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West Virginia reinstates Tynice Martin, loses De’Janae Boykin to injury

By Jenn Hatfield

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MARCH 09: West Virginia Mountaineers Guard Tynice Martin (04) works to get past Kansas State Wildcats Guard Kayla Goth (10) during the BIG12 Women's basketball tournament between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kansas State Wildcats on March 9, 2019, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK. (Photo by David Stacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MARCH 09: West Virginia Mountaineers Guard Tynice Martin (04) works to get past Kansas State Wildcats Guard Kayla Goth (10) during the BIG12 Women's basketball tournament between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Kansas State Wildcats on March 9, 2019, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK. (Photo by David Stacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Three months after she was indefinitely suspended from the women’s basketball team, West Virginia senior guard Tynice Martin resolved her legal case and was reinstated to the team earlier this week.

Martin was charged with domestic battery on Aug. 2 after a July incident in which she allegedly beat and choked an ex-girlfriend. On Aug. 3, the day before West Virginia embarked on its foreign tour of Italy and Greece, Martin was suspended indefinitely for what the school called “a violation of team rules.”

Head coach Mike Carey had no further update after the team returned from Europe, and Martin’s status for the season was unknown throughout the fall. But on November 6, Martin pled no contest to the charge, accepting punishment from the court without admitting guilt. She was sentenced to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service and ordered to have no contact with her ex-girlfriend. This was Martin’s second no-contest plea in the past nine months: in February, she pled no contest to a charge of possession of a controlled substance and paid a $215.25 fine.

On November 7, the day of West Virginia’s season opener against Saint Francis, Martin was reinstated to the team. However, she did not play in the 74-45 win and is not expected to play in Sunday’s game against Presbyterian as she regains her conditioning, per a WVU team source.

When Martin does take the court again for the Mountaineers, she will undoubtedly provide a big boost to a team that received votes in both preseason national polls. Despite her suspension, she was named to the watch lists of several awards, including the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award for the nation’s best shooting guard and the Citizen Naismith Trophy and the Wade Trophy, both for the national player of the year. Last season, Martin averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game, and she currently ranks eleventh on the school’s all-time scoring list.

However, as Carey gained one player, he lost another. He announced on November 6 that redshirt senior De’Janae Boykin underwent surgery and would miss the entire season. A West Virginia source told High Post Hoops that the surgery was done to correct a deformed bone in her ankle. Boykin previously missed part of the 2016-17 season with a foot injury after transferring from Penn State.

In the same announcement, West Virginia said that redshirt sophomore forward Jada Wright will miss “an extended period of time” this season. She is still rehabbing a knee injury that cost her all of last season at Trinity Valley Community College.

The rest of West Virginia’s non-conference schedule features a trip to Mexico over Thanksgiving for the Cancun Challenge, a game at Mississippi State on Dec. 8, and games against Michigan State and Syracuse in the Florida Sunshine Classic on Dec. 21 and 22.

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