KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UCF women’s basketball team could not outlast No. 20/19 Kansas State, 80-65, in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship Thursday afternoon in the T-Mobile Center.
The Knights (13-18, 4-14 Big 12) recorded just nine turnovers while the Wildcats (26-6, 13-5) tallied 36 rebounds, 19 assists and five blocks.
Kansas State came out and didn’t waste any time getting on the board first as they made two layups to start the game on a 4-0 run. Mahogany Chandler-Roberts drove in a layup to give the Black and Gold their first lead at 4:07. The Wildcats answered with a three to take back the lead and ended the first quarter with a seven-point edge, 18-11.
The Wildcats continued their scoring ways with an early basket to start the second quarter. A 6-0 spurt from Kansas State forced the Knights to burn a timeout. Achol Akot came out of the timeout on fire, scoring the next three consecutive baskets for the Knights. K-State kept control of the lead as it headed into halftime with the lead, 41-30.
Kanas State came out of the half and rallied to go on a 9-0 frenzy. The Knights fought back as Emely Rodriguez ignited an 8-0 run to cut the Wildcats’ lead to single digits (8) with 5:23 left in the third quarter. The Knights went 8-16 from the field but headed into the final quarter down by nine, 57-48.
A mid-quarter-scoring drought caused the Wildcats to jump on a 7-0 rally to ensure they kept the lead throughout the remainder of the game. Kansas State shot an impressive 75% from the field going 5-5 in the final waning minutes of the game. With the Wildcats' 80-65 win they will now head to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship.
Peterson continued to be the leader for the Knights recording 21 points and going 6-6 from the free-throw line. The Senior guard totaled 557 points this season which puts her sixth in the record book for most points scored in a single season. Rodriguez tallied 17 points and ended her freshman campaign with 297 points, scoring in double digits on 16 occasions. Adeang Ring crashed the boards with a game-high six rebounds.