Haley Texada scored 22 points in her final regular season home game and Kansas State overcame a 13-point second half deficit as the Wildcats wrapped up the 2014-15 slate with a 59-55 win over West Virginia in Women’s Basketball action Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
Texada along with Ashia Woods and Heidi Brown were honored on Senior Night which became that much more special after the second half rally which resulted in the program’s first win over West Virginia in six tries.
After the first five minutes of the game were even, the Mountaineers went on a 12-0 tear to lead 18-7 with 12:22 left in the first half. West Virginia would build its lead to 34-20 before seven quick points by the Wildcats cut the advantage to 34-27 and eventually 36-29 at halftime.
The Mountaineers would not let up to start the second half as they scored five points to start, but K-State would battle and cut the lead to 41-34 with 14:34 remaining in the game. West Virginia then went back up 49-37 before the Wildcats reeled off another six points in a row to make it 49-43. After Bre McDonald’s three-pointer seemed to quiet the crowd and give WVU a 52-43 advantage, the Wildcats made their run. Kansas State outscored West Virginia 11-0 in a span of 4:14 to grab a 54-52 lead allowing the announced crowd of 4,043 in Bramlage to bring the noise level to the point where it rivaled last week’s Men’s games against Kansas and Iowa State.
West Virginia then regained the lead on a three-point play off a questionable K-State turnover with 1:42 left in the contest. Coach Jeff Mittie then had to manage the final minutes carefully as he only had one timeout to work with but K-State went back in front 56-55 on a Breanna Lewis jumper with 1:23 left and from there the Wildcats played stingy defense and forced a key turnover allowing them to seal the victory at the free throw line.
Joining Texada in double figures were Kindred Wesemann with 12 points and Lewis with 10. Bria Holmes was the leading scorer for West Virginia with 17 points while McDonald added 14 and Averee Fields chipped in with 10.
Not only was Tuesday’s win the first for K-State over West Virginia but Mittie had also come into the game with an 0-7 record against the Mountaineers which included his time with TCU.
Kansas State (17-12, 7-11) now prepares for the Big 12 Tournament which begins Friday night in Dallas. K-State will take on in-state rival KU which finished off its regular season with a 68-64 win over Iowa State Monday night in Lawrence. The Jayhawks eliminated the Wildcats from last year’s Big 12 Tournament but K-State has won both regular season meetings this year.
Tipoff on Friday at American Airlines Center is set for 6 p.m. The winner will play Baylor in the Quarterfinals on Saturday.
