MANHATTAN, Kan. – With a winter storm forcing the adjustment of the game time, (12/11) K-State used a tempest of steals, made field goals and free throws in the third quarter to secure a 77-57 win on Saturday afternoon against Texas Tech at Bramlage Coliseum.
The win improves K-State’s win streak to 10. This is the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons that the Wildcats have registered double-digit win streaks in consecutive seasons.
K-State improved its overall record to 15-1 for the second time under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie. This is the second straight season K-State has opened with a 15-1 record. In its history, K-State has opened a season 15-1 or better five times.
The Wildcats saw four players reach double figures on Saturday, led by All-America candidate Ayoka Lee with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds, a block and a steal. With her 19 points, Lee improved her career total to 2,436 and passed Nina Davis of Baylor (2014-17) for seventh on the Big 12 career scoring list.
With her eight rebounds, Lee moved into sixth on the Big 12 career rebounds list (1,211) and passed Iowa State’s Angie Welle (1999-02; 1,209).
Senior guard and All-America candidate Serena Sundell recorded her team-best fifth double-double of the season with 13 points, 11 assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Lee and Sundell have now reached double figures in points in the same game in 44 of 73 career games together.
The bench tandem of senior forward Kennedy Taylor and Taryn Sides added 13 and 11 points, respectively. The duo helped the Wildcats to a 30-15 advantage in bench points on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- With the game time moved ahead three hours to avoid a larger issue with an incoming winter storm, K-State (15-1, 3-0 Big 12) held a 38-32 lead at halftime and shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field and registered 13 assists on its 15 made field goals in the first half.
- K-State used a 24-4 run in the first eight minutes of the third quarter and built a 62-36 lead with 2:10 to play in the frame. During the squall, the Wildcats received points from six different players led by six from Taylor.
- The Wildcats would win the third quarter, 28-9, and hold Texas Tech (12-4, 1-2) to 14.3 percent shooting (2-of-14). K-State would register eight steals which led to a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the third quarter. The Wildcats shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) in the frame and handed out eight assists on the nine made field goals.
- K-State shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) for the afternoon, which included a 44-26 edge in points in the paint, and a 76.2 percent (16-of-21) effort from the free throw line. The Wildcats dished out 25 assists on its 29 made field goals. This was the seventh time this season K-State has handed out 25 or more assists in a game.
- K-State forced the Lady Raiders into 24 turnovers, 16 by way of a steal, which resulted in a 29-19 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Texas Tech shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the field and were held to 14.3 percent (3-of-21) from beyond the arc.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State leads the series with Texas Tech, 31-17. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 21-8 (.724) in his career against Texas Tech.
- The Wildcats are 235-242 (.493) in Big 12 games.
- K-State is 407-156 (.723) in its 37-season history inside Bramlage Coliseum, including an 11-0 record this season. This is the 34th season in program history with 10 or more home wins in a season, including the 26th season at Bramlage Coliseum.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 659-371 (.640), including a mark of 205-136 (.601). Mittie needs two wins to move into second on the K-State career wins list.
- K-State owns a record of 263-96 (.733) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 20-4 (.833) all-time when ranked 12th in the nation.
- The Wildcats are 261-193 (.575) in games played in the month of January. Under Mittie, K-State is 41-41 (.500) in games during the first 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 14th time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 128th career start for Lee, the 119th career start for Sundell, the 115th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 103rd career collegiate start and 16th at K-State for Poindexter and the 16th career start for Walker. With her 128th career start at K-State, Lee rmoves into a tie for third in program history with Kendra Wecker (128; 2001-05) for career starts. With her 119th career start, Sundell is ninth in program history for career starts.
- The Wildcats held a 38-32 lead at halftime on Saturday. Under Mittie, K-State is 164-19 (.896) when leading at halftime. The Wildcats have led at the half in 14 games this season (14-0).
- K-State has scored 20-or more points in a quarter 38 times this season, including the first and third quarters on Saturday. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 147-62 (.703) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game.
- K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in three quarters on Saturday (first, second and third quarters). The Wildcats have 40 quarters this season of 50.0 percent or better shooting.
- K-State improved to 104-8 (.929) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game. The Wildcats have dished out 20 or more assists in 12 games this season (12-0).
- K-State improves to 59-3 (.952) over the last four seasons when holding foes to 60 points or less.
