Serena Sundell scores 19 of her 21 points in the second half and No. 20 Kansas State women beat UCF

By AP News Published Mar 6, 2025 11:15 am

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Serena Sundell scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to help No. 20 Kansas State beat UCF 80-65 on Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament.

Kansas State (26-6) equaled its win total from last season, with the 52 wins tied for the third-most over a two-season span in program history.

The Wildcats have advanced at least one round in 21 of the previous 28 Big 12 championships. Kansas State will play No. 4 seed and 16th-ranked West Virginia in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Wildcats lost 70-57 to the then-No. 17 Mountaineers on Feb. 17.

Sundell scored eight straight Kansas State points in the fourth quarter to help the Wildcats hold a double-digit lead for the final 6:54 of the game. Sundell was 5 of 6 from the field in the fourth to help K-State shoot 75%.

Zyanna Walker added 13 points, Jaelyn Glenn had 11 points and Kennedy Taylor 10 for Kansas State. Sundell reached 20-plus for the sixth time this season.

Kaitlin Peterson scored 21 points and Emely Rodriguez added 17 points for UCF (12-18).

Peterson was coming off a 35-point performance in a tournament-opening win over BYU. She also 31 points in UCF’s lone conference tournament game last season against Cincinnati.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball