MANHATTAN, Kan. – Using a strong first half from Temira Poindexter, (13/13) K-State eased past Belmont, 82-56, at Bramlage Coliseum on Thursday night.
Poindexter led all scorers with 23 points, including 19 in the first half which featured five 3-pointers. The forward from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, finished 9-of-16 from the field including 5-of-11 from long range. She also filled up her stat line with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
Senior forward Kennedy Taylor made her first K-State start and responded with 18 points, including 12 in the second half, on 6-of-10 shooting and a 6-of-8 effort from the foul line and hauled in five rebounds.
Sophomore guard Zyanna Walker carded 14 points, five assists, six rebounds and three steals, while senior guard Jaelyn Glenn notched 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- K-State (2-0) used a 15-2 run midway through the first quarter to build a 19-10 lead before Belmont (0-1) cut the deficit to three, 19-16, at the end of the frame. Poindexter registered six of K-State’s 15 points during the run.
- The Wildcats used a 12-0 run to begin the second quarter to boost its lead to 31-16 with 5:48 remaining in the opening half. Poindexter registered eight of the 12 points during the run, carding her fourth 3-pointer of the first half with 6:11 to play.
- Poindexter cashed in her fifth 3-pointer of the first half with 3:14 remaining and followed with a fastbreak layup with 2:43 left to give the Wildcats their halftime lead of 42-24.
- A three-point play from Walker with 6:50 to play in the third quarter gave the Wildcats their largest of the night at 22, 50-28.
- After the Bruins narrowed the deficit to 15, 50-35, the Wildcats used a 12-3 run to close the third quarter to build a 65-40 lead. Taylor scored eight of the final 12 points of the frame for K-State.
- In the fourth quarter, K-State would shoot over 50.0 percent (54.5 percent) for the second time on Thursday night and edge the Bruins in the frame, 17-16.
- The Wildcats finished the night shooting 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the field including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from deep.
- K-State held Belmont to 31.3 percent (21-of-67) shooting including 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from long range.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State and Belmont met for the first time in the series. The Wildcats are 45-14 against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- K-State is 398-156 (.718) in its 37-season history inside Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats own a 231-30 (.885) record against non-conference opponents inside Bramlage.
- K-State owns a record of 250-95 (.725) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 17-3 (.850) all-time when ranked 13th in the nation.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 646-370 (.636) in his 33 seasons as a head coach, including a mark of 192-135 (.587) in his 11 seasons at K-State. Mittie is 402-113 (.781) in games played in his home venue, including a 128-48 (.727) mark in Bramlage Coliseum.
- The Wildcats are 162-54 (.750) in games played in the month of November, including wins in 50 of its last 61 games in the month. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 48-11 (.814) 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 forward Kennedy Taylor. This was the 105th career start for Sundell, the 101st career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 89th career collegiate start and second at K-State for Poindexter, the second career start for Walker and the 42nd career start for Taylor and her first at K-State.
- The Wildcats held a 42-24 lead at halftime on Thursday. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 152-19 (.889) when leading at halftime.
- K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter twice on Thursday night (second and fourth frames). The Wildcats have four quarters of 50.0 percent or better shooting this season.
- The Wildcats handed out 21 assists on Thursday. Over the last 17 seasons, K-State is 94-8 (.922) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game.
- K-State pulled in 41 rebounds on Thursday to outrebounds Belmont (41-37). Over the last four seasons, K-State is 44-3 (.936) when holding the advantage on the glass.
PLAYER NOTES
- Poindexter tallied her 37th career game with 20 or more points and her 82nd career game with 10 or more points. She improved her collegiate point total to 1,609.
- Poindexter made five 3-pointers on Thursday. This was her 16th career game with four or more connections from long range and her 56th time with two or more. She is the first Wildcat to make five or more 3-pointers in a game since Gabby Gregory at Washington on March 24, 2023.
- Poindexter collected two steals, which was her 28th career game and second at K-State with two or more steals.
- Poindexter sent back two shots on Thursday. She owns 42 career games with two or more blocks.
- Taylor registered her 45th career game with 10 or more points.
- Walker recorded her 12th career game, all at K-State, with 10 or more points.
- Walker dished out five assists, her fourth career game with five or more assists and her second this season.
- Walker owns 12 career games with two or more steals.
- Glenn scored 10 or more points in a game for the 41st time in her career. She needs 118 points to reach 1,000 career points.
- Glenn made two 3-pointers on Thursday. This was her 49th career game with two or more connections from long range. She needs six connections to move into 10th on the K-State career 3-point field goals made list.
