Kansas falls to No. 19 Iowa State in Big 12 Championship quarterfinals
OKLAHOMA CITY – A late surge in the fourth quarter by Kansas women’s basketball wasn’t enough to top No. 19 Iowa State, as the Jayhawks season came to an end with a 75-58 loss on Saturday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
For the second-straight meeting between the Jayhawks (13-18) and Cyclones (24-7), Kansas led by one point after the first 10 minutes of play. All but two of KU’s 12 points came from the Jayhawk seniors with Kylee Kopatich leading the offensive charge with five points at the conclusion of the first.
Iowa State limited the Jayhawks to just eight points in the second period, but despite a three-minute scoring drought to close out the half, Kansas stayed within 10, trailing 30-20, at the break.
Despite having their best shooting quarter of the game, connecting on 35.7 percent of their attempts from the floor, the Jayhawks were outscored 27-13 in the third quarter.
The Jayhawks continued to fight throughout the final quarter narrowing a once 27-point deficit to 15 with a 14-3 run over four minutes. Senior Christalah Lyons and Kopatich combined for 14 of KU’s 25 points in the fourth quarter, while freshman Aniya Thomas scored 11 of her 14 points in the final 10 minutes.
Four Jayhawks notched double figures against the Cyclones led by Lyons with 15 points and four assists. Thomas followed closely behind with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line, while Kopatich and senior Brianna Osorio chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Big 12 Player of the Year senior Bridget Carleton led Iowa State with 18 points, while the sophomore duo of Madison Wise and Kristen Scott added 15 points each.
NOTABLES
- Kansas led Iowa State by one point for the second-straight matchup between the two teams.
- For the second-straight season, senior Kylee Kopatich registered 60 triples, ending with 61 in her final season after recording two against the Cyclones.
- Kansas ends the season with the second-most treys in KU history with 208, just four shy of tying the record.
- With 14 points against the Cyclones, freshman Aniya Thomas recorded her third-straight double-digit scoring performance.
- Senior Christalah Lyons ends her Kansas career with 44 double-digit scoring efforts in just two seasons after scoring 15 points against the Cyclones.
FOLLOW
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
