K-State Makes First Attempt at 900th Win on Wednesday
Dec 06, 2016 | Women's Basketball
GAME PREVIEW
DEC 7, 7:00 PM
Bramlage Coliseum
Manhattan, KS
NR/NR
UT-ARLINGTON
LADY MAVERICKS
5-1 (0-0 Sun Belt)
RV/RV
K-STATE
WILDCATS
8-0 (0-0 Big 12)
FCS Pacific &
K-StateHD.TV
K-State Sports Network
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- ? LIVE AUDIO
- ? AFFILIATES
- ? WEATHER
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MANHATTAN, Kansas – Kansas State will look to become the 20th program in NCAA Division I history with 900 or more wins, as the Wildcats begin a three-game home stand by hosting UT-Arlington on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
• The game will be available on FCS Pacific and K-StateHD.TV, as Brian Smoller (play-by-play) and Missy Heidrick (analyst) call the action.
• Kansas State enters Wednesday’s game with an overall record of 899-556 (.618) and ranks 20th in NCAA Division I history for all-time wins.
• The Wildcats extended their season-opening win streak to eight with a 70-57 win over at Omaha on Sunday. This is the best start to a season since the 2008-09 team set the school record with a 14-0 start.
• The win over Omaha on Sunday was the 500th of head coach Jeff Mittie’s 25-year coaching career, including his 46th victory at K-State. He is the 29th active coach in NCAA Division I with 500 or more career wins and the second active coach in the Big 12 to reach the milestone (Bill Fennelly, Iowa State).
• The Wildcats had two players in double figures led by senior center and Naismith Trophy candidate Breanna Lewis with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
• Lewis is averaging 14.8 points on a .707 field goal percentage and paces the Wildcats in rebounding with 8.9 per game. Lewis ranks second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage and ninth in scoring.
• Joining Lewis in double figures on Sunday was senior guard Kindred Wesemann with 13 points and five rebounds. Wesemann leads K-State in scoring with 15.5 points per game and 3.3 three-point field goals made per game.
Number to Know
11.0
• #KStateWBB holds a rebound margin of +11.0 through eight games this season.
• K-State is 23rd in the nation and fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding margin.
• This is the first time since the 2007-08 season K-State has outrebounded its opponent in eight straight games.
• The Wildcats have four games with a margin of 10 or more rebounds including a +19 edge in the season-opener against Chicago State.
• The school record for rebound margin in a season is +8.5 set in the 1976-77 season.
At a Glance: UT-Arlington
• UT-Arlington (5-1) will look to recover from its first loss of the season, as the Mavericks fell at home to Stephen F. Austin, 65-60, on Dec. 3
• The Lady Mavericks are led on the sidelines by fourth year head coach Krista Gerlich. Gerlich is 41-65 in her time in Arlington. In her career, Gerlich owns a record of 209-107 in 10 seasons.
• On the floor, UT Arlington has featured a balanced offensive attack as three players are averaging in double figures and seven players are averaging 4.0 or more points per game. Pacing the Lady Mavericks are juniors Rebekah VanDijk, Christina Devers and Cierra Johnson.
• VanDijk, a product of Nazareth, Texas, is averaging 17.3 points and 9.2 rebounds. Against Stephen F. Austin, VanDijk registered 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists.
• Devers is averaging 16.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Against Stephen F. Austin, Devers tallied 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Johnson is putting up 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Mittie Secures 500th Career Win
• Jeff Mittie, one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I with 500 career wins, is in his third season at the helm of the K-State program in 2016-17.
• Mittie, the ninth head women’s basketball coach in K-State history, owns an overall career record of 500-262 (.656) in his 25 years as a head coach, including a 46-27 (.630) mark in three seasons at K-State.
• Mittie needs four wins to become the fifth head coach in program history to reach 50 or more wins at the helm of the Wildcats.
• With the 8-0 start to the 2016-17 season, Mittie registered his first 8-0 start to a season at the NCAA Division I level and his first since the 1994-95 season at NCAA Division II Missouri Western (9-0).
• He has averaged 21 wins per season and experienced only one losing season in his previous 24 seasons.
• Mittie is the second coach in school history (Lynn Hickey) to guide the program to consecutive postseason appearances in their first two seasons with the program.
• Mittie has improved K-State’s league win total in each of his first two seasons in Manhattan.
• Mittie is the first head coach in program history to win 10 of his first 11 games to begin consecutive seasons. Mittie is one of two active head coaches in the Big 12 (Kim Mulkey, Baylor) to win 10 of their 11 games to begin consecutive seasons at their current school.
• Mittie has 17 postseason appearances (NCAA or WNIT Tournaments), in which he has a combined record of 17-15.
• Under Mittie in 2014-15, K-State improved its overall record by eight wins from the 2013-14 season (11 to 19), which was the third-largest win improvement from one season to the next in school history.
K-State Nearing 900 Wins as a Program
• K-State’s record in its 49th season of women’s basketball stands at 899-556 (.618). The 899 wins rank 20th in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history and second among Big 12 members.
• The Wildcats have accumulated 23 20-win seasons and have secured 302 victories inside Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State has 163 wins in the Big 12 Conference.
• In postseason play, the Wildcats have 12 wins in the NCAA Tournament and 14 wins in the WNIT.
• Kansas State has registered 211 victories when they were ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll and achieved 75 wins against teams ranked in the AP poll.
Sharing is Caring
• K-State registered a season-high 21 assists against Lamar on Nov. 20. This was the first time since Feb. 24, 2016 at Iowa State that the Wildcats handed out 20 or more assists.
• Over the last 11 seasons, K-State owns a 49-0 record when dishing out 20 or more assists in a game including two games with 30 or more.
