Kansas State Athletics

EXHIBITION GAME #1
Fort Hays State (0-0) vs. Kansas State (0-0)
Thursday, November 1, 2018  |  7 p.m.  |  Bramlage Coliseum  |  Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
ESPN3
• Brian Smoller (play-by-play)
• Missy Heidrick (analyst)

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

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 533-289/27th season  |  At K-State: 79-54/5th season
vs. Fort Hays State (excludes exhibition games): 1-0

Fort Hays State: Tony Hobson (Hastings College '81)
Overall: 618-198/27th season  |  At Fort Hays State: 205-92/11th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (0-0)
G: #10 Kayla Goth  |  G: #12 Rachel Ranke  |  G: #43 Christianna Carr  |  F: #11 Peyton Williams |  F: #25 Jasauen Beard
                
Fort Hays State (0-0)
G: #13 Carly Heim |  G: #23 Kacey Kennett  |  F: #3 Lanie Page  |  F: #24 Tatyana Legette  |  F: #25 Belle Barbieri

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads, 12-2 (regular season only)
In Manhattan: 5-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 1976; K-State won 85-48


MANHATTAN, Kansas - Kansas State will begin its exhibition schedule in the 2018-19 season on Thursday, Nov. 1 against Fort Hays State at 7 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum.

• Thursday night's game can be seen live on ESPN3, as Brian Smoller (play-by-play) and Kristin Waller (color analyst) will have the call.  
• K-State head coach Jeff Mittie enters his 27th season of coaching and his fifth in Manhattan with a career record of 533-289 (.648), including a 79-54 (.594) record at K-State.
• Under Mittie's guidance, K-State has made four straight postseason appearances. Mittie is the second coach in school history (Lynn Hickey) to guide the program to four postseason appearances in their first four seasons with the program.  
• K-State returns eight letter winners from last season's 18-16 squad that reached the round of 16 of the 2018 WNIT. Returning players are: seniors Kayla Goth and Kali Jones, junior Peyton Williams and sophomores Cymone Goodrich, Mary Lakes, Rachel Ranke, Ashley Ray and Alisa Wiggins.
• Goth was named to the 2018 All-Big 12 Second Team, while Williams was selected as an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Ranke was named to the 2018 Big 12 All-Rookie Team.
• In October, Goth was named to the 2019 Lieberman Award watch list and also earned her first preseason league honor, as she was named to the 2018-19 Preseason All-Big 12 Team. Williams was tabbed for the 2019 McClain Award watch list and a Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention recipient.
• The Wildcats will blend in six newcomers for the 2018-19 season: redshirt junior Jasauen Beard, sophomore Sarah Bates and freshmen Christianna Carr, Ayoka Lee, Laura Macke and Savannah Simmons. Bates, following a transfer from UC Santa Barbara in April, will redshirt in the 2018-19 season.

Number to Know
1,804
• #KStateWBB returns 1,804 points (78.0 percent) from the 2017-18 season.
• This is the first time since the 2003-04 season that K-State returns its top three scorers from the previous season. Kayla Goth (596 points), Peyton Williams (501) and Rachel Ranke (392) were responsible for 1,489 of the 1,804 points returning from the 2017-18 season.
• Goth and Williams were the eighth tandem in program history to register 1,000 or more points in a season and the first since 2012-13 (min. 1,000 total points & 400+ by each player). Their point total of 1,097 ranks sixth among the eight tandems in school history.
• K-State is just one of two Big 12 programs (Baylor) entering the 2018-19 season to return a pair of 500-point scorers from its 2017-18 roster.

At a Glance: Fort Hays State
• Fort Hays State enters the 2018-19 season slated for a second place finish according to the Preseason MIAA Coaches Poll and the MIAA Media Poll.
• The Tigers started their exhibition slate at Kansas on Sunday, October 28, dropping the game 90-83 in overtime.
• On the sideline, Fort Hays State is led by 11th-year head coach Tony Hobson. Hobson is 205-92 (.690) in his time in Hays.
• Fort Hays State returns 11 players, including four starters, from last year's squad that finished 26-7. The Tigers surpassed 20 wins for the seventh straight season.
• Pacing the Tigers are seniors Tatyana Legette and Carly Heim. Both were All-MIAA selections in 2017-18. Legette is the top returning scorer and rebounder at 13.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Heim averaged 11.8 points and dished out 2.1 assists.
• Fort Hays State has a pair of K-State connections on its roster. Former Wildcat Lanie Page is in her second season with the Tigers. She averaged 8.7 points in 21 games last season with Fort Hays State.
• The roster also include K-State head coach Jeff Mittie's youngest daughter, Madison. Last season, Madison was unable to play in the exhibition matchup in Manhattan due to her recovery from a knee injury.

Team Odds & Ends from the 2017-18 Season
• K-State made its sixth WNIT appearance in program history and the 30th postseason appearance in the 50 seasons of the program.
• Kansas State's offensive numbers continued to increase under Mittie. K-State averaged 68.0 points per game and scored a total of 2,313 points in 2017-18. The 68.0 points per game marked the highest scoring average and total points by a K-State team since the the 2005-06 season.
• The Wildcats scored 70 or more points 16 times last season, the most since the 2005-06 season (18).
• K-State made 825 field goals, which were the most since the 2006-07 season. It was the 10th time since the 1996-97 season that K-State made 800 or more field goals in a season.
• The Wildcats made 225 three-point field goals in the 2017-18 season, the seventh-most 3-point field goals made in a season in school history. Kansas State has made 175 or more 3-point field goals in 17 of the last 18 seasons. This is the 11th time in program history K-State has made 200 or more 3-pointers in a season.
• K-State's 731 attempts from 3-point range were the second-most in program history, trailing only the Big 12 and school record for attempts at 1,077 during the 2012-13 season.
• The Wildcats dished out 525 assists, the most assists by a K-State team since the 2005-06 season (553) and the eighth time in school history K-State handed out 500 or more assists in a season. The 525 assists in 2017-18 ranks sixth in program history for a season.
• K-State registered the third-highest assist-to-turnover ratio in program history (1.21). This was the highest assist-to-turnover ratio since the 2003-04 season (1.33).
• The Wildcats pocketed 294 steals last season (8.6 spg) to rank second in the Big 12. This was the sixth time in the last 13 seasons and the fourth straight season K-State has pocketed 275 or more steals in a season.
• K-State registered 160 blocked shots during the 2017-18 season. The 160 blocks are the third most in program history.
• Kansas State registered a combined 454 blocks and steals in the 2017-18 season. This is the second time in the Mittie era that K-State has recorded 450 or more blocks and steals in a season. The 454 rank fourth in program history.

Preseason Poll Not the Final Verdict for Cats
• K-State has a history of exceeding the expectations of the league's coaches.
• Kansas State was slotted for a eighth-place finish by the Big 12 coaches in the 2018-19 preseason poll. K-State ended the 2017-18 season tied for seventh in the league.
• In its history, K-State leads the Big 12 in exceeding preseason predictions, finishing on average +1.35 positions higher than its preseason prediction in the 20 polls that have a preseason prediction and a final standing attached to it. The 1996-97 and 2017-18 seasons are not included in these calculations, as neither had a preseason poll.
• The Wildcats have finished 15 of 20 seasons above its preseason prediction and owns the largest deviation in league history from its preseason prediction and its final place with a +7 by winning the Big 12 in 2007-08.