K-State Returns to Action at West Virginia

GAME #10
Kansas State (5-4, 0-2 Big 12) at West Virginia (10-2, 4-2 Big 12)
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 | 6 p.m. (CT) | WVU Coliseum | Morgantown, W. Va.

TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Nick Farrell
Analyst: Meg Bulger

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 575-318/29th season | At K-State: 121-83/7th season

West Virginia: Mike Carey (Salem '80)
Overall: 708-321/33rd season | At West Virginia: 420-219/20th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)
Kansas State (5-4, 0-2 Big 12)
G: #4 Sydney Goodson | G: #12 Rachel Ranke | G: #24 Emilee Ebert | G: #43 Christianna Carr | C: #50 Ayoka Lee

West Virginia (10-2, 4-2 Big 12)
G: #2 Kysre Gondrezick | G: #3 Kirsten Deans | F: #12 Esmery Martinez | F: #14 Kari Niblack | G: #30 Madisen Smith

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads, 12-6
In Morgantown: 2-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 11, 2020; K-State won 56-55 (Morgantown)
Head Coach Jeff Mittie vs. West Virginia: 6-14

MANHATTAN, Kansas - Kansas State returns to the court for the first time in a month, as the Wildcats travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, to face West Virginia on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. (CT).

• Wednesday's game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Nick Farrell (play-by-play) and Meg Bulger (analyst) will have the call.
• The Wildcats are led this season by sophomore Ayoka Lee, junior Christianna Carr and redshirt junior Rachel Ranke.
• Lee, a candidate for all four of the national player of the year awards, leads K-State in scoring (16.9 ppg), field goal percentage (.632), rebounds (6.6 rpg) and blocks (2.0). She ranks leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage and 10th in scoring.
• Carr is second on the team and ranks 17th in the Big 12 in scoring with 13.1 points per game while shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range. She is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game 2.9.
• Ranke continues her climb towards 1,000 career points, as she is averaging 9.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She needs 117 points to become the 43rd player in program history with 1,000 or more career points.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Doorstep of 975
• With its next win, K-State will become the third Big 12 program and the 19th in NCAA Division I women's basketball history to win 975 or more games.
2. Lee Among League Leaders
• Ayoka Lee, after missing two games, has reached the Big 12 threshold for percent of games played to appear among the league leaders. Lee leads the league in field goal percentage (.632), second in blocks (2.0), ranks 10th in scoring (16.9 ppg), ranks 10th in free throw percentage (.744) and 12th in rebounding (6.6 rpg).
3. Ebert Emerging
• Sophomore guard Emilee Ebert leads K-State in assists (29; 3.2 apg) and is second for total blocks (12; 1.3 bpg). Both are career season-highs for Ebert.
4. Ranke from Distance
• Redshirt junior guard Rachel Ranke connected on a pair of 3-pointers against Texas. With 10 made 3-point field goals, Ranke will become the seventh player in program history with 200 or more connection from 3-point range.
5. Blocks are a Positive
• K-State has a blocked shot differential of +34 this season (48-14). Since blocks became official in 1982-83, K-State has 19 seasons with a positive blocked shot differential including a school record +73 (163-90) in the 2005-06 season.

Number to Know
3.72
• Sophomore center Ayoka Lee has been an influence on the defensive end of the floor for K-State in her career.
• Lee is averaging 3.72 blocks and steals per game in her career, which ranks first in school history on a per game average. She is just one of five players to average 3.0 blocks and steals per game.
• Lee ranks sixth in school history with 105 career blocks and holds the school record for blocks per game at 2.92.

Last Time Out
(20/22) Texas 62, at Kansas State 52 (December 21, 2020; Manhattan, Kan.)
• Texas led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, but K-State narrow the game to five with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
• K-State was led by Christianna Carr with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting and six rebounds.
• Rachel Ranke also reached double figures with 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

At a Glance: West Virginia
• After opening Big 12 action with a two losses, West Virginia (10-2, 4-2 Big 12) has rolled to a five-game winning streak including a 67-59 comeback win over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
• On the sideline, West Virginia is led by 20th-year head coach Mike Carey. In his time with the Mountaineers, Carey has achieved a record of 407-212 (.658) and captured a share of the 2014 Big 12 regular season title and the 2017 Big 12 tournament crown.
• On the floor, West Virginia has four players averaging double figures in scoring and are paced by redshirt senior Kysre Gondrezick and sophomore Esmery Martinez.
• Gondrezick paces the Mountaineers with 20.4 points and is shooting .366 (26-of-71) from beyond the arc. She also leads West Virginia with 4.7 assists per game.
• Martinez is averaging a double-double this season with 13.8 points and 13.2 rebounds. Against the Cowgirls, Martinez was one of four players in double figures for points with 12 and 10 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 244-178 (.578) in the first month of the year.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 24-26 (.480) in January with the Wildcats.
• K-State has registered a .500 or better record in January 32 times in the history of the program.

