Kansas State women try for third straight win against KU
The Kansas State women’s basketball team will face a familiar opponent in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday in Dallas.
The No. 8-seed Wildcats will play the No. 9-seed Kansas Jayhawks at 6 p.m. in a game that will give the winner a shot against top-seeded Baylor in Saturday’s quarterfinals and send the loser home.
It will be their third game of the season between the Sunflower Showdown rivals, and the Wildcats hopes it ends as successfully as the first two, both K-State victories.
K-State coach Jeff Mittie thinks a good showing in Dallas could push the team into the NCAA Tournament.
“We are one of the 10 or 12 teams that’s being talked about (on the bubble),” Mittie said in a news conference Tuesday following a victory against West Virginia. “We know we are on the outside right now and that we have to do more.”
K-State (17-12) may need to beat Kansas and Baylor to feel good about its chances. ESPN does not currently list the Wildcats on their NCAA Tournament projection. Nor does it label them a bubble team. The WNIT seems like a more realistic postseason destination.
But they were competitive in the Big 12, and they have won two of their last three, including a win at Allen Fieldhouse.
Another victory against Kansas would put K-State a step closer to where it wants to be.
Meanwhile, Kansas (15-16, 6-12) enters the Big 12 tourney after recording back-to-back victories against Iowa State and Oklahoma. The late-season surge has kept the Jayhawks’ slim postseason hopes alive, but they will likely need a prolonged run in the conference tournament to be an attractive candidate for the WNIT.
Senior forward Chelsea Gardner, who was selected All-Big 12 after averaging a team-high 16.8 points, could be playing her final game in a KU uniform.
“Win or go home,” said senior guard Natalie Knight, a graduate of Olathe South. “So we got to win.”
Big 12 women’s tournament
At Dallas
Friday’s first round
No. 9 Kansas (15-16) vs. No. 8 Kansas St. (17-12), 6 p.m. (FCSC)
No. 10 Texas Tech (15-15) vs. No. 7 West Virginia (17-13), 8:30 p.m. (FCSC)
Saturday’s quarterfinals
No. 5 Oklahoma St. (18-11) vs. No. 4 Oklahoma St. (19-10), 11 a.m. (FSKC)
KU-KSU winner vs. No. 1 Baylor (27-3), 1:30 p.m. (FSN+)
Tech-WVU winner vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (19-10), 6 p.m. (FSKC)
No. 6 Texas (20-9) vs. No. 3 TCU (17-12), 8:30 p.m. (FSKC)
Sunday’s semifinals
First two quarterfinal winners, 1:30 p.m. (FS1)
Second two quarterfinal winners, 4 p.m. (FS1)
Monday’s championship
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m. (Fox Sports 1)
This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Kansas State women try for third straight win against KU."