White works through old injuries to help Wildcats

She knew the question was coming. It's been the discussion of Mariah White's young freshman career at Kansas State this season, and the reason she has spent the bulk of her freshman year in Manhattan playing catch up.

She paused, sighed, and recalled the moment during her junior year that her high school basketball career suddenly came to a halt. It was a rivalry game against Norman (Okla.) High School and the two teams were in a tight game late in the fourth quarter.

White's team from Midwest City, was making a push for the lead with two minutes remaining in the game. And then, for the second time of her prep career, a knee gave out.

"I just knew it was my ACL," she said.

She knew because it was a familiar feeling, but this time, it was her left knee.

Just a year prior, the 5-foot-7 point guard had torn her right ACL.

With a second serious knee injury, the highly-recruited guard saw her future at the college level begin to fade.

Schools that were once heavily interested in White began to doubt her. Two knee injuries in four years, was just too much of a risk to invest in for some programs.

The University of Kansas and Oklahoma State were reluctant to take a chance on White and her fragile knees, thus deciding to walk away from their offers.

But KSU coach Deb Patterson ignored the risk, and remained loyal.

"I felt like Mariah was a real character kid," Patterson said Wednesday. "I think after a second ACL, to work as hard as she did — she is a young person that you can see wants to be good. In her heart and in her character, I saw someone I could really believe in."

And so she signed the quiet, shy worker from Oklahoma.

"They believed in me and they had faith in me," White said. "That says a lot about (K-State) coaches. I was scared that they would back off, but they didn't and I was really excited."

But it would prove to be a slow transition to the speed and demand of division I basketball.

It was clear when she arrived in Manhattan this fall, that the time she spent rehabbing her left knee had slowed her down. At the beginning of the Wildcats' fall workouts, White could only make it through about three minutes of conditioning and practicing before she had to quit. She was slower, weaker and as the season approached, it was questionable just how much she would contribute to the young Wildcat team.

"It was a challenge," Patterson said.

But White pushed through the pain of getting back into shape, and it paid off. She lost more than 15 pounds, became quicker and eventually worked her way into a position to see regular minutes in the Wildcats' non-conference slate and conference play.

"As we have gone through December and January, now we are able to see her sustain the intensity necessary, and not necessarily make mistakes because she is not fit," Patterson said. "She has taken steps. I think she is going to be one of those players that in a year or a year and a half, the whole game is going to change because she has been able to adapt to the division I challenge."

But for now, she is settling into her role as a playmaker. Through four games in conference play, she is averaging a little more than 10 minutes a game and she is averaging two assists per game.

A week ago against Colorado, she distributed a game-high five assists.

" (I want to) be able to come in and be a playmaker, and make plays." White said.

With the production received from her freshman playmaking guard, Patterson said she is pleased with what she has seen. It has been, and Patterson said hopes to be a risky choice that in the end will pay off.

"She wants to do well, she wants to excel and succeed in life as well as in basketball." Patterson said. "She has skills that I think, over time, are going to make an impact. I do think with her, its more about time. It's a testing of time and not losing confidence."

It's clear that through their short journey so far, neither Patterson no White have any shortage of confidence in their plan.

Wildcats offensive struggles continue against Colorado

It should have been a bounce-back game, a chance for the Kansas State women's basketball team to clean up its offensive mishaps that lingered from the Wildcats' loss at Oklahoma State three days ago.

After all, the Wildcats were at home and against a Colorado team that hasn't won in Manhattan in three years.

But three days didn't appear to be long enough to repair this offense. In fact, it was difficult to see any improvement during the 40 minutes of play.

The second straight poor offensive night caused the Wildcats to suffer their second Big 12 loss in a row.

The Wildcats shot just 28 percent from the field in the contest — the lowest percentage posted since 2007 when the Cats lost to Iowa State after shooting 27 percent.

The performance prompted an immediate post game lecture from KSU coach Deb Patterson inside the Wildcat locker room, and it wasn't a short one.

"Sorry guys," Patterson apologized as she entered the post-game press conference alone. "I was just giving a lecture. I still wasn't done."

Her players remained in the locker room and were not available for comment after the game.

It was a struggle from the beginning for the Wildcats and the Buffaloes. Both teams struggled to get their offenses flowing. But following a layup by freshman guard Brittany Chambers to tie the game at 21, the Wildcats went cold — ice cold.

The game-tying bucket came at the 6:12 mark of the first half, and the Wildcats wouldn't convert on another field goal the rest of the half.

"I really do not feel like during the course of this game that we had any quality play on the offensive end." Patterson said.

But their troubles didn't end with the first half buzzer. The offense remained cold, and the shooting slump until the 15:10 mark in the second half — a span of 11 minutes.

The relief came when Chambers connected on a 3-pointer from the right side to cut the growing Colorado lead to 39-28.

During the scoring drought, the Wildcats shooting percentage dipped below 17 percent.

In what seemed like a mirrored performance of the Wildcat's loss against Oklahoma State on Saturday, K-State post players struggled to convert under the basket. Senior forward Ashley Sweat went just 3-of-12 on the night, while sophomore forward Jalana Childs was just 2-7, scoring all seven of her points in the first half. The two combined for 20 points.

Sweat was held under her season average for the third straight game.

"We have no low-post game right now, consistently," Patterson said. "Early in the first half, I thought it was a carry over from the Oklahoma State game."