PLAYER NOTES
- With her 19 points on Saturday, Lee boosted her career total to 2,436 and moves into seventh on the Big 12 career scoring list. Lee registered her 117th career game with 10 or more points. Her 117 career games with 10 or more points is tied with Nicole Ohlde (2000-04; 117) for second in program history. Lee has scored in every game of her career,128 games, and remains in school history for consecutive games scoring.
- Lee hauled in eight rebounds on Wednesday. This was the 83rd time in her career leading K-State rebounding. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,211, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds and moving into sixth in Big 12 history for career boards. She owns 111 career games with five or more rebounds.
- Lee registered a block on Saturday and boosted her career total to 340. Lee is fourth in Big 12 history for career blocks.
- Sundell notched her 83rd career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,464 career points and remains in 14th on the K-State career scoring list.
- Sundell made nine free throws, on 10 attempts, on Saturday. This was a season-high for free throws made by a Wildcat this season. This was her fifth game this season and her fourth straight with five or more made free throws.
- Sundell’s 11 assists on Saturday improved her career total to 668. This was her ninth career game and her fifth this season with 10 or more assists. This was her 78th career game with five or more assists and her 13th this season including her 10th straight.
- Sundell hauled in three rebounds on Saturday to improve her career total to 493.
- Sundell sent back two shots on Saturday. Sundell boosted her career total to 88 and ranks ninth in school history for career blocks and owns the school record for blocks by a guard. This was Sundell’s 20th career game with two or more blocks.
- Sides reached double figures for points for the eighth time this season and for the 11th time in her career.
- Sides connected on two 3-pointers on Saturday. This was her 19th career game and her 11th this season with two or more made 3-pointers.
- Taylor reached double figures for the seventh time this season and the 50th time in her career.
- Sophomore guard Zyanna Walker tied her career-high with five steals. This was her fifth career game with four or more steals and her 19th with two or more steals.
- Senior Jaelyn Glenn pocketed two steals on Saturday. She improved her career total to 230 and remains in sixth in school history for career steals.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
On how good the team is right now…
“I haven’t been real happy with our urgency in practice over the last couple of days. One of my biggest concerns, quite honestly, was how we finished before the break. We gave up a 21–2 run in one game and a similar run against Houston, which was really concerning. But today, I was proud of how we dug in defensively. We didn’t let them go on any big runs. They had one run sparked by some turnovers, but that was stopped quickly by some good offensive play. That’s been my main focus, if you want to be a great defensive team, you can’t let those kinds of runs happen often. And if you want to be a strong offensive team, you have to respond when they do. In those previous games, we didn’t do that. Today, I told the team in the locker room that if we bring that same urgency to practice, our bench will keep improving, and all 10 players who stepped on the floor today have the potential to make a real impact. I believe we can be really good, but we’re not there yet. Today was a typical Big 12 physical game, a grind-it-out win. I liked how we responded in the third quarter, especially coming out of the break. We played extremely well and did a lot of good things.”
On what specifically changed during the 3rd quarter run…
“In the third quarter, there were two key adjustments coming out of halftime. Defensively, we wanted our helpers to step up and be more aware of Bailey Maupin, who had a strong first half. I think we improved in that area. Offensively, I wasn’t happy with how we handled their press in the middle of the floor in the first half, it felt like they were getting a free press at times. We focused on making them pay for that and getting the ball to Lee in the half-court, as she was playing really well. Foul trouble in the second quarter hurt us, but Kennedy gave us a big lift. Overall, there was a lot to like about today’s performance, I thought it was a good, hard-fought win.”
On performing better against high-pressure defenses…
“I saw glimpses of it, but we still had 17 turnovers, including some late ones. Individually, we need to do a better job in that area, individual players need to take better care of the ball, protect it, and have greater awareness of the game, especially when the other team is gambling and taking risks. We’ve got to be able to punish teams when they play that way. [Texas] Tech got very active when they were down, they were willing to bump, hold, and try to create chaos. When we handled it well, we did some good things. But when we didn’t, it got sloppy, and that’s what we have to improve.”
On going on large runs to put teams away…
“Well, it’s rare. We’ve won games in a variety of ways, but it’s rare to do it the way we did today, without making threes. In other games, we’ve gone on a barrage of threes and gotten it done. Today, it was all about creating turnovers. That’s something we haven’t done very well, we haven't been getting steals. There are a couple of things I haven’t liked recently. I haven’t felt like we’ve had a killer instinct in our traps. I think we’ve let teams off the hook, and I haven’t been happy with our positioning. It hasn’t felt like those small details have mattered enough in practice. But today, I feel like we were in the right spots most of the time. I’ll look back at the film, but my impression is that we improved. That was a big focus in yesterday’s practice. I kept harping on the fact that we needed to get this right because we’re going to face better teams that will make us pay if we don’t. Today, my eyes tell me we were much better. And it showed in the results. We’ve won in different ways before, through [Ayoka] Lee, through three-pointers from [Taryn] Sides and [Temira] Poindexter, or from the corners. But today, it was the steals and extra possessions that made the difference.”
