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ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ (11-8, 2-4 Big 12) has now lost three straight games. K-State (18-1, 6-0 Big 12) is on a 13-game winning streak. 

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense was on point starting with forcing four turnovers in the first quarter. No. 11 K-State had only five turnovers against BYU last week. In this outing, those Wildcats finished with 16 turnovers, well above their 12-plus per game.

K-State, who also averages 84.4 points per game, finished well under the average in the lowest point total of the season at 62.

“Points were hard to come by tonight. There's no doubt about it,� K-State coach Jeff Mittie said after the game on ESPN+. “This was a physical game and both teams played pretty good defense. … This was a knock down fight.�

It was so knock down, that K-State’s star and one of the best bigs in the country, Ayoka Lee, only attempted and made one field goal – in the fourth quarter – and finished with six points, the rest coming from the free throw line. Lee is averaging 17.2 points per game. This tied Lee’s lowest point total for the season with an earlier matchup with Texas A&M.

Lee still managed to alter shots on the other end of the floor and block eight shots.

Breya Cunningham got the tough assignment of defending Lee. It’s the second time in as many games that Cunningham shut down one of the top centers. On Saturday, it was Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, who Cunningham held to 11 points.

“Breya has had a really tough task in the last three games,â€� ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ coach Adia Barnes said. “She had Netty Vonleh from Baylor. All these girls make Breya look small. And then she had Crooks of Iowa State and then Lee. That's a tough three-game stretch, but where I've seen a growth in Breya’s game is defense. Last year, she would have got killed. She would have fouled out early in the game.

"I thought she did a great job of working early, deflecting passes inside and she was solid. I'm proud of that. But I think just she exerted so much energy in these games defensively, she was really tired and had a tough time finishing offensively, around the rim.�

Cunningham finished with only eight points on 4 of 14 shooting from the field. However, she did just about everything else – 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 steals. Plus, she helped spark the third quarter run after going into halftime down by 11 (36-25), with four of those points coming in that stretch, along with four rebounds and a pair of steals.

The ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats went on a 12-2 run in the third quarter to close the gap to three points, 42-39 – the closest they would come. Isis Beh, who led the Wildcats with 16 points, scored six points during this stretch.

K-State went on its own run 12-0 from the end of the third quarter into the fourth and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ could only muster six points the rest of the way.

With Lee not scoring, her teammates picked up the slack, including former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcat Gisela Sanchez. In one stretch in the second quarter, Sanchez scored in succession on a mid-range jumper and a pair of 3s and finished with nine points.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ kept fighting in that fourth quarter. Beh forced Sanchez to mishandle the ball – an over and back – and with less than 30 seconds left she forced a jump ball.

She said it

“I’m proud of the fact that we lost in overtime to Baylor. We got our butts kicked by Iowa State at home. And we could have come here and laid down playing the best team we’ve played so far in the conference – one of the best teams we’ve played this year. And we still rose up to the occasion. I thought we were really tight in the first like five minutes of the game, really nervous, like there was a lid on the rim. Then, we settled. I thought we did some really good things. I think just now is the balance of figuring out how to get some people clicking on the same night and being consistent and being a little bit more disciplined in what we do.� – Barnes

Stuffing the stat sheet

Jada Williams: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Mailien Rolf: 2 assists, 1 block

Skylar Jones: 2 assists, 1 steal

Beh: 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals

Montaya Dew: 2 assists, 3 rebounds

The other side

Serena Sundell scored 16 points and had eight assists. Temira Poindexter scored 14 points on 4 of 8 from long range.

By the numbers

3: K-State only outrebounded UA by three – 37-34.

10: ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ had 10 assists on 19 made field goals.

8: UA held K-State to only eight offensive rebounds.