Kansas State women's basketball suffers first home loss on senior night against Iowa State
MANHATTAN — It was not the way the Kansas State women's basketball team had hoped to say goodbye in their final regular-season home game.
Iowa State took the lead for good less than two minutes into the fourth quarter and held off every K-State comeback attempt the rest of the way Wednesday night on the way to an 82-76 victory over the Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum.
It was the first home loss on the season for the Wildcats, who fell to 23-6 overall and 12-5 in the Big 12. They wrap up the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday after Texas Tech before heading to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament.
Iowa State (17-10, 11-6), which swept the season series from K-State, got 24 points form Addy Brown, 14 from Audi Crooks, 13 from Hannah Belanger and 11 from Emily Ryan.
The game was tied at 33-33 at halftime, and Iowa State led 56-52 going to the fourth quarter.
Here are three takeaways from a tough K-State loss.
Kansan snipers help gun down Wildcats
A loss to Iowa State in the final home game was hard enough for Kansas State to swallow. The fact that two players from Kansas helped gun them down made it even worse.
Addy Brown, a freshman forward from Derby, had 24 points and 11rebounds for Iowa State, while senior point guard Emily Ryan, a Claflin product, finished with 11 points and nine assists and seven rebounds.
So long, Ayoka Lee and Gabby Gregory
Seniors Lee and Gregory both turned in solid performances in their Bramlage curtain call, even in a losing cause.
Lee nearly had a double-double, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. Gregory had nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
Wildcats playing for return to Bramlage
Kansas State celebrated Lee, Gregory and Rebekah Dallinger in their final regular-season home game, but the Wildcats were also playing for a chance to bring the three of them back to Bramlage in the postseason.
With K-State currently projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, that could mean as many as two more home games. The 16 top-four seeds in the NCAA field are designated as hosts for the first two rounds.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
More: Kansas State women's basketball senior night has NCAA Tournament implications as well
More: Kansas women's basketball gains split in Sunflower Showdown with key win over Kansas State
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Iowa State hands Kansas State women's basketball first home loss
