SLATE: Kansas State women mauled by sixth-ranked Baylor

Last night at Bramlage, K-State’s women won the third quarter. That’s progress when the opponent is the Baylor Bears, but during the other three periods the Cats were outscored 70-35 in an eventual 88-58 defeat.

The Bears were led by Kalani Brown, who posted 20 points, and Lauren Cox, who had 17. They each also hauled in nine rebounds. Natalie Chou and Alexis Morris also reached double figures, scoring 13 points each.

As usual, Kayla Goth led the way for K-State with 22 points. Peyton Williams added 13 and nine boards.

Next up: a New Year’s Eve tilt with Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Sunday.

Men’s Basketball

Tonight, it’s Bruce Weber’s turn at the wheel. The site: Hilton, which means that even with Iowa State being extremely suspect this year — surprisingly positive results notwithstanding — a win isn’t guaranteed. We’ll have your How to Watch post around lunchtime; meanwhile, here’s a selection of preview materials.

• Corbin McGuire in today’s Sports Extra
• Travis Hines at the Ames Tribune
• Garrett Kroeger at the Iowa State Daily
• The AP story at the Mason City Globe-Gazette

Our own Luke Sobba provided a roundup of the Big 12 season so far last night, as well. Spoiler: he’s not optimistic.

Football

Blair Kerkhoff at the Star reports on the TV ratings for Tuesday’s Cactus Bowl and Wednesday’s Texas Bowl. K-State helped spur a 43 percent ratings increase over last year’s Baylor/Boise game in Phoenix, and the game pulled a 7.7 rating in Kansas City. That was less than Mizzou pulled on Wednesday (9.6), but apparently Kansas City cares more about K-State than Dallas does about the Longhorns (5.7)... and than St. Louis cares about the Tigers (also 5.7).

Bill Snyder’s future popped up too many times in this morning’s headline sweep. Greg Echlin at KCUR wonders what happens if he retires, while Ron Sanders at Duck Territory cautions Oregon fans that extension or no extension, Jim Leavitt still has an open path to Manhattan if necessary.

BOOZE

Somehow we missed this story in Sunday’s Wichita Eagle: Becky Tanner writes about a distillery in Kinsley which is making vodka... out of milo.