Peyton Williams 11th Double Double at K-State

On the strength of a19-0 run in the second half and three players with double-doubles, Kansas State broke open a tightly contested game to improve its home-court winning streak to five games with a 73-55 victory over Lamar on Wednesday night, Dec. 5, at Bramlage Coliseum.

Kansas State (6-2) featured four of its five starters in double figures on Wednesday, with three registering a double-double. Senior guard and 2019 Lieberman Award candidate Kayla Goth tallied a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 10 assists. This was her fifth career double-double and the seventh time she has handed out 10 or more assists in a game.

With her 10 assists, Goth moved into eighth in program history for career assists with 368 and passing Brittany Chambers (2009-13; 363) and Nicole Ohlde (2000-04; 367).

Senior forward Kali Jones narrowly missed a unique triple-double as she notched 10 points, 10 rebounds and a school-recording tying eight blocked shots. Jones tied the record held by Breanna Lewis, who set the mark on January 11, 2015, against Kansas. The eight blocks are the most by a player in the Big 12 this season.

Junior forward Peyton Williams of Topeka, who has Holton connections, tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. This was her 11th career double-double.

Sophomore guard Rachel Ranke reached double figures for the second straight game, recording 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Ranke was 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, which was her 28th career game with two or more connections.

Lamar (5-4) was led by Chastadie Barrs with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Miya Crump with 19 points, six rebounds and four steals.

With a 33-29 lead entering the second half, K-State used an 8-3 run to begin the third quarter to increase its lead to 41-32. Lamar answered with a 6-0 burst to pull within three, 41-38, with 5:46 remaining on an acrobatic layup from Jadyn Pimentel.

This would be the final points of the third for Lamar, as K-State would use a 15-0 run to race into a 56-38 lead at the end of the third. The Wildcats did their work at the free throw line during the run, converting 6-of-6. Goth registered eight of the 15 points.

K-State continued its run into the fourth quarter by scoring the first four points of the frame and force a Lamar timeout with 8:11 remaining. The Cardinals managed to pull within 15, but Ranke rebuilt K-State’s lead with a pair of 3-pointers to end the comeback.

The Wildcats ended the night with 11 blocked shots, which marked the most for K-State since setting the school record of 14 at Tulsa on November 13, 2015. K-State’s defense held Lamar, who entered Wednesday’s game averaging 84.5 points per game, to 55 points on 29.9 percent shooting (23-of-77) including a 3-of-20 (.150) effort from 3-point range.

Offensively, K-State shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field and were 14-of-16 (.875) from the free throw line. For the third time this season, K-State scored 40 or more points in the paint and held a 40-32 edge in the lane.

The opening quarter was a see-saw affair, as the teams exchanged the lead eight times and were tied three times. Lamar would hold a one-point lead after the opening 10 minutes, 15-14. Jones paced the Wildcats with four points and five rebounds in the quarter.

Lamar opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 23-16 lead and force a K-State timeout with 7:09 remaining in the first half. Barrs tallied four of the eight points during the run.

After the timeout, the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 17-6 for the remainder of the quarter and captured a 33-29 lead at the half. Williams was dominant during the run, as she scored 10 of the 17 points.

Kansas State will play its first true road game of the 2018-19 season on Saturday, as the Wildcats face Little Rock at 3 p.m. Saturday’s game will be available on the K-State Sports Network and for free at kstatesports.com.