K-State Hosts (8/8) Texas in Play 4 Kay Game

GAME #15
(8/8) Texas (12-1, 3-0 Big 12) at Kansas State (9-5, 1-2 Big 12)
Sunday, January 7, 2018 | 1 p.m. | Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) | Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
ESPNU
• Courtney Lyle (play-by-play)
• Christy Thomaskutty (analyst)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
• Brian Smoller (play-by-play)
• Kristin Waller (analyst)
Listen Online: www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
• Play 4 Kay – First 4,000 fans will receive a pink K-State WBB t-shirt
• Junior Wildcat Day/Willie's Birthday – pregame fun zone and select concessions only $1 with Junior Wildcat membership card
• Wildcat 4-Pack – Purchase 4 $10 GA Tickets and 4 concessions vouchers for $38
• Call (800) 221-CATS or visit www.kstatesports.com

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 524-278/26th season | At K-State: 70-43/4th season
vs. Texas: 2-10

Texas: Karen Aston (Little Rock '87)
Overall: 227-119/11th season | At Texas: 126-56/6th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (9-5, 1-2 Big 12)
G: #50 Shaelyn Martin | G: #10 Kayla Goth | G: #2 Cymone Goodrich | F: #1 Kaylee Page | F: #11 Peyton Williams

Texas (12-1, 3-0 Big 12)
G: #10 Lashann Higgs | G: #11 Brooke McCarty | G: #23 Ariel Atkins | F: #31 Audrey-Ann Caron Goudreau | F/C: #40 Jatarie White

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Texas leads the series, 20-14
In Manhattan: 8-7
Last Meeting: Feb. 27, 2017; Texas won 69-61

MANHATTAN, Kansas - Kansas State will play its annual Play 4 Kay game on Sunday, as the Wildcats host (8/8) Texas at 1 p.m. on Sunday. K-State will play three of its next four games in Bramlage Coliseum.

• Sunday's game will be available on ESPNU, as Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Christy Thomaskutty (analyst) will have the call.
• K-State ended a three-game losing streak, as the Wildcats upset (12/11) West Virginia in Morgantown on Wednesday, 60-52.
• It was K-State's first win at West Virginia (1-5) in the history of the series.
• The Wildcats strung together an 18-8 fourth quarter, as K-State held West Virginia to 14.3 percent (2-of-14) shooting in the final frame.
• For the fourth straight game, sophomore forward Peyton Williams and junior guard Kayla Goth led the way for K-State, as the duo combined for 35 of K-State's 60 points.
• Williams reached double figures in points for the eighth time in the last nine games, as she notched 22 points, including 15 in the first half, and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
• Williams leads the Wildcats in field goal percentage at .546. She is second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounds (7.1 rpg).
• Goth finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
• Goth leads the Big 12 in assists with 6.4 per game (career-high 90 assists). She leads the Wildcats in scoring and ranks sixth in the Big 12 at 16.7 points.
• Adding to the attack were senior Kaylee Page and freshman Rachel Ranke. Page notched 12 points and five rebounds, while Ranke came off the bench to contribute 11 points and three steals.

Number to Know
4
• #KStateWBB will play four straight opponents ranked in the Associated Press top-25 in its first four Big 12 games.
• This is the second time in the program's Big 12 history that K-State has started Big 12 play with four straight AP ranked opponents and first time since 1996-97.
• In 1996-97, K-State played five straight AP ranked opponents as the Wildcats ended its non-conference schedule against 23rd ranked Florida. K-State then face four ranked Big 12 opponents in the first year of the league.
• This is the first season since 2008-09 that a Big 12 member has played four straight AP ranked opponents to open league play (Colorado).
• K-State faced three AP ranked opponents in the first four games in 2016-17.

At a Glance: Texas
• Texas (12-1, 3-0 Big 12) enters Sunday afternoon's game following an 84-79 win against (20/23) Oklahoma State on Wednesday night in Austin.
• Texas is guided on the sideline by sixth year head coach Karen Aston. The 1987 graduate of UALR owns a record of 126-56 (.692) during her time in Austin.
• The Longhorns' deep roster features four players averaging double figures, led by Brooke McCarty, Lashann Higgs, Ariel Atkins and Jatarie White (11.3 ppg).
• McCarty, a 5-4 junior guard, leads the team with 14.7 points and 5.0 assists per game. Against Oklahoma State, McCarty notched 21 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.
• Higgs is second on the squad in scoring with 13.8 per contest with a field goal percentage of .584. Against Oklahoma State, Higgs registered 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
• Atkins is a 5-11 senior guard who is third on the team with 13.5 points on a .554 field goal percentage and is pulling in 5.6 rebounds per game.

K-State Against Ranked Opponents
• The Wildcats are 79-198 (.285) against teams ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll including a 49-55 (.471) mark against AP ranked teams in Manhattan.
• With its 60-52 win at No. 12 West Virginia on Jan. 3, 2018, K-State has registered a win over an AP top-25 team in 12 straight seasons.
• It was the highest ranked opponent K-State has defeated on the road since upsetting No. 10 Texas Tech on Jan. 14, 2012.
• K-State is 7-23 (.233) against AP ranked opponents in head coach Jeff Mittie's four seasons in Manhattan.

