From K-State Sports
Kansas State used a strong second half on Saturday afternoon to end its 2018-19 regular season non-conference schedule with a 72-62 win over Northern Iowa at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats have won seven straight home games.
K-State (9-3) shot 50 percent or better in both the third and fourth quarters, as the Wildcats outscored UNI, 40-33, in the second half. With K-State leading 32-29 at halftime, Northern Iowa opened the third quarter with a 6-0 burst to pull in front, 35-32, with 8:14 remaining.
The Wildcats answered with a 16-5 run over the next four minutes, as Peyton Williams registered six of the 16 points during the rally to stake Kansas State to a 48-40 advantage with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
Northern Iowa (7-5) closed to within five, 51-46, with 1:41 remaining but a 3-pointer from Kayla Goth gave K-State a 57-49 lead entering the final quarter.
In the fourth, the Wildcats held the Panthers without a field goal for almost five minutes as K-State built a 66-53 lead with 4:40 remaining in the game. A Goth jumper with 1:50 left sealed the win for the Wildcats. For the quarter, K-State shot 54.5 percent (6-of-11) and held UNI to a 28.6 percent effort (4-of-14).
K-State featured three players in double figures, led by Williams who tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. She also added a block and a steal. The six assists tied her career-high.
Goth also reached double figures, as she finished with 12 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. With her seven assists, Goth moved into sole possession of sixth place on the K-State career assists list with 386. She needs 18 points to become the 41st player in program history with 1,000 or more career points and the first since the 2016-17 season.
Also in double figures was freshman guard Christianna Carr with 11 points and four rebounds. Carr connected on three 3-pointers on the afternoon.
Northern Iowa was led by Karli Rucker and Ellie Howell with 15 points each. Rucker added six assists to her final stat line.
After a K-State timeout early in the first quarter, K-State went on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 12 with 1:42 remaining in the opening quarter. Williams started the rally with a jumper. Carr then followed with five points as she connected on her first 3-pointer of the afternoon and then buried a pair of free throws.
Jasauen Beard then notched three points of her own to square the game. Northern Iowa would end the quarter with four points and hold a 16-12 lead entering the second quarter.
Maary Lakes helped K-State pull within one, 18-17, as she registered a pair of blocked shots in one possession by Northern Iowa. Following the second block, Lakes pulled in the rebound and found Goth with the outlet pass.
Goth raced up the floor and found Rachel Ranke for the corner three-pointer and force the UNI timeout with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter. Ranke finished the day with nine points and three steals.
After the timeout by the Panthers, K-State continued to roll on both ends of the floor. The Wildcats would go on a 16-0 run to capture a 28-18 lead with 4:48 remaining in the first half and force a second Northern Iowa timeout. During the rally Carr knocked down three-pointers on consecutive possessions, while Kali Jones dropped in a layup to force the timeout.
UNI would hold K-State without a field goal for the final 4:51 of the quarter, as the Panthers ended the quarter on an 11-4 run as K-State led 32-29 at the half.
Kansas State ended the afternoon shooting 44.4 percent from the field (24-of-54), while Northern Iowa was held to 35.9 percent (23-of-64). The Wildcats were 18-of-26 from the free throw line, making more free throws than Northern Iowa attempted (10-of-14).
K-State also finished the day with seven blocked shots, improving their season total to 67 through the first 12 games. This was seventh game this season for the Wildcats with five or more blocked shots.
Kansas State begins Big 12 play on Wednesday, January 2, in Ames, Iowa, as the Wildcats face Iowa State at 6:30 p.m.