From the perimeter, an area the Wildcats have lived and died from this season — mostly dying lately — K-State shot just 22 percent. Entering the game the Wildcats were shooting 42 percent, which ranked third in the Big 12. Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said she was ready for the Wildcats to come out shooting, but for the majority of the game the long-range shots proved to be a non-factor to defend.

"K-State is a very difficult team to play because anytime you have players that can shoot the 3 ball as well as K-State does, it can open a game up," she said.

Those threats, senior Kari Kincaid, along with Chambers and freshman guard Taelor Karr, combined to shoot just 1-10 from behind the arc.

Photo - K-State Sports Information

KSU switches focus to Colorado

The six-game streak is over. The undefeated conference record is no more, and the Kansas State women's basketball team has just two days to learn from a stingy zone defense that Oklahoma State used on Saturday to expose the young Wildcats.

It was quite fitting that following their 10-point loss to the Cowgirls, the Wildcats returned home in dense fog , both figuratively and literally.

But that's how life is in the deeply competitive Big 12, and KSU coach Deb Patterson spent Monday morning in Bramlage Coliseum transitioning her team's focus to its next opponent on Wednesday in the Colorado Buffaloes.

"It's one of those things where obviously it was a tough loss for us," senior forward Ashley Sweat said Monday. "I look at that game and feel like I could do much better. I needed to come out more ready for my team.

"But we have got to forget that game because we play again in two days."

What the Wildcats are attempting to forget, could be what other teams in the Big 12 will look to learn from before they play K-State down the road.

The Cowgirls continually rotated between a 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defense after the Wildcats scored a quick eight points to begin the game against their man-to-man defense.

Unable to get the good shots inside the myriad of zone looks, the Wildcats were forced to pass the ball around the perimeter during most of their possessions, settling for 26 3-pointer attempts.

"We basically played catch," Patterson said. "I thought we were trying out for Major League Baseball."

Senior guard Kari Kincaid was a part of the back-and-forth game of catch, and was forced to take eight shots from behind the arc, converting four of them.

"I'm comfortable taking those shots if they are in the flow and open shots," Kincaid said. "I'm not the person who goes and creates my own shot. That's not the type of player I am. We definitely need to get more players shots and in the flow and rhythm for our offense to succeed."

Colorado enters the contest having lost two consecutive games, and are looking for their first road victory of the season.

Colorado dropped a close 68-62 game against Iowa State in the Coors Event Center on Saturday.

Colorado (11-5, 1-2) is led on offense by junior forward Brittany Spears. The dangerous 6-foot-1 forward scored a game-high 25 points against the Wildcats in their last meeting at Bramlage Coliseum last season. She is averaging 19.1 points per contest, good enough for sixth in the league 12.

But Patterson said this Colorado team looks much more balanced than a year ago. Including Spears, the Buffs also have Bianca Smith, who averages 14 points a game.

"I think now it's more that you have to defend all five positions out there on the floor for Colorado," Patterson said.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with the game being televised on FSN-Kansas City.

Photo - Michael Schweitzer/The Manhattan Mercury

Karr another in a long line of instate products at K-State

It should be no surprise that Taelor Karr chose Kansas State.

During her high school career, the second-team all-state guard from Paola wanted a program that was a proven winner and had an experienced coaching staff.

Karr's decision came down to K-State and the University of Kansas.

"The whole way through, K-State was right there with me," the freshman said Thursday. "It came down to KU and K-State and I just chose the better atmosphere and better coaching staff."

It's part of a pattern that has proven successful for the KSU women's basketball program. Coach Deb Patterson is clearly familiar with the talent across this state as some of the program's best has come from the Wildcats' own backyard.

The Wildcats just lost two of those players from a year ago in Shalee Lehning and Marlies Gipson, home-state products from Sublette and McPherson who etched their names throughout the K-State record books.

Again, Karr's arrival in Manhattan, should be no surprise.

"I love kids that have part of the character that is to me, Kansas — it's special." Patterson said. "We are constantly looking for those kind of players in our program."

Two games into Big 12 play and Karr is already making a name for herself as yet another successful Kansas kid at K-State.

After starting the season at point guard, Karr made the switch to shooting guard toward the end of the nonconference slate.

It's a strategy that has already paid big dividends for the Wildcats, who travel to Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday to face No. 15 Oklahoma State.

"I think the growth in Taelor in understanding that we need her to be a scorer, we need her to not pass up shots, and her willingness to become a little more aggressive in areas we have challenged her in, is huge." Patterson said. "It's made all of us better."

Karr is coming off one of her best performances of the season during the Wildcats' 65-50 win at Missouri on Wednesday when she tallied 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while making 3-5 from behind the arc.

Karr is averaging 12.5 points and 6.0 rebounds a game during the Wildcats' two conference games — both wins.

"I'm feeling more comfortable," Karr said. "Every game out, I'm getting more and more comfortable. My shot is going in right now, and my team is finding me."

Karr's growth process is taking place as the Wildcats have strung together their longest win streak of the season, now sitting at six games.

"The whole season has definitely been a growing process," Karr said. "We are young, but non-conference was big for us to just mature and create more chemistry as a team."

While it is still early in her freshman season, Karr has already proven she has the potential to be yet another character in KSU's success story of home-grown talent.

But for now, Karr said she's focused on doing what she needs to do to prove the Cats' conference start is no fluke.

"We know what we are capable of," she said. "We want to go out and surprise a lot of people. We think we can win any game."

Photo- The Manhattan Mercury