Two-Game Road Swing Up Next For Wildcats
Nov 24, 2005 | Women's Basketball
KANSAS STATE (1-0) vs. SANTA CLARA (0-2)
Game #2
November 26, 2005 4 p.m. (CT)
Leavey Center (4,500)
at Santa Clara, Calif.
Television: None
Radio: K-State Sports Network
Series History: K-State leads 1-0
Internet: Live statistics on www.k-statesports.com
KANSAS STATE (2-0) vs. WYOMING (2-0)
Game #3
November 28, 2005 8 p.m. (CT)
Arena Auditorium (15,028)
at Laramie, Wyo.
Television: None
Radio: K-State Sports Network
Series History: K-State leads 2-1
Internet: Live statistics on www.k-statesports.com
GAME PREVIEWS
A two-game road swing through Northern California and the plains of Wyoming is up next for the Kansas State women’s basketball team. The Wildcats (2-0) begin their first leg of a week-long road trip at Santa Clara (0-2) on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 4 p.m. (CT) and then on to Wyoming (2-0) on Monday, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. (CT). Both games can be heard on the K-State Sports Network with play-by-play announcer Brian Smoller calling the action live from the Leavey Center at Santa Clara and Arena Auditorium at Wyoming.
RETURN TO THE BAY AREA
The Wildcats make a return to the San Francisco Bay Area having last visited during the 2002-03 season when the team was ranked No. 2 in the nation, the highest national ranking ever in school history. Playing in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., K-State defeated Temple (72-65), but later lost to seventh-ranked Stanford (57-63) in the championship game of the tournament.
SPREADING PURPLE GOODWILL
The Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square and Pier 39 were just some of the historic San Francisco sites the Wildcats took in upon their arrival in the area. Views of SBC Park, Alcatraz and Union Square were also top favorites among the team. This year’s non-conference slate includes coast-to-coast travel by way of the Little Apple to the bridges of the Bay Area and the bright lights of the Big Apple. During their sightseeing adventures throughout the city, the Wildcats painted the town purple and encountered several proud K-Staters and Midwest natives now transplanted in the Northern California region.
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
The Broncos are searching for their first win of the 2005-06 season after going through a grueling two-game stretch against tough SEC competition. Traveling coast-to-coast, Santa Clara opened the season with close losses decided by six points or less at No. 5 Georgia (91-92) and at Alabama (71-77). Last year, SCU won the West Coast Conference Tournament title to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the sixth all-time appearance for the school. They return 11 letterwinners including three starters that helped the Broncos to a 17-14 finish a year ago. K-State is 4-1 all-time against opponents hailing from the WCC.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
No. Name 2005-06 Stats
3 Chandice Cronk, G, 5-8, So. 8.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg
10 Michelle Cozad, G, 5-10, Sr. 24.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg
12 Tracey Walker, G, 5-5, So. 8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg
21 Ashley Gonnerman, F, 6-3, Jr. 6.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg
33 Kayla Huss, G, 5-7, Sr. 10.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
A LOOK INTO THE SERIES
The Wildcats have only met Santa Clara once in the program’s 38-year history. Seven years ago, K-State traveled to the Bay Area and upset the No. 24-ranked team in land two days before ringing in the New Year on Dec. 30, 1998. Current assistant director of basketball operations Olga Firsova was a member of that particular 1998-99 squad which claimed a 66-64 victory over the Broncos in San Jose, Calif. The win would be one-of-four top 25 victories for the Wildcats in coach Deb Patterson’s third season at K-State.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Category K-State SCU Wyoming
Overall Record 1-0 0-2 2-0
Points Per Game 91.0 81.0 56.5
Scoring Margin +36.0 -3.5 +14.0
Rebounds Per Game 46.0 30.0 37.5
Rebounding Margin -15.0 -13.0 +7.0
Field Goal Percentage 48.4 48.4 40.6
Field Goal% Defense 37.7 48.2 30.0
Three-Point FG% 29.4 49.0 29.6
Free Throw Percentage 68.6 79.2 79.3
Assists Per Game 19.0 15.5 13.5
Turnovers Per Game 17.0 18.5 20.5
Blocks Per Game 4.0 1.0 4.5
Steals Per Game 9.0 5.5 13.5
ONWARD TO WYOMING
The Cowgirls are 2-0 on the season with victories over Sacramento State (47-35) on Nov. 19 and at Colorado (66-50) on Nov. 21. K-State leads 2-1 in the all-time series and will be playing for the first time ever in Laramie. Returning 11 letterwinners and three starters, Wyoming boasts the nation’s “highest” home court with an elevation of 7,220 feet at Arena Auditorium an advantage for the Cowgirls, but sometimes a disadvantage to opponents who are not used to competing at the higher elevation. Last season, the Wildcats opened the 2004-05 campaign with an 85-42 win over the Cowgirls in Manhattan. Freshman Shalee Lehning and K-State assistant coach Shelley Jarrard have ties to Wyoming. Lehning’s older brother, Matt, was a member of the UW football team from 1998-99, while Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski served alongside fellow assistant coach Jarrard at Utah from 1993-2003.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
No. Name 2005-06 Stats
5 Hanna Zavecz, F, 6-0, So. 9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg
10 Rebecca Vanderjagt, F, 6-3, So. 5.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
25 Michelle Taylor, C, 5-11, Sr. 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
2 Jodi Bolerjack, G, 5-9, So. 11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
23 Erin Hicks, G, 5-10, Sr. 8.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg
HOT OFF THE BENCH
Junior Twiggy McIntyre and freshman Shalee Lehning both added a one-two punch off the bench against Detroit in the team’s season opener on Nov. 20. Both played just under 21 minutes each with McIntyre recording a career-high tying 19 points and Lehning 13 points in her collegiate debut as a Wildcat. McIntyre shot 62.5 percent (5-8) from the field, while Lehning went a flawless 5-for-5. Sophomore Shana Wheeler also brought down a career-high 12 rebounds in the contest. Overall, all 11 Wildcats saw action and scored against the Titans.
DETROIT RECAP
Freshman JoAnn Hamlin scored a game-high 24 points including the first 12 of the game as the Wildcats cruised to a season-opening 91-55 win over Detroit on Nov. 20. Hamlin, who started in her first game as a Wildcat, converted her first four field goal attempts of the game and added three free throws in the first six and a half minutes as K-State struggled to an early 12-point tie. After exchanging baskets to make it a 14-all tie, the Wildcats pulled away with a 14-4 run and never looked back. K-State’s biggest lead was 37 with 2:11 left in the second half. Their 36-point blowout of the Titans was the largest margin of victory in the all-time series. K-State also claimed their 30th win all-time in a season opener and fifth-straight win in a home opener contested in Bramlage Coliseum.
FRESHMEN DEBUT
The starting five against Detroit featured freshman Danielle Zanotti, Marlies Gipson and JoAnn Hamlin along with sophomore Kimberly Dietz and junior Claire Coggins. The freshman trio became the first rookies to make the earliest start in a season since the 2001-02 campaign, when former Wildcats Kendra Wecker, Megan Mahoney, Laurie Koehn and Kari Hanson, did so in their collegiate debut at Georgia Tech on Nov. 16, 2001.
SWEET NOVEMBER
The Wildcats will close out the month of November against Santa Clara, Wyoming and Delaware State on Nov. 30. In the Deb Patterson Era, K-State is 30-12 (including the Detroit win) when playing in November having gone undefeated once (4-0) during the 1996-97 season.
