MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The Pittsburg State women's basketball team held Division I Kansas State to a single digit victory on Monday night, 58-50. The Gorillas led for 16:23 in the game and by as many as eight with 6:03 to go in the third quarter.

Pitt State trailed by only three with 1:06 to go in the game and the tough defense forced a time out as they had a guard trapped by the K-State bench. The Wildcats would come out of that timeout to score the last five points of the game for the eight-point win.

The Gorilla shooting percentage wasn't the best with a 28 percent against the KSU zone defense. Only 20 of the team's points did not come from behind the arc, as the team shot 10-of-39 from three-point range.

PSU was extremely tough on the boards, outrebounding the bigger team, 39-30. 21 of the team's rebounds came off the offensive glass, allowing the team to score 16 second chance points. Conversely, K-State had only nine offensive rebounds and did not get any second chance points.

Mikaela Burgess led the Gorillas with 18 points as she hit five threes in the game and added three free throws for 18 points. Paige Lungwitz was just short of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Kylie Gafford and Cathy Brugman each pulled down eight rebounds. Burgess had five of Pitt State's 10 steals on the game. Hadyn Herlocker dished out a game-high four assists.

Kansas State's Kindred Wesemann led all scorers with 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

Pitt State started the game hot, hitting each of their first three threes, one each from Lungwitz, Herlocker and Burgess. The defense also put heavy pressure on the Wildcats, forcing eight turnovers and holding the home team scoreless for the last 5:03 of the first quarter.

The second quarter broke the scoring drought for Kansas State, as it scored the first 11 points of the quarter, including eight points from Brianna Craig. Pitt State picked it back up again though and outscored the Wildcats 7-2 in the last three minutes of the half to only trail by one at the half, 25-24.

The Gorillas were strong on the boards throughout the game, but especially in the second half, as they pulled down 21 rebounds, including 12 off the offensive glass, helping them to 12 second chance points. K-State had 13 first half rebounds, but no second chance points.

The third quarter was split into two halves. The Gorillas won the first half, putting up 14 points and holding the Wildcats scoreless for the first 3:40. However, Pitt State would not score in the final 4:46, allowing K-State to score 10 unanswered to go up 40-38.

The Gorillas begin regular season play this weekend with the MIAA/NSIC Challenge in North Dakota. The team opens the weekend with a 7 p.m. game at Minot State. Pitt State will then travel to Bismark, N.D. to take on Mary at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Note the time for Saturday's game has been pushed back 30 minutes due to other athletic activities at Mary on Saturday. Links for live stats and video for both games are available at pittstategorillas.com.