MANHATTAN, Kan. – (10/10) K-State dispatched of Milwaukee in the opening five minutes of Wednesday night’s game and cruised to a season-high 111-46 win at Bramlage Coliseum.
The 111 points are the second-most points K-State has scored in a game in program history and the most since setting the school record of 115 on Dec. 2, 2002, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
K-State shot a season-high 60.0 percent from the field (45-of-75) and registered its highest field goal percentage since a 60.4 percent effort against Baylor on Feb. 15, 2023.
K-State (5-0) improved its season-opening win streak to five. This is the third straight season the Wildcats have opened a season with a five-game winning streak and marks the first time in program history K-State has started three consecutive seasons with a 5-0 record.
The Wildcats featured a season-high six players in double figures and were led by All-America center Ayoka Lee with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting. She also pulled in seven rebounds and blocked two shots.
Senior guard Jaelyn Glenn equaled her season-high with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting including 3-of-4 from 3-point range to go with three rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Senior guard and All-America candidate Serena Sundell carded 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. This was Sundell’s 47th career game with 10 or more points and five or more assists.
Sophomore guard Zyanna Walker narrowly missed a triple-double with 13 points, a career-high nine rebounds and a career-high nine assists.
Sophomore guard Taryn Sides added 11 points off the bench, while junior Gisela Sanchez carded 10 points, a career-high seven assists and five rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- K-State raced out to an 18-4 lead with 4:31 to play in the first quarter. Lee scored half of K-State’s points, nine, in the five-and-a-half-minute stretch. The Wildcats would end the frame with a 27-11 lead and shot 55.6 percent (10-of-18).
- Milwaukee (2-4) narrowed the deficit to 18, 35-17, with 7:11 to play in the second quarter. The Wildcats answered the mini-run by the Panthers with a 19-1 run to end the first half and build a 54-18 lead at the break.
- The Wildcats shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the field in the second quarter.
- The 54 first half points were the most by K-State in a first half since scoring 54 in the opening half against Utah Tech on Nov. 20, 2022. This was the first time K-State scored 25 or more points in consecutive quarters since Dec. 6, 2023, against McNeese State when K-State scored 30 points and 25 in the third and fourth quarters.
- K-State registered a season-high for points in a quarter with 33 in the third quarter to build an 87-33 advantage at the end of the third. The Wildcats shot 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field in the frame.
- The Wildcats won the fourth quarter, 24-13, and shot 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the field.
- K-State outrebounded the Panthers, 51-18, as the Wildcats converted 16 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points.
- The Wildcats handed out a season-high 27 assists on their 45 made field goals.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State and Milwaukee played the first game in the series between the schools. The Wildcats are 11-2 against current members of the Horizon League.
- K-State is 401-156 (.720) in its 37-season history inside Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats own a 234-30 (.886) record against non-conference opponents inside Bramlage.
- K-State owns a record of 253-95 (.727) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 16-5 (.762) all-time when ranked 10th in the nation.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 649-370 (.637) in his 33 seasons as a head coach, including a mark of 195-135 (.591) in his 11 seasons at K-State. Mittie is 405-113 (.782) in games played in his home venue, including a 131-48 (.732) mark in Bramlage Coliseum.
- The Wildcats are 165-54 (.753) in games played in the month of November, including wins in 53 of its last 64 games in the month. Under Mittie, K-State is 51-11 (.823) in games during the 11th month.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State's starting five consisted of guards: Zyanna Walker, Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell; forward Temira Poindexter and center Ayoka Lee. This was the fourth time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 118th career start for Lee, the 108th career start for Sundell, the 104th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 92nd career collegiate start and fifth at K-State for Poindexter and the fifth career start for Walker. With her 118th career start at K-State, Lee moves into sole possession of 8th in program history for career starts.
- The Wildcats held a 54-18 lead at halftime on Wednesday. Under Mittie, K-State is 155-19 (.891) when leading at halftime. The Wildcats have led at the half in all five games this season.
