K-State Opens Big 12 Play Against (19/21) West Virginia

GAME #12
(19/21) West Virginia (10-1) at Kansas State (6-5)
Sunday, January 5, 2020 | 12 p.m. | Bramlage Coliseum | Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
FSN
• Tracy Warren (play-by-play)
• Kimberly Adams (analyst)

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

TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
Tickets
(800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 560-306/28th season | At K-State: 106-71/6th season

West Virginia: Mike Carey (Salem '80 & 88)
Overall: 691-308/32nd season | At West Virginia: 403-206/19th season)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)
Kansas State (6-5)
G: #3 Angela Harris | F: #11 Peyton Williams | F: #25 Jasauen Beard | G: #43 Christianna Carr | C: #50 Ayoka Lee

West Virginia (10-1)
G: #2 Kysre Gondrezick | G: #5 Tynice Martin | F: #14 Kari Niblack | C: #22 Blessing Ejiofor | G: #30 Madisen Smith

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads the series, 11-5
In Manhattan: 3-4
Last Meeting: K-State won, 72-59, on March 9, 2019, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Head Coach Jeff Mittie vs. West Virginia: 5-13

MANHATTAN, Kansas - K-State begins its 24th season of Big 12 action on Sunday, January 5, against (19/21) West Virginia at 12 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum. This will be the fourth straight season and the 14th time in 24 league openers in which K-State will open league play against a ranked opponent.

• Sunday's game can be seen live on FSN, as Tracy Warren (play-by-play) and Kimberly Adams (analyst) will have the call.
• K-State features two players averaging a double-double this season, led by redshirt freshman center Ayoka Lee at 15.6 points on a .551 field goal percentage and 11.0 rebounds. Lee is also averaging 3.2 blocks.
• Senior Peyton Williams joins Lee in averaging a double-double with 15.0 points on a .504 field goal percentage and a team-high 12.2 rebounds. Williams, a candidate for every national award, has notched six double-doubles in her 10 games this season.
• Defensively, K-State is among the national leaders in blocked shots with 68 this season. The Wildcats rank seventh in blocks per game (6.2) and are 18th in total blocks.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Big 12 Openers
• K-State is 9-14 overall in Big 12 openers. The Wildcats look to snap a seven-game losing streak in league openers. K-State's last win in a Big 12 opener came on January 4, 2012, against fourth ranked Texas A&M.
2. Board Work
• Kansas State leads the Big 12 and ranks eighth in the nation for rebounds per game (45.6 rpg).
3. Helping Hand
• Kansas State is third in the Big 12 and 31st in the nation for assists per game at 16.6. The Wildcats are paced by senior Angela Harris with 4.1 assists per game.
4. Lee Pacing Big 12 Freshmen
• Redshirt freshman center Ayoka Lee leads all Big 12 freshmen in rebounding (11.0 rpg), blocks (3.2 bpg) and offensive rebounds (4.9 orpg). She is second among the league's freshmen in scoring (15.6 ppg) and field goal percentage (.551).
5. Williams Approaching Top-10 in Rebounding
• Peyton Williams is approaching a K-State career milestone, as she needs two rebounds to move into the top-10 in program history for career rebounds. Williams has 781 career boards and ranks 11th in program history in the category.

Last Time Out
Kansas State 79, UTRGV 66 (December 28, 2019; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State overcame its largest deficit of the season, 13 points, to down the Vaqueros. The Wildcats scored 22 or more points in the final three quarters after a nine-point first quarter.
• Four of K-State's five starters reached double figures, led by Christianna Carr with 20 points and Peyton Williams with 17.
• K-State scored 23 points off 19 UTRGV turnovers. This was the fifth time K-State scored 20 or more points off turnovers.

Number to Know
243
• K-State redshirt freshman Ayoka Lee and senior Peyton Williams have combined for 243 rebounds in the first 11 games this season.
• The pair is one of two in the Big 12 to pull in 240 or more rebounds at the conclusion of the non-conference schedules (Texas - Charli Collier & Joyner Holmes).
• Lee and Williams are responsible for 48.5 percent of K-State's 501 total rebounds. The combined rebound rate Lee and Williams leads the Big 12.

