SE: Kaylee Page Continues Finding Rhythm, More Points for K-State WBB in Dominant Win over No. 20 OSU
Jan 15, 2018 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Kindred Wesemann had been checking K-State's box scores. During a stretch in late December, one trend concerned the former Wildcat and current assistant coach for UMKC. Kaylee Page wasn't shooting.
In three-straight losses to Northern Iowa, Baylor and Oklahoma State to end 2017, Page put up a combined 11 shot attempts. Wesemann, who graduated last spring, decided to call up her former teammate.
"She said, 'You're too good of a shooter to not shoot the ball. Your team needs you to shoot the ball. It needs you to take pressure off of everyone else, off of Peyton (Williams), off of Kayla (Goth), off of Rachel (Ranke),'" Page said after K-State's 80-64 win over No. 20 Oklahoma State on Sunday in Bramlage Coliseum. "So she gave me a little bit of a pep talk and told me if she looked at the stat line and I hadn't shot the ball (enough) that I would be getting a meaner talking-to after."
Wesemann's message definitely took hold.
Page has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 12 shot attempts during that stretch. After Wesemann's phone call, Page scored 12 points in K-State's win at No. 12 West Virginia, 13 in another road win against Iowa State and, most recently, a season-high 20 in a dominant win over Oklahoma State.
"We've needed to get a third and fourth scorer. We've needed to get better balance. I think our ball movement is a little bit better right now, so hopefully all of that is tying together nicely," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said on Saturday. "I liked her activity today. I think she was active in her movement, which also allowed her to get into better spots to shoot the ball."
"I love it. I've been trying to get her to shoot the ball for a while," Kayla Goth added of Page, who finished 7-of-17 from the field. "Her, Rachel, Cymone (Goodrich), all of them can shoot the ball, and sometimes we defer away from that to run (our) plays, but when KP's scoring, when Cymone's scoring, other players are scoring off the ball, it takes a lot of pressure off of me and Peyton."
Page, who finished with a career-high six 3-point makes on 12 attempts, knocked down her first two shots from deep in the first quarter. In the third quarter, she almost single-handedly put the game away for K-State. The senior scored 14 points, hitting three treys, in about a five-minute stretch to push her team's lead above 20.
"It helped that I got off to a good start. Then after that, Kayla just kept giving me the ball, so I didn't really have a choice — keep shooting the ball," Page said, who came one point shy of her career high set in 2015. "I've been just getting reps in and getting back into some sort of rhythm. I don't know what it was, but my shot had felt off for a while. It wasn't coming off my hand right, so I've got in the gym with Coach (Chris) Carr and the other coaches. I've got in more reps and got in more of a rhythm."
For the first time in more than a month, Page's rhythm came to life in Bramlage. Her performance on Sunday marked her first double-digit scoring game at home since she put up 12 against UT Arlington on December 6, a breath of fresh air for the Wamego native.
"It helps getting in a rhythm," Page said. "It will definitely help going forward with my confidence."
Like Page, K-State (11-6, 3-3) moves forward with more confidence collectively. Five Wildcats scored in double figures in a wire-to-wire win over Oklahoma State, a team that bested K-State by eight two weeks ago in Stillwater.
"It is big. All home games are important, and all games are important, but certainly you want to win at home. You love to play here. You love to play in front of your own fans," Mittie said, as his team hosts Oklahoma on Wednesday at 7 p.m. "We felt like, coming into the break, that we knew our start was very difficult and we knew that we were playing a lot of quality teams. We felt like if we would fight, come into practice and get better, come with that attitude, that we would be one of the most improved teams in the country. I believe we're on that path."
Kindred Wesemann had been checking K-State's box scores. During a stretch in late December, one trend concerned the former Wildcat and current assistant coach for UMKC. Kaylee Page wasn't shooting.
In three-straight losses to Northern Iowa, Baylor and Oklahoma State to end 2017, Page put up a combined 11 shot attempts. Wesemann, who graduated last spring, decided to call up her former teammate.
"She said, 'You're too good of a shooter to not shoot the ball. Your team needs you to shoot the ball. It needs you to take pressure off of everyone else, off of Peyton (Williams), off of Kayla (Goth), off of Rachel (Ranke),'" Page said after K-State's 80-64 win over No. 20 Oklahoma State on Sunday in Bramlage Coliseum. "So she gave me a little bit of a pep talk and told me if she looked at the stat line and I hadn't shot the ball (enough) that I would be getting a meaner talking-to after."
Wesemann's message definitely took hold.
Page has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 12 shot attempts during that stretch. After Wesemann's phone call, Page scored 12 points in K-State's win at No. 12 West Virginia, 13 in another road win against Iowa State and, most recently, a season-high 20 in a dominant win over Oklahoma State.
"We've needed to get a third and fourth scorer. We've needed to get better balance. I think our ball movement is a little bit better right now, so hopefully all of that is tying together nicely," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said on Saturday. "I liked her activity today. I think she was active in her movement, which also allowed her to get into better spots to shoot the ball."
"I love it. I've been trying to get her to shoot the ball for a while," Kayla Goth added of Page, who finished 7-of-17 from the field. "Her, Rachel, Cymone (Goodrich), all of them can shoot the ball, and sometimes we defer away from that to run (our) plays, but when KP's scoring, when Cymone's scoring, other players are scoring off the ball, it takes a lot of pressure off of me and Peyton."
Page, who finished with a career-high six 3-point makes on 12 attempts, knocked down her first two shots from deep in the first quarter. In the third quarter, she almost single-handedly put the game away for K-State. The senior scored 14 points, hitting three treys, in about a five-minute stretch to push her team's lead above 20.
"It helped that I got off to a good start. Then after that, Kayla just kept giving me the ball, so I didn't really have a choice — keep shooting the ball," Page said, who came one point shy of her career high set in 2015. "I've been just getting reps in and getting back into some sort of rhythm. I don't know what it was, but my shot had felt off for a while. It wasn't coming off my hand right, so I've got in the gym with Coach (Chris) Carr and the other coaches. I've got in more reps and got in more of a rhythm."
For the first time in more than a month, Page's rhythm came to life in Bramlage. Her performance on Sunday marked her first double-digit scoring game at home since she put up 12 against UT Arlington on December 6, a breath of fresh air for the Wamego native.
"It helps getting in a rhythm," Page said. "It will definitely help going forward with my confidence."
Like Page, K-State (11-6, 3-3) moves forward with more confidence collectively. Five Wildcats scored in double figures in a wire-to-wire win over Oklahoma State, a team that bested K-State by eight two weeks ago in Stillwater.
"It is big. All home games are important, and all games are important, but certainly you want to win at home. You love to play here. You love to play in front of your own fans," Mittie said, as his team hosts Oklahoma on Wednesday at 7 p.m. "We felt like, coming into the break, that we knew our start was very difficult and we knew that we were playing a lot of quality teams. We felt like if we would fight, come into practice and get better, come with that attitude, that we would be one of the most improved teams in the country. I believe we're on that path."
Watch highlights from #KStateWBB's big win over (20/22) Oklahoma State! pic.twitter.com/k6fDlhxwcu
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 13, 2018
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