As Kansas State traveled to Allen Fieldhouse for the women’s basketball Sunflower Showdown, the Kansas Jayhawks weren’t going to let the Wildcats get a win in their house. Kansas pulled away early and kept the pace throughout the high-scoring game to seal the win, 83-61.
“Disappointing that we played that way,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “Disappointing that the things that we talked about doing, we did not do well. I think anytime you’re in a game and you talk about three, four or five critical areas, and your team commits to that, you can live with the result. But when they don’t, when we don’t have five players on the floor, and we don’t have players coming in doing those things, then that one’s a tough one to swallow.”
The Jayhawks came out hot, going on a 6-0 run before K-State made its first points at the 7:50 mark. Taryn Sides would go on an 11-point run, with three consecutive three-pointers, along with a layup to give the Wildcats a five-point lead, 11-6. After Kansas responded with a three-pointer, Sides got herself another triple, her fourth consecutive from the arc.
Sides would rack up a game-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range and an added five assists. Jordan Speiser would also add 10 points for K-State.
“Both teams were really scoring the ball well early,” Mittie said. “We just did not sustain any of that. And we didn’t have anybody else come to the party with her, right? So they did.”
The Wildcats ended the first quarter trailing by one, 25-24, after Kansas made a layup with 0:18 on the clock.
During the second quarter, the Jayhawks went on several streaks, including an 8-0 as well as a 7-0 run. The lengthy streaks allowed Kansas to gain a double-digit lead and keep it the remainder of the game.
With 1:10 remaining in the first half, Speiser made a splash from the arc to cut the deficit to 15 points. The Jayhawks outscored K-State in the second quarter as well, going into halftime, 49-34.
Adding to their lead, Kansas knocked down a pair of free throws to extend its lead to 20 points. Trying to cut the deficit, the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run when Sides knocked down three free throws, and Speiser swished a three-pointer.
But Kansas wasn’t finished with its own run, going on a 9-0 scoring streak and extending its lead to 23 points. The Jayhawks shot 54% from field goal range compared to the Wildcats 32%, along with shooting 62% from the three-point line when K-State only shot 32%.
Bringing the ‘Cats out of a 3:86 scoring drought, Nastja Claessens hit a three-pointer to cut the score to 67-47.
In the last possession of the third quarter, Alexis Hess sank a shot from the top of the arc, shrinking K-State’s deficit to 18, 70-52.
The fourth quarter wasn’t pleasant for the Wildcats, who only scored nine points. The Jayhawks, on the other hand, were able to keep their 20-plus-point lead, upsetting K-State 83-61.
Other than shooting the ball extremely well from the three-point line, Kansas also dominated the Wildcats in the paint, 32-12.
“They just pounded us inside,” Mittie said. “We were soft all day in there. Our game plan [was] to be top-heavy in terms of the press. We did not play with enough energy to get enough pressure up the floor, because we knew they had some advantages at the other end.”
K-State will return to Bramlage to face Colorado at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.
