MANHATTAN, Kan. – The All-America candidate duo of Ayoka Lee and Serena Sundell paced (13/12) K-State with 52 combined points as the Wildcats concluded its non-conference schedule with an 83-39 win over New Mexico State on Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats improved its season-best win streak to seven games.
Lee registered her 63rd career double-double to tie Brittney Griner for third place on the Big 12 career double-doubles list. Lee finished the night with a season-high 34 points on 14-of-18 shooting, 11 rebounds, three blocks and a steal in 26 minutes of action. This was Lee’s 13th career game with 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds.
Sundell carded 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a 5-of-5 effort at the foul line, six assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal.
This is the 41st time that Lee and Sundell have reached double figures in the same game. The 52 combined points marks the third time the duo has combined for 50 or more points in the same game and the first time since Jan. 23, 2022, when Lee and Sundell set the school record for combined points by two teammates at 72.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- K-State (12-1) won the first quarter on the back of Lee, as she outscored New Mexico State (6-5) on her own, 15-7. The Wildcats would hold a 19-7 advantage after the first frame, as Temira Poindexter added two free throws and Jaelyn Glenn converted a layup.
- The second quarter belonged to Sundell, as she scored K-State’s first nine points and assisted on the other made field goal to send the Wildcats to a 30-10 lead and force an Aggies timeout with 5:50 remaining.
- Sundell would end the second quarter with 13 points in the frame, pushing the Wildcats into a 38-22 lead at halftime.
- K-State would wallop New Mexico State in the third quarter, 28-7, by shooting 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the field.
- Lee and Poindexter took turns scoring on New Mexico State to begin the third, as the tandem split the 15 points with Lee scoring eight and Poindexter added seven. The Wildcats held a 53-27 lead with 4:42 to play in the third.
- The Wildcats would end the third on a 13-2 run to hold a 66-29 lead.
- K-State would shoot 57.1 percent in the final frame to win the stanza, 17-10.
- The Wildcats registered 54 points in the paint aiding to its final field goal percentage of 59.3 percent (32-of-54) which included a 25.0 percent (4-of-16) effort from long range.
- K-State handed out 25 assists on its 32 made field goals.
QUICK FACTS
- K-State and New Mexico State met for the first time in the series. The Wildcats are 17-13 against current members of Conference USA.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 656-371 (.639), including a mark of 202-136 (.598).
- K-State owns a record of 260-96 (.730) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 22-3 (.880) all-time when ranked 13th in the nation.
- The Wildcats are 250-103 (.708) in games played in the month of December, including an active 13-game winning streak dating back to the start of December 2023. Under Mittie, K-State is 49-18 (.731) in games during the 12th month.
TEAM NOTES
- K-State's starting five consisted of guards: Zyanna Walker, Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell; forward Temira Poindexter and center Ayoka Lee. This was the 11th time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 125th career start for Lee, the 116th career start for Sundell, the 112th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 100th career collegiate start and 12th at K-State for Poindexter and the 13th career start for Walker. With her 125th career start at K-State, Lee remains in fourth in program history for career starts.
- The Wildcats held a 38-22 lead at halftime on Wednesday. Under Mittie, K-State is 161-19 (.894) when leading at halftime. The Wildcats have led at the half in 11 games this season (11-0).
- K-State improves to 56-3 (.949) over the last four seasons when holding foes to 60 points or less.
- K-State has scored 20-or more points in a quarter 32 times this season, including the third quarter on Wednesday. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 144-62 (.699) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game.
- K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in all four quarters on Wednesday. The Wildcats have 33 quarters this season of 50.0 percent or better shooting.
- Over the last four seasons, K-State is 54-3 (.947) when holding the advantage on the glass.
- K-State improved to 102-8 (.927) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game. The Wildcats have dished out 20 or more assists in 10 games this season (10-0).
PLAYER NOTES
- With her 34 points on Wednesday, Lee boosted her career total to 2,392 and moved into sole possession of eighth on the Big 12 career scoring list. Lee registered her 15th career game with 30 or more points, tallied her 55th career game with 20 or more points and her 114th career game with 10 or more points. Lee has scored in every game of her career (125 games).
- Lee hauled in 11 rebounds on Wednesday. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,188, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds. Lee is seventh in Big 12 history for career rebounds. She owns 64 career games with 10 or more rebounds and 108 career games with five or more rebounds.
- Lee registered three blocks on Wednesday and boosted her career total to 330. Lee moved into a tie for fourth in Big 12 history with Lanay Montgomery of West Virginia (2014-17; 330). This was her 86th career game with two or more blocks.
- Sundell notched her 80th career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,429 career points and remains in 14th on the K-State career scoring list.
- Sundell’s six assists on Wednesday improved her career total to 637. This was her 75th career game with five or more assists.
