Kansas State Athletics

2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships
GAME #31
(rv/-) Kansas State (20-10, 11-7 Big 12) vs. West Virginia (20-9, 11-7 Big 12)
Saturday, March 9, 2019  |  11 a.m.  |  Chesapeake Energy Arena  |  Oklahoma City, Okla.

TELEVISION
FSN & FOX Sports app
• Ron Thulin (play-by-play)
• Brenda VanLengen (analyst)

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

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 553-299/27th season  |  At K-State: 99-64/5th season
vs. West Virginia: 4-13

West Virginia: Mike Carey (Salem '80)
Overall: 679-305/31st season  |  At West Virginia: 391-203/18th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Kansas State (20-10, 11-7 Big 12)
G: #10 Kayla Goth  |  G: #12 Rachel Ranke  |  G: #43 Christianna Carr  |  F: #11 Peyton Williams |  F: #15 Kali Jones
                
West Virginia (20-9, 11-7 Big 12)
G: #5 Tynice Martin  |  G: #15 Lucky Rudd  |  G: #30 Madisen Smith  |  G/F: #0 Naomi Davenport  |  C: #34 Theresa Ekhelar

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads, 11-4
Last Meeting: February 27, 2019; K-State won 90-78 in Manhattan


MANHATTAN, Kansas - Kansas State, winners of five straight and seven of their last eight games, enters the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships as the number five seed and will face the four-seed, West Virginia, in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 11 a.m., in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

• Saturday's game will be aired on FSN, as Ron Thulin (play-by-play) and Brenda VanLengen (analyst) will have the call.
• The Wildcats enter the tournament with a five-game winning streak. This is the first time since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97 that K-State enters the tournament with a five-game winning streak and the first time since the 1983-84 season.
• Kansas State has been led this season by 2019 All-Big 12 First Team selections: senior Kayla Goth and junior Peyton Williams.
• Goth, an All-America candidate, leads the Big 12 in assists (203) and assists per game (6.8). She ranks among the top-10 in the nation in both categories. For the season, Goth is responsible for 48.1 percent of K-State's made field goals this season. She leads the Big 12 and is the top guard among Power 5 schools for percentage of a team's field goals responsible for.
• Goth is second on the team in scoring with 12.9 points per game (388 points) and leads the squad in steals (57; 1.9 spg). The preseason candidate for the 2019 Nancy Lieberman Award is the first player in program history with 375 or more points and 200 or more assists in consecutive seasons.
• Williams, an All-America candidate, leads the Wildcats with 15.8 points per game (459 points), field goal percentage (.501) and free throw percentage (.836).
• The forward from Topeka, Kansas, leads K-State in rebounding with a career-high 286 (9.9 rpg). Williams leads all players in the Big 12 for rebound percentage at 27.3 percent. She also paces the Big 12 with 14 double-doubles this season and concluded the Big 12 schedule by averaging a double-double (16.2 ppg & 10.0 rpg).

Number to Know
2
• #KStateWBB's Peyton Williams is the second junior forward in program history to register 450 or more points and 275 or more rebounds.
• The last junior forward for K-State to tally 450 or more points and 275 or more rebounds was Marsha Poppe in the 1975-76 season (515 points/287 rebounds).
• Williams has registered 459 points and a career-high 286 rebounds.
• Williams's rebounding total ranks sixth in program history for a single season. She needs 21 rebounds to set the school record for rebounds in a junior season.

Wildcats in the Big 12 Championships
• K-State is 19-22 (.463) in the Big 12 Championships.
• After finishing in a tie for fourth in the league standings, the Wildcats are the five seed in the field. Kansas State is 4-3 all-time as a five seed. The last time K-State was the five seed was the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships
• Kansas State has advanced at least one round 15 times.
• K-State is 3-6 all-time in Big 12 Championship games played in Oklahoma City.

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 an eighth-place finish by the Big 12 coaches in the 2018-19 preseason poll. K-State ended the 2018-19 season tied for fourth in the league.
• In its history, K-State leads the Big 12 in exceeding preseason predictions, finishing on average +1.48 positions higher than its preseason prediction in the 21 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 16 of 21 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.

