LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kansas State was on the verge of a historic win until the worst-case scenario unfolded.
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky's best player had the ball, was open a few feet from the basket, with a clean look at a game winner at the buzzer. But that brief moment of anxiety quickly turned into jubilation when the ball hit the floor. Kansas State escaped with an 80-79 win at No. 4 seed Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum to advance to the team's first Sweet 16 since 2002.
As Kansas State senior guard Serena Sundell walked back to the locker room after the game, she knew just how close the No. 5 seed was to being eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons.
"If [Amoore] had 2 more inches of arch on that shot, it would've been a different turnout," Sundell told ESPN. "So, yeah. What a ballgame."
Kansas State senior forward Temira Poindexter had a game-high 24 points, with all of her buckets coming on 3-pointers. Three of those came with Kansas State (28-7) on the brink of elimination.
With 1:36 left in regulation, Kansas State trailed by five points after Kentucky (23-8) used a 6-0 run to take the lead. Poindexter hit a deep ball with 39.8 seconds remaining that gave Kansas State a 1-point lead. After Kentucky's Amoore hit a 3-pointer of her own a few seconds later, Kansas State forced overtime with a bucket from Sundell and a block by Poindexter on the potential winner at the end of regulation.
In overtime, the senior from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, scored the team's final five points, including the 3-pointer with 56 seconds left that ended up being the game's final points. Poindexter had to overcome a slow start in which she missed her first five attempts from behind the arc. After that stretch, she finished the game by making eight of her final 10 3-pointers.
"In those moments I do, like, get down on myself," Poindexter said. "So, my teammates come in and having my back and telling me to keep shooting is really what lifts me up and gives me the confidence."
All the good things Kansas State did down the stretch could have been wiped out by Amoore's final shot.
"It was just up to fate at that point," said Amoore, who finished with 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting.
The best players for each team struggled to find their footing. Amoore didn't get rolling until late and scored 10 of her 18 points after the third quarter. Kansas State senior center Ayoka Lee, who was playing in her second game since returning from a foot injury, battled foul trouble all day but still finished with 16 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
When Kansas State needed points late in the game, it tried to feed the 6-foot-6 Lee in the post. Kentucky tried to double-team Lee at every opportunity, which left shooters open on the perimeter.
With both feet iced in the locker room after the game, Lee was pleasantly surprised Kentucky didn't change its strategy as she pulled defenders into her orbit.
"Obviously, the gravity was on me," Lee told ESPN. "I mean, I don't know what their game plan was, but I'm glad that's what they stuck with."
After the game, Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks explained the conundrum between letting Lee have good shots near the rim or rolling the dice with Kansas State's perimeter shooters. Brooks said Kentucky found success with that strategy early but was burned late by Poindexter.
"We had a couple of situations where we had miscommunication and she got free and we didn't contest her shot," Brooks said. "Give her credit. She stepped up. She knocked them down."
Kentucky didn't let the loss spoil an otherwise good season. In Brooks' first season at Kentucky, the program had its first 20-win campaign since 2019-20.
For Kansas State, it was a cherished win given what happened last season. The team was a 4-seed and hosted the first and second round at home but was beaten by Colorado in the largest defeat of Kansas State's season.
On Sunday, the Big 12 squad was able to erase memories of that defeat and celebrate its first Sweet 16 appearance in more than two decades.
"That loss, we all just took it so personal," Sundell said. "We were confident coming out here knowing that we are capable of getting a win. I'm just so proud of our program, and to be able to bring that back to our community and our university is so special."