Despite being outscored in both the first and second quarters, the Kansas State Wildcats found a way to push past difficulties and pull out a second win against the Houston Cougars. While the ‘Cats won by nine points during their previous matchup — which was exactly two weeks ago on January 7 — this go-around was cut down to a four-point win, 69-65.
The grapple started from tipoff and would continue until the Wildcats returned from halftime. From falling into traps set by Houston to getting beaten off the dribble on defense, K-State’s first half was not the ideal start the team was envisioning.
“I thought tonight was a struggle,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said.
In the second half, however, K-State would shoot better from all points on the court, preventing scoring droughts and ultimately powering the Wildcats ahead of the Cougars.
Jenessa Cotton started K-State off with its first points, getting the opportunity to convert a three-point play, but missing her shot at the free-throw line.
Both K-State and Houston would go into scoring droughts exceeding three minutes for the Wildcats, while the Cougars were in it longer, capping at 4:76 before their next bucket.
While neither team had a terrific first quarter, Houston would edge out the Wildcats 13-12.
K-State got the second quarter started when Cotton found a cutting Nastja Claessens in the lane for a wide-open layup, giving the Wildcats a one-point lead.
A scoring drought of over three minutes continued to spiral for K-State before Gina Garcia made a jumper in the lane, putting the Wildcats within two.
With her head on a swivel, Taryn Sides finished the first half with a steal and took it in for an easy basket.
Throughout the first half, K-State would struggle to sink shots, shooting 37.0% from the field and going 0-5 from the arc. Houston led at halftime, 24-22.
“We have to show up as the best versions of ourselves,” Heal said. “… we were ultimately focused on us being a better basketball team and continuing to improve.”
Classens came out in the third quarter with a splash from the arc to make the Wildcats’ first three of the night.
With 7:25 remaining in the third, Sides picked up the rebound and made a three-pointer on the fast break. Continuing the momentum, Garcia converted a three-point play to tie the game. Tess Heal would add to K-State’s scoring streak as she sank one from the three-point line, taking back control 34-31.
Houston would tie the game back up at 36-36, but it wouldn’t take long before Aniya’ Foy would make a pair of free throws with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Shooting 50.0% from the three-point line, the Wildcats found themselves back in the lead 47-41 after the third quarter.
“I was more pleased with our competitiveness in the second half,” Mittie said. “I was more pleased with our team play in the second half than I was in the first half. There was a better collective competitive spirit about them in the second half than there was in the first half.”
As Heal splashed a three to extend K-State’s lead 58-53, the Cougars responded by forcing K-State to foul, sending Houston to the stripe to convert the and-one play.
With 1:19 left in the game, Garcia stood at the top of the key when she connected with Classens down low for a dime across the lane. Classens made her block shot, getting fouled in the process and finishing the three-point play, giving the Wildcats the lead, 65-62.
Even with the Cougars’ best efforts to close the scoring gap, K-State wouldn’t allow them to rally back, extending the lead to 69-63 with 0:13 seconds left. The Wildcats would be caught fouling, sending Houston to the line for their last points of the game, wrapping up the final score at 69-65.
In spite of getting their second win against the Cougars, Mittie wasn’t all the way pleased by the way his team played.
“What I don’t like is that our immaturity at times is getting in the way of our growth,” Mittie said. “And what I mean by that is we’ve got players that are not handling, not playing well and their body language is not good. … I’ve got to have them constantly thinking about the team. They can’t be in their thoughts about that they’re not playing well. This isn’t about them. This is about the team and what they can do.”
