GAME #6
(14/14) Duke (5-1, 0-0 ACC) at (10/10) Kansas State (5-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Monday, November 25, 2024 | 2 p.m. (CT) | Lee's Family Forum | Henderson, Nev.
TELEVISION
FloCollege (subscription required)
RADIO
K-State Sports Network & SiriusXM (Ch. 162 or 198)
Play-by-Play: Jake Eisenberg
Analyst: Randy Peterson
LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY vs. Duke
0-1
• Duke leads the series, 1-0, with the lone matchup coming on Nov. 27, 2004, in Freeport, Bahamas during the 2004 Junkanoo Jam.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 0-2 in his coaching career against Duke.
• The Wildcats are 10-14 against current members of the ACC.
(10/10) K-State Faces (14/14) Duke in Ball Dawgs Classic
LAS VEGAS, Nevada - (10/10) K-State (5-0) will play its first games away from Bramlage Coliseum, taking part in the 2024 Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada. The Wildcats face (14/14) Duke (5-1) on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. (CT).
• With a win, K-State would secure its third straight season with a 6-0 start.
• Both games in the Ball Dawgs Classic can be seen live on FloCollege (subscription required).
Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women’s basketball
1. Mittie A Win Shy of 650
• With K-State’s next win, head coach Jeff Mittie will collect the 650th win of his 33-season head coaching career (649-370, .637 | 195, K-State; 303; TCU; 75, Arkansas State; 76, Missouri Western). He would be the 10th active NCAA Division I head coach with 650 or more wins.
2. VIVA Las Vegas
• This is K-State’s sixth trip to the Las Vegas-area for a multi-team event and first since the 2017-18 season (South Point Thanksgiving Shootout). K-State is 7-6 in its five previous appearances in a multi-team event in Las Vegas.
3. Lee on Cusp of Scoring Record
• Senior center and 2024-25 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Ayoka Lee needs 64 points (2,270 points) to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05; 2,333 points) for the K-State career scoring record.
4. Duo Takes Care
• The K-State duo of Jaelyn Glenn and Zyanna Walker have been deft passers and caretakers of the ball. Glenn is fourth in the nation with an 8.0 assist/turnover ratio (16 assists/2 turnovers), while Walker is 14th at 4.43 (31 assists/7 turnovers). The tandem are the only set of teammates in the nation this season with 15 or more assists and an assist/turnover ratio of 4.00 or better.
5. Opponents Go Bust Under 60
• During Jeff Mittie’s tenure (2014-present), K-State is 130-15 (.897) when holding its foes to 60 points or less including a 50-3 (.943) record over the last four seasons.
Number to Know
18
• K-State held Milwaukee to 18 total rebounds in the Wildcats’ 111-46 win on Nov. 20.
• The 18 total rebounds are tied for the fewest grabbed in the nation this season.
• The 18 opponent rebounds are the second-fewest rebounds a K-State opponent has grabbed in a game, trailing the 17 boards by Simpson College on Jan. 5, 1977.
• The 18 opponent rebounds tied the Bramlage Coliseum record for fewest rebounds by an opponent, equaling the 18 by Kansas on Feb. 27, 1999, and Western Illinois on Jan. 3, 2003.
• K-State’s starting five grabbed more rebounds than the entire Milwaukee team, 27-18.
• The Wildcats grabbed more offensive rebounds, 16, than the Panthers grabbed on the defensive boards, 15.
• The rebound margin of +33 (51-18) was a season-best for K-State, surpassing the +31 effort in the season-opener against Green Bay.
2024-25 K-State Coach & Player Milestones to watch
Jeff Mittie
• Needs one win to reach 650 career wins as a head coach
• Needs five wins to become third K-State Women’s Basketball head coach with 200 or more wins at K-State
• Needs 12 wins to move into second on the K-State Women’s Basketball wins list (Judy Akers, 206)
Ayoka Lee
• Needs 64 points to set the school career scoring record
• Needs five double-doubles to move into second in Big 12 history for career double-doubles
• Needs 249 rebounds to move into second in Big 12 history for career rebounds
• Needs 46 made free throws to set the school record for career free throws made
• Needs 17 made field goals to set the school record for career field goals made
Serena Sundell
• Needs 178 points to reach 1,500 career points
• Needs 18 assists to move into second in school history for career assists
Jaelyn Glenn
• Needs 95 points to reach 1,000 career points
• Needs one made 3-pointer to move into 10th on K-State career 3-point field goals made list
• Needs 76 steals to move into third on K-State career steals list
• Needs 22 rebounds to move into top-30 on K-State career rebounds list
• Needs eight assists to move into top-25 on K-State career assists list
At a Glance: Duke
• (14/14) Duke enters the Ball Dawgs Classic with a three-game win streak in tow, including a 79-47 win over Belmont on Nov. 21.
• On the sideline, the Blue Devils are led by fifth-year head coach Kara Lawson. During her time in Durham, Lawson has achieved a record of 73-34 (.682).
• On the floor, Duke is led by Toby Fournier and Ashlon Jackson.
