Kansas State becomes the 1st No. 12 seed to advance to women’s Big 12 Tournament semifinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Freshman Jordan Speiser scored 18 of her career-high 21 points in the second half and Tess Heal made a go-ahead free throw with 1.3 seconds left as Kansas State rallied to beat No. 4 seed Oklahoma State 74-73 on Friday in the Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

A day after scoring the final 21 points in a 58-51 victory over No. 21 Texas Tech, Kansas State went on a 9-0 fourth-quarter run against the Cowgirls to take its first lead, 66-65, since it was 17-14.

Speiser got a friendly bounce on a 3-pointer with 15.5 seconds left to extend Kansas State’s lead to 73-68. Oklahoma State made two free throws to get within three points and the Cowgirls forced a jump ball to regain possession.

Haleigh Timmer made her second 3-pointer in the final minute with 4.5 seconds left to tie it at 73-all. Kansas State quickly inbounded the ball and Heal was fouled near midcourt before making the first free throw and intentionally missing the second.

Kansas State (18-16) became the first No. 12 seed to advance to the semifinals of the women’s Big 12 Tournament.

Nastja Claessens finished with 15 points, Aniya Foy added 11 and Taryn Sides had 10 for Kansas State. Gina Garcia added nine assists to go with five points and Heal scored three points.

Stailee Heard led Oklahoma State (23-9) with 18 points. Jadyn Wooten added 16 points, Timmer finished with 13 and Amari Whiting had 12.

Up next

Kansas State: Plays the winner between top-seeded TCU and BYU in the second quarterfinal game.

Oklahoma State: The Cowgirls will await their NCAA Tournament fate.

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