The Kansas State women’s basketball team beat Northern Iowa 72-62 in Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday to wrap up non-conference play.
The Wildcats entered the afternoon with a record of 8-3 and 6-0 on their home court. The Panthers came into the game with a 7-4 record overall.
K-State was outscored 16-12 in the first quarter, shooting just 36.4 percent from the field. Both teams shot 25 percent from three-point range and had six turnovers.
The Wildcats were able to find some rhythm from beyond the arc in the second quarter as they made 60 percent of their shots on five attempts. Seven of their 20 points in the quarter came from the free-throw line.
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The first bucket not from the free-throw line for the Wildcats was a three-pointer from sophomore guard Rachel Ranke. The Wildcats went on a 14-2 scoring run five minutes before halftime. Freshman guard Christianna Carr finished the first half with 11 points, six coming in the second quarter from beyond the arc.
Going into halftime, K-State led Northern Iowa 32-29.
The second half was when K-State really started shooting the ball well and driving to the bucket.
The largest lead for the Wildcats was 10 points in the third quarter. K-State made 50 percent of their field goals on 18 attempts and 71 percent of their free throws. The quarter was a big improvement when it came to handling the ball with just one turnover. Six of the team’s 10 rebounds came on the defensive side of the ball. Of the 25 points in the quarter, 14 came in the paint.
In the fourth quarter, K-State held Northern Iowa to just 13 points and 28.6 percent shooting. The Panthers out-rebounded the Wildcats by one and forced K-State to turn the ball over four times.
Junior forward Peyton Williams led the Wildcats with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight makes from the free-throw line. Senior guard Kayla Goth added 12 points and seven assists to the winning effort.
The Wildcats won this game against the Panthers after losing 72-71 on Dec. 21, 2017. The all-time series is now tied 2-2, and the Wildcats lead 2-1 in Manhattan.
K-State will next travel to Ames, Iowa, to play Iowa State on Jan. 2 with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