Comeback Cats
• In Kansas State's five-game Big 12 road winning streak to conclude the regular season schedule, K-State trailed at halftime or in the second half in four of those games.
• The average deficit in the four games was 12.0 points.
• K-State's road winning streak started by overcoming a nine-point deficit in the third quarter and a seven-point deficit with 3:46 remaining in the fourth quarter to win in overtime, 72-62, at Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown on February 6.
• In K-State's third straight road win, a 69-60 victory at (15/15) Texas on February 17, the Wildcats overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.
• In the fourth consecutive road win, the Wildcats overcame an 11-point deficit in the third quarter at TCU on February 23 to win 75-72.
• To end the regular season on March 4 with the fifth straight road win, Kansas State came back from a 14-point halftime deficit by outscoring Oklahoma State in the second half, 50-26.

Wildcats Cash in at the Charity Stripe
• Kansas State has continued to earn trips to the free throw line, which is a trend during head coach Jeff Mittie's time at K-State.
• K-State is 381-of-534 (.713) from the free throw line and ranks fourth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage. The Wildcats are receiving 19.6 percent of its points this season from the foul line.
• The Wildcats have had the edge in free throw attempts in 20 of 30 games this season.
• Against Syracuse, the Wildcats carded a season-high for free throw percentage (min. 10 attempts) at 92.9 percent (13-of-14).
• Against West Virginia on February 27, the Wildcats carded a season-high for free throws made and attempted (28-of-34).
• In the 2017-18 season, the Wildcats were 438-of-605 (.724) from the foul line, which was 18.9 percent of the team's overall point total. K-State ranked fourth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage.

Williams Surpasses 1,000 Career Points    
• Junior forward Peyton Williams became the 42nd player in program history and the second this season (Kayla Goth) to reach the 1,000 point mark in her career with a jumper at TCU on February 23.
• For her career, Williams has scored 1,085 points (11.2 ppg) and is 35th in program history. She has 53 career games with 10 or more points and five or more rebounds, including 21 career double-doubles.
• Williams, a 2019 All-Big 12 First Team selection, is the 26th player in program history with 1,000 or more career points and 500 or more career rebounds and is just the fourth player with 1,000 or more career points, 600 or more career rebounds and 80 or more career blocks.
• This season, Williams is averaging team-highs of 15.8 points on a .501 field goal percentage with 9.9 rebounds. Williams ranks seventh in the Big 12 in scoring and eighth for league-only games (16.2 ppg). Her field goal percentage of .501 ranks seventh in the Big 12 and 61st in the nation.
• Williams is the first Wildcat to average a double-double (16.2 ppg; 10.0 rpg) in Big 12 play since Kendra Wecker in the 2004-05 season.
• She is the second junior forward in program history (Marsha Poppe; 1975-76) with 450 or more points and 275 or more rebounds in a season.
• Williams appears among the Big 12 statistical leaders in 10 of the 14 categories.
• She also remains an efficient scorer, as she has 51 games in her career with a field goal percentage of .500 or better.
• Against Northern Iowa, Williams registered 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. This was the second time in her career that Williams tallied a stat line of 15 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists.

Ranke Radioactive in Oklahoma    
• Rachel Ranke has enjoyed her two games in the state of Oklahoma this season. In the two games (at Oklahoma & at Oklahoma State), she was a combined 12-of-20 from beyond the arc.
• Ranke made more 3-point field goals in the state of Oklahoma among visiting Big 12 teams than any other player on the seven other teams.
• On February 10 at Oklahoma, Ranke was 8-of-14 from beyond the arc against the Sooners and tied the school record for 3-point field goals made in a conference game with Kindred Wesemann (vs. Texas, 2/4/15).
• Ranke's eight 3-pointers are tied for fourth in program history. She is the first player in program history to make eight or more 3-point field goals in a road game.
• Ranke's eight 3-pointers are tied for the second most by a Big 12 player this season and were the most in a league game this season.
• At Oklahoma State on March 4, Ranke finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc which was her 13th career game with four or more connections from behind the arc.

Jones on the Boards    
• Senior forward Kali Jones has set a career season-high for rebounds this season, as she is second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game (140 rebounds) in 22.2 minutes of action.
• Of her 140 total rebounds, 72 (2.5 orpg) have come on the offensive end of the floor. Jones ranks tied for seventh in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding. She has three games this season with five or more offensive rebounds.
• Against North Texas and at Texas, Jones set a new career-high with 11 rebounds. She has four career games with 10 or more rebounds.
• Including her 11 games at UC Santa Barbara in 2015-16, Jones owns 125 offensive rebounds in her career which is 46.3 percent of her career total.