MANHATTAN – In the 500th K-State women’s basketball game to be played inside Bramlage Coliseum, the Wildcats used suffocating defense and a second quarter run to down UT Martin, 44-30, on Friday night at Bramlage Coliseum in the 2021 Preseason WNIT.
The 30 points allowed by the Wildcats on Friday were the fewest surrendered in the eight season Jeff Mittie era. K-State held the Skyhawks to 10-of-41 (.244) shooting and forced 14 turnovers. Mittie was proud with how his team defended despite its offensive struggles.
“I can’t tell you, for a young basketball team to play as hard as they played defensively, while virtually the whole roster is struggling offensively. That really says a lot about where they’ve grown in the last 40 days. We’ve been talking about that in practice a lot, to make sure that your effort is always consistent. And so I’m really proud of them tonight. They had every chance to not play hard because they were struggling but we want to be a team that plays hard and digs deeper when things aren’t going well. And tonight they’re rewarded with the victory in a game where they don’t play very well.”
For the second time since the institution of the quarter system in women’s college basketball in 2015-16, K-State held an opponent to single digit scoring in three of four quarter. The Wildcats kept the Skyhawks to six points in the second quarter, four in the third and seven in the fourth.
K-State (2-0) trailed 13-8 after the first quarter, in which K-State shot 25.0 percent from the field. The Wildcats warmed up in the second quarter, using a 16-2 run over a seven-minute stretch to build a 24-15 lead with 3:19 remaining.
Ayoka Lee carded a pair of field goals to push K-State into a 16-15 lead with 5:32 to play. The Wildcats then got three field goals and two free throws from four different players to push the lead to nine.
Lee, surrounded by defenders all night after her school record 43 points on Tuesday, ended the night with a game-high 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while also adding nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Lee inched towards the 1,000-point mark for her career, as she needs 13 points to become the 44th player in school history with 1,000 or more career points.
Lee knew she could affect the game in other ways despite the attention from the UT Martin defense.
“I think it was an adjustment we weren’t ready for so I think everyone was a little frustrated with it. I think it is something I will have to get used to, and I think instead of dwelling on that I should focus on what I can do like coach always makes the point about how much you’re not going to do well where you want to be doing well, but you have to focus on what you can do.”
With her three blocks, Lee improved her career total to 147 and moved past Shana Wheeler (2004-08; 146) for fourth on the K-State career blocks list.
UT Martin (0-1) closed to within five, 24-19, late in the second quarter after a pair of baskets from Seygan Robins. Lee would finish a layup with a minute to play to give the Wildcats a 26-19 lead at the half.
The Wildcats outscored the Skyhawks, 10-4, in the third quarter. Rebekah Dallinger and Emilee Ebert each hit 3-pointers to aid the K-State scoring and push the Wildcat lead to 36-23 at the end of the third frame.
In the fourth quarter, Lee scored four of K-State’s eight points in the stanza. Defensively, the Wildcats held UT Martin to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter as the Skyhawks were 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
K-State has won five straight games in the Preseason WNIT with Friday night’s win its first in the event since 2002.
K-State will continue action in the 2021 Preseason WNIT on Sunday, as the Wildcats host Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. Following K-State’s game against the Lady Toppers, North Carolina A&T and UT Martin will square off at 3:30 p.m.
Ticket packages for the 2021 Preseason WNIT begin at $10 and can be purchased by calling (800) 221-CATS or by visiting kstatesports.com/tickets.
K-State’s games in the 2021 Preseason WNIT will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Western Kentucky 86, North Carolina A&T 76
Western Kentucky opened action in the 2021 Preseason WNIT at Bramlage Coliseum with a 86-76 win over North Carolina A&T.
The Lady Toppers had four players in double figures and were led by Mya Meredith with 20 points.
– kstatesports.com –