Cats Turn Lights Out on UALR

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Despite playing in a half-lit gym for a significant duration of the second half, Kansas State defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 52-40 on Friday evening in the LMU/Hilton LAX Holiday Classic at Gersten Pavilion.

The Wildcats (6-5) were led by senior guard Kimberly Dietz, who tallied a game-high 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Also in double figures for K-State was junior forward Marlies Gipson with 12 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high four blocked shots. This was the third double-double for Gipson this season and the ninth of her career.

Junior guard Shalee Lehning narrowly missed carding her third career triple-double, as she finished with eight points, a game-high 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Kansas State held a 31-24 lead at the half over the Trojans (8-4), as Gipson and Dietz had eight and seven points, respectively.

As K-State set up for its third offensive possession of the second stanza with a 34-24 lead, half of the lights in Gersten Pavilion went dark. The officials consulted with both teams and each coach agreed to play with the available light in the arena. Power was eventually restored with eight minutes to play in the contest.

The Wildcats quickly turned the lights out on UALR with the benefit of a 17-2 run to open the half and push the lead to 48-26 with 10:43 to play on a Dietz three-point field goal. The K-State defense was solid for the entire second half, including a 12:38 stretch to open the half in which UALR was 1-of-20 from the field.

K-State finished the night with a .383 to 258 edge in field goal percentage and a 45-38 advantage in rebounds.

Kansas State will conclude action at the LMU/Hilton LAX Holiday Classic on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT against the winner of Loyola Marymount and Cal State Bakersfield.

Kansas State was 50 percent (12-for-24) from the field in the first half, but it was Creighton's blistering 9-for-15 (60 percent) barrage from behind the arc which pushed the Bluejays to the halftime advantage and CU used that momentum to start the second half on fire.

Although the Wildcats were only down four at the half, Creighton attempted to slam the door shut early on the Cats in the second half as they pulled out to a nine-point lead at 45-36 with Kelsey Woodard's three with 16:07 remaining in the game.

Creighton extended its lead to as many as 20 with 7:27 left at 64-44, but Kansas State was determined to get back into the game as it went on a 18-4 run over the next seven minutes to pull within six with 21 seconds left, but it was too little too late for the Wildcats, who dropped its sixth-straight game away from the friendly confines of Bramlage Coliseum dating back to last season.

Kansas State will be off for 10 days before taking on Arkansas-Little Rock in the Loyola Marymount/Hilton LAX Holiday Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 28. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. (PT) at Gersten Pavilion.

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Team Stats

Cooper Anshel

Reed Chastity

Sitzmann Kim

Keys Andrea

Kansas State University Athletics