Wildcats on the Road
• K-State has a 281-296 (.487) record in road games during the program's 53-year history.
• Since the 2000-01 season, K-State owns an 121-116 (.511) mark in road contests. K-State is 15-9 (.625) in the last three seasons in road games and are 10-4 in their last 14 Big 12 road games.
• With a 76-72 win at Texas Tech on January 11, K-State tied the school record for consecutive Big 12 road wins with six straight.
• In his career in games played on the road, head coach Jeff Mittie is 158-174 (.476) including a 32-37 (.464) mark during his time at K-State.

Cats Send Back Shots Under Mittie
• Under head coach Jeff Mittie, Kansas State has piled up blocked shots. K-State has sent back 975 shots for 4.78 per game in the 204 games. K-State has 140 or more blocks in each of Mittie's seven seasons.
• The Wildcats have 48 blocks (5.3 bpg) this season and rank third in the Big 12 and 25th in the nation for blocks per game.
• K-State opened the 2020-21 season with 10 blocks against Southern. The 10 blocks were tied for the second most in the Big 12 during the opening week.
• K-State has blocked 10 or more shots in a game 10 times (9-1) since Mittie took over the program in 2014-15.
• In the 2019-20 season, the Wildcats averaged 5.6 blocks per game and had 163 total blocks. K-State ranked 11th in the nation in blocks per game and 16th for total blocks. According to herhoopstats.com, K-State ranked 17th in the nation in block rate at 12.9 percent. K-State has finished among the top-35 in block rate in three of the last five seasons including 11th in the 2015-16 season.
• K-State's blocks total of 163 tied for second in school history for a single season.
• The per game total of 5.6 set the single-season record, topping the previous mark of 5.0 set in the 2007-08 season.
• K-State set a 2019-20 season-high with 11 blocks against UIC on November 11. The 11 blocks were the third-highest total in the Mittie era and the sixth-most in program history for a single game.

Lee Efficient from the Field
• Ayoka Lee continues to put the ball in the hoop at a high rate and is among the top-five on the K-State career field goal percentage list.
• In her career, Lee has a field goal percentage of .579 (227-of-392) and ranks third in program history for career field goal percentage.
• This season, Lee is shooting .632 (43-of-68) from the field and leads the Big 12 and eighth in the nation for field goal percentage.
• At Iowa State, Lee was 7-of-10 (.700) from the floor. This was her 27th career game with five or more made field goals.
• Lee has 24 career games with a field goal percentage of .500 or better.
• In the 2019-20 season, Lee shot .568 (184-of-324) from the field and ranked second in the Big 12 and 20th in the nation. Among freshmen in the nation, Lee ranked fifth for field goal percentage.
• Among centers in the nation, Lee ranked fourth for field goals made (184) and fifth for field goal percentage.
• In Big 12 games, Lee led the league in field goal percentage .578 (119-of-206).
• Lee's field goal percentage in the 2019-20 season ranked as the second-highest in a freshman season in program history (min. 150 field goal attempts).
• Lee was 10-of-10 from the field against UIW on December 3, 2019, and tied the school record set by Priscilla Gary on December 31, 1982, against Cal State Fullerton. Her perfect field goal percentage set the Bramlage Coliseum record for field goal percentage in a game by a K-State player.
• Lee was the ninth player in the history of the Big 12 to finish a game perfect from the field with 10 or more attempts.
• With her effort against UIW, Lee posted the top single-game field goal percentage with a minimum of 10 field goal attempts in the nation last season and was one of six players to finish a game perfect from the floor with at least 10 attempts in the 2019-20 season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christianna Carr

Emilee Ebert

Sydney Goodson

Ayoka Lee

Rachel Ranke

Kansas State University Athletics