are able to start out a little smaller.”
The Jayhawks (5-2, 1-0) have shown early signs of improvement after finishing last in the Big 12 last season.
Kansas was ninth in the Big 12 last season in scoring defense, allowing 70 points per game. The Jayhawks are giving up just 61 per game this season.
Sophomore guard Holly Kersgieter leads Kansas in scoring at 16.8 points per game.
“They’re much improved from last year,” Carey said. “They’ve got some other players and some skill players.”
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