From K-State Athletics
Kansas State trailed by 14 at the half, but used a furious rally in the final 20 minutes to down Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 68-58 win on Monday night. The win secures the second K-State 20-win season in the last three seasons and pushes its win streak to five games.
K-State has won five straight Big 12 road games, which is the longest Big 12 road winning streak for K-State since the 2007-08 season. The Wildcats are 7-3 on the road this season, the most road victories since the 2008-09 season.
The Wildcats have won five straight games which is the longest winning streak for the program since winning nine straight to begin the 2016-17 season. Overall, K-State has won seven of its last eight games.
Trailing 32-18 at the half, Kansas State (20-10, 11-7 Big 12) dashed out of the locker room to begin the third quarter with an 18-5 run to pull within one, 37-36, with 4:23 remaining in the period. Peyton Williams scored seven of the 18 points during the rally.
The Wildcats would remain down one at the end of the third quarter, 44-43, as K-State outscored the Cowgirls 25-12 in the third. Williams tallied 11 points in the quarter.
K-State secured its first lead of the night with 9:04 remaining, as Williams buried a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a 45-44 lead. With a pair of baskets from Kayla Goth, the Wildcats built a 51-47 lead with 7:35 to play.
Oklahoma State (14-15, 5-13 Big 12) was able to close to within one twice with three-pointers, but each time K-State answered with a three-pointer of their own as Rachel Ranke and Christianna Carr knocked down triples.
After Carr’s three-pointer with 5:14 remaining, K-State closed the game with an 11-5 run as Williams scored five points during the final run. In total, K-State outscored Oklahoma State in the final 20 minutes, 50-26.
Williams led three Wildcats in double figures with her Big 12 best 14th double-double of the season with 24 points, 14 rebounds, four steals, three assists and a blocked shot.
Ranke reached double figures for the fourth time in the last five games, as she finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting including a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc. Ranke paced K-State in the first half with 10 points.
Goth carded 10 points, seven assists and four steals. With her seven assists, Goth became the first player in program history to register consecutive seasons with 375 or more points and 200 or more assists.
Oklahoma State was led by inspired play from Maria Castro, as the senior tallied seven of the Cowgirls’ 14 points with Oklahoma holding the 14-8 lead after the first quarter. K-State shot 25.0 percent in the opening quarter.
Kansas State used a 10-2 run in the second quarter to pull within three points, 21-18, with 6:45 remaining. Rachel Ranke started the rally with her first 3-pointer of the night, then buried her second moments later. Peyton Williams added a 3-pointer and free throw during the scoring stretch.
After the three from Williams, K-State would finish the second quarter without a field goal a duration of 6:44 and an 0-of-9 effort from the field. The Cowgirls would close the half on an 11-0 run to hold a 32-18 lead at the break.
Kansas State concluded the night shooting 43.1 percent from the floor (25-of-58) including a 50.0 percent performance (6-of-12) from 3-point range. After a hot start, Oklahoma State was held to a 34.8 percent (23-of-66) effort from the floor and were 25.0 percent (8-of-32) from behind the arc.
K-State outshined the Cowgirls in the paint, 36-18, and pocketed a season-high 14 steals.
Kansas State will turn its attention to the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the Wildcats will play their first game on Saturday, March 9. Gam time and opponent are yet to be determined.
