The K-State women’s basketball team opened up their 50th season with a 74-49 victory over Stephen F. Austin.
Freshman guard Rachel Ranke started off hot off of the bench for the Wildcats, putting up 8 points in the first quarter.
“[Ranke} has scoring ability, she really shoots the ball well,” head coach Jeff Mittie said of Ranke. “I liked our attack and those freshmen were a big part of that.”
Ranke finished the game with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
In the second quarter, K-State put together a short 4-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter to stretch their lead to nine points. A three pointer from senior forward Kaylee Page stretched the K-State lead to 11 with just under a minute left in the half.
Page led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points. She recorded 7 rebounds in the game.
“It was really fun to get out on the court and play a real game,” Page said.
At halftime, K-State led 37-28. Ranke’s 8 first quarter points led the Wildcats in the first half. Page and senior guard Shaelyn Martin contributed 7 points each.
“It was a great feeling to get back on the floor with my teammates,” Martin said. “She’s been injured the past few weeks.”
In the first half, K-State had some problems with foul trouble among their inside players. Sophomore forward Peyton Williams spent long stretches on the bench with three fouls early. Freshman forward Mary Lakes and freshman center Ashley Ray each had two.
K-State scored 13 points off of 11 Stephen F. Austin turnovers in the first half. The Wildcat bench contributed 11 points in the half.
Page started off the second half with a three pointer on K-State’s first possession.
Mid-way through the third quarter, Page knocked down a three and a foul off the ball gave Martin two free throws. The K-State run reached 7 points in less than a minute when Ranke got a lay-up in transition.
“We didn’t talk to them long at half time,” Mittie said after the game. “It was a fairly simple half time talk.”
K-State stretched its lead out to 21 at the end of the third quarter. Going into the final period, they led 58-37.
K-State’s biggest lead of the game, 27 points, came with 3:38 left in the game. They finished the game shooting 48% and 32% from behind the arc.
Stephen F Austin’s leading scorer was senior forward Stevi Parker with 9 points. SFA shot 27 percent and 17 percent on three-point baskets.
K-State’s next action will be against the University of Nebraska- Omaha on Monday, November 17. That game can be seen on K-StateHD.TV and Cox Kansas.