Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Falls In WNIT Final
3/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 31, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - Shalee Lehning had a triple-double and Kimberly Dietz had 21 points, leading Kansas State to a 77-65 victory over Marquette in the WNIT championship Friday night.
The Wildcats overcame a one-point halftime deficit and Marquette's hot three-point shooting to win their first postseason championship.
"I'm very proud of the way our team closed out the season," head coach Terri Mitchell said. "Obviously tonight, we're too close to the loss to be happy about it, but in a few days, when we can reflect on the last month, there have been quite a few positives about our WNIT experience."
The 5-foot-9 Lehning, one of three freshmen starters for Kansas State (24-10), had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and helped lead a quick, aggressive defense which forced 19 turnovers.
Twiggy McIntyre scored 16 points for Kansas State, which finished tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference.
Danielle Kamm had 16 points for Marquette (22-11), which tied for sixth in its first season in the expanded 16-team BIG EAST. Jasmine McCullough had 13 and Carolyn Kieger 10.
Krystal Ellis, who led the Golden Eagles with 17.5 points per game, had only four points on 1-for-6 shooting against Kansas State's swarming defense.
The Golden Eagles hit six of eight three-pointers in their first half and wound up 7-for-16 from behind the arc. But the Wildcats constantly got their hands in the passing lanes and kept the Golden Eagles off balance with 15 steals.
Dietz hit her fifth three-pointer with 7:23 to go to give the Wildcats a 61-58 lead and ignite a 9-0 run that ended with JoAnn Hamlin's layup for a 67-58 lead.
"Tonight, it was a game of runs. Every possession, both teams battled, and made big shots," Mitchell said. "I guess it was there run under the 8-minute timeout that really sealed it for them. We just didn't respond. You have to give Kansas State a lot of credit for that."
Hamlin also had a steal and a driving layup in the spurt. Lehning, taking a nifty pass underneath from Claire Coggins, made it 63-58 and then Dietz' layup made it 65-58 and the Golden Eagles never caught up.
The Wildcats had 10 steals in the first half while Marquette had only one.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Danielle Kamm and Erin Monfre gave Marquette a quick five-point lead, then Dietz and McIntyre knocked down threes on consecutive Kansas State possessions.
The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 13,500 - the second largest in WNIT history.
"Their crowd was fantastic. To have a sell-out, 14,000 fans into the game and every possession, it was great," Mitchell said. "For fans of basketball, men's and especially women's basketball, it was a special night. People were treated to an outstanding game tonight and an outstanding tournament. The folks at the WNIT did a great job with this."
The game was the final in the career of seniors Carolyn Kieger, Tierra Shirley and Amber Johnson. Kieger finished her career with 1277 points, 487 rebounds, 694 assists and 196 steals.
"It was a great experience to continue our season playing in the WNIT," Kieger said. "Of course, we would have liked to have won it, but I think we showed the kind of team we have this post season."