- With her nine points on Wednesday, Glenn improved her career total to 986 points. She needs 14 points to become the 46th player in program history to score 1,000 or more career points at K-State.
- Glenn pulled in three rebounds on Wednesday and improved her career total to 527 and remains in 29th on the K-State career rebounds list.
- Glenn pocketed three steals on Wednesday. This was her 65th career game with two or more steals. She improved her career total to 225 and remains in seventh in school history for career steals.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
On if the plan going into the game was to give Lee extended minutes…
"We didn't have [Imani] Lester tonight, so we were a little short on the bench. We've got to be ready for that, but it wasn't a stated goal coming in. I did feel like it was good to get her some extended minutes. Certainly without Lester, you have to be ready to have those extra minutes.”
On Sundell’s big second quarter after a slow start…
"It wasn't a conversation I had tonight. Now, throughout her career there have always been times when I've been able to talk to her at a time out, saying, ‘I need [you] to be more aggressive here’ or ‘look to score here.’ She got a couple early back to the basket moves down low, where she had a size advantage. It wasn't just Lee that had advantages down low and Serena took advantage.”
On where the team is at with conference play coming up…
"We have a lot of work to do. I haven't felt like we've been sharp lately, but we've had a successful non-conference. As I said, coming out of St. Joseph this weekend, I liked our grit when we weren't shooting the ball well, and it goes real positive, offensively, we've shown a good balance. I'd like to see us have an understanding of controlling the pace better than we did tonight. I felt like they controlled the pace. We needed to make a more concerted effort to get those possessions up. You saw that in the second half. I think it's been a successful non-conference, but I still think we've got a lot of work to do. A lot of things we've got to clean up.”
On some of his takeaways from non-conference play…
"I thought that we faced a lot of really good offensive teams, a lot of really good motion teams, and early we blew them out. And that surprised me some. And if you look up, the teams I'm talking about are Belmont, Green Bay and Creighton was a 20-point win. They've gone on and played extremely well, they've got some really good wins. And Creighton, I looked up and they're 9-2 and they played six road games, so that part pleased me, because I did think we played some very efficient offensive teams. So defensively, we did some good things. Offensively, we've scored with good balance but we're still a work in progress in how well our guards play together and how well we attack disruptive defenses, and we haven't faced a lot of those. I think that's behind a little bit but I thought New Mexico State tried to be disruptive at times tonight. And there were times where we made some improvements so I think it's been successful."
FROM THE FLOOR
SERENA SUNDELL, SENIOR GUARD
On K-State's non-conference play…
“From our first game to now, we've grown a lot. I think the Duke game, even though that sucked, obviously we wanted to win, but taking that loss, kind of getting our butts kicked a little bit, woke us up and told us right away what we need to work on. Being able to play some more pressure teams after Duke and work on our spacing and ball movement has been good. Middle Tennessee, like [Ayoka Lee] Yoki and coach [Jeff] Mittie said, was a good test for us just because we weren't making shots and that's kind of been a question mark in practice. When we're not making shots and going against the guys, how are we responding and still playing good defense? That first half was a good test for us, I think we're ready for the Big 12 and to go play for a title.”
On playing more competitive games in conference play…
“It’s been fun beating people by large margins, but I think we're ready to see some more competition and then actually have, not that there's not meaning behind these games, because obviously you just want to win when you're a competitor, but just to see the goal of winning a Big 12 Championship and how important every single game is. Those conferences could go either way every night and every night is a dog fight. So we're excited for the Big 12 play.”
On senior guard Jaelyn Glenn…
“Just her consistency, she's just a teammate that you can trust. You can trust her to do her role defensively. There's a few times tonight, and 7 [Molly Kaiser] was so fast tonight, I was getting beat off the dribble, Jaelyn was there. Their player was in the opposite corner, but she came all the way over. She's just doing the little things and she does them so consistently, it’s her personality. She's not gonna be flashy or crazy, over the top, energetic, but she's never gonna get too low either. Just to have someone day in day out. What you guys see out on the court in games, is exactly how she is in practice. She's just always doing things right.”
AYOKA LEE, SENIOR CENTER
On being tied with Brittney Griner for Big 12 double-doubles…
“That's a big name, that's crazy. It's an honor, it's really cool. Just to continue to see how things kind of add up, I try to stay in the present.”
On senior guard Jaelyn Glenn…
“The first word that came to my mind was consistency. She's definitely a teammate you don't have to worry about and she might not have gotten hot from the three tonight, but she ran in transition and she played great defense and was helping and all that stuff. So she's just consistent and you can trust her.”
UP NEXT
K-State begins Big 12 action at Bramlage Coliseum on Sunday, December 22, as the Wildcats host Cincinnati at 1 p.m. Sunday’s game is $2 day, as advance tickets purchased online are available for just $2. For tickets, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or call 800-221-CATS.