K-State Hosts Fort Hays State in Exhibition
Courtesy: Kansas State University  |  Release: 11/1/2009

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MANHATTAN, Kan. - Kansas State begins its 42nd season of women's basketball with the first of two exhibition games, as the Wildcats welcome in Fort Hays State on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The contest can be found on the K-State Sports Network as the award-winning Brian Smoller provides the play-by-play and Kristin Waller gives the color analysis.

Last season, the Wildcats registered the 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Wildcats tied for the third-highest win total since the 1999-00 season with a 25-8 overall mark and a 10-6 record in the Big 12 and concluded the season ranked 20th in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and 21st in the final Associated Press Poll.

Returning to the Bramlage Coliseum sidelines for her 14th season is head coach Deb Patterson. The all-time winningest women's basketball coach in school history with a record of 265-146 (.645), Patterson has guided the program to 22 or more wins in seven of the last eight seasons and eight consecutive postseason appearances (six NCAA Tournaments and two WNITs), which is the longest current streak by any head coach at K-State.

K-State will look to make its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and third straight with the return of seven letterwinners, including two starters and an All-Big 12 first team selection from the 2008-09 squad. The Wildcats also added three newcomers to the backcourt to help replace the graduation of honorable mention AP All-American and two-time first team All-Big 12 selection, Shalee Lehning.

Leading the charge for the Wildcats will be a pair of seniors, forward Ashley Sweat and guard Kari Kincaid. Sweat, a Preseason Wooden Award candidate and 2009-10 Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, is the Wildcats' top returning scorer at 16.5 points per game and top returning rebounder at 5.1 per contest. The product of McPherson, Kan., has tallied 1,291 points in her career to rank 15th in school history and has hauled in 441 rebounds to rank 28th.

Kincaid is K-State's top returning distributor with 1.6 assists per game and the second-leading scorer at 8.0 points. The native of Andover, Kan., needs just 10 three-point field goals made and six 3-point field goal attempts to move into the top-10 on the respective lists.

Joining Sweat in the frontcourt will be sophomores Branshea Brown and Jalana Childs. Brown carded 1.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 31 games during her first season in Manhattan, while Childs recorded 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 33 games last season.

Teaming up with Kincaid in the backcourt are juniors Kelsey Hill and Shalin Spani, sophomore Alina Voronenko and freshmen Brittany Chambers, Taelor Karr and Mariah White. Of the returning group, Spani has the most game experience with 25 games played last season and a 3.9 points per game average.

Sweat a Wooden Award Candidate
Kansas State senior forward Ashley Sweat has been named to the 2009-10 Preseason Wooden Award watch list.

In late-December, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 20 list, followed in March by the National Ballot, consisting of approximately 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Women's Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round during the NCAA Tournament.

The 34th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2010.

Sweat, a 2009 All-Big 12 first team selection, enters her senior year with the opportunity to climb the ranks of the Kansas State career scoring and rebounding lists. The product of McPherson, Kan., has tallied 1,291 points hich saw Sweat average a career-high 16.5 points per game and 5.1 rebounds, she was recognized by the league's coaches with her first career All-Big 12 honor. She also garnered All-Big 12 second team honors from the Dallas Morning News. Sweat was also exceptional in the classroom as she was named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team and to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII second team.

Wildcats to Make 7 TV Appearances
Kansas State women's basketball will make seven television appearances during the upcoming 2009-10 season, with three of those contests airing to a national audience. The Kansas State athletic department has also finalized the game times for the remainder of the home schedule.

The Wildcats are 45-33 all-time on FSN, including a 5-3 mark on the network last season. K-State is 74-47 all-time in televised contests and since the start of the 2002-03 season, the Wildcats will have appeared on television at least 98 times.

K-State will make all seven appearances on either FSN or FSN Kansas City including three of their five contests between Feb. 10 and Feb. 24. Kansas State will make their 2009-10 television debut during the non-conference slate, as the Wildcats host Washington State on Nov. 20, at 7 p.m., on FSN Kansas City.

Kansas State will make their national debut on FSN on Jan. 9 with an 11 a.m., tip-off against Kansas in the Big 12 opener for both squads. Following the contest with the Jayhawks, K-State returns to the FSN Kansas City airwaves on Jan. 20, 2010 against Colorado at 7 p.m.

K-State will make its next appearance in a national telecast on Jan. 23, 2010 at Nebraska with an 11 a.m., tip-off. The third appearance on FS Kansas City for the Wildcats will be on Feb. 10, 2010 at 7 p.m., against Missouri.

The Wildcats will make its final national appearance of the 2009-10 season on FSN against Oklahoma on Feb. 21. The 2 p.m. broadcast from Bramlage Coliseum will be a special event, as the game between the Sooners and Wildcats will include K-State's participation in the WBCA "Pink Zone," a national initiative for breast cancer awareness.

