SE: K-State WBB NCAA Tournament Reveal Fits Season, Comes Full Circle from Last Year
Mar 19, 2019 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
The way the K-State women's basketball team found out its NCAA Tournament first round opponent and destination — No. 8 seed Michigan (21-11, 11-7 Big Ten) in Louisville, Kentucky, respectively — was fitting and poetic.
The circumstances were unusual and exciting, much like the Wildcats' finish to the regular season that included the program's longest Big 12 road winning streak (five games) in more than a decade.
After the bracket was accidentally released early Monday afternoon, the selection show was moved up two hours from its original time slot and broadcast on a different channel than planned.
At the time, K-State was wrapping up practice. Associate head coach Brian Ostermann was the first to find out. He passed the information along to head coach Jeff Mittie.
From there, an impromptu team meeting was called to inform everyone the watch party, originally scheduled to take place at Powercat Sports Grill with fans, was moved up and forced to be private. K-State's staff then collected the players' cell phones to maintain the surprise of where and who the team would play.
"It's probably fitting for this team because we didn't plan a lot of things this year," Mittie laughed, as his team won more Big 12 road games (six) than home games (five) this season, with the program's first ever season sweep over Texas included.
Fortunately, this plan worked. None of the Wildcats knew any details about the early NCAA Tournament release. So, when K-State (21-11, 11-7) was revealed as a No. 9 seed within the first 15 minutes of the rescheduled show, celebration filled the team film room.
"It was a fun moment," junior forward Peyton Williams said, as K-State will play on Friday at 1 p.m. (CDT), on ESPN2 and ESPN3. "For a lot of those girls, that's the first time they've got into the tournament. It was a lot of fun watching the front row all jump up, especially since we were so quick, right off the bat. It was a great moment for sure."
A year ago, the team sat in the same room. The Wildcats watched the same show, despite knowing their name would not be called, with only 15 wins at the time. Mittie forced his team to do it anyway. He wanted some frustration to marinate into motivation going forward.
"We watched the whole thing," senior Kayla Goth said, "start to finish, in disappointment."
The motivation tactic worked. This team's slogan became "Leave No Doubt," an ode to enter the NCAA Tournament selection show with confidence that the Wildcats would be a lock for an at-large bid.
The Wildcats did exactly that down the stretch this season. They won seven of eight to end the regular season. They followed this with a Big 12 Championship quarterfinal win against West Virginia, which was also fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"A lot of them, like Kayla Goth, were, like, 'I don't want to feel this way again,'" Mittie said of watching last year's NCAA Tournament selection show. "To her credit and to our team's credit, they made the plays down the stretch and had as good of a stretch run as I've had from a team in a long time."
"I think it just put a chip on our shoulders because we knew we wanted to be in that NCAA Tournament last year, and we did not get in. I think it was good playing in the (WNIT), for sure, but it wasn't where we wanted to be," added sophomore guard Rachel Ranke. "We wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament. So, knowing that we're here now is exciting, but we're not finished yet."
The way the K-State women's basketball team found out its NCAA Tournament first round opponent and destination — No. 8 seed Michigan (21-11, 11-7 Big Ten) in Louisville, Kentucky, respectively — was fitting and poetic.
The circumstances were unusual and exciting, much like the Wildcats' finish to the regular season that included the program's longest Big 12 road winning streak (five games) in more than a decade.
After the bracket was accidentally released early Monday afternoon, the selection show was moved up two hours from its original time slot and broadcast on a different channel than planned.
At the time, K-State was wrapping up practice. Associate head coach Brian Ostermann was the first to find out. He passed the information along to head coach Jeff Mittie.
From there, an impromptu team meeting was called to inform everyone the watch party, originally scheduled to take place at Powercat Sports Grill with fans, was moved up and forced to be private. K-State's staff then collected the players' cell phones to maintain the surprise of where and who the team would play.
"It's probably fitting for this team because we didn't plan a lot of things this year," Mittie laughed, as his team won more Big 12 road games (six) than home games (five) this season, with the program's first ever season sweep over Texas included.
Fortunately, this plan worked. None of the Wildcats knew any details about the early NCAA Tournament release. So, when K-State (21-11, 11-7) was revealed as a No. 9 seed within the first 15 minutes of the rescheduled show, celebration filled the team film room.
"Knowing that we're here is exciting, but we're not finished yet." ??????#KStateWBB #ncaaW pic.twitter.com/ppk57rR2A9
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) March 19, 2019
"It was a fun moment," junior forward Peyton Williams said, as K-State will play on Friday at 1 p.m. (CDT), on ESPN2 and ESPN3. "For a lot of those girls, that's the first time they've got into the tournament. It was a lot of fun watching the front row all jump up, especially since we were so quick, right off the bat. It was a great moment for sure."
A year ago, the team sat in the same room. The Wildcats watched the same show, despite knowing their name would not be called, with only 15 wins at the time. Mittie forced his team to do it anyway. He wanted some frustration to marinate into motivation going forward.
"We watched the whole thing," senior Kayla Goth said, "start to finish, in disappointment."
The motivation tactic worked. This team's slogan became "Leave No Doubt," an ode to enter the NCAA Tournament selection show with confidence that the Wildcats would be a lock for an at-large bid.
The Wildcats did exactly that down the stretch this season. They won seven of eight to end the regular season. They followed this with a Big 12 Championship quarterfinal win against West Virginia, which was also fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"A lot of them, like Kayla Goth, were, like, 'I don't want to feel this way again,'" Mittie said of watching last year's NCAA Tournament selection show. "To her credit and to our team's credit, they made the plays down the stretch and had as good of a stretch run as I've had from a team in a long time."
"I think it just put a chip on our shoulders because we knew we wanted to be in that NCAA Tournament last year, and we did not get in. I think it was good playing in the (WNIT), for sure, but it wasn't where we wanted to be," added sophomore guard Rachel Ranke. "We wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament. So, knowing that we're here now is exciting, but we're not finished yet."
Players Mentioned
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