Kansas State Women's Basketball Picks Up Gritty Win Over Houston

K-State women basketball team member celebrate on the sideline.

Jeff Mittie coaches his team from the sideline.

A K-State Womens basketball player dribbles the ball towards the goal.

Taryn Sides dribbles the ball down the court and towards the goal.

The Kansas State women’s basketball team grinded out a physical and gritty win over the Houston Cougars on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum, winning the contest 69-65 and advancing to 11-9 on the season and 4-3 in Big 12 play.

Early on in the first quarter, the Wildcats seemed to be in control following many forced

turnovers and four points apiece for Jenessa Cotton and Tess Heal. Sitting at a 12-2 lead, the

Cats’ offensive fire was quickly extinguished by inability to take care of the ball. The Cougars

quickly found themselves back in the contest after taking a 13-12 lead with 0:04 left in the first

quarter, scoring 11 unanswered to close.

The offense for either team wasn’t able to find its footing throughout the rest of the half. The

second quarter was marked by turnover after turnover for both teams, and inability to capitalize

on those forced mistakes. Kansas State found themselves in a scoring drought of near four

minutes, while Houston sat in a drought of near five. Both teams headed into the locker room at

half with double-digit turnovers and only eight combined points off those turnovers.

To start the second half, Nastja Claessens nailed a long three to bring the energy back into the

Octagon of Doom and take the first lead for the Cats since 7:16 left in the second quarter. The

Cougars quickly roared back, scoring five unanswered and retaking the lead, 29-25. It wasn’t

until midway through the third quarter that the Wildcats took their first lead of the half with a long three from Tess Heal, putting the Cats up 34-31.

The Cougars remained competitive and continued to stay within a possession throughout a

large sum of the third quarter until Taryn Sides began to take over the quarter with 10 points.

Her impact and Jeff Mittie’s aggressive decision to full-court press propelled the Cats to a 47-41

lead entering the fourth quarter.

The momentum quickly faded to start the fourth quarter as the Cougars clawed their way back

into the game following buckets from Briana Peguero and Amirah Abdur-Rahim. A big-time

three-pointer from Kyndall Hunter tied the game up at 51 apiece with 7:18 in the game.

The Cougars didn’t back down from the deficit and remained within five points for the majority ofthe fourth quarter. With 1:39 in the game, Hunter nailed a crucial layup and free throw following the foul committed by Heal to tie the game at 61. Claessens took matters into her own hands with a crucial and-1 layup play to take a 65-62 lead with just over a minute remaining.

The Wildcats' efforts picked up in the final minute as they extended their lead to 69-63, following

crucial points from Claessens and Jordan Speiser. Despite final efforts and fouls, the Cougars

never came all the way back, with the Wildcats winning the contest 69-65.

The Wildcats now look to a big rivalry game against a struggling Kansas squad on Sunday at

2:00 PM in Lawrence.