Kansas State's final appearance on FSN Kansas City will be on Feb. 24, 2010 against Texas Tech at 7 p.m.

Streaks, Trends, Milestones, Etc.
Kansas State recorded the 21st 20-win season in school history and the seventh in the Deb Patterson era (13 seasons) during the 2008-09 season... K-State has made at least one 3-point field goal in 75 consecutive games, dating back to Feb. 7, 2007...  K-State led the Big 12 for the second straight season with eight players selected to the Academic All-Big 12 first team, setting a school record for first team selections... Senior forward and Wooden Award candidate Ashley Sweat ranks 15th in school history for career points with 1,291... Ranks 28th in school history for career rebounds with 441... Sweat scored in double figures in 30 of 33 games in the 2008-09 season, including a current streak of 17 straight... Sweat has scored in 99 consecutive games, every game of her career, and is the only Wildcat on the current roster to achieve this feat... Sweat has started 79 straight games and has started 84 games in her career... Last season, she became the seventh junior in school history to score 500 points in a season... Her 545 points in the 2008-09 season rank third for points scored by a junior in school history... She is the first player since Nicole Ohlde in the 2003-04 season to make at least 100 free throws in a season (132 -158, .835)... Sweat ranks fourth for free throws made in a season with 132 made in 2008-09... Kari Kincaid made a career-high 59 3-point field goals during the 2008-09 season... Made two or more 3-point field goals in 16 games... During the last seven games of the season, Kincaid was 18-of-41 (.439) from beyond the arc.

Roster Size Does Not determine Win Total
Kansas State will enter the 2009-10 season with 10 players on its roster (two seniors). This is the fourth time since the 1979-80 season that K-State will enter a season with 10 or fewer players on the roster. In the previous three seasons, K-State reached the postseason, including two NCAA Tournament appearances.

This is the smallest roster for the Wildcats since the 2006-07 season, when K-State had 10 players on the roster.

The smallest roster for the Wildcats was nine players in the 2002-03 season (zero seniors) and the 1996-97 season. The 2002-03 squad finished the season with a 29-5 record and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Remember, Remember the Month of November
Entering the 42nd year of women's basketball at K-State, the Wildcats have accumulated a record of 94-36 (.723) in the month of November. In the Patterson era, the Wildcats are 45-16 (.738) in the 11th-month.

Patterson in 14th Season at K-State
Deb Patterson, the all-time winningest women's basketball coach and the longest tenured women's basketball coach in Kansas State history, has a career record of 265-146 (.645) and a record of 114-94 (.548) in the Big 12, including Big 12 regular season titles during the 2003-04 and 2007-08 seasons.

Following the 2007-08 season, Patterson was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year by the league's coaches and a number of media outlets. She also garnered national consideration, finishing as the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region V Coach of the Year and a finalist for the WBCA and Associated Press National Coach of the Year honors.

Patterson has steered the Wildcats to eight consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Mideast Regional Semifinals in 2002, the 2006 WNIT Postseason crown and a second round trip during the 2008 NCAA Tournament. She is the only current head coach at K-State to guide his/her team to eight straight postseason appearances.

While guiding the Wildcats to eight straight postseason appearances, Patterson has defended the floor in Bramlage Coliseum successfully during this time, posting a 151-40 (.791) record at home.

Wildcats in the Purple Palace
K-State has enjoyed the friendly confines of Bramlage Coliseum entering its 22nd season of existence with a record of 221-79 (.737). During the last 10 seasons, K-State is 122-30 (.803) in Bramlage Coliseum including a 13-1 record in 2008-09. In Big 12 home contests, the Wildcats are 70-34 (.673). K-State's 13-1 home record this season was the best home mark since the 2003-04 season when K-State registered an undefeated mark of 13-0.

Halftime Lead = K-State 'W' Since 1999-00
Having the edge after the first 20 minutes of action has proven to be prophetic since the 1999-00 season, as K-State is 178-24 (.881) when leading at the break.

During the last two seasons, K-State owns a 46-3 (.939) record when leading with five minutes to play.

K-State Leads Big 12 in 1,000-Point Scorers
Entering its 42nd season of women's basketball, K-State leads all Big 12 schools in 1,000-point scorers with 36. Senior forward Ashley Sweat is the only current Wildcat to surpass the 1,000-point barrier for her career with 1,291, which ranks 15th in school history.

Sweat, Kincaid Among Top Big 12 Returners
Seniors Ashley Sweat and Kari Kincaid enter their final seasons in Manhattan among the Big 12's returning career leaders in a number of statistical categories.

