MANHATTAN – K-State was able to pull within four points on three occasions in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon against Texas at Bramlage Coliseum, but the Longhorns held back the charge to secure a 71-63 win.
“I thought from our perspective, the turnovers were the most costly part of the day,” said K-State head coach Jeff Mittie about the Wildcats’ 24 turnovers. “We could never really sustain any offense just because of our inconsistency just to be able to control the ball.
“You look at the stat sheet and you say we outscored them on turnovers, we outscored them in the paint, we outscored them on fastbreaks. These were things that you would think would be pretty good but at the end of the day, our turnovers and that eight different players hit threes for them today, so give them credit for knocking those down, but I think we were our own worst enemy with the turnovers.”
Texas (11-6, 3-2 Big 12) dashed out to an 11-4 lead, as the Wildcats opened the game 0-of-7 from the field. K-State (7-8, 1-3 Big 12) climbed back into the contest, as Christianna Carr scored seven straight points to close the deficit to two, 13-11, with 3:36 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats would remain close with the Longhorns in the first quarter. Texas would pull ahead by five, 18-13, but layups from Angela Harris and Cymone Goodrich ended the quarter with K-State trailing by one, 18-17, at the end of the frame.
The Longhorns increased their lead to seven, 28-21, but the Wildcats pulled back to within two, 28-26. Harris converted a floater in the lane, then Harris found Savannah Simmons in transition for a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 4:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Texas would close out the first half with a 7-0 run to hold a 35-26 lead.
The Longhorns would increase its lead to as many as 13, 50-37, with three minutes to play in the third quarter. K-State ended the third stanza on a 9-2 run to bring the margin to six, 52-46, entering the fourth quarter.
Simmons buried her second 3-pointer of the afternoon to start the rally at 2:33 of the third. A 3-pointer from Carr after a Harris free throw brought the Wildcats to withing eight. Laura Macke then converted a pair of free throws with under a minute to play to bring the score to 52-46.
A layup from Ayoka Lee to begin the fourth quarter pulled K-State within four, 62-58. Texas rebuilt its advantage to 12, 60-48, with an 8-0 scoring burst. K-State answered with six straight points to within six, 60-54.
After a timeout, Cymone Goodrich registered a steal and fastbreak layup with 4:23 remaining to bring the Wildcats back to within four, 62-58.
Texas would recover for a seven-point edge, 65-58, but a layup from Lee and a three-pointer from Harris with 1:01 to play closed the Wildcats within four, 67-63. The Longhorns were able to close out the Wildcats from the foul line for the final margin.
Harris led the Wildcats with 16 points, four assists and two steals, while Lee tallied 12 points and nine rebounds, one steal and a block. Carr chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Texas was led by Sug Sutton with 16 points, while Celeste Taylor came off the bench to add 15.
K-State shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field, including a 5-of-26 (.192) effort from 3- point range. Texas carded a 38.7 percent effort (24-of-62) and were 11-of-27 (.407) from beyond the arc. K-State had the edge on the boards, 38-36.
Kansas State will travel to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday to face Iowa State. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be streamed on Cyclones. TV and can be heard on the K-State Sports Network and for free at kstatesports.com.
--kstatesports.com--