Add ‘wild finish’ to K-State’s thrilling run through the Big 12 women’s tourney
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State rallied from deficits to beat Oklahoma State 74-73 in quarterfinals.
- Tess Heal clinched victory with late free throws after Stailee Heard foul.
- Wildcats won third conference tournament game for first time since 1997.
Add a wild finish to the method of Kansas State’s March madness.
Tess Heal’s free throw with 1.3 seconds remaining gave the Wildcats a 74-73 victory over Oklahoma State in Friday’s Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Center.
Heal was at the line because a reaching foul had been called on the Cowgirls’ Stailee Heard, 70 feet from the basket, after teammate Haleigh Timmer buried a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining. That shot, for a moment, had seemed to assure the game would be headed to overtime.
Heal made the first free throw, missed the second and 12th-seeded Kansas State had another improbable tournament triumph, this one over fourth-seeded Oklahoma State.
“The finish was hectic, to say the least,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said.
And botched by the officials, said Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt.
“I am incredibly disappointed and embarrassed for the way that game ended,” said Hoyt, the former UMKC coach. “To make that (foul) call in a game like that ... You don’t do that.
“It should not have come down to that call, and it wasn’t called the entire game until that last play. I’ve got a locker room full of kids that are really, really hurting right now because they didn’t get to decide the outcome of the game. Someone else did.”
Hoyt said she watched a replay and believed Heal could have been called for traveling.
“Regardless, you don’t blow the whistle in that case,” Hoyt said.
Kansas State trailed by nine points early in the third quarter, and the Wildcats were down 65-61 with 4:41 remaining before they ripped off a 9-0 run to take a 70-65 lead.
Jordan Speiser appeared to have clinched the game by bouncing in a 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds remaining. That give K-State a 73-68 lead, and Speiser, from nearby Warrenton, Missouri, finished with a career-best 21 points.
But Oklahoma State sank a pair of free throws and a jump ball was called on an inbound pass, the possession arrow pointing to OSU. That set up Timmer’s shot and the contest’s final dramatics.
Jadyn Wooten, who played at Blue Valley High, finished with 16 points off the bench for Oklahoma State.
A day earlier, K-State scored the final 21 points to defeat fifth-seeded Texas Tech in Round 2. In their tourney opener, the Wildcats made an event-record 17 three-pointers in beating Cincinnati.
Against Oklahoma State, they found another way to prevail. Kansas State has now won three conference tournament games for the first time since 1997 and became the first 12th seed to reach the Big 12 semifinals.
The Wildcats, 18-16, will meet top-seeded TCU in Saturday’s semifinals in Kansas City. Tip off is 3 p.m.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Add ‘wild finish’ to K-State’s thrilling run through the Big 12 women’s tourney."