Kansas State Athletics

2019 NCAA Tournament - First Round | Albany Region
GAME #33
(9) Kansas State (21-11, 11-7 Big 12) vs. (8) Michigan (21-11, 11-7 Big Ten)
Friday, March 22, 2019  |  1 p.m. (CT)  |  KFC Yum! Center  |  Louisville, Ky.

TELEVISION
ESPN2 & ESPN3
• Beth Mowins (play-by-play)
• Nell Fortner (analyst)

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

TICKETS
• Call (800) 221-CATS for K-State ticket information or www.ticketmaster.com
• All-session adult: $37 | Kids 3-17/Seniors 65+/college students with ID: $24 | Family pack: $15/each (must purchase at least 4, only available in end zones)
• Single session adult: $21 | Kids 3-17/Seniors 65+/college students with ID: $14 | Family pack: $10/each (must purchase at least 4, only available in end zones)

LIVE STATS
www.ncaa.com & www.kstatesports.com

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 554-300/27th season  |  At K-State: 100-65/5th season
vs. Michigan: First meeting

Michigan: Kim Barnes Arico (Montclair State '93)
Overall: 425-290/20th season  |  At Michigan: 155-84/7th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (21-11, 11-7 Big 12)
G: #10 Kayla Goth  |  G: #12 Rachel Ranke  |  G: #43 Christianna Carr  |  F: #11 Peyton Williams |  F: #15 Kali Jones
                
Michigan (21-11, 11-7 Big Ten)
G: #1 Amy Dilk  |  G: #10 Nicole Munger  |  G: #20 Deja Church  |  F: #15 Hailey Brown  |  C: #30 Hallie Thome

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Michigan leads, 2-0^
Last Meeting: December 19, 1995; K-State won 66-63^ in Manhattan (^ - win later forfeited due to NCAA infractions)
• Head coach Jeff Mittie will face Michigan for the first time in his coaching career. He is 8-6 against current members of the Big Ten Conference.
• K-State is 72-58 against current members of the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats are 0-3 in NCAA Tournament play against the league.


MANHATTAN, Kansas - For the third time in the last four seasons and the 16th time in program history, Kansas State will take part in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats, a nine-seed, will face the eight-seed Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. (CT) in Louisville, Kentucky, which is part of the Albany Region in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

• Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN3, as Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Nell Fortner (analyst) call the action.
• K-State is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Jeff Mittie. The Wildcats are 13-15 in their previous 15 appearances in program history.
• Under the guidance of Mittie in his fifth season, K-State owns a record of 21-11 overall and a 11-7 mark in Big 12 play.
• The Wildcats enter the tournament with wins in eight of their last 10 games. K-State's two losses during the last 10 games have come against top-ranked Baylor.
• Kansas State has been led this season by 2019 All-Big 12 First Team selections: senior Kayla Goth and junior Peyton Williams. The duo is the third-highest scoring tandem over a two-season span for K-State since the 2000-01 season.
• Goth, an All-America candidate, leads the Big 12 in assists (220) and assists per game (6.9). She ranks among the top-10 in the nation in both categories.
• Goth is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game (402 points) and leads the squad in steals (61; 1.9 spg). She is one of three active players in NCAA Division I basketball (Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse; Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon) to card consecutive seasons with 400 or more points and 200 or more assists.
• Williams, an All-America candidate, leads the Wildcats with 15.9 points per game (493 points), field goal percentage (.492) and free throw percentage (.851).
• The forward from Topeka, Kansas, leads K-State in rebounding with a career-high 299 (9.6 rpg). Williams leads the Big 12 with 14 double-doubles this season.

Number to Know
500 | 300
• #KStateWBB's Peyton Williams is on the verge of becoming just the third player in the 51-year history of the program to tally 500 or more points and 300 or more rebounds in a season.
• Williams needs seven points (493 points) and one rebound (299 rebounds) to achieve the feat.
• Williams would join Tammie Romstad (1979-80) and Nicole Ohlde (2002-03) as the only players to reach this mark.
• Williams would become the first player since Ashley Sweat (2008-09 & 2009-10) to score 500 or more points in two straight seasons. Williams would be the sixth player in program history with consecutive seasons of 500 or more points.