Sweat ranks fourth among the league's seven 1,000-point scorers with 1,291 career points. With her 441 career rebounds, Sweat is seventh among the  nine players in the league with 400 or more rebounds. She is also among the top 15 in steals with 100 for her career.

Kincaid ranks seventh among the nine returning players in the Big 12 with 100 or more 3-point field goals made with 102.

Sweat is Offensive
Ashley Sweat continued to climb the career scoring list during the 2008-09 season with 1,291 points for her career to rank 15th in school history. She is the first junior to surpass the 1,000 point total since Laurie Koehn and Megan Mahoney surpassed the mark during the 2003-04 season.

She also became the seventh player in school history to surpass the 500-point mark in her junior season and has 545 points on the year. This is the third-highest total by a junior in school history with the school record at 625 by Nicole Ohlde during the 2002-03 season. Overall, she is the first player to surpass the 500-point barrier since Kendra Wecker in the 2004-05 season (609). She is also just the third junior in school history to record 500 points with fewer than 200 made field goals (197), joining Diana Miller (519 points, 197 made FGs) and Angie Bonner (521 points, 184 made FGs).

Sweat is Offensive, Part 2 
Ashley Sweat was K-State's top scorer since the beginning of the 2008-09 season, averaging 16.5 points per game to rank fourth in the Big 12 and 60th in the nation. She continued the trend into Big 12 action averaging 16.9 points per game in conference play to rank fifth in the league.

The 2009 All-Big 12 first team selection led the Wildcats in scoring in 22 of the 33 games during the season and scored in double figures in 30 of the 33 games this season.

Sweat tallied a team season-high and tied her career-high with 31 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 13-of-13 from the free throw line against Oklahoma State on Feb. 15. This was the second time Sweat had surpassed the 30-point barrier this season and the third in her career, as she tallied 30 at Washington State on Dec. 28 with 14-of-19 shooting. She was also the first Wildcat to tally 14 made field goals in a game since Nicole Ohlde registered 14 against Missouri on Jan. 7, 2004.

No Sweat for Sweat at the Line 
Ashley Sweat took advantage of her free throw attempts during the final weeks of the season, converting 80-of-91 (.879) free throw attempts in the last 12 games including a school record streak of 33 consecutive conversions (Feb. 4-Feb. 21).

In consecutive home games on Feb. 15 and Feb. 21, Sweat made 13 free throws going 13-of-13 from the charity stripe against Oklahoma State and 13-of-16 against Colorado. This was the highest number of made free throws in a game since March 21, 2004 when Nicole Ohlde was 15-of-21 against Valparaiso in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was also the highest number of converted free throws in a conference game since Jan. 27, 2004 when Nicole Ohlde was 14-of-17 against Baylor.

Against Colorado, Sweat set the school record for free throws made (13) and attempted (16) in a half surpassing the previous mark of 12 conversions by Nicole Ohlde (3/21/04) and Nadira Hazim (3/3/90). Hazim had the record for free throws attempted in a half with 15.

This season, Sweat has made and attempted a team-high 132-of-158 (.835). She is the first player to make 100 free throws in a season since Nicole Ohlde made 136 during the 2003-04 season. Her total of 132 made free throws this season ranks fourth in school history. Sweat finished the season ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 39th in the nation in free throw percentage this season.

Sweat Climbs Career Rebounding List 
Ashley Sweat etched her name on the school career rebounding list during the 2008-09 season, ranking 28th in with 441 boards.

Sweat could join a third career list this season, as she needs just one blocked shot to tie for 10th in school history with Carlisa Thomas (1983-87; 53).

The product of McPherson, Kan., is averaged a career-high 5.1 rebounds per contest and has 20 games with five or more rebounds this season.

Sweat became the 25th player in school history to register 1,000 points (1,291) and 400 rebounds (441) in her career. She is the third player to reach this plateau this season, joining Shalee Lehning (1,189 points and 914 rebounds) and Marlies Gipson (1,313 points and 811 rebounds).

Kincaid Kaboom 
Kari Kincaid has been K-State's top three-point shooter this season, as she has connected on 59-of-159 (.371) from beyond the arc this season. The 59 three-point field goals made by Kincaid this season are a new career-high, surpassing her previous best of 37 from last season. Kincaid ended the season ranked fifth in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage and eighth in 3-point field goals made per game at 1.7.

During the last seven games, Kincaid has found her rhythm from beyond the arc converting 18-of-41 (.439).

Kincaid has carded two or more made 3-point attempts in 16 games this season, including a season-high 5-of-8 against UTSA, which was her highest output from long distance since hitting six against Michigan State in Cancun on Nov. 22, 2007.

To download a PDF of the complete version of K-State’s weekly game notes please click the link at the top of the page.