Defense sparks Kansas State women's basketball in 63-45 Sunflower Showdown win over Kansas

MANHATTAN — Kansas State's women played with the urgency of a team fighting for its postseason life and it showed.

Coming off a disappointing road loss at last-place TCU, the Wildcats locked down defensively against Kansas on Wednesday for a 63-45 blowout victory at Bramlage Coliseum.

"We got efforts from a lot of people tonight, so I'm really pleased with the way we played," said K-State coach Jeff Mittie.

With the win, K-State improved to 16-12 overall and 5-10 in the Big 12 with three conference games left. The Wildcats also gained a split of the season Sunflower Showdown series after falling to KU, 85-72, in Lawrence on Jan. 29.

KU (16-10, 6-9 Big 12) suffered its third straight loss.

The Wildcats used a big second quarter to grab a 26-22 halftime lead, then blew the game open in the second half by outscoring KU, 37-23, the rest of the way.

K-State shot just 39.3%, but made up for it on the defensive end with an active 2-3 zone, limiting Kansas to 31.4% and forcing 20 Jayhawk turnovers. That, and a 40-36 rebounding edge led to a 14-4 advantage in fast-break points and a 19-11 difference in points off turnovers.

"I think just to get a win in that way has been something that we've been looking for this whole entire season," said K-State point guard Serena Sundell, who led all scorers with 24 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and four steals. "It's something we haven't found a lot."

The Wildcats also outscored Kansas in the paint, 36-20.

For K-State, Sundell was a model of efficiency, hitting 8-of-10 shots while knocking down 8-of-9 free throws. Gabby Gregory overcame a slow start to score 20 points and grab four rebounds.

"I just keep shooting the ball," said Gregory, the Big 12's second-leading scorer, after making just 2 of 12 first-half shots but going 6-for-9 with two 3-pointers after the break. "It's eventually going to go in, so I wasn't hitting my shots early, but like coach Mittie said, we were still getting good movement. We were getting good shots, they just weren't falling."

Defensively, the Wildcats limited KU center Taiyanna Jackson to 7 points — well below her 15.9-point average — by surrounding her near the basket. Jackson did grab 14 rebounds and blocked four shots, though.

"I thought Sarah (Shematsi) got us off to a great start offensive rebounding. She really did a good job of making it hard for Jackson to catch anything easy," Mittie said. "I thought Heavenly (Greer) came in right away, picked up where Sarah left off, (and Eliza) Maupin came in.

"Those three, I thought, played as well as they've played all year as a unit, and that was critical for us, because we outrebounded them."

KU made three early 3-pointers on the way to a 13-7 lead, but then hit just two more the rest of the game, which allowed K-State to collapse on Jackson.

"They obviously played zone and just kind of built a tent around (Jackson), and the tent got tighter and tighter as we miss shots," said Kansas coach Brandon Schneider. "And I thought we missed her when we did have opportunities, but credit K-State and their length.

"I think sometimes even when she was open, they did a great job of playing with their hands above their shoulders and messing with her timing. When you shoot as poorly as we did and then have 20 turnovers, that's not a great recipe for success."

Zakiyah Franklin led the Jayhawks with 10 points and Chandler Prater had 8. Third-leading scorer Holly Kersgieter (14.4 ppg) missed the game because of concussion protocols.

K-State goes on the road Saturday to face West Virginia in a 5 p.m. game, while KU plays host to Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. Sunday in Allen Fieldhouse.

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women's basketball beats Kansas in Sunflower Showdown