• Fournier, a freshman forward from Toronto, Ontario, Canada leads the Blue Devils with 14.5 points per game on a .556 field goal percentage. She is also pulling in 5.2 rebounds per game and has blocked 1.2 shots per game. Against Belmont, Fournier led Duke with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting off the bench to go with six rebounds and three blocks.
• Jackson, a junior guard from China, Texas, is averaging 13.3 points and 2.3 assists. Against Belmont, Jackson registered 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
Mittie in 11th season at K-State
• Jeff Mittie, one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I with over 600 career wins, enters his 11th season at the helm of the K-State program in 2024-25.
• Mittie, the ninth head women’s basketball coach in K-State history, owns an overall career record of 649-370 (.637) in 33 years as a head coach, including a 195-135 (.591) mark in his time at K-State. He has won 19 or more games in seven of his previous 10 seasons with K-State.
• The 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List honoree achieved a K-State career-best 26 wins in the 2023-24 season and his most wins as a head coach since registering 31 in the 1994-95 season at Missouri Western.
• His 649 career wins at NCAA programs ranks 10th among active NCAA Division I head coaches.
• Mittie registered the 600th win of his coaching career, an 83-43 victory over Central Arkansas on Nov. 7, 2022.
• With his 195 wins at Kansas State, Mittie ranks third for wins at the helm of the K-State program.
• Mittie is the third-longest tenured head coach in K-State women’s basketball history and currently the second-longest tenured head coach of any sport at K-State (Patrick Sweeney, rowing; 21 years).
• He has averaged 20.0 wins per season and experienced only two losing seasons in his 33 seasons.
• Mittie has 23 postseason appearances in his career (NCAA or WNIT Tournaments), in which he has a combined record of 24-21 (.533). He ranks second in program history for NCAA Tournament appearances with five, trailing Deb Patterson’s program record nine appearances. Mittie is 4-5 in his five NCAA Tournament appearances with the Wildcats.
K-State Against Ranked Opponents
• The Wildcats are 92-242 (.275) against teams ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll including a 58-70 (.453) mark against AP ranked teams in Manhattan.
• The Wildcats were 5-4 in the 2023-24 season against AP top-25 opponents and were one of 11 teams in the nation with five wins against AP top-25 foes.
• This was the fifth time in program history that K-State won five or more games against AP ranked foes in a season. The five wins were the most since the 2003-04 season when the Wildcats won five games against ranked opponents.
• The Wildcats captured its second-ever win over an AP number two ranked foe and first since the 1982-83 season by defeating then-second-ranked Iowa, 65-58, on Nov. 16, 2023 in Iowa City. K-State is 24-114 (.174) all-time in games against AP top-10 opponents.
• This was the highest ranked opponent K-State has defeated on the road.
• According to ESPN Stats & Info, K-State was the first NCAA Division I women’s basketball program in the last 25 years to be unranked and defeat the same Associated Press top-5 team in consecutive seasons.
• According to Stats Perform, K-State was the sixth team to defeat an AP second-ranked team on the road since 1999-00.
• The wins over Iowa and 10th-ranked Texas marked the third and fourth top-10 wins for the Wildcats in three seasons, as K-State downed fourth-ranked Iowa on Nov. 17, 2022, and 10th-ranked Baylor on Jan. 2, 2022.
• K-State is 20-65 (.235) against AP ranked opponents in head coach Jeff Mittie’s 10 seasons.
Magic Number is 70 Points
• Since the 2014-15 season, K-State is 111-21 (.841) when scoring 70 or more points in a game. The Wildcats have scored 70 or more points in every game this season.
• K-State tallied a season-high 111 points against Milwaukee on Nov. 20. This was the highest single-game point total in the Jeff Mittie era. It was the second-highest single-game point total in program history, trailing the school record of 115 on Dec. 2, 2002, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
• In its history, K-State has scored 100 or more points in a game 29 times (29-0) including six times under Mittie.
• K-State is averaging 88.8 points per game this season. K-State’s field goal percentage of .510 ranks second in the Big 12 and 15th in the nation.
• During the 2023-24 season, the Wildcats averaged 71.7 points per game and scored 70 or more points in a game 18 times (15-3). This was the highest scoring average in a season under head coach Jeff Mittie.
• K-State scored 2,437 points last season. This was the third straight season K-State registered 2,000 or more points and the seventh time in the Mittie era (2014-present).
Wildcats’ Defense Forges Identity
• K-State continues to be a force on the defensive end during head coach Jeff Mittie’s 11 seasons on the bench.
• This season, K-State is holding opponents to 51.6 points per game on a .314 field goal percentage. The Wildcats rank 33rd in the nation in scoring defense and 11th in the nation in field goal percentage defense.
• The Wildcats held Green Bay to 45 points on a 30.6 field goal percentage in the season-opening win. This was the fourth straight season-opener in which K-State held its opponent to 49 points or less.
• During the last 21 seasons, K-State is 139-3 (.979) when holding an opponent to 49 points or less including a 58-0 mark in the Mittie era. During Mittie’s tenure K-State has held 18 opponents to 40 or fewer points.
