MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Aliyah Matharu scored 16 points and No. 11 Texas overcame cold shooting to defeat Kansas State 62-51 on Wednesday night.
Lauren Ebo scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Longhorns (20-6, 10-6 Big 12 Conference), who have won five straight. Joanne Allen-Taylor added 10 points.
Coach Vic Schaefer, in his second season at Texas after a long career at Mississippi State, reached 20 wins for the ninth-straight season.
Sernea Sundell scored 16 points for Kansas State (18-9, 8-7) and Ayoka Lee had 10, 13 below her average.
Matharu hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first quarter to give the Longhorns a 20-9 lead. The lead never got lower than nine in the second quarter and Texas led 34-23 at the half.
An 8-0 run got the Wildcats within five midway through the third quarter and Lee’s late basket, plus the first four points of the fourth quarter had them within 47-43. Matharu’s 3-pointer in the middle of a 9-0 run was the backbreaker that put Texas up 56-43 with 6:56 to play.
Texas shot 36.5% but had a 41-29 rebounding advantage. The difference was 19-6 on the offensive end with Texas getting 16 second-chance points.