- Glenn pulled in five rebounds, her 46th career game with five or more rebounds. She needs 31 rebounds to move into the top-30 in school history for career rebounds.
- Glenn dished out four assists. She needs 14 assists to move into 25th on the K-State career assists list.
- Glenn pocketed two steals on Monday. This was her 60th career game with two or more steals. Glenn passed Mariah White (2009-13; 209) for ninth on the K-State career steals list with 210.
- Sundell’s six assists on Thursday improved her career total to 558 and ranks fourth in school history for career assists. This was her 66th career game with five or more assists.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement…
“Good win for our group tonight. I thought we did some good things. Poindexter got off to a great start in the first half. I thought defensively we gave up the early threes to 35, she really got the first couple, but we did a great job on 14 tonight. She comes into the game as a really, really good shooter. We don't give her anything from three tonight. I thought for the most part, we have pretty good communication, even though we had some players that were maybe playing a little different spot or maybe some extended minutes, I thought overall, this is a really good win for us.”
On much of the early season production coming from the transfer portal…
“It's the way of college athletics now. Well, 70% of our roster is players that started with us. Every year, there's going to be needs that you've got to be able to fill in the transfer portal. Hopefully those needs come from graduation, and that's how our needs have come, but you don't always know, and you've just got to be ready. So credit to my staff for doing a good job of identifying who fits what I'm looking for, and who fits all of the things that we want in a player, not just on the basketball floor, but work ethic, chemistry wise, character, all the above.”
On [Ayoke] Lee and [Taryn] Sides’ potential returns from injuries…
“Yoki ecould have gone in tonight but I just would feel better if she wasn’t 85% and I think that she'll be really, really good here through the weekend, and that'll give her good practice time. Taryn, I think will be the same way. I think it'll be good to have the weekend, and then hopefully we won't have any lingering effects after that.”
On Tamira Poindexter’s play this season…
“She seems just so effortless at times out there, right? And very instinctual and smart. She is picking up things that we're wanting her to pick up. And I noticed that right away in the summer, when we were going through a lot of plays, she was out there with veterans, and we're running an action that we've run, so everybody knows it, and she didn't take long to pick it up. So all those things come to mind. I've been impressed with her from the start of just how she wanted to acclimate herself with her teammates. I did want her to be more aggressive, but that hasn't been a problem in the first two games. I think she's found the right balance of aggressiveness and making the right play. There are things she needs to improve, she's got improved defensively. She had a stretch tonight where I didn't think she played through fatigue very well. She's got to play through that fatigue better. She was forced into a more ball handling role tonight, and I thought she did a pretty good job for the most part.”
On Kennedy Taylor replicating some of the things Ayoka Lee does…
“I think we could stay with some of it. But what was challenging tonight about staying with some of it was the other lineups that we had on the floor. But you did see in the second half where we were able to run some stuff that has been bread and butter for Ayoka [Lee], because she is strong down low, and when she has an advantage down there, she does a pretty good job of using it.”
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Forward Temira Poindexter
On embracing her new role with Kansas State…
“It's better than what I envisioned. I really am enjoying my time here, and I'm just very grateful to be here and be able to play with the teammates that I’ve met, and I feel like we're gonna be good this year.
On her 23-point performance…
“I just have to give it up to my teammates for finding me, giving me good passes, and letting me get in my rhythm. So that's a lot to do with it.”
K-State Sophomore Guard Zyanna Walker
On gaining more minutes through the loss of depth…
“Yeah, losing Taryn (Sides) we lost a ball handler so that makes it harder out there. We ended up playing more minutes, so I feel like that's good for us going into the season and getting that cardio, endurance, and learning to play through fatigue, but we definitely missed her tonight for sure.”
On playing without Ayoka Lee in the offense…
“Yeah, it really stresses that we need to stay in front of the ball because we don't have her to send out of the paint. Rebounding–everybody has to rebound. Everybody has to box out. It really makes it hard on offense too, because we have to score, and we probably have to hit more outside shots. “
On potential with team depth this year…
“I think this team's potential is very high, just because of our depth. People were out who usually play a lot today, but we were able to hold it down and I still think we look pretty good out there. It's good for us to work through it early.”
UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue its five-game home stand on Thursday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m., as K-State hosts Creighton. Thursday is a doubleheader night with the men’s basketball game against LSU following at 8 p.m. Thursday’s game is Purple Pride Night, as fans are encouraged to wear purple. For tickets, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or call (800) 221-CATS.