K-State Holds Back Late Charge from Vanderbilt

Sunday, December 2

Manhattan, Kan.

1 p.m.

Kansas State University

5-2

Vanderbilt

3-5

Vanderbilt

Kansas State

Dec 02, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (pdf)Photo Gallery Game Highlights

MANHATTAN, Kansas – Kansas State women's basketball cruised to a 22-point lead after three quarters, but Vanderbilt used a 25-point fourth quarter to make K-State uneasy in a 72-61 win on Sunday afternoon in the 2018 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Kansas State (5-2) featured four players in double figures on Sunday, as freshman guard Christianna Carr tallied a game-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting including a 5-of-11 effort from 3-point range. With her 21 points, Carr has consecutive games of 20 or more points, marking the first time a K-State freshman tallied 20 or more points in consecutive games since Rachel Ranke did so early in the 2017-18 season.

Joining Carr in double figures was junior forward Peyton Williams. Williams notched her third double-double of the season with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 14 rebounds. She also added three steals and two assists.

Senior guard Kayla Goth aided the effort with 14 points, nine assists, three rebounds and three steals. With her first assist on Sunday, Goth became the 10th player in program history with 350 or more career assists as her total now stands at 358.

Also reaching double figures was Ranke with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting with four assists. This was Ranke's fourth game in double figures this season.

Vanderbilt (3-5) was paced by Mariella Fasoula with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Cierra Walker added 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

K-State trailed early in the opening quarter, but used an 11-2 run over a four-minute stretch to end the first stanza with a 21-14 lead. Carr and Williams scored nine of the 11 points during the rally. Goth ended the quarter with a three-pointer from the wing with four seconds remaining for the seven-point advantage.

After knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, Kansas State continued its barrage from beyond the arc in the second quarter by connecting on 4-of-6 attempts from deep to build a 41-24 halftime lead.

Carr started the second with her third 3-pointer of the afternoon, while Williams added a putback tip-in to force a Vanderbilt timeout at 8:30 of the quarter. Ranke quickly answered a Commodores 3-pointer with one of her own.

After a two and a half-minute drought without scoring, Goth knocked down her second 3-pointer of the day afternoon to stake the Wildcats to a 32-19 lead with 5:39 to play before halftime.

K-State's final 3-pointer of the first half came from freshman guard Savannah Simmons. Williams found Simmons wide open at the top of the key with 2:55 remaining and Simmons tallied her first collegiate points with the connections.

Overall in the first half, K-State registered a season-high for first half points and converted at 56.7 percent (17-of-30). Vanderbilt was held to 42.9 percent shooting (9-of-21).

K-State's defense took over in the third quarter, as the Wildcats held the Commodores to 23.5 percent shooting in the third frame. K-State was able to win the quarter, 17-12, and increase their lead to 22, 58-36.

Vanderbilt used a 12-0 run over a four-minute stretch to begin the fourth quarter to cut K-State's lead to 12, 60-48, with 5:53 remaining. A three-pointer from Jasauen Beard with 3:58 to play pushed K-State back in front by 15, 65-50. Beard's three was K-State's second field goal of the final quarter and the first since a Ranke layup with 9:57 remaining.

The Commodores would bring the deficit to single digits three times in the final two minutes, but never closer than nine points. Goth iced the game for K-State with six points in the final 1:30 of the game, as she knocked down four free throws and a baseline jumper with 45 seconds remaining.

K-State shot over 50 percent in three of the four quarters, as the Wildcats ended the day at 50.0 percent shooting (26-of-52). Vanderbilt ended the afternoon shooting 38.6 percent (22-of-57).

Kansas State ends a two-game home stand on Wednesday, as the Wildcats host Lamar at 7 p.m. Fans can take advantage of a Wildcat 4-Pack which includes four general admission tickets and four concessions vouchers for just $38.

Wednesday's game will be broadcast on FCS Central and for free on K-StateHD.TV. The game can also be heard on the K-State Sports Network and for free at kstatesports.com.

What They Said
Jeff Mittie, Head Coach
On the game...
"I thought for three quarters we played fairly well. (The) fourth quarter got really ragged, we lost some discipline and focus. That speaks to this team needing to grow up quickly, and that's an area where we need to grow up in. We need to play through forty minutes and keep the same discipline and in the fourth we just didn't do that. Our bench has to come in and provide some things and come in and execute the things just as well as the group did before, so that is still an area where we need to develop."

On the first half looks...
"We have got better in practice. We were moving the ball well against their zone. Against their man, we have to execute better in our man offense. We still aren't mentally sharp in that, and that's an area we need to address in practice. We still have some unsure looks when we are running action, and that has to get better."

On the defense…
"We came into the game knowing the guards needed to trap on the perimeter, and hope to get them to play away from the basket. We were successful in that early in the game. Mariella (Fasoula) is good, she's big and understands angles and timing. She understands leverage, but I thought we did a better job. That's a low shooting percentage for her. We forced her to take 15 tough shots. When we got her away, and forced her to make multiple moves we got better help. When she got us deep in the paint, we didn't have much of a chance."

On the fourth quarter…
"We lost some focus and discipline. When we were up twenty, we had three possessions where we were awful on both ends. We had bad shots, bad discipline, bad defensive assignments. You can't string together six possessions and none of them be very good. Good teams have one bad offensive possession, and the group recognizes it and corrects it. Defensively, same thing. You have someone mess up, and everyone gels together and corrects it. We didn't have that. Vanderbilt got more confident in that stretch, and got to the free throw line. It just wasn't a good quarter for us."

On the efficiency...
"I think we just had better shots. We have good shooters when we take good shots. If you aren't taking good shots, we still have good enough players that we will make a few of those but not consistently in the college game. We are just getting better looks. The ball is moving better, and to the right player. Chrissy (Carr) is not rushing, and letting the game come to her better. Having Peyton (Williams) full time now has given us another option on the floor to not only score but distribute the ball. All those things make us better."

Christianna Carr, Freshman Guard
On learning better shot selection…
"Coach stressed to me to let the game come to me. That's one of my biggest transitions, of being a scorer is going from high school and forcing everything and hoping that it goes in to here; you don't have that leash to be able to do that. By him just taking me through what a good shot and what a bad shot is, that helps me know what shots I can't take. I just take what he says and put it in the back of my brain. I'm not rushing my shots as the game keeps going forward. I just get more and more comfortable playing with this group of girls, playing on this court, and playing at this view of college basketball."

Peyton Williams, Junior Forward
On three-point shots…
"It gives everyone a second wind when a three-pointer goes in. It's just easier to play all around when you have options from Chrissy (Carr) and Rachel (Ranke). It's more fun when threes go in, you get to cheer for everyone, it's just more fun."

On younger teammates confidence…
"I think we always have confidence. I think it comes more with a mature confidence, with being confident in the right things. I've definitely seen that change over the past couple games from Cancun. I've definitely seen a growth in that."