- K-State has scored 20-or more points in a quarter 12 times this season, including all four quarters on Wednesday night. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 137-62 (.688) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game.
- K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in all four quarters on Wednesday night.The Wildcats have 10 quarters this season of 50.0 percent or better shooting.
- Over the last four seasons, K-State is 47-3 (.940) when holding the advantage on the glass.
- K-State recorded a combination of 23 blocks and steals (nine blocks, 14 steals) on Wednesday. In the Jeff Mittie era, K-State is 24-1 when achieving a combination of 20 or more blocks and steals in a game.
PLAYER NOTES
- Lee needs 64 points to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05; 2,333 points) for the school record for points in a career. Lee’s career point total stands at 2,270. Lee tallied her 54th career game with 20 or more points and her 108th career game with 10 or more points. Lee has scored in every game of her career (118 games).
- Lee hauled in seven rebounds on Wednesday. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,143, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds. Lee is seventh in Big 12 history for career rebounds. This was her 104th career game with five or more rebounds.
- Lee has shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in 81 career games. With her 11 made field goals on Wednesday, Lee improved her career total to 919. She needs 17 made field goals to pass Ohlde for the school record for career field goals made. This was her 32nd career game with 10 or more made field goals.
- Lee improved her career blocked shot total to 316, improving upon her school record for career blocked shots. Lee ranks fifth all-time in Big 12 history for career blocked shots.
- With her 17 points on Wednesday, Glenn improved her career total to 905 points. She needs 95 points to become the 46th player in program history to score 1,000 or more career points at K-State. This was her 42nd career game with 10 or more points.
- Glenn made three 3-pointers on Wednesday. This was her 51st career game with two or more connections from long range. She is tied for 10th on the K-State career 3-point field goals made list (166).
- Glenn pocketed three steals on Wednesday for her 61st career game with two or more steals. With her three steals, Glenn improved her career total to 213 steals and moved into eighth in school history for career steals, passing Shaelyn Martin (2014-18; 212).
- Sundell notched her 74th career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,313 career points and passed Megan Mahoney (2001-05; 1,307) for 19th and is tied with Marlies Gipson (2005-09; 1,313) for 18th on the K-State career scoring list.
- Sundell’s five assists on Wednesday improved her career total to 572 and she remains in third in school history for career assists. With 18 assists, Sundell will pass Megan Mahoney (2001-05; 589) for second in school history. This was her 68th career game with five or more assists.
- Walker recorded her 14th career game, all at K-State, with 10 or more points.
- Walker handed out five or more assists for the fourth time this season and the sixth time in her career.
- Walker achieved 14th career game and her third this season with five or more rebounds.
- Sides connected on three 3-point field goals, equaling her career-high and marking her 12th career game with two or more connections from long range.
- Sanchez tallied a season-high in points and her eighth career game with 10 or more points.
- Sanchez hauled in five or more rebounds for the third time this season and the 16th time in her career.
- Sanchez dished out a career-high seven assists. This was her second career game with five or more assists.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement…
“When you don't make shots, it tends to not look good. I mean, that's the thing, when you make shots, everything looks good. But I think the things that lead to making shots, ball movement, spacing, those things were much better. And I thought our effort was much better. I said a couple games ago, one of the things that concerned me about our transition game was we were getting three and maybe a four, but we weren't getting a fifth to run hard like we needed to. I think tonight we saw some players run really well. I'll give you an example. There was a play coming our way, where I was in front of the bench and I was yelling at her [Zyanna Walker] to go through, and she was ahead of the pack, and she went all the way through and got it back, got the ball, got a ball screen from Kennedy [Taylor], and hit the pull up jumper on the other side. And you know, we weren't playing that way, certainly Monday night, we've had glimpses of it. But tonight we put it together. Now we had some advantages, but at the same time you can either take advantage of those advantages or play down a notch. And tonight we played up.”
