If you weren’t watching closely, it was easy to miss one of the plays that best captured the way the Kansas State women routed UIC 84-40 Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

It came midway through the third quarter, when the Wildcats were trying to extend a 28-point lead. Point guard Angela Harris took her defender off the dribble, got to the paint and put up a layup.

Didn’t drop.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, 6-foot-5 Ayoka Lee was right there. She snared the rebound and stuck it back. Barely jumped, in fact, which made the putback look even easier. K-State went up 30.

Lee’s size advantage was impossible to miss Monday night, but she was hardly the only Wildcat who used their height to change the game. Freshman Emma Chapman, a 6-foot-3 forward, did so. Ditto for guard Chrissy Carr. Even 6-foot-5 Ashley Ray, who played just 14 minutes, was a force underneath.

The common denominator: They all capitalized on their advantages in height and length, utilizing it on both sides of the ball, to score and defend. That goes a long way in explaining why the Wildcats had so little trouble dispatching the Flames.

“Obviously we had a size advantage at most every position,” K-State coach Jeff Mittie said. “But I felt like we utilized the size defensively better.”

Just look at the numbers. K-State totaled 11 blocks.

Lee registered five. Jasauen Beard added two. Rachel Ranke, Laura Macke, Carr and Ray all chipped in one each.

That helps make sense of UIC’s 25% shooting number, and even its 4-for-17 mark from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats were just too, well, big. Too long.

“Going into this game, one big thing for me was staying out of foul trouble,” said Lee, who committed just one foul Monday night, “which included when they did drive, staying straight up and blocking shots up above, not bringing my hands down. I think being smart and disciplined about that definitely helped me alter shots so we could get those boards.”

The flip side was noticeable on offense. The Wildcats finished with 16 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 11 second-chance points.

Thing is, they dominated the boards overall. K-State won the rebound battle 59-28. Lee, who finished with 13 points, snared 12 rebounds. Macke put up 11 points and nine rebounds.

In fact, six different Wildcats recorded five-plus rebounds.

Mittie will take that every night.

“Early, it was a little sporadic,” Mittie said, “in that they got some layups I didn’t like. They made a good adjustment in the second half of defending that better.”

That K-State dominated underneath so thoroughly without star forward Peyton Williams makes the outing even more impressive. Williams, who also plays middle blocker for K-State’s volleyball team, sat out for rest Monday night.

Mittie said that was scheduled far in advance, but still: It speaks to the way the Wildcats were able to have their way on the glass without one of their best players.

K-State will be tasked with replicating that kind of success a week from now, a home matchup with Oral Roberts.

The good news for the Wildcats is that the return of Williams means more experience on the court.

More size, too.

“The fours in our offense are decision-makers,” Mittie said. “They get touches, and (tonight’s fours) were a little bit unsure in that stretch (where) we weren’t very good. That’s where you really miss Peyton because she has the experience. She’s got the reps. She knows those things. Laura and Emma are working hard to get better.”

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