K-State in NCAA Tournament
• Kansas State was awarded its 16th bid into the NCAA Tournament and its 15th postseason bid in the last 17 seasons.
• The Wildcats are 13-15 (.464) in its previous 15 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to at least the second round in nine of the last 10 NCAA appearances.  
• This is the third NCAA Tournament appearance by the Wildcats under the guidance of head coach Jeff Mittie. This is Mittie's 12th NCAA Tournament apparance.

K-State among Top-20 in NCAA History for Wins
• Kansas State women's basketball is in its 51st season of action and ranks among the top programs in NCAA history for wins.
• K-State's all-time record stands at 953-594 (.616) and the Wildcats entered the 2018-19 season ranked 18th in NCAA Division I women's basketball history for program wins. The Wildcats are the 18th program in NCAA Division I history to reach 950 or more wins as a program and the third among the Big 12 (Texas, Baylor). K-State is averaging 18.7 wins per season.
• The Wildcats have accumulated 25 20-win seasons and have secured 335 victories inside Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State has 192 wins in the Big 12 Conference.
• In postseason play, the Wildcats have 13 wins in the NCAA Tournament and 16 wins in the WNIT.
• Kansas State has registered 220 victories when they were ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll and achieved 82 wins against teams ranked in the AP poll.

Marching Toward the Finish Line
• During the third month of the year but the final month of the basketball season, K-State owns a 129-93 (.581) record in March.
• K-State head coach Jeff Mittie is 12-9 in the month of March during his time in Manhattan.

K-State Picking Opponent's Pockets
• K-State has registered 256 steals (8.0 spg) this season. Of the 510 turnovers by the opponents, 50.2 percent have come from a K-State steal. This is the fifth straight season the Wildcats have bagged 250 or more steals in a season.
• Kansas State ranks fourth in the Big 12 in steals per game.
• The Wildcats have bagged 10 or more steals in 11 games, including a season-high of 18 against West Virginia on March 9. The 18 steals set a school record for a Big 12 Championship game.

Defense Stellar When Combining Steals & Blocks
• K-State is 22-0 over the last 13 seasons when achieving a combination of 20+ steals and blocks in the same game.
• K-State is 13-0 under head coach Jeff Mittie when achieving a combination of 20+ steals and blocks in the same game. The Wildcats recorded a combination totalling 22 (18 steals/3 blocks) against West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Big 12 Championships.

Scoring Trending North
• After a slow start to the 2018-19 season in scoring, K-State picked up the pace in the final 10 games of the season.
• Over the final 10 games of the season, K-State averaged 71.2 points per game including a season-high 90 points against West Virginia on February 27. K-State is 13-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
• Overall under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State averaged 64.8 points per game with 2,074 points scored.
• This is the first time K-State scored 2,000 or more points in four straight seasons since reaching the mark in eight straight seasons from 2001-02 to 2008-09.

K-State Attacking the Paint
• Kansas State has converted in the paint at a high rate in the 2018-19 season.
• The Wildcats have scored 902 points in the paint (28.2 ppg). The 902 points represents 43.5 percent of K-State's overall point total this season.
• K-State scored a season-high of 44 points in the paint against UMKC on November 18. The 44 points in the lane were the most since K-State notched 50 points in the paint against Texas Tech on February 7, 2018. The Wildcats have 16 games with 30 or more points in the paint this season.
• Under head coach Jeff Mittie, Kansas State has scored 900 or more points in the paint in five straight seasons including a high of 1,064 points (31.3 ppg) during the 2016-17 season.

