Chattanooga-Kansas St. Preview

3/21/2008 12:36 AM

By NICOLINO DI BENEDETTO
STATS Writer

Kansas State was upset early in the Big 12 tournament and lost its top scorer in the process.

The fifth-seeded and 16th-ranked Wildcats hope to bounce back from those disappointments Sunday when they open the NCAA tournament against 12th-seeded Chattanooga at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.

The Wildcats (21-9) claimed their second Big 12 regular-season title in four years and entered the conference tournament looking to win that for the first time. Instead, they were beaten 66-65 in overtime by Iowa State in the quarterfinals on March 12 as guard Shalee Lehning's running bank shot at the buzzer rimmed out.

That was not the worst of it for Kansas State. Two days later the team learned that Kimberly Dietz's collegiate career was over due to a left knee injury suffered in the first half against the Cyclones. The senior All-Big 12 guard is the Wildcats leader with 14.9 points per game.

"We are saddened for Kimberly that she has lost her opportunity to compete in the NCAA tournament during her senior season," Wildcats coach Deb Patterson said. "She will be with us each step of the way through our postseason NCAA tournament run and travels. She will be back to 100 percent and has great post-collegiate basketball opportunities ahead of her."

Despite those issues, Kansas State was granted an at-large berth into the tournament. It's the team's first appearance at the NCAAs since 2005 - Deitz's freshman season - when it was seeded fourth and lost in the second round to fifth-seeded Vanderbilt. The Wildcats haven't advanced past that stage in their last three tournament appearances, dating to a run to the regional semifinals in 2002 when they were a host school at Manhattan, Kan.

With Deitz out, Kansas State hopes Lehning can continue her outstanding play to fill the scoring void.

Lehning, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists against Iowa State, is averaging 19.0 points, 10.4 boards and 6.2 assists while shooting 62.3 percent (33-for-53) over the last five games. That stellar production has increased her season averages to career highs of 11.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and a conference-leading 6.3 assists.

Kansas State won its only meeting with Chattanooga (29-3), a 69-56 road victory on Dec. 28, 1999.

The 12th-seeded Lady Mocs are looking to build on their 24-game winning streak - the longest in the nation - after cruising to the Southern Conference tournament championship for a third consecutive season and seventh time in eight years with a 71-59 win against Western Carolina on March 10. They have beaten opponents by an average of 18.9 points since falling 67-63 at Alabama A&M on Dec. 1 - their last defeat.

Chattanooga, though, is only 1-9 all-time in the NCAA tournament, with its lone win coming in an upset of Rutgers in 2004. The team failed to advance past the opening round last season, losing to fifth-seeded Baylor. However, Mocs coach Wes Moore feels this team is capable of a first-round upset.

"They remind me a lot of the team that beat Rutgers," he said.

Alex Anderson, the Mocs' leader with 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, was named MVP of the conference tournament after scoring 25 points and pulling down 11 boards against the Lady Catamounts.

The winner of this game will face fourth-seeded Louisville or 13th-seeded Miami of Ohio at Bridgeport on Tuesday.