K-State stuns Kansas in overtime, 72-62

LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the second year in a row, the Dillons Sunflower Showdown inside Allen Fieldhouse needed a few extra minutes to declare a winner.
 
In the final seconds of regulation, Kansas State junior Peyton Williams evened the score and sent the game into overtime. During the extra period, the Wildcats outscored the Jayhawks, 12-2, to even the 2019 series with a 72-62 victory on Wednesday night.
 
Kansas (12-9, 2-8) had a trio of Jayhawks net double figures in the second meeting of the season with K-State (14-9, 5-6). Senior Austin Richardson led KU with 16 points, while senior Christalah Lyons and junior Mariane De Carvalho contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.
 
The duo of Williams and senior Kayla Goth combined for 45 of the Wildcats’ 72 points. Williams scored a game-high 26 points with 13 rebounds for a double-double, while Goth registered 16 points as K-State’s only other double-digit scorer.
 
In a game that saw nine lead changes, it was a back and forth affair with each squad finding an answer for the other until the final whistle blew in regulation. K-State went on a 19-2 run down the stretch to claim the Dillons Sunflower Showdown victory in overtime.  

QUOTES
Kansas Head Coach // Brandon Schneider

Opening statement:
“I thought the difference in the game was turnovers, especially for us late. And then the play of (Peyton) Williams, I thought she made big, big buckets for them.”
 
On if KU defended the last play of regulation the way they wanted:
“No, because we didn’t want her to get the ball. I’d have to look back to see exactly how it all transpired. Obviously, she didn’t get it until late, but I’m more disappointed that we didn’t call timeout. My understanding is that one of the officials is designated to look at the bench in those situations and we were calling for a timeout. Obviously, the players are much closer and that is something that we will have to learn from. We left the huddle with if we rebound it call timeout, if they score call timeout. I think we would have had a full second and we could have advanced it and we have all kinds of things we practice for that situation. I think we could have had a decent look at the basket.”
 
On balancing the offense in the first quarter vs how the game ended:
“I think Christalah (Lyons) getting into foul trouble, she was really good early. She was in foul trouble for pretty much the rest of the game. She got banged up on a play and we had to take her out. I don’t think she was particularly herself down the stretch and in overtime. We feel very confident having the ball in her hands to close games out, but we just didn’t get it done.”
 
On what KU did well:
“I thought we had some good runs in which we really moved the ball and got into some situations where either K-State was in the diamond and one or a 2-3 zone. We did a much better job in this game of attacking the gap and finding the open player.”

NOTABLES

  • Seniors Christalah Lyons and Austin Richardson posted perfect first quarters, combining for 20 of KU’s 27 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. Lyons went 4-of-4 from the field, 1-of-1 from long range and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, while Richardson connected on all three of her attempts from the field and went 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
  • KU’s 27 points in the first period mark the sixth time this season that the Jayhawks have scored 20 points or more in the first quarter.
  • The Jayhawks shot 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the field in the first quarter, which is the best shooting percentage to start a game this season.
  • For the eighth time this season, Kansas has scored in single digits in a quarter with just seven points in the second quarter.
  • Kansas headed into overtime for the first time this season with the score knotted up at 60-60 at the end of regulation. The Jayhawks have gone into overtime with the Wildcats for the second-straight season in Allen Fieldhouse.
  • Richardson’s 16 points mark the third-straight game where she’s notched double digits and the seventh time in Big 12 play.
  • Freshman Brooklyn Mitchell was KU’s second-leading rebounder, grabbing a career-best six boards on the night.
  • The Jayhawks have shot 75 percent or better from the free throw line four times during Big 12 play, shooting 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the charity stripe against the Wildcats.

UP NEXT
Kansas completes a two-game homestand hosting No. 12/14 Texas for Superhero Day on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., inside Allen Fieldhouse. Kids under age 12 who are dressed in a superhero costume will receive free admission as well as fans who bring their ticket stub from the men’s game against Oklahoma State earlier in the day. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

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