On holding Milwaukee to 18 rebounds…
"I think two things. I think one, our transition game got going so well, they got so concerned about that so they weren't sending people to the glass. It's one of the things that I think goes unnoticed when you're running so well at the other end, and the other team says, 'We got to get back.' They tend to do that quicker. And then I think that we chased the ball really well tonight. I thought our guards really chased the ball well tonight. I had to look at that twice on the stat sheet, because I thought Randy had made a mistake and because it didn't feel like that to me watching it, but it also didn't feel like they were getting any second chances."
On teaching points tonight…
"I think as a coach, I think you're always curious on how your team’s going to handle success and how they're going to handle some adversity. And while we won a game the other night, you guys all know that I wasn't pleased with some things, and our team knew I wasn't pleased with some things. So how are they going to bounce back from that? Shoot around, practice preparation, and then when the lights are on, how are they going to handle that? So I thought this was a good step forward for us. We saw a lot of people play well tonight, and that's what I was looking for."
On going into the Ball Dawgs Classic…
"We know we've got a really good matchup with Duke, and it's a great tournament. You've got Oklahoma and DePaul on the other side. We're going to go to win a tournament championship. We got four teams that have that opportunity. Every player, every coach, gets more excited about ranked games, tournament games, those things are exciting for us. Hopefully we'll have good preparation going into it. We've got a couple days here in Manhattan, and then we'll get into Vegas on Saturday."
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Guard Serena Sundell
On the team’s ability to quickly turn around defensively…
“I think we did a good job of refocusing. We had a practice yesterday where we were focused on us. We didn't really talk about Milwaukee. We focused on what we needed to do, and what we could control, just the little things that kind of go a long way, whether that's our defense and guarding people one-on-one or rebounding and taking good shots. Like you said, we did a good job of kind of refocusing coming in tonight with a different mindset of putting it on them, and then let's not play the score.”
On Gap Goat’s influence with intensity and motivation…
“I think even tonight, Coach (Jeff) Mittie was honest about our defense. I think we still had different ways we could improve. We knew that they were going to come in, and you saw it with strides, stops, pivot work, and angles. He said, they're not the fastest team, and we can beat them to the spots but we have to be disciplined. We kind of lost our discipline a few times there, but overall, it was a good defensive performance. I think the Gap Goat intensity is still fun, it still motivates us. It's fun to see the managers get into it with the crowd.”
On the legacy of gap goat without Gabby Gregory…
“She did a good job. She was obviously a presence on Twitter. We needed somebody to step up and get that going again. I think our team, just embraces it. It's just what makes K-State Women's Basketball unique. It's something that our fans and community have really bought into, which has been a lot of fun to see just that grow. As silly as it is, it is helpful, and it's a lot of fun to get seven gaps. We all really believe in what it means and the statistics of if you are getting seven gaps, you're going to win 95% of your games. So I think our team believes and we trust in coach Mittie and that philosophy. It's been fun to kind of see that hard work kind of pan out so far.”
K-State Sophomore Guard Taryn Sides
On how the offense performed…
“I think it's just a lot of fun. The way we played tonight suits us. Guard good, get out and run, push the ball, get some easy buckets in transition and then play out of it. I think it's what we did well tonight. It was a lot of fun.”
On her confidence…
“I think Coach [Jeff] Mittie has instilled confidence in me to shoot the ball. He says let it fly and when your coach is telling you that, it just gives you the free will and you just play looser. And I think I've done that better this year compared to last year.”
On her growth as a player…
“I just feel more confident and loose. My teammates can attest to that. We just play together so well, so it makes it easy. Just knock down shots, get everyone involved, and play basketball the right way.”
UP NEXT
K-State will play its first two games away from Bramlage Coliseum next week, as the Wildcats take part in the 2024 Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada. K-State will face (14/14) Duke on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. (CT).