Manhattan ? Kansas University’s Danielle McCray missed a layup with two seconds left, and Kansas State avoided a second-half disaster to beat the Jayhawks, 59-55, Wednesday night.
Trailing 57-55, McCray took a pass from LaChelda Jacobs underneath the basket, but couldn’t connect on the short shot. Shalee Lehning grabbed the rebound for the Wildcats and was fouled with 1.5 seconds left, then hit two free throws to seal the game for Kansas State (15-4 overall, 3-3 Big 12 Conference).
Lehning led the Wildcats with 17 points, including 9 of 11 free throws. Kimberly Dietz had 14 points, and Claire Coggins added 12 for the Wildcats, who won their 12th straight against their in-state rival.
Kansas State also stayed perfect (10-0) at home.
Shaquina Mosley led the Jayhawks (6-13, 0-6) with 17 points, and McCray and Kelly Kohn added 13 apiece. Porscha Weddington had 12 rebounds for Kansas, who outrebounded the Wildcats 54-31.
Kansas State, playing without starting forward Marlies Gipson for the third straight game, held Kansas to just 18 percent from three-point range. The Wildcats entered the game leading the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage defense.
But the difference was at the free-throw line, where Kansas connected on 7-of-18 (39 percent), while the Wildcats went 15-for-22.
Kansas State snapped a two-game losing streak; the Jayhawks haven’t won a conference game since Feb. 25, 2006.