No. 12 Kansas State women use big second-half rally to beat No. 9 TCU

Although the Wildcats defense held TCU to 25 points in the first half, they only put up 19. Kansas State outscored TCU 40-25 in the second half and had more points in the third quarter (24) than it did in the entire opening half.

Junior forward Eliza Maupin's block led to this transition layup from senior guard Serena Sundell with 5:34 left in the third quarter and gave Kansas State a 32-29 lead.

This terrific backdoor assist from junior forward Gisela Sanchez to senior forward Temira Poindexter put Kansas State up 43-36 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, continuing its strong start after the break.

Despite the poor start, Kansas State still managed to shoot 43.1% from the floor. Sundell had a season-high 27 points (11-of-21 FG) to lead the way. She had 23 of those points in the second half, nearly outscoring the entire TCU team after the half. Her performance was welcomed considering the team was without its leading scorer, senior Ayoka Lee (16 PPG), who has been sidelined since suffering a right foot injury against Arizona State on Jan. 19.

While that would seem like a major setback for the team, that has not been the case. Kansas State is 3-1 in Lee's absence, including the comeback win on Wednesday. With a pair of road games against No. 25 Oklahoma State and Cincinnati up next, Kansas State (22-2, 10-1 Big 12) must continue to rely on its defense if it is going to maintain its lead in the conference with its star player out.

TCU was unable to keep its halftime advantage, primarily due to its top two scorers this season being held in check. Combined, senior guard Hailey Van Lith and senior center Sedona Prince had 25 points (10-of-22 FG) and eight turnovers. 

TCU (21-3, 9-2 Big 12) has lost two of its last four games. It must put together a more complete defensive effort if it is going to stay in contention in the conference.