Iowa State falls to Kansas State 67-63 in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two first team all-Big 12 forwards took the court Thursday at Municipal Auditorium.

For Iowa State, Chelsea Poppens.

For Kansas State, Jalana Childs.

One managed to stay there.

It wasn't Poppens.

The smooth but stout Childs scored a team tournament-record 31 points, propelling the fifth-seeded Wildcats to a tense, gutty 67-63 win over the fourth-seeded Cyclones.

“It's pretty simple,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly, whose team saw a last second, potential game-tying 3-pointer from Lauren Mansfield bank partially in, then lip out. “We got our butts kicked in the post. That's the game.”

The Cyclones (18-12) couldn't complete a three-game sweep of Kansas State (19-12) for the second season in a row.

One reason: Poppens' foul trouble.

She played just eight minutes in the first half after collecting two fouls and never settled into her game, finishing with seven points and five rebounds - roughly half her average in each category.

“We're not a very deep team anyway,” Fennelly said. “So when your best player sits a lot it's very hard.”

Mansfield, a senior, and freshman Nikki Moody put up the best numbers for ISU, scoring 21 points each.

“I think I definitely feel like time is running out for me,” Mansfield said. “So I'm going to be more aggressive. I know any game could be my last.”

Moody's 3-point play with 7:17 left gave the Cyclones a 54-50 lead, but K-State answered with a Brittany Chambers-fueled 7-0 spree and wouldn't trail again.

“We started getting energy and getting more pumped up to win,” Moody said. “They just kept fighting back.”

ISU pummeled the Wildcats 57-33 last Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum, but failed to re-create that dominant magic in front of a largely Cardinal and Gold-wearing crowd.

“I feel like we really had something to prove,” said Childs, who scored 10 points and had five turnovers in the loss at Ames. “We shouldn't have lost at Hilton. We shouldn't have lost (to the Cyclones) at home.”

Kansas State bolstered its NCAA tournament hopes and will face top-ranked Baylor at noon Friday.

ISU's left hoping, waiting and practicing for a possible sixth straight tournament berth.

Fennelly said he thinks his team has done enough to earn a bid- winning nine of its last 13 games, a fourth-place league finish after an 0-5 start, but declined to speculate much.

“If we're fortunate enough to make the tournament, we'd be the first 0-5 team to ever do it,” he said. “When that happens, most people don't recover. But most people don't wear an Iowa State uniform. Very proud of that fact.”

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