Wildcats Host Georgia Tech In Preseasn WNIT Second Round
Nov 16, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2002
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Game #2No. 5/5 Kansas State Wildcats (1-0) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0)
Date:Sun., November 17, 2002 - 2 p.m.
Site:Fred Bramlage Coliseum -Manhattan, Kan. - 13,340
Television: None
Radio:Mid America Sports Network
Steve Webster (play-by-play) andMissy Heidrick (color)Internet: www.k-statesports.com
Records:Kansas State is 1-0 overall. Georgia Tech is 1-0 overall.
Coaches: Kansas State coach Deb Patterson (Rockford (Ill.) College '79) is 98-84 (.538) in her seventh season at K-State. Georgia Tech coach by Agnus Berenato (Mount St. Mary's '80) is 204-198 (.507) in her 15th season at Tech.
Series: Kansas State leads the series 1-0.
MANHATTAN, Kan. - With its first win under the belt, the No. 5/5 Kansas State women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Bramlage Coliseum today to take on Georgia Tech in the second round of the ninth annual Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), sponsored by Triple Crown Sports.
The Wildcats are coming off Friday's 71-61 victory over Ball State, while the Yellow Jackets advanced to the second round with a 67-57 win over Charlotte in Atlanta. The winner of this afternoon's contest will advance to the semifinals against the winner of Colorado State and Southern California on Wednesday.
Today's game tips at 2:05 p.m. and can be heard on KMAN (1350 AM), KBLS (102.5 FM), KNDY (1570 AM) and KTPK (106.9 FM).
This afternoon's contest is the second meeting between the two teams, as K-State opened last season with a 74-70 victory at Georgia Tech on Nov. 16.
Women's National Invitation Tournament
The WNIT is a 16-team, single elimination tournament for NCAA Division I schools, annually showcasing some of the top women's college basketball programs in the nation. Triple Crown Sports, a sports marketing company based in Fort Collins, Colorado, manages the event for the Women's Collegiate Sports Association.
Setting The Scene
Kansas State looks to advance to the semifinal round of the Preseason WNIT today and remain undefeated overall and in Bramlage Coliseum (1-0) this season.
Georgia Tech will also be looking to advance in the invitational and its second victory of the 2002-03 season.
First Round Games - Friday
Georgia Tech 67, Charlotte 57
No. 19/18 Colorado St. 76, San Francisco 58
Southern California 63, N. Arizona 55
No. 14/14 Penn State 86, Bucknell 72
Siena 83, Syracuse 66
No. 24/NA Mississippi St. 87, S. Alabama 61
Tulsa, 81 Southwest Missouri State 80
Second Round Games - Sunday
USC at No. 19/18 Colorado State
Siena at No. 14/14 Penn State
Tulsa at No. 24/NA Mississppi State
A Quick Glance at Kansas State
K-State tipped off its 35th season of women's basketball with a 71-61 win over Ball State on Friday.
The victory was the fourth consecutive season opening win and improved the Wildcats' all-time season opening record to 24-9. K-State also improved to 11-2 in home openers in Bramlage Coliseum and 28-7 overall.
Head coach Deb Patterson open the season with sophomores Laurie Koehn at point, Megan Mahoney on a wing, Kendra Wecker at the small forward, Brie Madden at power forward and junior Nicole Ohlde at center. This starting lineup accounted for most of the stats for the Wildcats. Four of the five starters scored in double figures, three had 10 or more rebounds and three had three or more assists in the contest.
A Glance at Georgia Tech
Kansas State will face a relatively young Georgia Tech team. The Yellow Jackets return three starters and five letterwinners from a team that finished 15-14 overall and reached the postseason WNIT last season. Tech's youth comes from eight freshmen on its squad and senior point guard Nina Barlin out with a knee injury.
The Yellow Jackets are led by senior center Sonja Mallory, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds Friday.
Also back for Georgia Tech are junior Fallon Stokes (20 pts., 16 reb.) and Barlin. Barlin is unavailable for today's game as she re-injured her left knee two minutes into the Charlotte game. She was sidelined in the preseason with a broken bone in her right hand, suffered on the second day of practice.
Junior guard Megan Isom had eight points and 10 rebounds, while freshman forward/center April Johnson came off the bench for 14 points against Charlotte.
Kansas State vs. Georgia Tech: Series History and Factoids
*Second meeting of the series. Kansas State beat Georgia Tech, 74-70, in Atlanta in the Wildcats season opener last season.
