No. 10 Kansas State women’s basketball struggled on offense at Colorado in its first Big 12 contest without injured star center Ayoka Lee, allowing the Buffaloes to secure an upset win, 63-53.
“We’ve played without Lee before, last year we played without her, I think, eight games, So this, this is not new to us,” head coach Jeff Mittie said to K-State Athletics. “And certainly, I think the disappointing thing was that one of the things we wanted to do, one of the things I think Colorado does very well is their cutting action is very effective. And I did not think we did a good job against that, that cutting action. So they won those kind of plays. And ultimately, I think that’s why they won the game.”
The loss snaps a 14-game win streak for the Wildcats and marks the first loss in conference play.
“It doesn’t feel very good right now. I didn’t feel like, in terms of offensively, we had much flow today, and so we’ll just take that from it,” Mittie said. We’re going to face a lot of these kinds of games, and we’ve got to have a better flow in that time, and our guard play has got to be more consistent in that stretch. And then I think defensively, we’ve got to be able to stick to the game plan. I think Colorado is a really good offensive team, so I give them credit for doing some things there that were hard to guard.”
K-State (19-2, 7-1 Big 12) was led by senior guard Serena Sundell and senior forward Kennedy Taylor. Sundell notched a team-high 13 points and added four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Taylor came off the bench to tally 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists as forward Eliza Maupin started for Lee. Maupin finished with just six minutes and two rebounds.
The Buffaloes were led by Frida Formann with 14 points, while Jade Masogayo added 13 points and seven rebounds while Johanna Teder finished with 10 points.
After K-State jumped out to an early lead before Colorado (13-6, 4-4) used a 15-5 run over the final five minutes of the second quarter to build a 35-31 lead at halftime. The Buffaloes shot 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the field in the second quarter to outscore the Wildcats in the frame, 25-15. It was the highest field goal percentage allowed in a quarter by K-State this season.
K-State made a push in the third quarter and closed to within one, 44-43, with 2:52 remaining in the stanza. Taylor started the run with a layup and was followed by a steal and fastbreak layup from Zyanna Walker. Sundell finished a post move with a layup to bring the Wildcats to within one.
The Buffaloes would score the final five points of the frame to hold a 49-43 lead entering the fourth quarter. K-State closed to within two, 53-51, following a second straight 3-pointer from Jaelyn Glenn with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Colorado would close the game on a 10-2 run to seal the win.
K-State shot a season-low 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field, including a 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from long range. Colorado carded a 49.1 percent (27-of-55) effort from the field, the highest field goal percentage K-State has allowed this season.
K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum on Thursday, January 30, as the Wildcats host Iowa State at 7:30 p.m.