• Under Mittie, K-State is 130-15 (.897) when holding its foes to 60 points or less including a 50-3 (.943) record over the last four seasons.
• In the 2023-24 season, K-State held opponents to 57.9 points per game and a field goal percentage of .362.
• The Wildcats led the Big 12 and were 17th in the nation for field goal percentage defense, were third in the Big 12 and rank 40th in the nation for scoring defense and were second in the Big 12 and 12th in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage defense (.266). According to HerHoopStats, K-State is sixth in the nation and second in the Big 12 in opponent points per 100 possessions (80.2).
• K-State’s field goal percentage defense ranked third in program history since the 1981-82 season and fifth overall in program history.
• The 21 games holding foes to 60 points or less last season were the most since the 2010-11 season (21; 18-3). In total, K-State owns eight seasons in its history of 21 or more games holding opponents to 60 points or less.
Walker Handing Out Assists
• Sophomore Zyanna Walker has been a reliable distributor in the early stages of the 2024-25 season.
• Walker, a product of Wichita, Kansas, has dished out 31 assists (6.2 apg) to pace the Wildcats. She ranks fourth in the Big 12 for assists per game and third in the league for assist/turnover ratio (4.43).
• Against Milwaukee on Nov. 20, Walker handed out a career-high nine assists. She owns six career games with five or more assists, including four this season.
Sundell Moves into Top-20 for Points
• In addition to her distribution skills, guard Serena Sundell adds a scoring punch to the K-State lineup.
• During her career, Sundell has scored 1,293 points (12.2 ppg) and was the 45th player in school history to score 1,000 points in her career and currently ranks 21st on the K-State career scoring list. She has tallied double figures in 73 career games, including 15 career games with 20 or more points.
• In the 2023-24 season, Sundell was second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points on a career-high .536 field goal percentage. She registered a personal season-high 22 points at UCF on Jan. 6 and scored in double figures in 25 games, including three games with 20 or more. She scored in double figures in 13 straight games from Jan. 3 to Feb. 25. In Big 12 games, Sundell averaged 13.8 points per game on a .539 field goal percentage. She ranked 12th in the league in scoring and is fourth in the league in field goal percentage.
• During the 2022-23 season, Sundell was second on the team and 12th in the Big 12 in scoring with 13.9 points per game on a career-best .489 field goal percentage. In Big 12 games, she averaged 15.11 points and ranked eighth in the league.
• Sundell recorded a personal career-high 501 points in the 2022-23 season. She was the seventh player in program history to score 500 or more points in their sophomore season. Her total ranked tied for sixth for a sophomore season at K-State.
Nobody Scores It Like Ayoka Lee
• Ayoka Lee enters the 2024-25 season with her sights set on the K-State career scoring record.
• In her career, Lee has scored 2,270 points in 118 career games (19.2 ppg) and ranks second in school history for career points scored. Her career scoring average of 19.2 ranks first in school history, ninth in Big 12 history and third among active NCAA Division I players.
• To surpass Kendra Wecker (2001-05; 2,333), Lee needs to score 64 points. With her current career scoring average, Lee could surpass Wecker on Dec. 3 against Eastern Illinois.
• She was the 44th player in school history with 1,000 or more career points and was the fastest player in program history to reach 1,500 career points, needing 77 games to reach the milestone. She was the first player in school history to reach the 1,000-career point mark and the 1,500-career point mark in the same season. She was the fastest player to reach the 2,000-career point mark, doing so in 105 career games.
• Lee has scored in every game of her career (118 games) and has reached double figures in 108 games. She was the fourth player in program history with 100 or more career games with 10 or more points scored.
• In the 2023-24 season, Lee averaged a team-high 19.7 points per game. She scored in double figures in 26 games. She was third in the Big 12 and ranked 26th in the nation for scoring average.
• With her 533 points last season, Lee joined Nicole Ohlde (2000-04) and Kendra Wecker (2001-05) as the only players in program history with four consecutive seasons with 400 or more points scored. She was the fourth player in program history with 500 or more points and 200 or more rebounds in two or more seasons in their career.
• When combining her point total with her last active season of 2021-22, Lee’s two-season total of 1,260 set the school record for most points in consecutive active seasons.
• In the 2021-22 season, Lee averaged a career-best 22.0 points per game which ranked 10th in the nation and second in the Big 12. Lee was fifth in the nation in total points scored (727).
• Her 22.0 points per game in the 2021-22 season was the highest per game average in school history and was the third time a K-State player averaged 20 or more points in a season and first since Brittany Chambers in the 2012-13 season.
• With her 727 points scored, Lee established a new career single-season high, broke the school record for points in a junior season and ranked second in school history for points in a single-season. She was the first center in school history to score 700 or more points in a season.
• With her efforts of 61 points against Oklahoma on Jan. 23, 2022, and 43 points against Central Arkansas on Nov. 9, 2021, Lee was one of three players in the nation during the 2021-22 season with two games of 40 or more points scored in a game.