No. 18 Kansas St. 77, Nebraska 75

1/30/2008 10:15 PM

By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Kansas State is feeling right at home on the road these days.

The 18th-ranked Wildcats ended another opponent's long home winning streak Wednesday night, overcoming their coach's ejection and Marlies Gipson's foul trouble to beat Nebraska 77-75 on Ashley Sweat's baseline drive with 7 seconds left.

Kansas State (15-5, 7-0) has won 10 straight after a 5-5 start and remains tied with Baylor for the Big 12 lead.

Five of the 10 wins have come on the road. The Wildcats ended Texas A&M's 26-game home win streak and 12-game home streaks belonging to Oklahoma State and Nebraska (15-6, 4-3).

``For this team, we can get down, we can be up, the crowd can be yelling at us. But we always find a way to come through and get a win,'' said Kimberly Dietz, who scored a season-high 26 points and hit a big 3-pointer in the final minute.

After Kelsey Griffin's putback for Nebraska had tied it at 75 with 36.6 seconds left, the Wildcats set up for the final shot.

Sweat took the ball along the baseline and dribbled right around Danielle Page to the basket for an easy layin with one second showing on the shot clock.

Page tried to swipe at Sweat's shot but missed.

``I wasn't really as close as I needed to be,'' Page said. ``I shouldn't have let her beat me off the drive.''

K-State coach Deb Patterson said Sweat showed great composure to work her way past Page.

``It was an individual not conceding,'' Patterson said. ``It was a tough play. A lot of players would have given up on the ball-side block. She continued to the reverse and finished that play.''

Nebraska had two good looks at the basket in the final seconds, but Yvonne Turner missed a driving layup and Griffin couldn't get a putback to fall.

``'Vonnie' took it and made a strong move to the basket, and I went back up with it, and it happened to rim out on me,'' Griffin said. ``I could have focused better on the basket probably, but my adrenaline got going. I just missed it.''

Patterson watched the final 8:03 on a television hung over a concession stand. The Wildcats' coach had been ejected after getting her second technical foul.

Nebraska's Turner had just stripped the ball from Shalee Lehning and was dribbling past halfcourt when Patterson apparently got out of line with the officials. Her first technical came in the opening half.

``I guess I was a little too emotional,'' Patterson said.

Lehning added 19 points, Gipson 15 and Sweat 10 for the Wildcats, who play for the conference lead at home Saturday against Baylor.

Danielle Page had 20 points and Griffin 19 to lead the Huskers.

Griffin's inside basket and three-point play put Nebraska up 68-66 with 4:30 left in a game that had seven ties and seven lead changes.

But Gipson, who sat down for nine minutes after committing her fourth foul, hit a baseline shot upon her return to tie it. Lehning hit two free throws and Dietz snaked her way through the lane for a layup to give K-State a 72-68 lead.

The Huskers were ahead again after Page's in-close basket and Turner's 3-pointer from the top of the key.

But Dietz answered with a 3 before Nebraska tied it again.

``To me, that was as big a shot as there was in the game,'' Patterson said. ``She put us in position to be competitive the last few minutes of the game.''