Wildcat whipping – Kansas State women 88, Kansas 49
K-State deals Jayhawks worst home loss ever
The rebuilding Kansas University women’s basketball team, hoping to return as one of the Big 12 Conference’s premier teams, saw just how far they have to go on Wednesday night.
Against one of the nation’s top squads, KU suffered its worst home defeat in history, falling 88-49 to No. 4 Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“This game was all about us,” KU coach Marian Washington said. “Had we won, it wasn’t going to make us, and losing it isn’t going to break us.”
While KU’s up-and-coming players, notably freshmen Tamara Ransburg and Erica Hallman, showed signs of potentially being big stars in the Big 12, K-State showed that this year’s star power in the Sunflower State is wearing purple.
The Wildcats’ top three players — junior Nicole Ohlde and sophomores Kendra Wecker and Laurie Koehn — combined for 50 points, including nine three-pointers and 19 rebounds.
Wecker, a forward, was 5-of-5 shooting from three-point range, including two early threes that helped K-State bolt to a 20-4 lead just five minutes in.
Kansas (7-5 overall, 0-1 Big 12) refused to give in, though, and never let the lead get larger the remainder of the first half. The Jayhawks trailed by just 11 at halftime.
“They’re better than last year,” Wecker said of the Jayhawks. “They’re real athletic this year.”
Kansas' Crystal Kemp, back, loses a rebound to Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde.
KU’s first-half scoring was led by Ransburg, who scored eight points despite playing just five minutes. Battling foul trouble and an injured leg, the 6-foot-4 Ransburg finished with her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds going up against Ohlde, an All-American candidate.
“I thought she did a great job,” Washington said of Ransburg. “Ta’s a real competitor. We didn’t have much inside other than her.”
Kansas State (14-1, 1-0) put an exclamation mark on its conference opener, outscoring KU 47-19 in the second half. More than 4,000 of the 5,318 fans in attendance were backing the Wildcats, who have won nine straight dating back to November.
“K-State is an awesome team,” Ransburg said. “They’re very focused and very fundamentally sound. I give them props for that. We’re just young.”
Despite the lopsided loss, the Jayhawks refused to hang their heads, instead pointing to the strides that are continuing to be made. They return to action against Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, looking to snap a 17-game conference losing streak that began last January.
6Sports video: Wildcats hand Lady Jayhawks loss
“I liked the fact that we could go to the basket against them,” said Hallman, who finished with 11 points and four assists. “I think we can run with any team. We’ve just got to make shots”