Boxscore

MANHATTAN, KANSAS ? The temperature outside Bramlage Coliseum was well below freezing Tuesday night.

Inside, Louisiana Tech?s shooting was just about as cold and ultimately it cost the Lady Techsters as they fell to Kansas State 77-66 before 4,516 fans.

After leading 36-35 at the half, Tech hit only 9-of-30 field goals over the final 20 minutes of play as Kansas State outscored the Techsters 42-30. The loss ended a six-game winning streak by Tech over the Wildcats.

?Basically, the story of tonight?s game was our inability to hit shots,? said Tech head coach Chris Long. ??We?ve been on the road for six days, and I don?t know if that took its toll. We just didn?t look like we had our legs in the second half, but Kansas State has played a lot of games lately and they seemed to have a bounce to them. It?s frustrating.?

Trailing 51-49 with 11:16 to play after a Ty Moore turnaround jumper in the lane, Tech hit only one field goal over the next six minutes as Kansas State built a 68-54 lead. The Lady Techsters never recovered. During that period, Tech was only 1-of-7 from the field with three turnovers.

The combination of Tech?s poor shooting and Kansas State?s 45-34 rebounding advantage proved costly for the Lady Techsters and Long. Although both teams pulled down 13 offensive boards, Kansas State scored 10 more points than Tech off of second chances.

?It sure seemed like they had a lot more offensive rebounds than us,? Long said. ?They were just quicker to the basketball. There were a lot of long rebounds (due to the three-point attempts) and their guards did a good job of rebounding.?

Five-foot-nine-inch Kansas State freshman guard Shalee Lehning was a huge part of the Wildcats rebounding prowess, setting a school record with 20 rebounds while adding nine points and eight assists.

Twiggy McIntyre led the Wildcats in scoring with 21 points while Kimberly Dietz added 16 and Marlies Gipson 14.

Tech was fortunate to be leading at the half. Trailing 35-26 with just over three minutes to play in the first half, the Lady Techsters used a 10-0 run capped by Eboni Mangum?s 25-footer at the buzzer to take a 36-35 lead into the locker room.

Senior guard Aarica Ray-Boyd hit a career-high five three-pointers, including four in the first half, to help the Lady Techsters (3-2) stay close in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Tech scored the first bucket of the second half to up its lead to 38-35 before Kansas State pulled ahead with a 9-2 run and never trail again.

Tamika Kursh added 13 points while Mangum chipped in with 11 points and Tasha Williams added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Tech returns to action Saturday night when it hosts Grambling State at 7 p.m.