Cyclones Sweep Away Top-Seeded Wildcats

Iowa State 66, No. 15 Kansas State 65 (OT)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alison Lacey drove end-to-end for a three-point play with 4.5 seconds left in overtime, lifting Iowa State to a 66-65 upset of No. 15 Kansas State on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 women's tournament.

Shalee Lehning, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the top-seeded Wildcats, responded by driving the length of the court in 4 seconds and put up running bankshot, but the ball rolled around the rim twice and then off as the buzzer sounded.

A day after tying a tournament record with seven 3-pointers in an opening-round win over Colorado, Iowa State's Heather Ezell broke it, scoring 26 points on eight 3-pointers before fouling out with 20 seconds left in the extra period.

With Ezell out, Iowa State turned to Lacey.

Her 3-pointer with 11 seconds left cut the lead to 64-63. After Kansas State's Danielle Zanotti made her first free throw and missed the second, Lacey took an outlet pass and raced the length of the court to put in a layup while getting fouled by Lehning.

Lacey finished with 17 points for Iowa State (20-11), which virtually secured itself an NCAA Tournament bid with the victory. Jocelyn Anderson added 11 points, including the game-tying putback with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Iowa State moves on to face fourth-seeded Texas A&M.

Marlies Gipson had 16 points and Zanotti and Ashley Sweat scored 12 apiece for Kansas State (21-9), which lost in its first game as a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

The Wildcats' lost leading scorer Kimberly Dietz to an apparent knee injury early in the game. Seven minutes in, she caught the ball at the top of the key and toppled to the floor in pain. Dietz, a first team All-Big 12 selection, clutched at her left knee and laid on the floor for a few minutes before being helped off the court.

Up 25-24 at halftime, Lehning and Gipson led Kansas State on a 11-0 run midway through the second to take a 43-35 lead with 661/27 minutes left.

But Iowa State, behind superb shooting from Ezell and Lacey, never went away. The Cyclones always had an answer and closed regulation on an 18-8 spurt to tie the game.

In overtime, Kansas State led for all but the last 4 seconds. Zanotti scored 9 of her 12 points in the extra session and hit six of eight free throws as the Wildcats tried to cling to the lead while the Cyclones made their furious comeback.