The Kansas State women only led for a total of 43 seconds, but it was all they needed Saturday afternoon in their 46-44 last-second win at SMU in Dallas
Down eight points with just over 4:30 to play, K-State (2-0) started to chip away, ending the game on an 11-1 run, including seven straight to close the game with a 3-pointer from junior Taryn Sides, and back-to-back lay-ups from freshman point guard Gina Garcia, including the game-winner at the buzzer.
“We just wanted to make sure we had the momentum if it goes to overtime,” head coach Jeff Mittie said in a statement. “We felt pretty comfortable about it going to overtime. We wanted to get the last shot. Garcia had a good look to her in that high-ball screen action. We thought we would get a good look out of it. I didn’t know that she’d be able to get all the way to the rim, but, you know, we’ve got good shooters, so there’s some gravity that we can play off of. And she made a gritty, tough play.”
Points were hard to come by for both teams throughout the entire game, but especially in the first half, as both squads shot less than 30% from the field.
