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
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