KANSAS CITY, Mo. – K-State, the five-seed, used a hot shooting effort in the fourth quarter to blow open Thursday’s second round game with 13-seed UCF for an 80-65 win at the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship at T-Mobile Center.
With the win, K-State (26-6) equaled its win total from last season. The 52 combined wins over the last two seasons are tied for the third-most over a two-season span in program history.
The Wildcats saw four players reach double figures in scoring, as senior and All-Big 12 First Team honoree Serena Sundell registered 21 points, including 19 in the second half, four rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore and 2025 Big 12 All-Defensive Team recipient Zyanna Walker registered 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
Senior and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honoree Jaelyn Glenn carded 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sundell, Walker and Glenn each carded personal career-highs for points in a Big 12 Championship game with their efforts on Thursday.
Senior forward Kennedy Taylor, playing in her first career Big 12 Championship game, added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCF (12-18) closed the margin to within nine, 57-48, entering the fourth quarter.
- K-State would use an 11-4 run midway through the fourth quarter to build a 72-58 lead and force a timeout by the Knights with 3:37 remaining.
- The Wildcats would shoot 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the field in the fourth quarter, with six of the nine made field goals coming on layups. Sundell would tally 12 of her 19 second half points in the fourth quarter.
- K-State finished the game shooting 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field and 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from beyond the arc.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State leads the series with UCF, 4-0. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 5-0 in his career against UCF.
- The Wildcats are 24-27 in its history in Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship games. K-State has advanced at least one round in 21 of the 28 Big 12 Championships. K-State is 15-15 in its history in Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship games played in Kansas City.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 670-376 (.641), including a mark of 216-141 (.605).
- K-State owns a record of 274-101 (.731) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 8-5 (.615) all-time when ranked 20th in the nation.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State's starting five consisted of guards: Zyanna Walker, Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell; forwards Temira Poindexter and Kennedy Taylor. This was the 12th time this lineup has started together this season (8-4). This was the 135th career start for Sundell, the 131st career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 119th career collegiate start and 32nd at K-State for Poindexter, the 54th career start and 13th at K-State for Taylor and the 32nd career start for Walker. Sundell improves upon her school record for career starts and is tied for second in program history for career games played. With her 131st career start, Glenn moves into third in program history for career starts.
- K-State’s 80 points marked the program’s third-highest point total in a Big 12 Championship game and the most since carding 84 against Kansas on March 7, 2014.
- The field goal percentage of 53.4 percent was the third-highest in program history for a Big 12 Championship game and the best since March 10, 2004, against Missouri (.547).
- With its five blocked shots on Thursday, K-State increased its season total to a school record of 179 surpassing the mark of 178 set last season.
- The Wildcats held a 41-30 lead at halftime on Thursday. Under Mittie, K-State is 174-19 (.902) when leading at halftime. The Wildcats have led at the half in 24 games this season (24-0).
- K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in two quarters (second and fourth) on Thursday. The Wildcats have 73 quarters this season of 50.0 percent or better shooting, which are the most in program history for a full season.
- K-State has scored 20-or more points in a quarter 63 times this season, including two quarters on Thursday. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 158-63 (.715) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game, including a 26-1 record this season.
- The bench point total of 20 marked the 18th time K-State has scored 20 or more bench points. K-State has held the upper hand in bench points in 21 games this season (18-3).
PLAYER NOTES
- Sundell owns 1,702 career points and remains in eighth on the K-State career scoring list. She needs four points to move into seventh on the K-State career scoring list. This was her 95th career game with 10 or more points.
- With her nine made field goals on Thursday, Sundell improved her career total to 588 and moved into 11th in program history, passing Peyton Williams (2016-20; 585).
- Sundell’s four assists on Thursday improved her career total to 773. She moves into sixth in Big 12 history for career assists. Her assist total this season of 224 makes her the third player in program history with a 200-assist season (Shalee Lehning and Kayle Goth) and ranks fourth for a season. She needs six assists to set the school record for a season.
- Sundell hauled in four rebounds on Thursday. She owns a career total of 564 rebounds and moved into 24th in program history.
- Walker reached double figures in points for 23rd time in her career and her 12th time this season.
- Walker carded her 21st career game and her 10th this season with five or more rebounds.
- Glenn tallied her 56th career game and her 17th this season with 10 or more points. With her point total on Thursday, Glenn improved her career total to 1,166 points and moved into 30th on the K-State career scoring list.
- Jaelyn Glenn tallied two steals on Thursday. She improved her career steal total to 260 and moved into a tie for fourth in program history for career steals with Nadira Hazim (1987-91; 260). Glenn owns the most steals for a K-State player in the Big 12-era (1996-present). This was her 76th career game with two or more steals.
- Taylor registered her 11th game this season and the 53rd of her career with 10 or more points.
- Taylor hauled in five rebounds on Thursday. This was her 71st career game with five or more rebounds and her 18th this season.
- Taryn Sides carded two connections from beyond the arc. This was her 29th game with two or more. She has made the second most 3-pointers in a sophomore season in program history (78).
- Sides pulled in five rebounds on Thursday. This was her 15th career game and her 12th this season with five or more rebounds.
- Sides collected three steals. This was her 11th career game with two or more steals.
- Imani Lester registered eight points off the bench on Thursday. This was a new career-high. She also made a career-high four field goals.
UP NEXT
K-State advances to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship and will face four-seed West Virginia on Friday at 11 a.m., in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.