The Wildcats scored 61 points for the second straight game, this time taking down Southern Indiana 61-47 on Nov. 5. A strong second-half defense and standout performances from center Tzoana Tampakou and guard Taryn Sides helped K-State silence the Screaming Eagles.
The game started as cold as the Manhattan weather, with K-State missing two open 3-pointers from the corner. Southern Indiana went down the court off the rebound and scored early on a midrange jumper that hit every part of the rim and backboard before falling in.
K-State continued to struggle, as its first points came off a putback layup on another missed shot. After another Southern Indiana layup, the Wildcats went back and made another second-chance bucket, making it 6-4 Southern Indiana.
Sides broke through for K-State with a 3-pointer — the Wildcats’ first points not from offensive rebounds. Even as K-State started to gain momentum, Southern Indiana kept firing. Starting off 5-for-6 from the field, the Screaming Eagles pushed ahead 11-7 early. The Wildcats responded, though, going on an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead 15-11, with four different players scoring for K-State.
The run-filled game continued as Southern Indiana ended the first quarter on a 6-2 run, evening the score at 17 after the first 10 minutes of action. Both teams combined for eight turnovers, and K-State didn’t score in the final 3:03 of the quarter, going 1-for-8 from behind the arc.
Head coach Jeff Mittie pointed to Southern Indiana’s changing defense as a challenge for the Wildcats.
“I think it’s the hardest thing to compete against early in the year, particularly with where we’re at in our development as a team,” Mittie said. “It can give you timing issues, and I was really proud of our group for kind of grinding their way through it.”
To start the second quarter, the Wildcats forced a tough shot before Southern Indiana got one up right before the shot clock expired to avoid a shot-clock violation. Tampakou kicked off second-quarter scoring with a layup before Southern Indiana went on a mini 5-0 run to take a 3-point lead with just over seven and a half minutes to go in the half.
Sides activated her takeover ability soon after, and K-State went on a 7-0 run over two minutes to jump out to a 26-22 lead. Sides accounted for all 7 points, whether through assists or made shots.
During the run, the Wildcats held the Screaming Eagles to no points for five and a half minutes before a 3-pointer broke the 7-0 K-State run. Each team was quiet in the final two minutes, making only one shot each before the half ended with the Wildcats leading 29-27. K-State went into the half shooting 3-for-14 from three with 12 turnovers.
The Wildcats burst out on a 6-0 run to begin the second half, taking advantage of a few sloppy possessions from Southern Indiana to gain momentum early. An and-1 3-pointer from forward Nastja Classens put the ‘Cats up 35-27 in the first 2:15 of the third quarter, sealing the 6-0 run.
K-State kept the pressure on Southern Indiana, holding them to no made field goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Screaming Eagles broke through with a jumper before the Wildcats immediately responded with a made basket of their own from Sides.
After Southern Indiana’s first made basket of the quarter, K-State held the Screaming Eagles to 1 point in the next five and a half minutes. The Wildcats continued to pull away with a 7-1 run to take a 44-32 lead before Southern Indiana made another field goal to break the drought and the run with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
In the final two minutes, K-State won the scoring game 6-3, with 3 points coming from free throws and the other 3 coming from Sides, her third in as many quarters. The Wildcats ended the third winning the quarter 21-10, pulling away to a 50-37 lead, their largest lead of the game to that point.
Sides continued to make an impact early in the fourth quarter, taking on the role of floor general and making smart passes to find others and give them chances to score.
Even with Sides playing well, scoring became hard to come by in the fourth. In the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, both teams scored 6 points each, with Sides making her fourth 3-pointer of the game to end the first half of the fourth.
Slow and steady was the name of the game after the media timeout in the fourth, as K-State didn’t push offensively and instead dribbled out as much clock as possible to secure the victory. As a result, they held Southern Indiana to one made field goal in the final five minutes. After a few more scores from K-State, the Wildcats dribbled the ball out and sealed the victory, 61-47.
The tale of two halves prevailed as K-State went from 12 turnovers in the first half to four in the second. The Wildcats also held Southern Indiana to 25% shooting from the field in the second half, down from 41% in the first. Sides led the team in scoring with 16 points and in assists with 5.
“I thought Taryn [Sides] played really well all over,” Mittie said. “She played the one, she played the two. She was more of a floor general tonight. I think we’ve got the ability to move players around, but tonight, I thought Taryn played really solid.”
K-State continues its home stretch for the third game in a row, facing the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at noon on Nov. 8. ESPN+ will stream the game.
