(24/rv) Kansas State fell short of completing a double-digit comeback on Senior Night as they fell to (12/10) Texas, 69-61, on Monday night in Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State’s five seniors were honored on Senior Night as Kindred Wesemann, Breanna Lewis, Jessica Sheble, Kelly Thomson and Erica Young played their last regular season home game in Bramlage. Lewis, Sheble, Thomson and Wesemann all started a game together for the first time in their careers.
Kansas State (21-9, 11-7 Big 12) was led by junior Karyla Middlebrook with 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting, including 8-of-8 at the free throw line. Seniors Breanna Lewis and Kindred Wesemann added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Kaylee Page finished with 10 points. Lewis was K-State’s top rebounder for the 23rd time this season with nine.
Texas (22-7, 15-3 Big 12) was led by Joyner Holmes with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Lashann Higgs added 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Kansas State shot 29 percent (18-of-62) from the field and 77.8 percent (21-of-27) from the free throw line. Texas shot 38.9 percent (28-of-72). The Wildcats’ bench outscored the Longhorns 33-19.
Both teams used stingy defense in the first quarter as the Longhorns took a 9-5 advantage after the first quarter. The 14 points in the first quarter are the fewest combined points scored in a single quarter since switching to four quarters prior to the start of the 2015-16 season.
The scoring picked up in the second quarter as K-State used an 8-0 run capped off by a Peyton Williams traditional 3-point play to take a 17-16 lead with 4:42 to go in the first half.
Texas used an 11-2 run behind seven points from Holmes to take a 27-19 advantage at the break.
Sparked by four points from Lashann Higgs, the Longhorns used a 6-0 run to force a K-State timeout and take a 33-19 lead with 7:22 to play in the third quarter.
After Texas pulled out to a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter, the Wildcats used a 7-0 run to pull within eight, 39-31, with 4:00 left in the quarter.
Wesemann and Middlebrook each scored four points to spark an 8-0 run to close out the third quarter and shrink the Longhorns lead to four, 45-41.
Both teams traded buckets to start the fourth quarter before back-to-back transition layups by Texas forced a Wildcat timeout and put the Longhorns up 53-45 with 6:03 left in the game.
K-State battled to within five points multiple times over the last five minutes of play, but could never get closer than that as Texas held off the Wildcats and picked up the victory, 69-61.
Kansas State now turns its attention to postseason play, as the Wildcats travel to Oklahoma City for the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships. K-State, the four-seed in the tournament, will face Iowa State in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on FSN and throughout the K-State Sports Network.
