Manhattan, Kan. - The No. 9 Kansas State women's basketball team used a 23-5 surge over the final three minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half to run to an 89-69 win over Nebraska in front of 10,300 fans at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.
With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 16-7 overall and 6-6 in Big 12 Conference play, while Kansas State improved to 19-3 overall and 10-1 in league action. The Wildcats also improved to a perfect 11-0 at home.
The Huskers, who had closed Kansas State's lead to seven points at 33-26 after a 7-0 run with 3:50 left in the half, struggled with foul trouble at the end of the half with Alexa Johnson, Katie Morse and Keasha Cannon-Johnson each picking up two first-half fouls. The Wildcats continued to roll at the start of the second half, outscoring the Huskers 15-5 in the first 4:10 to take a 56-31 lead. Nebraska was never able to trim the KSU lead to 20 points again until Andrea Lightfoot knocked down a pair of free throws with three seconds left to make the final margin.
Kansas State used an opponent season-high 11 three-pointers to shoot their way to victory, outscoring the Huskers 33-6 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats 11-for-17 shooting from three-point range allowed them to compensate for being outrebounded 44-34 by the Huskers, who matched their season high with 21 offensive rebounds.
Morse led the Huskers with 14 points and five rebounds, while Johnson added 12 points and eight boards and Chelsea Aubry finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Jina Johansen and Kiera Hardy each contributed eight points in the loss.
Kendra Wecker led the Wildcats with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Twiggy McIntyre added 13 points off the bench. KSU, which had five players score in double figures, also got 12 points off the bench from Claire Coggins and 11 points apiece from Nicole Ohlde and Laurie Koehn.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said the performance was a nearly identical reversal of fortunes from the Huskers' 81-63 win over Kansas State in Lincoln.
"I told Deb Patterson it was like a mirror image of the game that we played in Lincoln," Yori said. "The teams in white dominated both games. We shot 34 free throws and we outrebounded them by 10, but we still lost by 20 points. Our effort was there, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what they were able to do on the offensive end of the court."
The Wildcats shot an opponent season-high 53.3 percent from the field, including an opponent season-high 64.7 percent from three-point range. Six different Wildcats hit three-pointers, and only one of the 10 Wildcats who attempted a field goal missed more than half of her shots.
Nebraska shot just 35.9 percent from the field, including a 11.8 percent (2-17) from three-point range. The Huskers also struggled at the free throw line, connecting on just 21-of-34 attempts (61.8 percent).
Nebraska returns to Big 12 road action next Saturday by traveling to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net.