*In that contest, K-State rallied from a 33-31 halftime deficit on the shoulders of Laurie Koehn, who scored 27 points by hitting 7 of 11 from the field, including 7 of 10 from three-point range, and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line. Kendra Wecker turned in her first collegiate double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
For Georgia Tech, Sonja Mallory had 17 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
*The Kansas State-Georgia Tech game will be the eighth contest in K-State school history played against a team from Georgia - Georgia (0-1), Georgia State (3-0), Georgia Tech (1-0), Mercer (1-0) and Valdosta State (1-0).
* State has never had a player on its roster from the Peach State.
*Wildcat assistant sports information director Tom Gilbert is from Bostwick, Ga.
Kansas State vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference
The Wildcats are 3-4 against teams from the ACC. The last time K-State played an ACC team was last year when it beat Georgia Tech, 74-70, in Atlanta.
Three-Headed Monster
Kansas State had three of its five starters turn in double-doubles on Friday.
* Sophomore Kendra Wecker had 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was her 13th career double-double and 11th 20-plus point game. She is now in a three-way tie for sixth on the career double-doubles list.
* Junior Nicole Ohlde turned in her 20th career double-double with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, three off her career high of 19. She is currently fourth on the career double-doubles list and needs six to pass Carlisa Thomas (1983-87) in third.
* Sophomore Brie Madden recorded her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in her first collegiate start. Her 11 boards were also a career high.
Block Party
Brie Madden tied her career-high with four blocks on Friday. Her 31 career blocks place her within five of the top 10 in career blocks.
With those four blocks on Friday, it was also Madden's seventh career game with two or more blocks.
More On Madden
The 6-foot-3 center set or tied five career marks on Friday:
FGM55, twice
FGA107, vs. Grambling St.
Reb.119, vs. Grambling St.
Blk.44, vs. Grambling St.
Min.3223, vs. W. Michigan
On The Boards
Sophomore Laurie Koehn tied her career-high in rebounds with eight caroms vs. Ball State. The guard was also the fourth Wildcat in double figures in scoring, netting 13.
Come From Behind Victory
Kansas State had to come from behind to beat Ball State on Friday, something it hadn't done since January when it trailed then-No. 7/8 Baylor, 38-36 on Jan. 5. The Wildcats secured the 89-75 victory over the Lady Bears.
Battle On the Boards
K-State won the battle on the boards Friday, outrebounding the Ball State, 57-39. The last time the 'Cats had 55-plus rebounds in a contest was against Alabama State on Dec. 3, 1999.
The Wildcat's work on the boards benefited them offensively as they tallied 18 second-chance points to the Cardinals six.
Kansas State also had impressive offensive rebounding numbers as it gathered in 20. Nicole Ohlde grabbed eight and Brie Madden six in the effort.
40-Plus Club
One game into the season and three Wildcats have already recorded 40 minutes each. Sophomores Megan Mahoney and Laurie Koehn both played 40 minutes, while junior Nicole Ohlde logged 40- minutes.
Last season, Koehn had eight 40-plus minute games, Mahoney and Ohlde five and Kendra Wecker three.
Koehn led the Wildcats in minutes per game in 2001-02, averaging 35.9 minutes per game. K-State's four returning starters all averaged 30-plus minutes per game.
Dishing the Rock
Megan Mahoney didn't skip a beat when it came to dishing assists. K-State's leader in assists a year ago, handed out a game-high five assists on Friday. She now has five or more assists in 20 career games and is tied with Andria Jones (1994-97) for 20th on the career chart with 162 assists.
Streaking
Laurie Koehn continued her streak of consecutive free throws made with a pair on Friday. The guard has 23 consecutive makes, five from breaking the school record of 27 set by Nadira Hazim in 1990-91. Koehn started her streak on Feb. 10, 2002, when she sank a pair of free throws in the second half at Nebraska.
Scoring Streaks
Three Wildcats are currently on double-figure scoring streaks that date back to last season.
Kendra Wecker has scored in double digits in 13 consecutive games, Laurie Koehn in seven contests and Nicole Ohlde in four outings.
Consecutive Starts
Nicole Ohlde has started 59 straight games for the Wildcats dating back to the fifth game of the 2000-01 season. Laurie Koehn, Megan Mahoney and Kendra Wecker have started all 35 games in their careers.
