Kansas State survives Portland in a close first-round win in the NCAA Tournament

Kansas State women's basketball will keep basketball going in Manhattan for a little longer. The Wildcats took down Portland 78-65 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Now if you watched the first quarter and then turned the game off, you probably thought this was a blowout win for Kansas State, well, you would be wrong.

The Wildcats had a strong first half going into the break up by 15 points. Everything was going well for K-State, they were getting the shots they wanted and dominating in the paint. However, after halftime, Portland came out with a better game plan.

Portland wanted to come out at halftime and take away Ayoka Lee which from time to time they were successful, but you can only keep Lee down for so long. The combination of Lee and Gabby Gregory ended up being too much for the Pirates.

Gregory and Lee combined for 43 of Kansas State's 78 points. Lee was just one rebound away from a double-double, but the entire team was able to contribute to that stat. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Pirates 33 to 31, but the story of this game was fouling.

There were a combined 46 fouls in this game, 21 on Kansas State and 25 on Portland. It seemed as though anything a player was touched a foul was called. Frustration was very visible on both team's faces as they felt they couldn't play the game they wanted.

What helped the Wildcats was going to the foul line and making 19 of 29 free throws versus Portland going 10 for 15. Even though Portland had the better shooting percentage from the line, Kansas State made it to the line more often.

Every time Portland tried to get close, the Wildcats were able to hit clutch shots to keep the Pirates at bay, no pun intended. Kansas State was able to escape the first round, but I am sure they have things they want to work on before they meet their opponent int he second round.

The Wildcats will play the winner of Colorado and Drake at home in Bramlage on Sunday, March 24.

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