Kansas State Holds Foes to Single Digit Quarters
• In the third season of the quarter system in women's college basketball, Kansas State's defense has been able to limit its opponents point production for 10 minute durations.
• Kansas State is 30-7 (.811) when holding an opponent to single digits in any quarter in a game. This season, the Wildcats have held seven opponents to single digits in a quarter (Last: 8 points, West Virginia; 4th quarter).
• Last season, the K-State defense registered 19 single-digit efforts, including consecutive quarters against Princeton on Dec. 18 and Oklahoma State on Jan. 14.

Wildcats Send Back Shots Under Mittie
• In the first four seasons under head coach Jeff Mittie, Kansas State has piled up blocked shots. Under Mittie, K-State has sent back 527 shots for 4.7 per game in the 113 games.
• The Wildcats have started the season with 71 blocks (5.1 bpg). K-State ranks 38th in the nation in blocks per game.
• Over the previous three seasons, K-State blocked 456 shots the most over a 3-season span since K-State blocked 486 shots from 2005-06 to 2007-08.
• In the 2016-17 season, K-State had 143 blocks (4.3 bpg), the third straight season with 100 or more blocks and the 11th in program history. The Wildcats blocked five or more shots in 16 games last season.

Another New Season, Another New Goth
• Junior guard Kayla Goth has taken on the point guard role for K-State to begin the 2017-18 season.
• For the season, the native of DeForest, Wisconsin, is averaging a team-high 16.7 points on a .528 field goal percentage including a 3-point field goal percentage of .417. She is also averaging 3.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.0 steals. Goth is shooting .560 on two-point field goal attempts this season.
• Goth ranks sixth in the Big 12 in scoring, leads the league in assists and is sixth in assist to turnover ratio (2.14). She ranks 76th in the nation in field goal percentage.
• She has set career season-highs in six statistical categories: points (234), field goals made (85), assists (90), blocks (10) and free throws made and attempted (49-of-75).
• Over the last six games, Goth is averaging 17.5 points on a .500 field goal percentage with 7.2 assists and 2.2 steals.
• Against UNI, Goth registered a career-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and added five assists, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
• Against UT Arlington, Goth finished with 25 points on a 9-of-15 shooting performance while also dishing out five assists, blocking two shots and pocketing two steals. She also set the school record for points in a quarter with 19 in the third.
• She is the first player since Leticia Romero in 2013-14 to record two or more games with 20 or more points and five or more assists in a season.
• In the 2017 South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, Goth averaged 19.0 points on a .615 field goal percentage while dishing out 5.5 assists.
• In the 2016-17 season, Goth was sixth on the team in scoring (5.8 ppg) and third in field goal percentage (.437; 73-of-167). She registered the first eight double figure scoring efforts of her career last season.

Williams Goes Wild
• Sophomore forward Peyton Williams continues to progress in the low post for K-State in her second season.
• This season, Williams is averaging 13.2 points on a .544 field goal percentage. She also has 6.9 rebounds and leads the team in blocks with 16.
• The native of Topeka, Kansas, ranks 56th in the nation in field goal percentage and 13th in the Big 12. She also ranks 20th in the Big 12 in scoring and 10th in rebounding.
• Over the last six games, Williams is averaging 18.5 points on a .587 field goal percentage and 8.5 rebounds.
• Williams has tallied career season-highs in points (185), free throws made (38), field goals made (71), blocks (17), steals (19)and three-point field goals made and attempted (5-of-18).
• In K-State's game at West Virginia, Williams tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. This was her third double-double of the season and fourth of her career.
• For her career, Williams has 13 career games with 10 or more points and five or more rebounds.
• Against Little Rock on December 16, Williams recorded a new career-high with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 6-of-7 from the foul line. She also pulled in seven rebounds.
• Earlier this season, Williams finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting against Penn State. She also blocked a career-high three shots to go with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in 35 minutes.
• She has four career games with five or more offensive rebounds.

Ranke with Range
• Freshman guard Rachel Ranke has made an instant impact to K-State's lineup this season, as she was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Nov. 20.
• In her first season in Manhattan, Ranke is averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals. She leads all Big 12 freshmen in 3-point field goals made per game (2.9; 41) and is second in scoring. She ranks 40th in the nation in 3-point field goals made and 20th in 3-point field goals attempted.
• Ranke has made 41 three-point field goals this season (2.9 per game) and has made four or more 3-point field goals in four games.
• Against Chicago State on Dec. 18, Ranke registered a career-high 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting including 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. She also pulled in six rebounds.
• She is the first K-State freshman to score 20 or more points in three or more games since the 2013-14 season.
• The seven 3-pointers by the Burnsville, Minnesota, native were the most by a K-State freshman since Laurie Koehn registered seven at Texas on Jan. 30, 2002.
• In her first career start, Ranke finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including a 6-of-12 effort from 3-point range against Omaha. She also notched two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 37 minutes of action.
• In her second career start, Ranke led K-State with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including a 5-of-11 effort from beyond the arc. She also tallied a 4-of-4 performance at the foul line.
• She is the first K-State freshman since the 2013-14 season to register consecutive games of 20 or more points.

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• Kaylee Page has been one of K-State's top marksmen during her career.
• In her K-State career, Page is averaging 1.4 made 3-point field goals per game including 31 games with two or more connections from deep and five career games with four or more 3-point field goals made.
• K-State is 24-7 when Page makes two or more 3-point field goals in a game.
• Page is the third player in school history 6'0" or taller with 100 or more career made 3-point field goals.

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Players Mentioned

Cymone Goodrich

Kayla Goth

Shaelyn Martin

Kaylee Page

Rachel Ranke

Peyton Williams

Kansas State University Athletics