No. 12 Kansas State Rolls Through BYU At Marriott Center
Jan 11, 2025, 6:34 PM
BYU Women's Basketball suffered a loss at home to No. 12 Kansas State. (Aaron Cornia/BYU Photo)
(Aaron Cornia/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s basketball falls to 1-4 in Big 12 play after a 92-65 loss to No. 12 Kansas State.
K-State improves to 5-0 in league play and completes the sweep in the Utah road swing. The Wildcats defeated Utah earlier in the week and hammered BYU on Saturday after a big second quarter to create separation.
Final: No. 12 Kansas State 92, BYU 65.
Cougars fall to 1-4 in Big 12 play. pic.twitter.com/nr1t2yuDPd
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 12, 2025
Kansas State All-American Ayoka Lee had 19 points in 22 minutes in three-quarters of play. BYU decided to cover Lee with one player, and she had an efficient night, knocking down eight of her 14 field goal attempts.
One bright spot for BYU was Heather Hamson, who scored a career-high 11 points in 21 minutes. Another was that they kept their turnovers below their season average of 16.5 to 15.
Last week, BYU had 31 turnovers.
They faced one of the best teams in the nation and didn’t have answers.
Freshman guard Delaney Gibb led BYU with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and one steal.
K-State’s leading scorer was Temira Poindexter who finished with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
First Quarter
Runs summed up the first quarter. BYU jumped out to a 6-2 lead that was short-lived after K-State popped off an 11-0 that star center Ayoka Lee spearheaded with a pair of buckets.
BYU is battling with No. 12 K-State, down 23-20 at the end of the first quarter.
The first quarter was summed up by runs. Kansas State closed the first on a 6-0 run.
Delaney Gibb is playing well with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal already.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 11, 2025
Coming out of the timeout down by seven, BYU put together a 12-2 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Cougars had four different players knock down three-pointers.
K-State finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 23-20 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Emma Calvert picked up her second foul with 1:59 remaining.
BYU freshman Delaney Gibb had seven points, four rebounds, and a steal in the first quarter.
K-State 23, BYU 20
Second Quarter
BYU opened the second quarter, hitting only two of their first 10 attempts from the field. K-State senior forward Temira Poindexter carried the Wildcats with an 8-0 run of her own to give the Wildcats a 33-24 lead.
Poindexter would score another six points, including a buzzer-beater three in the corner at the end of the quarter.
BYU shot 22% from the field in the second quarter, while K-State hit 50% of its shots.
K-State senior Temira Poindexter outscored BYU in the second quarter on her own with 14 points. BYU, as a team, scored 12.
BYU goes into the halftime break trailing 50-32.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 11, 2025
She finished the quarter with 14 points, outscoring BYU’s team by two (12) in the second period.
BYU shot only 22% from the field in the second quarter, and K-State went into the break with an 18-point halftime lead.
The absence of Calvert in the second quarter was significant
K-State 50, BYU 32
Third Quarter
K-State had a big lead entering the second half, and they gave no hope to the underdog in the third quarter as they jumped out to a 33-point lead.
The Wildcats shot 80% from three-point range in the third.
K-State 73, BYU 40
Fourth Quarter
BYU outscored Kansas State in the fourth quarter 25-19 while the Wildcats primarily played their reserves.
Final: Kansas State 92, BYU 65
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
