Jan 7, 2004
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Eleventh-ranked Kansas State leaned on two of its superstars, Nicole Ohlde and Laurie Koehn, in rolling to a 95-59 win over Missouri in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
The duo combined for 56 points, as Ohlde scored 31 points on 14-of-16 shooting - nearly all from inside 5 feet - and Koehn hit 7 3-pointers on her way to 25 points. The Tigers (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) failed to win their Big 12 opener for the eighth straight year, while Kansas State (10-2, 1-0) remain perfect in Manhattan.
Senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) and senior guard MyEsha Perkins (Detroit, Mich. / Oak Park HS / Trinity Valley [Texas] JC) each had 11 points to lead the Tigers, who committed 20 turnovers.
"We didn't do anything well, and I'm not sure what it was. It's just one of those games where you don't do anything well," Head Coach Cindy Stein said.
Laurie Koehn hit K-State's first field goal with a layup, but freshman guard Blair Hardiek (Effingham, Ill. / Effingham HS) - starting in place of sophomore LaToya Bond, who is out with a broken left foot suffered over the weekend - hit a 3-pointer at top of key for Mizzou's first points. The Wildcats got a 3-pointer from Koehn, followed by a steal and layup by Ohlde, for a 9-3 lead.
Ohlde got K-State's next 10 points on layups as the Wildcats took advantage of one-on-one coverage on the senior All-American to extend the lead to 17-11. Mizzou pulled within one (20-19) on a left-side banker with 8 minutes, 55 seconds left in the first half.
After a put-back from freshman forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS), KSU went on a 16-2 run, including a pair of 3FG by Koehn and another by Coggins, to boost the margin to 42-26 with 3:10 left. Perkins hit a pair of open baskets off feeds from senior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) to go into the locker room down 43-29.
Kansas State used a 12-2 run to start the second half for a 24-point lead, 55-31, with 15:55 left in the game, and wasn't challenged the rest of the way.
The Tigers return home this Saturday for a Border War tilt against rival Kansas in a game to be televised statewide on the Mizzou Sports Network. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri). As a reminder, holders of the student All-Sports Pass or the KMIZ-ZOU Spirit Pass gain free admission to all women's basketball games.