Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State University
15-5,5-3Big 12
Texas
15-3,5-2Big 12
(25/rv) K-State Drops Road Matchup with (9/10) Texas
Jan 26, 2022 | Women's Basketball
K-State (15-5, 5-3 Big 12) was forced into six turnovers and went 2-of-13 (.154) from the field in the first quarter, as the Wildcats trailed 12-4 after the opening 10 minutes. Defensively, the Wildcats held the Longhorns to 5-of-16 shooting and forced five turnovers.
Despite K-State ending the second quarter with 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, Texas (15-3, 5-2 Big 12) would build its lead to 13, 30-17, at the end of the frame. In total, K-State shot 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the field in the second quarter to improve to 36.4 percent (8-of-22) in the first half.
The Wildcats were paced in the first half by Ayoka Lee with six points, four rebounds and two blocks. The 17 first half points matched its season-low for an opening half, matching the 17 points scored at South Carolina on December 3.
In the third quarter, the teams traded baskets for much of the frame as Texas kept K-State at a 15-point deficit for much of the frame. K-State briefly cut the Longhorn lead to 11, 43-32, as Emilee Ebert buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:16 to play. After a Texas three-pointer, Ebert added two free throws to bring K-State to within 12, 46-34, entering the fourth quarter.
Serena Sundell led the Wildcats with seven points in the quarter, while Ebert chipped in with her five.
Texas used a 7-0 run to turn an 11-point lead into an 18-point advantage, 56-38, with 5:27 left in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns' Audrey Warren would gather an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and finish a layup to force a K-State timeout.
K-State used an 8-1 run to pull back to within 11, 57-46, with 3:04 to play. Texas was able to slow the comeback attempt and ended the contest on a 9-2 run.
Lee led K-State with 20 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Lee reached double figures for the 25th straight game, dating back to the final five games of the 2020-21 season. This was Lee's 14th double-double of the season, which ties her for fifth in school history for double-doubles in a season.
Sundell notched 13 points, four assists and four steals.
Texas was guided by Aaliyah Matharu with 18 points including 11 in the first half. Audrey Warren came off the bench with 16 points including eight in the third quarter.
K-State finished the night shooting 34.7 percent (17-of-49) from the field. The Wildcats shot 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the foul line. Texas shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field and held a 33-31 edge on the glass.
K-State will end the first half of its 2022 Big 12 schedule on Saturday night, as the Wildcats host TCU at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's game is Junior Wildcats Club Day, as K-State welcomes members of the Junior Wildcats Club to experience Wildcat Women's Basketball up close. The exclusive pregame event will include concession discounts and autographs from Willie Wildcat. Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at kstatesports.com/tickets, calling (800) 221-CATS or in person at the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The game can also be heard on the K-State Sports Network, for free at kstatesports.com and on the K-State Sports app.
What they said
JEFF MITTIE, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening Statement...
"Well, for us it was a night where we couldn't get much flow to the game. I think our young guards grew up in the second half. Down the stretch, we had some turnovers that last two or three minutes, but up to that point I think we'd only had five in the first 16 minutes of the second half, which was improvement. We knew that Texas would pressure and that we were going to have to handle that well. They were going to do everything they could to be physical, do everything they could to be physical with (Ayoka) Lee and not give her the low block but also defend our guards well enough that they couldn't get the ball. That's what I thought the early part of the game was about. Lee just didn't have enough touches."
On the Texas pressure defense...
"Well, I think what it did, when you say throw us off, we knew that was going to happen or we knew that was going to be their game plan. So we certainly tried to do everything to prepare for that. I think what they did an excellent job of is they kept us out of getting the ball to the wing, and they kept us out of reversing the basketball. So if we did have a look for Lee, it wasn't two looks. It wasn't three looks. It was only one look. And we've got to be better in those situations. We got to do a better job at that. But I thought, we've got three freshmen that are battling and getting better every day at those spots and they'll learn from this and they'll be better. They'll be better in practice tomorrow morning."
On Texas' style of play...
"This is how Texas plays. This is their style. There's not a ton of teams committed to that style, and certainly we needed to handle their guard pressure better. Yokie only got seven attempts in the first half. We need more touches than that. We need to be able to run offense through her but to do that we can't have 12 turnovers. Even when we didn't turn the ball over we struggled initiating on offense and that really was the whole first half."
On Texas' size...
"I think their posts were obviously going to be real physical with Lee and that isn't anything new that she hasn't faced. They just have good personnel to do it. I think most people want to shove her off the block and she has faced in her career, this league has had some pretty good post players and also South Carolina and NC State. I think the way Texas defended tonight was exactly what you would expect from Texas, heavy guard pressure, physical in the post, and I thought it started with the guard pressure from us not getting Lee enough looks."
On the potential of this team moving forward…
"I think we've got a good basketball team. I think that we're a team that needs to be able to play to our strengths and we need to eliminate as many of our flaws as we can and I think this team has growth in it still. You talk about the youth in some positions. We've been a team that has really played well. I don't have any fault with tonight in terms of I thought our zone was effective in getting turnovers. I thought we were able against the press to get the basketball in and our struggles were a lot of the one on one physical battles or the one on one guard pressure battles that we've got to handle individually better. But I love our group. I think this group's got a good ceiling to it. I love the way they come in every day. I have no doubt that that's a strong locker room in there.We'll turn the page and get better tomorrow."
AYOKA LEE, JUNIOR CENTER
On the difference between the OU and Texas defense...
"Yeah, we knew that Texas would definitely be a lot more pressure. Obviously just their personality is a lot different than OU. Just like Coach said, it was something we were preparing for but just couldn't really execute very well."
On getting used to the extra attention...
"I don't really think it's anything new from what we've seen so far this season and just being a veteran. I don't really think it's anything new but I definitely think it's just a learning experience for our team and for our younger players."
On the matchup with Lauren Ebo...
"Yeah, not really anything I didn't expect. I've played against her before. I think for me, it was just about staying low, trying to get position and trying to have that focus every possession."
On if the defensive attention is frustrating...
"It's a team sport. You have to be a good teammate regardless of how it's going. I think this is definitely a learning experience for us all as a team."
