Big win in ‘Big D’ – Kansas 63, Iowa State 60

By J-W Staff And Wire Reports     Mar 12, 2003

AP Photo
Kansas University players Tamara Ransburg (22) and Stacey Becker celebrate their victory against Iowa State in the closing seconds. Ransburg scored 12 points, and the Jayhawks knocked off the Cyclones, 63-60, in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Tuesday in Dallas.

? Kansas threw a 1-2 punch of freshmen Crystal Kemp and Tamara Ransburg and knocked Iowa State out of the Big 12 Conference women’s basketball tournament Tuesday.

The 6-foot-2 Kemp had a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, and the 6-4 Ransburg contributed 12 points and eight boards as the Jayhawks clipped the Cyclones, 63-60, in the first-round game at Reunion Arena.

“I can’t say enough about these two women,” KU coach Marian Washington said. “We felt like we could go inside all game, and I thought just having them touch the basketball really helped us overall.”

Kemp was 9-of-12 shooting and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line, including two crucial charities with 19.4 seconds left. She scored five of KU’s last six points.

“The postseason really determines how good you are, how bad you want it,” Kemp said. “I think we all realized that we wanted it really bad.”

AP Photo
Kansas guard Leila Mengüç tries to contain Iowa State guard Lindsey Wilson (13). Wilson, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference, scored a game-high 25 points, but the Jayhawks won their first-round Big 12 women's basketball tournament game, 63-60, Tuesday in Dallas.

The Jayhawks, who lost both regular season meetings to the Cyclones — including a 69-44 thumping March 5 in Lawrence — held ISU to one point in the final four minutes. Kansas (11-17) was seeded ninth, and Iowa State (12-16) was the tourney’s No. 8 seed.

“We got mauled under the basket,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said. “We couldn’t stop them no matter what we tried to do. Their inside players dominated ours.”

Blair Waltz and Aquanita Burras added 11 points apiece for the Jayhawks. Waltz also had a game-high seven assists and Burras a game-high four steals.

Kansas prevailed despite making just three of seven free throws compared to Iowa State’s 18-of-20 shooting at the foul line. KU blocked six shots. ISU didn’t block any.

The Jayhawks’ biggest lead was 28-21 late in the first half. Iowa State rallied behind senior guard Lindsey Wilson, the league’s second-leading scorer. Wilson, who finished with 25 points, including 11-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line, was visibly tired in the second half. She hit just 2-of-10 field-goal attempts after the break.

The Cyclones had a chance to send the game into overtime with 2.9 seconds remaining, but never got a shot off and had the ball stolen.

Now the Jayhawks have to go against Texas, the tourney’s top seed and the nation’s fifth-ranked team, at noon today. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Midwest (Sunflower Broadband Channel 51).

“I wouldn’t be a competitor if I was to say I didn’t think we can go in there and beat them,” Kemp said. “There are a lot of upsets in every tournament. I think it is all up to how we come prepared for the game.”

Ransburg felt the same way.

“I think we can come out and play just as hard as we did today,” she said. “We just have to be focused because there is potential to play at (Texas’s) level.”

In the regular-season meeting, Texas waxed the Jayhawks, 89-47, Feb. 8 in Austin, Texas.

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2958Big win in ‘Big D’ – Kansas 63, Iowa State 60