On Sunday afternoon, No. 13 Kansas State took care of Texas A&M behind four double-figure contributors, 89-50.
The Wildcats' quartet of Zyanna Walker, Jaelyn Glenn, Taryn Sides and Serena Sundell overpowered the Aggies and combined for 64 points.
"They had four in double figures and scored at will," head coach Joni Taylor said. "We weren't aggressive enough defensively. We let them score how they wanted to score, and I don't think we dictated defense consistently."
Coming into the competition, Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Ayoka Lee garnered the deserved attention as the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer, and Aggies' plan to shut her down early worked.
Lee played just three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, yet the Wildcats operated just fine without her.
"When we moved the ball tonight, we were really hard to guard, and we had open shots," Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “I think our guard play today was excellent."
Early on, the Aggies matched the physicality of the Wildcats, but continuous errors on the offensive end proved costly.
Kansas State latched onto a 26-10 lead in the first as the initial frame saw a stretch of five straight empty trips for the Aggies.
Additionally, 10 first-half turnovers, including two abysmal travels, led to a shortage of possessions. Of those chances, A&M made only 26.7 percent of its first-half shots.
The Wildcats' backcourt went to work, operating at a beyond-efficient clip. Firing 50 percent from behind the arc, the visitors' lead grew as the Aggies struggled to piece positive offensive possessions together to end the half.
"We can't have empty possessions, and we can't let them go down and do what they want defensively," Taylor said. "I thought there were too many instances where that's what the game looked like tonight."
Trailing by 21 to begin the third quarter, the Aggies' lapses on offense translated to the defensive side of the ball. The Wildcats posted 27 in the frame — the most points A&M has allowed in a single quarter all season.
Contrarily, nine points were all A&M could muster up in the third.
Down 37, the Aggies did not concede, continuing to attack the paint. The Aggies' leading scorer, Aicha Coulibaly, scored nine of her 12 in the final 10 minutes.
"This is the reality of it," Coulibaly said. "This is going to be just like the SEC every night. Every time we come out, there will be teams like that. We have to lock in practice and on the things Coach asks us to do. It will happen. We just have to keep moving forward to the next game."
As the preseason pick to win the Big 12, Kansas State's physicality and size mirrored that of the upper echelon teams in the SEC, those that A&M will see week-in and week-out come January.
With just two games remaining before conference play, Taylor's Aggies have a few short weeks to fix the miscues on both sides of the ball.
The Aggies' next chance to do so will be against Texas Southern on Monday, Dec. 16.
