SE: K-State WBB Looks to Bounce Back in Bahamas
Nov 28, 2019 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
A change in scenery may be just what K-State women's basketball needed to put last Sunday's disappointing loss to UT Arlington behind it. Less than 48 hours later, the Wildcats got on a plane to the Bahamas.
There, specifically in Bimini, they will play against Memphis (3-3) on Friday at 2 p.m. (CT) in the semifinals of the Junkanoo Jam. K-State (3-1) will also face either LSU or (15/16) Michigan State on Saturday at either 3:30 p.m. (CT), or 5:45 p.m. (CT).
"I think it's always nice to get on the road and get your team kind of sequestered," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said after Sunday's 57-53 loss. "You're doing it in a fun place, so that's always fun, but just the fact that you're together and practices are together (helps). Then, you get the other benefit of playing back-to-back games against good quality opponents. I think it's a win-win this time of the year.
"Also, from a coaching standpoint, I think it's fun to watch other teams play. There's a whole other tournament going on there while we're there, so that'll be fun to see some other coaches. But, for our purposes, I think just us being around each other for an extended period of time and getting to work on basketball and getting to enjoy a new place will be a good growing step for this team."
Senior forward Peyton Williams, who pulled in her third double-double of the season with 16 points and 18 rebounds against UT Arlington, agreed. She's experienced these tournaments before, making trips to Cancun, Mexico last season, Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017 and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands as a freshman.
"It's nice to go somewhere else since we've been playing at home. We love playing at home, but to get some experience that's completely different from what we'll get down the road is kind of fun for a team," Williams said. "Combining the element of being somewhere new, but also honing in and collectively finetuning the areas we've talked about at home and trying to find that in a different location, I think that's the most helpful."
The Wildcats also hope to return to a more complete lineup in their trip to the Bahamas. Against UT Arlington, K-State was without starting junior Rachel Ranke, as well as guards Cymone Goodrich and Savannah Simmons.
"Simmons and Ranke have a better chance than Goodrich does at being back," Mittie said after the UT Arlington game. "How quickly? I don't know because I really thought we would have both of them today and it just wasn't a very good week."
Those absences, along with some foul trouble, forced younger players like sophomore Laura Macke and true freshman Emma Chapman into bigger and, more notably, different positions than they were used to. At times, K-State's lineup included four underclassmen and graduate transfer point guard Angela Harris.
Still, Mittie said youth should not be an issue in flushing that loss.
"We're not that young a team. We have enough veterans on this team, we have enough leadership on this team," he said. "We've got to get this group to, hopefully, have some consistent practices. You tend to play like you practice. Hopefully, some of the players that had to play out of position, that experience will benefit them if we need to go to that again. Hopefully we won't have to, but if we do, we've got it. We'll look at film and see what we can do better and get back to work.
"The focus is on, 'How can we play well?'"
The Wildcats will need to against the level of competition in the Bahamas, starting with a Memphis team Mittie said is "always athletic."
"They play different styles of defense, so they'll pressure you some, do some different things defensively that will challenge us," he said. "You look at the other side of the bracket in LSU and Michigan State, and Michigan State's in the top 20, got a good road win at Notre Dame, and you've got LSU who's played pretty solid here early. Both come from, obviously, good leagues in the SEC and the Big Ten, so it'll be a good tournament."
A change in scenery may be just what K-State women's basketball needed to put last Sunday's disappointing loss to UT Arlington behind it. Less than 48 hours later, the Wildcats got on a plane to the Bahamas.
There, specifically in Bimini, they will play against Memphis (3-3) on Friday at 2 p.m. (CT) in the semifinals of the Junkanoo Jam. K-State (3-1) will also face either LSU or (15/16) Michigan State on Saturday at either 3:30 p.m. (CT), or 5:45 p.m. (CT).
"I think it's always nice to get on the road and get your team kind of sequestered," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said after Sunday's 57-53 loss. "You're doing it in a fun place, so that's always fun, but just the fact that you're together and practices are together (helps). Then, you get the other benefit of playing back-to-back games against good quality opponents. I think it's a win-win this time of the year.
"Also, from a coaching standpoint, I think it's fun to watch other teams play. There's a whole other tournament going on there while we're there, so that'll be fun to see some other coaches. But, for our purposes, I think just us being around each other for an extended period of time and getting to work on basketball and getting to enjoy a new place will be a good growing step for this team."
Senior forward Peyton Williams, who pulled in her third double-double of the season with 16 points and 18 rebounds against UT Arlington, agreed. She's experienced these tournaments before, making trips to Cancun, Mexico last season, Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017 and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands as a freshman.
"It's nice to go somewhere else since we've been playing at home. We love playing at home, but to get some experience that's completely different from what we'll get down the road is kind of fun for a team," Williams said. "Combining the element of being somewhere new, but also honing in and collectively finetuning the areas we've talked about at home and trying to find that in a different location, I think that's the most helpful."
The Wildcats also hope to return to a more complete lineup in their trip to the Bahamas. Against UT Arlington, K-State was without starting junior Rachel Ranke, as well as guards Cymone Goodrich and Savannah Simmons.
"Simmons and Ranke have a better chance than Goodrich does at being back," Mittie said after the UT Arlington game. "How quickly? I don't know because I really thought we would have both of them today and it just wasn't a very good week."
Those absences, along with some foul trouble, forced younger players like sophomore Laura Macke and true freshman Emma Chapman into bigger and, more notably, different positions than they were used to. At times, K-State's lineup included four underclassmen and graduate transfer point guard Angela Harris.
Still, Mittie said youth should not be an issue in flushing that loss.
"We're not that young a team. We have enough veterans on this team, we have enough leadership on this team," he said. "We've got to get this group to, hopefully, have some consistent practices. You tend to play like you practice. Hopefully, some of the players that had to play out of position, that experience will benefit them if we need to go to that again. Hopefully we won't have to, but if we do, we've got it. We'll look at film and see what we can do better and get back to work.
"The focus is on, 'How can we play well?'"
The Wildcats will need to against the level of competition in the Bahamas, starting with a Memphis team Mittie said is "always athletic."
"They play different styles of defense, so they'll pressure you some, do some different things defensively that will challenge us," he said. "You look at the other side of the bracket in LSU and Michigan State, and Michigan State's in the top 20, got a good road win at Notre Dame, and you've got LSU who's played pretty solid here early. Both come from, obviously, good leagues in the SEC and the Big Ten, so it'll be a good tournament."
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