Goth Giveth
• Senior guard Kayla Goth has been one of the nation's best point guards over the last two seasons.
• Goth owns the school record for assists in a two-season span, as she has 446 assists in the last two seasons.
• Goth has dished out 220 assists (6.9 apg) this season. Her total assists this season ranks third in a single season in program history.
• She leads the Big 12 and is fifth in the nation in total assists and leads the Big 12 and is sixth in the nation in assists per game. In league-only games, Goth led the Big 12 in assists per game and total assists (7.3 apg; 131). She leads the Big 12 in games with 10 or more assists with seven - including five games in Big 12 play with 10 or more assists.
• According to herhoopstats.com, Goth ranks among the top 1 percent in the nation at seventh and leads the Big 12 in assisted shot rate at 39.9 percent (assist rate defined: percentage of teammate field goals assisted on while on the court). Last season, Goth's assisted shot rate was 43.5 percent.
• Against West Virginia on March 9, Goth set a new career-high, tied the school record for all games and set the school record for a Big 12 Championship game with 13 assists.
• This season, she has 22 games with five or more assists including seven games with 10 or more assists. For her career, she has 51 career games with five or more assists including 13 games with 10 or more assists which is second in program history.
• In her career, Goth is the program leader for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88). She is the fourth player in program history with 500 or more assists, as she has compiled 534 assists in her career and ranks fourth in program history for career assists.

Williams Approaching Top-15 for Career Rebounds
• Peyton Williams continues to pile up the rebounds and climb the K-State career rankings.
• For the season, Williams is averaging 9.6 rebounds per game and has achieved a new career season-high on the glass with 299 total rebounds. Her 299 rebounds this season ranks fourth in program history for a single season and are the most since Nicole Ohlde pulled in 306 rebounds in the 2002-03 season.
• Williams ranks second in the Big 12 and 46th in the nation in rebounds per game and leads the league in defensive rebounds per game at 6.9.
• Williams led the Big 12 in rebounding for league-only games (10.0 rpg). She is the first Wildcat to average a double-double in Big 12 action since Kendra Wecker in the 2004-05 season.
• At Oklahoma State on March 4, Williams hauled in 14 rebounds which was her 23rd career game with 10 or more rebounds. This season, Williams has a career-best 16 games with 10 or more rebounds and is second in the league for games with 10 or more rebounds.
• Williams owns 655 career rebounds (6.6 rpg). She is 16th in program history for career rebounds.

Ranke with Range    
• Guard Rachel Ranke made an impact to K-State's lineup from the perimeter in her debut season in 2017-18 and has continued to do so at the start of the 2018-19 season.
• Ranke is averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 rebounds. She has the team lead with 68 three-point field goals made this season. Ranke ranks tied for fourth in program history for 3-point field goals made by a sophomore.
• She ranks fifth in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game (2.1) and 12th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.315).
• Over the last nine games, Ranke is averaging 13.0 points with 3.1 three-point field goals made per game.
• This season, Ranke has set new career season-highs for assists (41; 1.3 apg), blocks (10; 0.3 bpg) and steals (38; 1.2 spg).
• For her career, Ranke has made 157 three-point field goals and ranks 10th on the K-State career 3-point field goals made list.

New Carr    
• In her first season with the Wildcats, Christianna Carr is averaging 9.5 points, 1.7 three-point field goals made and 2.6 rebounds. The 2019 Big 12 All-Freshman Team recipient has reached double figures in scoring in 12 games this season.
• Carr has made 53 three-point field goals this season, which is second on the team. Her total of 53 ranks seventh for a freshman in program history.
• Carr has 14 games with two or more 3-point field goals made including a high of five against Vanderbilt on December 2.
• Carr is a two-time USBWA National Freshman of the Week and Big 12 Freshman of the Week selection this season (Jan. 22 & March 5).
• Against Princeton, Carr achieved a career-high 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
• Against Vanderbilt, she carded her second straight 20-point game with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting including a career-best 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
• She is the first K-State freshman since Rachel Ranke in the 2017-18 season to register consecutive games of 20 or more points.