Texas Tech Head Coach Krista Gerlich
On how hard it is to come back once Kansas State goes on a run…
“Obviously, they have a really complete roster. I mean, they're really good players, one through five and then six, seven, eight, coming off the bench. When you have to spend so much of your game plan on one player, which is obviously [Ayoka] Lee, but then Jeff [Mittie] has done a fantastic job of getting all these shooters around her, right? Like, you've got to decide if you want to give up twos or threes, like what poison do you want to pick? And so they've just played really well together for a long time. And they've got great chemistry, and they make you pay, you know, you might cover up one thing but, they turn around and expose you somewhere else. For us, I felt like, particularly in the third quarter, we got too careless with the basketball and turned it over too much and gave them easy looks. And, you know, they're too good of a basketball team for them to get easy looks. We can't give them free points. We got to make them earn everything that they get, and they're just too good for us to be able to turn the basketball over that many times and give them that many extra opportunities.”
On pressuring K-State’s guards…
“Our pressure is what we're trying to build our system around and just playing in the full court. I think that the only way that you can protect the post defense is to have ball pressure. You've got to make it really difficult for them to enter the ball into the post. Because if you don't [Ayoka] Lee is going to score it every time you know? And secondly if you put two around her, and you don't have ball pressure, then they're going to pick you apart and shoot the three ball. So, you know, our defense is three-tiered. We got to have ball pressure. We got to not allow post entry passes, and then we got to have some backside help. And, you know, they exposed us pretty good at times.”
FROM THE FLOOR
AYOKA LEE, SENIOR CENTER
On if they were ready to come out hot in the 2nd half…
“Yeah I absolutely believe that. I think when we get transition going, when we're hitting from the perimeter, and when we're getting looks inside, it feels like we're clicking in every area.”
On how they are able to pull away from teams…
“I think we do a really good job of feeding off one another. When we're excited for Serena’s {Sundell] and-one or like Temira’s [Poindexter] three. I think that stuff just gets us going, especially like, going back down on defense, and then it's like the little touches on defense, and then we're just like, we're just in it connected.”
On her positioning and finishing…
“I thought it was pretty good today. Personally, I thought that we did a good job getting it inside. We did a good job reading when they were sending help, when they weren't sending help, we had to adjust a little bit because they started playing behind. That was communication, not just like with me, but with the guards as well. Like Serena [Sundell] was really on point talking to me about that. So it just made my job easier. I think we did a good job just playing off of it.”
SERENA SUNDELL, SENIOR GUARD
On how good the team is…
“We're getting better, since our first game that we played this year. So that's always the goal is to get better every game and get better every practice. I think you saw a glimpse of how good we can be in that third quarter. We have a lot of opportunities to be good. It's just the little things right now that we're having issues with. We're doing a good job of figuring it out as the game goes on. We can be pretty good.”
On Kansas State’s big 3rd quarter…
“Everybody was making the right cuts and moving the ball to the open player. We were finding Ayoka [Lee] in the paint. She was doing a great job of bringing two to her, and then our guards, if they were helping out on Ayoka, they were doing a good job of making plays off my skip passes and getting to the rim, then we hit some shots in that third quarter. So, yeah, it was just fun basketball. We were playing together.”
On how they are able to pull away from teams…
“I mean, I wish we had the simple answer to give you. Every time I think it's really just our focus. It takes every single player on the floor to be committed to the things that coach [Jeff} Mittie is saying, to be on the same page. But I know that this team just wants to win. We have a lot of girls who love to compete. We have a lot of girls who want to make the right play. I don't know what the switch is, yet, still figuring that out, it's nice to have.”
On if there was any emphasis on trying to draw fouls …
“No, I just felt like you could tell right from the beginning of this game that it was physical. That was a Big 12 basketball game. So I just knew that I needed to be strong, because if you're kind of shying away from the basket, the refs aren't going to give you those calls. Obviously I didn't shoot super well tonight, but if I can get to the free throw line. I've worked on my free throws, so that was exciting for me to shoot well from the free throw line. But not really an emphasis.”
UP NEXT
K-State makes a two-game swing through the Beehive State, as the Wildcats face Utah on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. (CT).