Cats ready for tournament play

The Women's Big 12 Tournament is sure to be a show this year as seven of the 12 teams are currently ranked in the Top 25.

K-State, which is seeded ninth, is an underdog to win the championship, but the Wildcats have a chance to run the table. Their first opponent will be the Texas Tech Red Raiders. In their last meeting in February, the Wildcats lost 75-67 in overtime.

"We have to defend better as a team this time," senior forward Ashley Sweat said. "I think [Jordan] Murphree got some good shots off on us and we have to talk more. Our offense has gotten better and we just need to carry it into game time."

Third-ranked Nebraska is the number one overall seed. The Huskers were one of just two undefeated teams in the nation (Connecticut) and recently beat the Wildcats on Sunday.

"The game against Texas Tech seems to be a pretty even matchup like the first time," said head coach Deb Patterson. "If we advance past them we've got number three in the country again. It would be another great challenge."

At the number two seed is Iowa State who had much success this year and has ranked as high as 12th in the country. Oklahoma sits at the third seed. They are led by junior guard Danielle Robinson who is averaging almost 17 points per game.

Kansas, Colorado and Missouri round out the bottom three of the tournament. The Wildcats split with KU and Colorado, but swept the Missouri Tigers this season. The Jayhawks will have to play without senior leader Danielle McCray who tore her ACL a month ago. Freshman guard Monica Engelman has brought a spark to the team in McCray's absence, averaging close to eight points a game in her nine starts.

The Baylor Bears, last year's tournament champions, are seeded sixth. They are led by senior center Brittney Griner who averages 19 points and nine rebounds. Griner, who was recently suspended for two games for throwing a punch at a player, will be out for the first round when the Bears play Colorado.

Patterson said the young Wildcat players like freshman guard Brittany Chambers are starting to come around and could help a lot in the tournament.

"She's continued to grow and mature and understand the game outside of herself," Patterson said. "Everybody's stepping up, but we're still a long ways from doing it for 40 minutes."

If the Wildcats can get past the second round, they would most likely play Texas A&M or Texas in regionals. Chambers said if this team is together, they can put a lot of fear in opponents in the tournament.

"When this team has five people on the court who can score we can be a dangerous team," Chambers said. "We know what we can do and if a team wants to take us for granted then it's a mistake. You don't get second chances and there's no mercy when you're playing in the Big 12."

The tournament begins tomorrow at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. K-State vs. Texas Tech will be the first game at 11 a.m. followed by Texas vs. Missouri, Oklahoma State vs. KU, and Baylor vs. Colorado.