Kansas State rallies to beat UTC in NCAA tournament

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — It was anyone’s game at halftime. It was still anyone’s game with 70 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the rest belonged to Kansas State.

Wildcats point guard Shalee Lehning drove down the right side of the lane and converted a three-point play with 1:07 left to put the fifth-seeded Wildcats up four and over the top in a 69-59 win Sunday in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

Brooke Hand, who hit five 3-pointers in the game, missed from the right wing on the ensuing possession and the 12th-seeded Lady Mocs (29-4) were held scoreless in the final minute, ending the careers of UTC’s five seniors and snapping the team’s 24-game win streak.

“We had a little trouble at times getting comfortable and being confident, and some shots just didn’t go for us,” UTC coach Wes Moore said.

The Lady Mocs won a third straight Southern Conference tournament to reach the NCAAs and took the floor at the Arena at Harbor Yard not entirely sure of what they’d be facing in the 16th-ranked Wildcats. Kansas State (22-9) lost its leading scorer, Kimberly Dietz, to a knee injury in the Big 12 tournament and also had to play without key reserve Danielle Zanotti because of a back injury sustained during practice Saturday.

That opened the door for seldom-used junior Kelsey Nelson, who came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Nelson averaged just 1.8 points and 5.9 minutes per game during the season, but she rose to the occasion when the depleted Wildcats, the Big 12 regular-season champions, needed her most.

“Going into the game, we couldn’t have expected this from her,” Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said. “Kelsey’s aggressive and a hard worker, and she knew we needed quality play from her.”

The Wildcats set a tournament record by going 21-for-21 from the free-throw line and will face fourth-seeded and 19th-ranked Louisville in the second round on Tuesday.

Kansas State led 25-24 at the end of a first half during which the two teams were a combined 17-for-54 from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Early in the second half, Alex Anderson scored inside to put UTC up one and then Hand hit a 3. Shanara Hollinquest followed that with a layup and suddenly the Lady Mocs were up 31-25 with 18:11 to play. The Lady Mocs went up 36-29 on Hand’s fifth 3 of the game with 16:31 remaining.

“We had that stretch where we hit some shots, but we never could pull away,” said Hand, who had 15 points and four rebounds. “(Kansas State) is a good team, and they didn’t back down.”

Kansas State went on a 7-0 run to tie the game, and Nelson hit a pair of free throws with 13:44 to play to give the Wildcats a lead they didn’t relinquish. But UTC didn’t wilt, even after getting behind 54-46 with 7:41 remaining. Laura Hall, who led UTC with 19 points, scored 4 points in an 9-2 run that made it 56-55 with 3:25 left.

The Wildcats answered with 4 straight points for a 60-55 lead, but Hall hit a jumper and then nailed a floater in the lane to make it 60-59 with 1:21 remaining.

As the UTC contingent in the stands rose and yelled for a defensive stop, Lehning drove inside and laid the ball in off the glass, drawing a foul on Anderson in the process. Lehning then hit the free throw to give Kansas State a 63-59 lead.

“I knew where I was going with it, I knew I was going to the rim,” said Lehning, who had 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, six turnovers and six steals.

Hollinquest had 12 points and five rebounds, and Anderson, who was 3-for-14 from the floor, finished with 9 points and nine rebounds. The Lady Mocs hadn’t lost since Dec. 1 and are now 1-9 all-time in the NCAA tournament.