Kansas Connection
The Kansas Connection continued to dominate in its first game of the season. Junior Nicole Ohlde, sophomores Laurie Koehn and Kendra Wecker combined for 51 of the Wildcats' 71 points (71.8 percent) and grabbed 36 of the K-State's 57 rebounds (63.1 percent).
From the Bench
Junior Amy Dutmer came off the bench on Friday and grabbed a rebound, dished out an assist and made a steal in eight minutes of action.
Classmate Kimmery Newsom also came off the bench vs. Ball State. She tallied two points and grabbed a carom in five minutes of work.
Millennium Mark
The duo of Laurie Koehn and Kendra Wecker could become the first pair of Wildcats to score 1,000 career points in the same season since 1999-2000 when the duo of Angie Finkes and Nicky Ramage reached the millennium mark.
Koehn currently has 613, while Wecker is at 577.
Only seven pairs and one trio of Wildcats have reached the millennium mark in the same year in the program's history.
Moving On Up
Laurie Koehn, Kendra Wecker and Megan Mahoney are climbing the record lists in 2002-03.
Koehn could move among the top three in three-point field goals and attempts. She trails all-time three-point shooter Kim Woodlee by 162 treys and Kristin Rethman, who is second, by 143. In attempts, she is behind second-place Rethman by 314 three-point attempts.
Wecker can move into the top 30 in rebounding. She has 276 rebounds and needs 90 caroms to pass Jennifer Jones (1983-85) for 30th.
Mahoney looks to move into the top 10 in assists. She has 162 assists and needs 88 to join the leaders.
Chart Mover
Nicole Ohlde has no where to go but up when it comes to career records. Currently she is...
*20th in scoring with 1,092 points. Needs 25 for 17th.
*20th in rebounding with 498 boards. Needs 12 for 19th.
*2nd in blocks with 86 rejections. Needs 13 for first.
An Elite Group
Nicole Ohlde could join an elite group at Kansas State today. With two rebounds this afternoon, the 6-foot-4 center will have 500 career rebounds to go with 1,000 career points, becoming the 16th Wildcat in school history to reach the milestones.
Ohlde is also working on joining another elite group. The Wildcats have only five former players who have registered 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists in their careers. The Clay Center, Kan., native enters today's game with 143 assists.
Additionally, Ohlde could join Carlisa Thomas, who is the only Wildcat to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 50 blocks in a career. Ohlde currently has 88 blocks.
Patterson Climbing The Kansas State Coaching Chart
Head coach Deb Patterson is two wins away from her 100th coaching win at Kansas State. She is third to only Lynn Hickey (125) and Judy Akers (206) with 98 victories.Koehn's Ultimate Goal
To say Laurie Koehn likes to shoot three-pointers is an understatement. Koehn who 123 career treys could become the NCAA's and the Big 12's all-time three-pointer shooter by the end of her career.
To reach the NCAA record of 362 set by Julie Krommenboek of Utah, Koehn would need to average 80 treys the next three seasons or 120 the next two years.
To snap the Big 12 mark of 287 set by Megan Taylor of Iowa State, Koehn would need 55 over three seasons or 83 in two years.
Up Next
A victory on today would advance Kansas State to the semifinals of the WNIT. The Wildcats would face the winner of the Colorado State-Southern California game at on Wednesday at a site to be determined.
Colorado State reached the second round with a 76-58 victory over San Francisco.
The Rams returns five starters and nine letterwinners, including six seniors, from a team that finished 24-7 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament first round last season.
CSU are led by three-time Mountain West All-Conference selection Ashley Augspurger. The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds a year ago.
Also back for Colorado State are seniors Elizabeth English (13.0 ppg), Shannon Strecker (8.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Katie Borton (5.7 ppg) and junior Jasai Ferrucho (5.1 ppg). English sat out most of last season after injuring her ACL.
Southern California advanced to today's game with Colorado State with a 63-55 victory over Northern Arizona on Friday.
USC returns four starters and seven letterwinners from a 16-14 team that reached the postseason WNI in 2001-02.
Naismith Player of the Year candidate Ebony Hoffman headlines the Women of Troy team. The 6-foot-2 forward/center averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds last season.
Also back for USC are 5-foot-9 guards Aisha Hollans (17.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.6 apg) and Jessica Cheeks (8.3 ppg, 3.7 apg), and 6-foot-1 forward Rachel Woodward (11.3 ppg).
