Kansas State women's basketball picks up a Big 12 forfeit win over TCU
MANHATTAN — The Kansas State women's basketball team will have to wait for Saturday's Sunflower Showdown with Kansas to validate its new top-10 national ranking.
In an unusual development that brings back memories of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wildcats picked up a Big 12 road victory on Wednesday without setting foot on the court after TCU announced that it was canceling both its games this week.
The No. 7-ranked Wildcats were scheduled to face TCU at 6:30 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, but the Horned Frogs announced that they did not have enough available players for the game, nor Saturday's road contest at No. 24 Iowa State.
"The cancellations are a result of injuries within the TCU program and ensure the health and safety of the program's student-athletes," TCU posted on its website. "Both contests will count as a forfeit for TCU in accordance with Big 12 rules.
"The games will not be made up."
A statement from the Big 12 office confirmed the forfeits only will affect the conference standings. K-State's overall record will remain at 17-1, but its league record jumps to 6-0.
"Per Conference rule, the member institution unable to field a team will forfeit the contest if no extraordinary circumstances exist," the Big 12 statement said. "As a result, Iowa State and Kansas State will each gain a win in the league standings while TCU picks up two losses. Overall records will not be impacted as per NCAA policy."
K-State, which plays host to Kansas at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum, has won 11 straight games and is tied with Iowa State for the conference lead after holding off then-No. 10 Texas at home last Saturday, 61-58. In that game, Wildcat All-America center Akoya Lee became the school's all-time leader in blocked shots and also reached 2,000 career points.
Kansas (9-8, 2-4) lost at No. 11 Texas on Tuesday night, 91-56, after upsetting Baylor and beating Oklahoma State last week at home.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: TCU cancels Big 12 game against Kansas State women's basketball
