MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following its second straight 26-win season, Kansas State women's basketball was rewarded with an at-large bid and a five-seed in the Spokane 4 Regional in the 2025 NCAA Tournament during Sunday night's NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show on ESPN. This is the program's 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and the sixth under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie.
K-State (26-7, 13-5 Big 12) was chosen as a No. 5 seed in the Spokane 4 regional and will be opposed by No. 12 seed Fairfield (28-4, 19-1 MAAC). The game will be played on Friday with a time and broadcast information announced on Monday. The contest will be available on the K-State Sports Network, including the flagship stations Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN and free live audio on kstatesports.com and on the K-State Sports app.
K-State and Fairfield will meet for the first time. The Wildcats are 2-0 against members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, as K-State defeated Marist, 57-56, in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Dec. 29, 2011, and downed Saint Peter’s (N.J.), 72-64, in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Dec. 30, 2005.
The winner of the Kansas State-Fairfield game will play the winner of the No. 4 Kentucky-No. 13 Liverty matchup on Sunday, March 23. The top four seeds in the Spokane 4 region are: No. 1 USC (28-3), No. 2 UConn (31-3), No. 3 Oklahoma (25-7) and No. 4 Kentucky (22-7).
K-State is 15-18 in its previous 18 NCAA Tournament bids. The Wildcats took part in the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Manhattan, as K-State entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Albany 2 region. K-State defeated the No. 13 seed Portland, 78-65, in the first round and fell to five-seed Colorado, 63-50, in the second round.
Under Mittie's guidance in his 11th season, Kansas State has registered the program’s most wins since the 2008-09 season. K-State recorded 13 Big 12 wins for the fifth time since the formation of the league in 1996-97.
On the floor this season, Kansas State features 2025 All-America candidate Serena Sundell, Ayoka Lee, Temira Poindexter, Jaelyn Glenn and Zyanna Walker.
Sundell, a 2025 All-Big 12 First Team selection, is second in the nation with a career-high for total assists (233), is second in the nation and paces the Big 12 with a career-high for assists per game (7.06 apg) and fourth in the Big 12 for assist-turnover ratio (2.38). She owns a league-best eight games with 10 or more assists.
The product of Maryville, Missouri, is second on the team in scoring average with 13.6 points per game and leads the Wildcats with 449 points, which is the second-highest total of her career on a .493 field goal percentage. Her 170 made field goals this season is a new career-high.
She has registered a career-high 30 blocked shots (0.91 bpg) and has pulled in 148 rebounds (4.5 rpg), which is the second-highest rebound total in her career.
Sundell is the only player in the nation to register 400 or more points, 200 or more assists, 125 or more rebounds and 30 or more blocks. She has registered a career-high seven double-doubles this season. She was the first Big 12 player since the 2022-23 season and the fifth player in program history to register a triple-double with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against USC Upstate on Dec. 5, 2024.
With her point (449) and assist (233) totals this season, Sundell is the first player in Big 12 history to record four seasons with 350 or more points and 150 or more assists.
In her career, Sundell holds the school records for career starts (136) and games played (136). She is second in school history and sixth in Big 12 history for career assists with 782 and is second in program history for career assists per game (5.75 apg). She ranks seventh on the K-State career scoring list with 1,712 points. She ranks eighth in school history for career blocks (103).
She is the only player in school history with 1,500 or more career points, 700 or more career assists and 100 or more career blocked shots.
This season, Lee, a 2025 All-Big 12 Second Team honoree, is averaging a team-high 15.5 points on a career-high .656 field goal percentage. She is also averaging team-highs with 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
In her career, Lee holds the school record and ranks sixth in Big 12 history for points scored with 2,488 and holds the school record for career scoring average at 18.8. She also owns the school records for career rebounds and ranks fifth in Big 12 history with 1,233 and career rebounding average at 9.3.
Lee is also the school record holder and ranks fourth in Big 12 history for career blocks with 351 and owns the school record and ranks tied for third in Big 12 history for career double-doubles with 63. She is the first player in program history with 300 or more career blocks and 100 or more career steals.
In her first season in Manhattan, Poindexter garnered All-Big 12 Third Team honors. She has registered 12.5 points per game on a career-high .467 field goal percentage. The product of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, owns a career-high .407 three-point field goal percentage and has made the second-most 3-pointers in her career (81-of-199). She has also notched a career-high 340 steals this season.
Glenn, an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention recipient, has tallied her second career season with 300 or more points and has dished out a career-high 99 assists this season. She is averaging 9.7 points on a career-best field goal percentage (.488), including a career-high effort from 3-point range (.439), and 3.0 assists per game. Glenn leads the league and ranks eigth in the nation in assist to turnover ratio (3.00). She is 14th in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game (1.97) and is tied for 15th in steals per game (1.67).
In her career, Glenn is the second player in program history (Carlisa Thomas, 1983-87) with 1,000 or more points, 500 or more rebounds, 300 or more assists and 250 or more steals. She ranks 28th in program history for career points (1,174), 20th for career rebounds (603), 15th for career assists (309) and tied for fourth in program history for career steals with 260. Her 260 steals are the most by a Wildcat in the Big 12 era (1996-present).
Walker was the fourth Wildcat in program history to earn All-Big 12 Defensive Team honors. This season, Walker owns career-highs of 57 steals, 20 blocks and 3.8 rebounds per game. The sophomore from Wichita, Kansas, ranks 13th in the Big 12 for steals per game (1.73). She has tallied 15 games with two or more steals including three games with five or more.
Fairfield enters the NCAA Tournament with 22 wins in their last 23 games, capturing its second straight MAAC title and MAAC tournament crown for the league’s automatic bid. The Stags have registered a record of 59-6 over the last two seasons. This will be the seventh NCAA Tournament appearance for the Stags and the second straight after making the 2024 NCAA Tournament.