At a Glance: West Virginia
• (19/21) West Virginia (10-1, 0-0 Big 12) comes to Manhattan with a six-game winning streak in tow following a 68-62 win over Cornell on December 31. The Mountaineers have downed a pair of ranked opponents this season with wins over Mississippi State and Michigan State.
• On the sideline, West Virginia is led by 19th-year head coach Mike Carey. In his time with the Mountaineers, Carey has achieved a record of 403-206 (.662) and captured a share of the 2014 Big 12 regular season title and the 2017 Big 12 tournament crown. Sunday's game will be the 1,000 career game Carey has coached in his 32 seasons of coaching.
• On the floor, West Virginia is paced by Kysre Gondrezick and Tynice Martin.
• Gondrezick paces the Mountaineers with 16.8 points and is shooting .394 (28-of-71) from beyond the arc. Against Cornell, she tallied 14 points, four assists and three steals.
• Martin has played in nine games this season and is averaging 15.3 points. Against Cornell, she led the Mountaineers with 19 points and also hauled in six rebounds.

1st Month the 1st to 200 Wins
• January was the first month in the history of K-State women's basketball to surpass the 200-win plateau and the Wildcats own an overall record in the month of 241-174 (.581) in the first month of the year.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 21-22 (.488) in January with the Wildcats.
• K-State has registered a .500 or better record in January 32 times in the history of the program.

Double-Double Vision
• K-State's post duo of Peyton Williams and Ayoka Lee have been a double-double tandem in their first season together.
• The pair has recorded a combined 13 double-doubles this season. Lee has a team-high seven double-doubles, while Williams has six. Lee ranks tied for fourth in the Big 12 and 13th in the nation.
• Williams and Lee are each averaging a double-double this season, as Williams has 15.0 points and 12.2 rebounds while Lee stands at 15.6 points and 11.0 rebounds. They are only set of teammates in the nation to average a double-double this season.
• Last season, Williams (14) paired with guard Kayla Goth (6) to register 20 combined double-doubles.

20-Pt Quarters for the Wildcats
• Since the inception of the quarter system in the 2015-16 season, K-State owns an overall record of 72-32 (.692) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• Against Oral Roberts, K-State tallied 33 points in the first quarter to set the school record for points in a first quarter.
• The Wildcats followed with 30 points in the second quarter against the Golden Eagles, marking the first time K-State notched 30 or more points in consecutive quarters.
• Since the 2015-16 season, K-State has registered 165 quarters with 20 or more points with a high of 43 in the 2017-18 season. In the 2019-20 season, K-State has 15 quarters with 20 or more points scored.

Carr Starts Strong
• Christianna Carr is averaging 12.3 points and pulling in 3.4 rebounds to begin the 2019-20 season. She is also shooting 35.9 percent (28-of-78) from beyond the arc. She ranks tied for second in the Big 12 for 3-point field goals made per game (2.6).
• Against UIC, Carr recorded her fifth career game with 20 or more points with 20. She buried four 3-point field goals against the Flames.
• She followed that effort with a career-high 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the free throw line against Oral Roberts. This was the second time in her career she has scored 20 or more points in consecutive games.
• In her career, Carr has 21 games with two or more 3-point field goals made including nine games with four or more and a career-high of five twice.
• In her first season with the Wildcats, Carr was a 2019 Big 12 All-Freshman Team recipient as she averaged 9.8 points, 1.7 three-point field goals made and 2.8 rebounds. She was a two-time USBWA National Freshman of the Week and Big 12 Freshman of the Week selection last season (Jan. 22 & March 5).
• Carr made 56 three-point field goals last season, which was second on the team. Her total of 56 ranked tied for sixth for a freshman in program history. She was the fourth K-State freshman to register 325 or more points and 50 or more three-point field goals made in a season.

Lee the Queen of the Block
• Redshirt freshman Ayoka Lee has established herself as one of the top shot blockers in the nation in the early stages of her career.
• Lee is averaging 3.2 blocks per game to rank eighth in the nation and second in the Big 12. Her total of 35 blocks ranks 12th in the nation. She is second among all freshmen in the nation in blocks per game.
• With her 35 blocks, Lee has begun her climb up the K-State single-season freshman record. She ranks fourth for blocks in a freshman season in program history.
• Lee has registered three games with five or more blocks and ranks tied for fourth in program history for career games with five or more blocks.

K-State Opens Big 12 Play Against (19/21) West Virginia

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Players Mentioned

Jasauen Beard

Christianna Carr

Kayla Goth

Angela Harris

Ayoka Lee

Peyton Williams

Kansas State University Athletics