MANHATTAN, Kan. — Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a 78-65 win over Portland in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm's reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime and 25-10 after one quarter.
K-State will face the winner of the Colorado vs. Drake game on Sunday in the second round.
Serena Sundell added 16 points for Kansas State (26-7).
Portland (21-13) was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Portland Pilots vs. Kansas State Wildcats
The game became chippy in the second half as there were 10 fouls called before the midway point of the third quarter. There were 15 total fouls called in the third quarter.
Lee, who finished with nine rebounds, had 11 points in the third quarter as the Wildcats maintained their 12-point lead.
K-State shot 26 of 51 from the field, including 7 of 16 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats, however, only made 65.5% of their free throws.
Portland shot 44% for the game.
Download the KGW News app: Download for iPhone here | Download for Android here
Stream newscasts for free on KGW+ on Roku and Amazon Fire: How to add app to your device here
See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections
