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Kansas State Women: Big Finish to Win Sunflower Showdown

By Stan Unruh

Mar 5, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard Kindred Wesemann (24) drives to the basket in front of West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jessica Morton (21) in the first quarter during the women's Big 12 conference tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard Kindred Wesemann (24) drives to the basket in front of West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jessica Morton (21) in the first quarter during the women's Big 12 conference tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Kansas State Women’s Basketball team started fast and finished strong for their seventh straight win over rival Kansas in Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown 61-54.

Jeff Mittie’s Wildcats capped  a great week with another big victory. Following Wednesday’s upset of #16 Oklahoma, they went to Douglas County and ran past the Birds.

Clutch free throw shooting and strong fourth quarter defense were among the keys to their 21st win on the season.

As she did in their January 11 contest, Breanna Lewis had a big game for Kansas State with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Naismith trophy candidate had 15 points and 10 boards in the earlier game.

Fellow senior Kindred Wesemann was not far behind. She had another big finish for the ‘Cats. She scored 10 of her 12 points in the final quarter.

Kansas State had a tough day from beyond the arc on Saturday.

Kaylee Page hit the only 3-point shot for Jeff Mittie’s team. She was one for 8 on the day and the ‘Cats missed 19 total three point shots.

On the other hand, Kansas State shot well from the foul line 18-of-27 including 11-of-13 big foul shots in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats didn’t dominate the game like many expected. After jumping out to an early lead, the ‘Cats trailed 11-6 late in the first quarter.

Team defense improved in the second quarter and after a 10 –zip run the ‘Cats took a slim lead into the halftime locker room.

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They had to fight for the victory in the second half.

After a 13-5 run by the birds, the ‘Cats were down two points going into the final quarter.  That’s when Wesemann  rallied the team for ten big points.

The Kansas State defense forced 21 turnovers on the day and needed all of them to pick up their third road victory in the month of February.

As a result, this was the 11th conference victory of the season for Jeff Mittie’s team.

On Monday, the ‘Cats will wrap up the regular season against the Longhorns at Bramlage Coliseum for Senior Night.

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