Manhattan ? It was a slam-dunk victory for Kansas State over Kansas University’s women’s basketball team Saturday, even if K-State All-America forward Nicole Ohlde bricked a break-away jam.

Despite Kansas State’s all-time leading scorer being rejected by the rim and KSU’s failing to score a basket for more than nine minutes late in the second half, the 10th-ranked Wildcats easily defeated the Jayhawks, 79-50, in front of 13,340 fans — the largest crowd ever to witness the Sunflower Showdown since the in-state rivalry began in 1969.

“Our players were completely energized the last three days about hearing how well ticket sales were going,” Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said of K-State’s first sellout crowd of the season, which watched the Wildcats improve to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12 Conference with their 11th straight victory.

“The first half we really came out and played off the energy and emotion that they gave us.”

Kansas (8-7, 1-3) was playing without starters Tamara Ransburg and Larisha Graves and reserve Kandis Bonner. They sat out the game serving a one-game suspension mandated by the Big 12 after their involvement in a fracas following KU’s 55-52 win Jan. 10 in Missouri.

A subdued KU coach Marian Washington wouldn’t comment on what effect the trio might have had in Saturday’s contest, which was the fifth straight win by KSU against Kansas. Overall, Washington said her team battled one of the top teams in the country and came away with at least some positives.

“Obviously, we played a great team, but we had to focus on what was going to help our team get better,” said Washington, who started two freshmen — Lauren Ervin and Sharita Smith — for the first time in their careers. “(It was) a chance to play some players who not had a lot of time on the floor. We worked real hard to try to execute the offenses that we want to run. I thought down the stretch we did a better job than we started out.”

But it was the way the Wildcats started out that made the difference.

The Wildcats made nine of their first 10 shots, including three three-pointers by Megan Mahoney, who tied her season high with 15 points. Freshman guard Twiggy McIntyre, who suffered an ankle sprain a week ago, followed Mahoney’s lead with two treys of her own and 10 total points.

Kansas State's Megan Mahoney (34) drives to the basket ahead of Kansas University's Lauren Ervin in the Wildcats' 79-50 victory. Saturday in Manhattan, KSU claimed its fifth straight win over the Jayhawks.

Ohlde, the Big 12’s reigning player of the year, led the Wildcats with 20 points and nine rebounds, and KSU outscored KU, 42-14, in the paint.

“They have three primary offensive threats,” Washington said of Ohlde, Kendra Wecker and Laurie Koehn. “Although we were willing to give up a couple of them, you really have to give it to Mahoney and McIntyre.

“Those two we were willing to give up, and they knocked down some great shots.”

Kansas State, which shot over 65 percent in the first half, compared to KU’s 33-percent shooting, took a comfortable 52-26 lead into the half.

As soon as the Wildcats got rolling in the second half, the game’s biggest highlight — or perhaps lowlight, if you asked Ohlde — happened.

With 16:36 to go, Ohlde caught a pass out in front of everyone and decided to try to dunk. Problem was, the 6-foot-5 forward didn’t get the ball higher than the goal.

“It was pretty weak,” admitted Ohlde, who also missed a dunk as a sophomore against Missouri, but did throw one down in high school. “I didn’t think I was going to dunk it until the last second. I decided too late.”

Neither Wecker or Koehn, former Sunflower State prep standouts, did as much damage as they have in the past few meetings. The two combined for 18 points.

Kansas had a trio of players in double figures. Aquanita Burras led the Jayhawks with 17 points, while Blair Waltz tied her season high with 14 points, and Crystal Kemp added 13.

“Every year here is tough,” Waltz said. “They have the same players returning, and they had a big crowd. I think we are getting better at playing them.

“This game was a positive for us. Knowing that in the second half we played them even, that is a big positive. Now we just have to keep working to get better.”