Western Illinois Overpowered By No. 8 Kansas State
Nov 21, 2003 | Women's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - Kendra Wecker scored 19 points and Nicole Ohlde added 17, leading No. 8 Kansas State to a 76-48 victory over Western Illinois on Friday night.
Four players reached double figures for the Wildcats (1-1), who put away Western Illinois (0-1) with a 25-7 run in the second half.
Wecker started the decisive run with just over 14 minutes to go, hitting a 3-pointer for a 48-30 lead, then added a basket off a feed from Ohlde 18 seconds later to make it a 20-point game.
Freshman Twiggy McIntyre scored nine of her 12 points in the run, which she capped with a 3-pointer for a 70-37 lead with six minutes remaining. Her basket with 7:45 to go gave Kansas State its first 30-point lead, 65-34.
Laurie Koehn added 11 points for the Wildcats, who won their 10th home opener in the last 11 seasons.
Kansas State led 35-20 after a streaky first half in which the Wildcats went on a 22-2 run for a 24-7 lead and then scored just one field goal over the next seven minutes.
But after Western Illinois closed to 27-20 on Orinta Kavaliauskaite's two free throws with 3:26 left before the break, the Westerwinds didn't score again until Tiffany Cornelius' basket 48 seconds into the second half made it 35-22.
Cornelius led the Westerwinds with 18 points, but 11 of those came in the final 6:07 with the game well out of reach. Kansas State held her to four points in the first half.
A full-court press fueled the Wildcats' early run, as they grabbed 11 steals and forced 18 turnovers in the first half, eight of those on consecutive possessions.
Western Illinois finished with 35 turnovers, which the Wildcats converted into 35 points, and Kansas State had 23 steals.
