Wildcats win on court and in track

Basketball

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. The women’s basketball team is in a major struggle right now. Playing a ranked opponent for the seventh time this season, the Wildcats dropped the game 81-52 to #23/25 Iowa State. This was the team’s third straight Big 12 loss.

Kansas State was terrible right out of the game, scoring only nine points in the first quarter and letting the Cyclones go on a 12-2 run. They followed that up with an anemic second quarter, tallying another eight to fall behind 34-17 at the half. Although things picked up a bit in the second half, a 10-2 Iowa State run in the third quarter pretty much put the game the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

All in all, Kansas State shot a disappointing 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field and only connected on six three-pointers despite 17 attempts. Three players (Kayla Goth, Peyton Williams, and Christiana Carr) finished in double figures, accounting for nearly all of the Wildcats’ production.

Up next, the Wildcats will travel to Lawrence on Wednesday for the second game of this year’s Sunflower Showdown series.

Now on to the good stuff!

The Kansas State men’s team absolutely dominated Oklahoma State 75-57, burying the Cowboys in an avalanche of three-pointers in the process. Eight different players connected from beyond the arc, but that stat belonged to Barry Brown who made a record five shots from three-point range on the night. The Wildcats shot 53.1 percent from the field and this was a season-high score for the team. This is the sixth consecutive conference win for Kansas State and equals a similar streak in 2013, and the team is now on top of the Big 12 standings along with Baylor.

The defensive game was strong too, holding Oklahoma State to just 40.7 percent from the field and stymieing the Big 12’s best three-point shooting squad. The Wildcats have now held 13 of 21 opponents to less than 60 points.

Brown had 18 points, his eighth consecutive game in double digits. Meawhile, Dean Wade led the team with 24 points in a player-of-the-week effort that included being a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Next, the Wildcats will take on Kansas in the season’s most-anticipated game. It’s gonna be lit, as the kids say these days.

Track

At the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Kansas State put on a decent showing with several athletes achieving personal best marks. The Wildcats also won two events.

On the first day, Lauren Taubert placed third in the women’s pentathlon with a personal best score of 4,082 points. Teammate Helene Ingvaldsen also finished third in the women’s weight throw category.

Day 2 featured two event victories for Kansas State, with freshman Alex Ferguson taking first in the women’s 600m race and fellow freshman Kassidy Johnson winning the women’s mile run. Cara Melgares finished third in the 3000m event, and on the men’s side, Ethan Powell took second in the same event.

In the men’s heptathlon, Matas Adamonis and Kyle Parr finished 7th and 11th, with 4996 and 4976 points respectively. This was a debut event for both athletes.

Next weekend, the track teams are off to Lubbock for the Texas Tech Shootout. This is the fourth straight road meet for the Wildcats.

Tennis

Speaking of things happening in Lincoln, it will do your purple-bleeding selves good to know that Kansas State straight up beat Nebraska this weekend. The tennis team earned its first win over the Huskers since 2009 with a 4-1 decision against Nebraska. This was only the program’s fifth win in Lincoln ever and the first since Nebraska left the Big 12.

The team picked up the doubles point when Margot Decker and Anna Turco combined to win the deciding doubles match against Nebraska’s top squad of Vasanti Shinde and Marina Cozac. Decker and Turco are now 3-1 in doubles matches this season.

Ines Mesquita and Karine Marion-Job won their singles matches too, and Decker beat Shinde to clinch the victory for the Wildcats.

Kansas State will be back on court next Sunday to take on the Rice Owls in Houston.