Kansas State women’s basketball falls to Colorado, 63-50
MANHATTAN — One overturned call was all it took for the wheels to come off for the Kansas State women’s basketball team.
The Wildcats never recovered as Colorado pulled away Sunday for a 63-50 NCAA Tournament second-round victory at sold-out Bramlage Coliseum.
With the teams locked in a tense battle into the third quarter, a foul against the Colorado’s Jaylyn Sherrod was switched to an intentional foul the other way on K-State’s Serena Sundell after Sherrod complained that her mask was knocked off.
Colorado’s Maddie Nolan made both free throws to break a 39-39 tie and the Buffaloes finished the quarter on a 13-3 run. K-State hung tough defensively, but struggled scoring against a sagging CU defense.
With the loss, K-State’s season ended at 26-8, while Colorado (24-9) moves onto the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Albany, New York.
After trailing 52-42 at the end of three quarters, K-State cut it to five on a Gabby
Gregory 3-pointer with just over three minutes left, but could not get any closer.
For K-State, Gregory led the way with 12 points, Sundell had 11 and Ayoka Lee 10 points and 11 rebounds. Nolan had 11 points and Tameiya Sadler and Quay Miller 10 for Colorado.
Here are three takeaways from KState’s second-round matchup against their future Big 12 foe.
Wildcat turnovers lead to Colorado run-outs
Kansas State turned the ball over 11 times in the first half against Colorado’s active defense, leading to numerous runouts and a 10-0 advantage in fast-break points for the Buffaloes in the first half. It ended up a 16-2 difference.
Colorado also had a 12-6 edge in points off turnovers in the half and finished with a 19-9 advantage.
Serena Sundell uses her head, and a Colorado body
With K-State facing an inbounds pass under the basket with 1.1 seconds left in the half, and Colorado defending with its tallest lineup, Sundell had to improvise.
Instead of forcing it to an open teammate, she bounced the ball off Colorado’s Brianna McLeod to herself for the layup to break a 33-33 tie. After a review, she was awarded a free throw as well, but missed it.
A record-breaking half for Kansas State
K-State led 35-33 at halftime and broke two school records in the process.
The Wildcats had six assists in the half to break the team single-season record, and their two blocked shots, both by school career leader Ayoka Lee, set a new team single-season record as well.
What’s next for the Wildcats?
K-State’s bid to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002 ends and the Wildcats’ season is over.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.