PHILADELPHIA, Pa. All-American candidate Kendra Wecker made a strong return to the Kansas State lineup and the No. 22 Wildcats survived a late Villanova rally for a 75-63 win Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joseph’s University.
Wecker, who logged 34 minutes in her first appearance since suffering an ankle injury on Dec. 3 vs. New Hampshire, led all scorers with 25 points. The senior also notched her 38th career double-double with 12 rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists, showing few lingering affects from the setback that had sidelined her for nearly a month.
Laurie Kohen added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and Claire Coggins chipped in with 14 points for K-State (7-2), which won its third straight.
Liad Suez finished with 24 points to pace Villanova (6-4).
Kansas State opened the game on fire and bolted to a 42-27 lead at the break.
The Wildcats’ lead reached as many as 21 points in the second half, but Villanova, which has been has been to four straight NCAA Tournaments, refused to go away. ’Nova kept chipping away at the K-State lead and when Kate Dessart Mager converted a 3-point play with just over three minutes to play the advantage had been trimmed to just 65-58.
Kansas State, however, regained control of the game, outscoring Villanova 10-5 down the stretch for the 75-63 win.
The game was all K-State early. Villanova led 5-4 in the opening minutes, but a 10-0 K-State run pushed the Cats to a 14-5 lead. Kansas State pushed its advantage to 20-8 midway through the first half before Villanova tightened the contest to 32-23 with three minutes remaining.
That would be as close as Villanova would get over the first 20 minutes, however, as K-State used an 8-0 run to take a 17 point lead, their biggest of the half, at 42-25. Suez, who scored 14 points in the first half, knocked down a shot just before the break to cut K-State’s edge to 42-27.
Kansas State will remain in Philadelphia for a Dec. 30 game against Saint Joseph’s before returning to Manhattan to take on Central Connecticut State on Jan. 2 at Bramlage Coliseum at 2 p.m. A Family Day ticket special will be in effect for the game, as fans may purchase four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks for just $25.
