Cougars fall to Wildcats, 77-52, to close Kansas swing

MANHATTAN, Kan. — BYU women’s basketball fell to the Kansas State Wildcats 77-52 at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars trailed by eight entering halftime, but Kansas State held the Cougars to 1-of-14 shooting in the third, outscoring BYU 19-9 in the frame to take a 57-39 lead into the fourth quarter. K-State bested the Cougars 39-22 in the second half to put the game away. 

"They [Kansas State] were really, really spectacular today," said head coach Lee Cummard. "I was really impressed with Kansas State offensively. They had us in rotation and flying around most of the night, because they played out of advantage. Defensively, we'll see what the film says. Maybe we were easy to guard tonight, but they did a tremendous job guarding, so credit to them."

The visitors from Provo were held to 30.4 percent shooting from the field while the Wildcats shot 47.6 percent on the night. BYU was outscored in the paint 40-22 and lost the turnover battle 19 to 12 for the game, with the home team scoring 30 points off Cougar giveaways.

Delaney Gibb and Marya Hudgins were the two players in double figures for BYU. Gibb racked up 11 points on 2-of-9 from the field, 1-of-7 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Hudgins put up 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from three to go along with five rebounds and two steals. 

Off the bench, Bolanle Yussuf led the team with seven rebounds to go along with four points, an assist, a steal and a block. Olivia Hamlin tallied seven points, and Arielle Mackey-Williams added six points, going a perfect 2-of-2 from three.  

Wildcat forward Nastja Claessens recorded a career-high 25 points on an efficient 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. Claessens also tacked on four boards, four assists and two steals.

First Quarter

Both teams teetered back and forth in the first five minutes of the contest. Hudgins drained a left-corner three off a Sydney Bennally swing pass on the Cougars’ first offensive possession. In response to a Wildcat three, Lara Rohkohl putback her own miss, then Gibb got on the board with a right-corner three after a Kansas State layup. BYU up 8-7 midway through the first.

Out of the media timeout, the Wildcats went on an 8-1 run, making two threes and a layup in that span. Kambree Barber converted an and-1 layup in the lane with 30 seconds left after BYU went 4:24 without a field goal. The Cougars trailed 18-14 at the end of the first. 

Second Quarter

BYU’s deficit grew to 10 after Kansas State got inside for three straight layups to open the quarter. Hamlin halted the K-State with a driving floater, then a layup off a back cut. After a Bennally midrange pull-up jumper and assist inside to Yussuf, the Cougars found themselves down seven, 29-22, with four minutes left in the half. 

Each team traded buckets to close the half as a pair of threes by Mackey-Williams and Hudgins from the top of the arc, and a Hudgins fadeaway jumper went down in the process. A pair of Wildcat free throws made it 38-30 in favor of Kansas State going into the locker room.

Third Quarter

The Wildcats came out of the tunnel and took control of the momentum. A 12-2 run by Kansas State came by way of paint points and free throws to increase BYU's deficit to 18, 50-32, with 4:25 remaining in the third.

The Cougars went without a field goal in the first 6:29 of the third. That drought was broken by a Cannon cut to the basket for an and-1 layup off a Rohkohl pass. After points were exchanged to end the quarter, BYU trailed 57-39.

Fourth Quarter

The Cougars cut into the Wildcat lead with a Gibb running hook shot and a Rohkohl putback on back-to-back possessions to start the fourth. BYU countered a Kansas State layup with a Mackey-Williams left-wing three, her second of the game, off a dime from Gibb to shrink the deficit to 13 in the first minute and a half of the final quarter. 

That was the closest the Cougars got to the Wildcats the rest of the game. Kansas State went on another flurry with a 16-0 run before it was put to rest by a Barber reverse layup. That run led to the game being wrapped up with the Cougars falling to the Wildcats 77-52. 

Up Next

BYU will return to Provo for a showdown against the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. MT at the Marriott Center.