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Commodores Advance to Sweet 16 With 63-60 Win Over Kansas State 3/22/2005 SEATTLE (AP) – Carla Thomas scored 18 points and fifth-seeded Vanderbilt overcame a late Kansas State rally to beat the fourth-seeded Wildcats 63-60 on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Kansas State senior Laurie Koehn broke the NCAA career record for 3-pointers, hitting three to finish her career with 392. Erin Thorn of BYU made 391 from 1999-03. Vanderbilt (24-7) will play top-seeded Michigan State on Sunday in Kansas City. Kansas State (24-8) lost in the second round of the tournament for the third straight year, ending hopes of playing close to home next week. The Commodores built a 57-43 lead with 7 minutes left, but Kansas State went on a 13-2 run, closing to 59-56 on Koehn’s record-breaking 3 with 1:23 left. Thomas scored for Vanderbilt to make it 61-56, but Brie Madden made two baskets for Kansas State to cut it to 61-60 with 5 seconds left. After a timeout, Vanderbilt’s Ashley Earley broke free at midcourt and made a breakaway layup with 2.1 seconds left. Kansas State had a final chance for force overtime, but Kimberly Dietz’s desperation 3-point attempt fell well short. Thomas and Earley controlled the interior for Vanderbilt. Thomas finished with 18 points and Earley added 17. Kendra Wecker led Kansas State with 29 points, and Claire Coggins added 14 for the Wildcats. Kansas State led by eight early, but made just two field goals the final 9:54 of the first half. Trailing 20-12, Vanderbilt took control, closing the half on a 22-5 run. Thomas scored eight points during the run and Dee Davis added seven as the Commodores led 34-25 at the break. Wecker and the Wildcats rallied early in the second half. Wecker scored nine of Kansas State’s first 11 second half points as the Wildcats closed to 40-36 with 13:30 left. But Vanderbilt followed with a 14-3 run. Davis scored six points to push the lead to 52-39 before the Wildcats final rally. Koehn was just 3-of-13 on 3s and was harassed all-night by Vanderbilt’s Davis and Abi Ramsey. Even when Koehn had open looks, she struggled to make shots. Vanderbilt advanced to the regional semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years and improved to 24-6 in first- and second-round games. Last year, as a No. 2 seed, Kansas State lost to Minnesota 80-61 in Minneapolis. In 2003, Kansas State was a No. 3 seed and lost at home to 11th-seeded Notre Dame 59-53. |
