‘It’s Not Over Until It’s Over’

By: D. Scott Fritchen

One day after Kansas State hit a Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament record 17 3-pointers to beat Cincinnati, the 12^th-seeded Wildcats used some of their most stifling defense in recent memory to fuel a 58-51 comeback victory that bounced No. 5-seed and 21st-ranked Texas Tech out of the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

"It's not over until it's over," K-State senior guard Tess Heal said. "It's never over until the buzzer sounds, so it really doesn't matter until the clock goes off."

K-State trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter and faced a 51-37 deficit with 7 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in regulation after Texas Tech rattled off 10 straight points. All looked good for the Lady Raiders to play another day.

But Texas Tech, which has now lost five straight against K-State and 20 of the last 25 meetings, has struggled with the pesky Wildcats for a while now. K-State improved to 5-2 against Texas Tech in the conference tournament, and the Wildcats have won the last four such meetings. K-State hasn't lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament since a 71-65 loss in the semifinals on March 13, 2003.

Texas Tech, 25-7, might have broken its school record for wins and earned three top-15 victories this season, but it also still remembers its school-record 19-0 record to start the season — and how K-State snapped it with a 65-59 win over the Lady Raiders on January 17 in Lubbock, Texas.

K-State authored another memorable performance on Thursday.

"Collectively as a group, we're more poised than we were a month ago," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "We're tougher than we were a month ago, and all these experiences, they're drawing on now."

In one of their best defensive efforts in recent memory, the Wildcats incredibly held Texas Tech without a single point over the final 7:43 of the game.

K-State, which trailed Texas Tech by 14 points, outscored Texas Tech 21-0 the rest of the way, forcing the Lady Raiders to miss their final 13 shot attempts until the final buzzer. K-State held Texas Tech to just four points in the fourth quarter, a new record for the fewest points scored in any quarter in Big 12 Women's Tournament history.

K-State's comeback from a 14-point deficit marked the third-largest comeback in the Big 12 Women's Tournament since at least 2014 and it made K-State the first No. 12 seed to beat a No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Women's Tournament since 2008.

"I'm proud of our group," Mittie said. "You don't have many comebacks like that where you shut them out the last seven minutes of the game. We had to do a lot of things well."

We see it every year in March. Teams get hot. Perhaps K-State, 17-16, is that team in the Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats move on to face No. 4-seed Oklahoma State at 11:00 a.m. Friday in the quarterfinal round. The Wildcats beat the Cowgirls 70-61 at Bramlage Coliseum on February 10.

"It's March," Heal said. "People talk about the magic and the fairy tales of March. We want that. You just have to keep going no matter what. That's what we're saying in every huddle: 'Keep your head in it, keep going, keep pushing, keep working. We're right there.'

"The fight from the team from every single person was absolutely incredible. Hopefully, we're on our way to a fairytale."

K-State might need to bring a hefty dose of both offense and defense to the T-Mobile Center on Friday. The game will be shown on ESPNU.

Against Texas Tech, it wasn't until Nastja Claessens made a free throw with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter that the Wildcats took their first lead of the game. Then a Heal driving layup made it 54-51 with 52.7 seconds remaining, and the Wildcats were on their way to win a second game in the Big 12 Tournament for the first time since 2005.

Claessens scored 14 points and added eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Taryn Sides had 13 points and six rebounds. Aniya Foy came off the bench for 12 points, and Heal had 10 for K-State, which amazingly didn't have a double-digit scorer until the fourth quarter.

But the determined Wildcats fought.

"We have grown so much this year," Claessens said. "We've been more experienced. This team can do a lot if we all are going with the nose in the same direction, and we go for it, and we believe in it.

"I think we can go far, and we can do great."

K-State, which opened Wednesday by breaking an 18-year-old Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament record with 17 3-pointers in a 91-66 victory over the Bearcats, lacked their soft touch against the Lady Raiders, shooting 20% (5-of-25) from beyond the arc and 34% (20-of-58) overall from the floor.

Then there's K-State's defense, which forced Texas Tech to shoot just 29% (16-of-56) from the floor and 26% (6-of-23) on 3-pointers. Snudda Collins scored 14 points and was the only Lady Raider to reach double figures in scoring. K-State also forced 17 turnovers.

And, once again, K-State amazingly held Texas Tech to just two baskets during the entire final quarter.

Incredible.

Texas Tech looks to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.

But K-State plays again on Friday.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Taryn Sides

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