Kansas State women’s basketball faced off against No. 1/2 Connecticut on Sunday in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,528 in Bramlage Coliseum. The Huskies improved their winning streak to 84 games and sent K-State to its first loss of the season by a score of 75-58.
Sunday’s crowd of 12,528 marked the ninth largest crowd in K-State women’s basketball history inside Bramlage Coliseum. This was the first sell-out since Feb. 4, 2012 against Baylor and first non-conference sell-out since March 31, 2006 in the WNIT final against Marquette.
Kansas State (9-1) was led by senior center and Naismith Trophy candidate Breanna Lewis, who scored 18 points in the game to go along with seven rebounds. Joining Lewis in double figures was junior guard Karyla Middlebrook with a personal season-high of 11 points.
UConn (9-0) was paced by forward Katie Lou Samuelson with 26 points and forward Napheesa Collier who added 22 points and eight rebounds.
Kansas State finished the afternoon with a 40.0 percent (22-of-55) effort from the floor, while Connecticut shot 49.2 percent (30-of-61). K-State held the Huskies to a 40.0 percent (12-of-30) shooting effort in the second half while holding them to 30 total points in the second half.
Connecticut held the edge on the board, 35-28. This was the first time this season K-State has been outrebounded in a game this season, snapping a nine-game streak.
After Kansas State went in front of UConn, 4-2, on a pair of Lewis putbacks, the Huskies answered with a 23-4 run to take a 25-8 at the end of the first quarter. During the run, Samuelson buried four 3-pointers and accounted for 14 points. This was the second time this season K-State had been held to single digits in a quarter.
K-State cut the UConn lead to 14, 31-17, with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter. Middlebrook helped cut into the deficit with a jumper and a pair of free throws, while Wesemann buried her first 3-pointer of the afternoon.
The Wildcats cut the Huskies’ lead to 45-31 at the half, using a 7-3 run over the final 2:08 of the period to cut into the deficit. K-State outscored UConn in the second quarter, 23-20. This was the first time this season K-State trailed after the first half.
Eternati Willock started the rally with a layup and Shaelyn Martin followed with a 15-foot jumper. The final points came from Wesemann, as she connected on her third 3-pointer of the quarter.
Kansas State shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from the field and UConn tallied a 58.1 percent (18-of-31) effort, including a 7-of-14 performance from beyond the arc.
K-State cut into the halftime deficit, 51-40, forcing a UConn timeout with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter. Lewis finished off a pair of layups and Kaylee Page knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game.
After the timeout, Connecticut went on a 10-0 run to rebuild its lead to 21, 61-40, with 3:06 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats nudged back to within 65-47 entering the fourth quarter. Kayla Goth scored K-State’s final five points of the quarter. Goth would finish with seven points on the day.
Kansas State secured an 11-10 edge in the final frame, as both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field.
After taking a week long break for finals, K-State will end its three-game home stand against Princeton on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.