• For the season, Kansas State is handing out 16.9 assists per game and owns a 1.0 assist to turnover ratio. K-State ranks fourth in the Big 12 in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Wildcats have dished out an assist on 66.2 percent of its field goals this season (135 assists/204 field goals made), including five games with assists on 70 percent or more of the made field goals.
• In the 2015-16 season, K-State handed out 476 assists on 738 made field goals (64.5 percent) for an average of 14.9 assists per game. This marked the most assists in a season since 2007-08 (486; 15.2 apg) and was the second straight season and the 28th season in program history with 400 or more assists in a season.
• The Wildcats ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 59th in the nation in assists per game.
• K-State was paced in assists during the 2015-16 season by Shaelyn Martin and Kindred Wesemann with 216 combined assists. The duo assisted on 29.3 percent of K-State’s made field goals and were responsible for 45.4 percent of K-State’s assists last season. Martin ranked ninth in the Big 12 (112; 3.5 apg) and Wesemann ranked 11th (104; 3.3 apg).
K-State Strong in the Lane
• Kansas State has opened the 2016-17 season with a 274-120 advantage in points in the paint. The 274 points (34.3 ppg) are 48.0 percent of the Wildcats’ overall point total this season.
• The Wildcats recorded a 60-12 advantage in the lane against Tulsa on Nov. 14. The 60 points in the paint are the most by a K-State team since at least the 2006-07 season.
• K-State has scored 30 or more points in the paint in six of the first eight games this season and have had the edge in the lane in all eight games.
• In the 2015-16 season, the Wildcats had 926 points in the paint last season (28.9 ppg), including a season-high 48 points against Western Illinois on Dec. 21, 2015.
• K-State outscored its opponents, 926-696, in the lane in the 2015-16 season. The Wildcats had the edge in the paint in 24 games in the 2015-16 season (16-8).
• The 926 points were 44.9 percent of K-State’s point total last season.
• In previous two seasons under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State has ended both seasons with the edge in the paint and have scored 900 or more points in the lane in both seasons.
Wildcats’ Defense Forges Identity
• Kansas State has started the season on the right note on the defensive end of the floor, holding opponents to 50.6 points per game and a .294 field goal percentage. The Wildcats are third in the nation for field goal percentage defense and are sixth in the nation in scoring defense.
• K-State held Chicago State to 33 points on Nov. 11, 2016, which were the fewest points allowed in the Jeff Mittie era and the fewest since Nov. 12, 2011 against Dartmouth (20).
• The Wildcats have held three opponents to 49 points or less this season. During the last 16 seasons, K-State is 102-3 (.971) when holding an opponent to 49 points or less. The Wildcats held eight opponents to 49 points or less in 2015-16.
• In the 2015-16 season, K-State held its opponents to a field goal percentage of .368 and 61.4 points per game.
• K-State’s opponent field goal percentage of .368 was the fourth lowest in school history since the 1981-82 season. This was the lowest opponent field goal percentage in a season since the 2004-05 team held its foes to a .365 field goal percentage.
Martin is K-State’s Swiss Army Knife
• Junior guard/forward Shaelyn Martin has put together a diverse stat line in her career and has continued to do so at the start of the 2016-17 season.
• Through the first eight games, Martin has tallied 4.8 points, handed out 36 assists with 14 turnovers (4.5 apg; 2.57 assist/turnover ratio) and pulled in 51 rebounds (6.4 rpg).
• Martin ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists per game and third in assist to turnover ratio. Martin is 45th in the nation in assist to turnover ratio. She is the only player in the Big 12 with 50 or more rebounds and 35 or more assists.
• Against Auburn, Martin handed out seven assists, marking the 18th time in her career she has handed out five or more assists. Martin ranks 20th in school history with 238 assists and is sixth in school history for career assist to turnover ratio at 1.38.
• Martin pulled in six rebounds at Omaha, which marked her 50th career game with five or more rebounds and improved her career total to 439. Martin needs 65 rebounds to move into 30th on the K-State career rebounds list and become the 11th player in program history with 500 or more rebounds and 200 or more assists.
• In the 2015-16 season, Martin put up a multi-faceted stat line. The product of Salina, Kansas, averaged 4.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals. She led the team in assists and was second in rebounds and steals.
• Martin appeared among the Big 12 league leaders in assists (9th) and rebounds (9th). She was the only player in the Big 12 with 200 or more rebounds, 100 or more assists and 40 or more steals in 2015-16.
• Martin recorded new career season-highs for rebounds (218) and assists (112) in 2015-16. This was her second straight season with 150 or more rebounds and 90 or more assists.
The Little Engine from Threeland
• For her career, senior guard Kindred Wesemann is the sixth player in program history with 200 or more 3-point field goals in a career as she has drained 200 three-point field goals and is sixth in school history.
• Wesemann ranks second in the Big 12 and 23rd in the nation for 3-point field goals made per game (3.3) and is converting from the arc at .371.
• Her career 3-point field goal percentage is .346 which received a boost from last season’s career best effort of .397.
• Wesemann was one of the top 3-point shooters in the Big 12 in the 2015-16 season. For the year she was 85-of-214 (.397) and had the most made 3-point field goals by a Wildcat in a season since Brittany Chambers made 117 in the 2012-13 season. Her 85 connections from deep ranked seventh in school history for 3-point field goals made in a season.
• She led the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game (2.7) and was seventh in 3-point field goal percentage. She ranked 45th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage and 30th in 3-point field goals made per game.
• Wesemann was the first Wildcat with 80 or more made 3-pointers and 100 or more assists in a season since Chambers in 2012-13 to achieve these numbers in a season.
• Against Oklahoma on Feb. 9, Wesemann was 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. She has 13 career games with four or more connections from the 3-point line, including seven last season.
