San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
K-STATE BEATS RIVALS WITH STANDS PACKED
Serena Sundell and Zyanna Walker led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points each as No. 7 Kansas State beat Kansas 69-58 on Saturday in front of the Wildcats’ largest home crowd of the season.
No. 7
K-state (18-1, 7-0 Big 12) used a big first quarter to open a double-digit lead and then held off every Kansas rush.
“We just had to settle down,” Sundell said. “I was telling everybody in the huddle, ‘We’re in charge of this game. We’ve been in control. Let’s find our shot. Get a good stop defensively and just settle down.’”
Much of the talk in the postgame was about adjustments to who wasn’t there, as K-state was playing without All-american Ayoka Lee (ankle surgery) and Kansas lost Taiyanna Jackson in the first quarter.
“(The players) know that when (Lee) is out of the game, we play differently,” Kstate coach Jeff Mittie said.
Jackson lost a few teeth in a crash with Brylee Glenn and didn’t return.
Mittie said the announced crowd of 9,602 fans at Bramlage Coliseum helped his team respond when Kansas made the game close in the fourth quarter.
“So many times crowds cheer when you make big plays, but this crowd was different” he said. “They cheered when we needed to make a big play.”
Zakiyah Franklin had 18 points for Kansas (9-9, 2-5).
The Wildcats will have to rely on their depth without Lee for the next four weeks. Lee had surgery on her left ankle Friday. She is averaging 19.8 points with a .677 fieldgoal percentage and 8.2 rebounds. She ranks second in the nation and leads the Big 12 in field-goal percentage.
No. 9 Uconn 88, Depaul 51:
Freshman Ashlynn Shade scored 21 points, Paige Bueckers added 20 and host Uconn routed Depaul for its 12th straight win.
Aaliyah Edwards added 18 points for the Huskies (16-3, 8-0 Big East), who were playing a game on campus for the first time since Dec. 6.
Maeve Mcerlane had 15 points to lead Depaul (10-10, 2-5), which fell to 0-4 this season against ranked opponents.
No. 11 Texas 76, Oklahoma State 66: Freshman Madison Booker scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, Taylor Jones had a double double, and visiting Texas pulled away for a win over Oklahoma State, the 1,200th win for the Longhorns’ program.
Jones had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Aaliyah Moore had 17 points and eight rebounds and Shaylee Gonzales had 15 points for Texas (18-2, 5-2 Big 12).
Anna Greta Asi scored 22 points for the Cowgirls (11-7, 4-3) on 8-of-10 shooting.
No. 12 Baylor 77, Central Florida 74: Darianna Littlepage-buggs scored 24 points, Sarah Andrews had a double-double and four key free throws in the final minute, and host Baylor snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Central Florida.
Littlepage-buggs made all nine of her shot attempts
and went 6 for 8 from the freethrow line. Andrews had 11 points and 10 assists for the Bears (15-2, 4-2 Big 12).
Peterson scored 32 points for the Knights, who have yet to win a conference game in their debut season in the Big 12. Khyla Ngodu had 15 points and seven rebounds for UCF (9-7, 0-6).
No. 17 Gonzaga 89, Saint Mary’s 60: Kaylynne Truong hit seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points, Yvonne Ejim added 22 and Gonzaga rolled to victory over Saint Mary’s for the Bulldogs’ 29th straight win at home.
Brynna Maxwell scored 14 points for Gonzaga (18-2, 6-0 West Coast Conference), which has won 12 straight games.
Tayla Dalton had 17 points for the Gaels (8-10, 1-3) and Addison Wedin scored 16.
New Mexico 69, No. 25 UNLV 66: Viane Cumber scored 22 points and hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game with 4 seconds left to lift visiting New Mexico over UNLV, bringing a dramatic end to the Lady Rebels’ 29game Mountain West Conference winning streak.
Cumber made 8 of 14 shots, which included 6 of 11 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds for New Mexico (13-6, 4-2).
Desi-rae Young, who averages 19.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, had 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists for UNLV (15-2, 5-1).