SE: Wildcats Looking to Find More “Balanced Scoring” in Big 12 Play
Jan 26, 2021 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
The assignment for K-State Women's Basketball was pretty simple following Saturday's loss to Kansas.
"We've got to get more players playing well," Jeff Mittie said, after the Wildcats saw a six-game winning streak in Lawrence come to an end.
For stretches on Monday, K-State appeared to have found the depth they needed, before a familiar script doomed the Wildcats in a 69-55 loss to Oklahoma State.
"The last three, four, five minutes have not been good," Mittie said. "We survived a good portion of this game without [Ayoka] Lee…I thought when we stayed disciplined in that third and early fourth, we were getting some good stuff."
Since the program returned from a 30-day pause to their season due to COVID-19 precautions, Lee and Christianna Carr have provided most of the scoring for K-State.
That was no surprise to Mittie, given that his All-Big 12 duo were part of a limited number of Wildcats who could practice as K-State had to postpone five conference games this month.
On Monday, Rachel Ranke scored 11 points and finished with her best three-point shooting night of the season, with Sydney Goodson and Laura Macke also finding another gear.
If K-State is going to get across the finish line this season, those players will need to recreate some of the moments that helped put the Wildcats in a position to win against Oklahoma State.
"They were more aggressive today and I thought we had a better look offensively," Mittie said. "It was a step in the right direction. I thought [Emilee] Ebert had spots as well."
The Wildcats saw their hand forced on Monday afternoon, with Lee in foul trouble throughout much of the afternoon.
Holding a player that Mittie called a "first-round draft pick" in the WNBA to a 5-for-18 night from the field, Macke gave the Wildcats an opportunity down the stretch.
On offense, Ranke seemed to find her shooting touch from distance against the Cowgirls, hitting the kind of three-point shots that helped the 'Cats grab momentum in the third quarter.
Only a few misses around the rim held Ranke back from the kind of monster performance that the Wildcats needed with Lee on the bench. For a player who picked up an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention before the season, Ranke has got the needle pointing in the right direction.
The same could be said for Goodson, who returned to the starting lineup against Oklahoma State and logged 34 minutes after two games coming off the bench.
"I think it's fun, I want to play as many minutes as I can," she said. "Take care of your body on off days and handle recovery with our strength coach. This is why we're here."
Goodson was active and engaged as the lead guard for K-State on Tuesday, her fourth-straight game with at least two steals and another efficient night shooting the basketball.
"Yokie is a crucial part of our team, so when she's not in, we've all got to step up," Goodson said. "There's room for us to grow in that area."
She finished with nine points, just missing a season-high scoring performance in the loss.
Those numbers from Goodson, along with bounce-back nights from Macke and Ranke, were crucial without Lee and put the Wildcats in a position to compete on Monday.
Improving on those numbers, even when their All-Big 12 center is back on the floor, could go a long way towards determining how K-State responds to this difficult stretch in conference play.
"We've got to find a third scorer. We've got to find a fourth scorer. We haven't had that," Mittie said. "This was a better-balanced scoring effort by our team. Hopefully, we can carry that forward."
The assignment for K-State Women's Basketball was pretty simple following Saturday's loss to Kansas.
"We've got to get more players playing well," Jeff Mittie said, after the Wildcats saw a six-game winning streak in Lawrence come to an end.
For stretches on Monday, K-State appeared to have found the depth they needed, before a familiar script doomed the Wildcats in a 69-55 loss to Oklahoma State.
"The last three, four, five minutes have not been good," Mittie said. "We survived a good portion of this game without [Ayoka] Lee…I thought when we stayed disciplined in that third and early fourth, we were getting some good stuff."
Since the program returned from a 30-day pause to their season due to COVID-19 precautions, Lee and Christianna Carr have provided most of the scoring for K-State.
That was no surprise to Mittie, given that his All-Big 12 duo were part of a limited number of Wildcats who could practice as K-State had to postpone five conference games this month.
On Monday, Rachel Ranke scored 11 points and finished with her best three-point shooting night of the season, with Sydney Goodson and Laura Macke also finding another gear.
If K-State is going to get across the finish line this season, those players will need to recreate some of the moments that helped put the Wildcats in a position to win against Oklahoma State.
"They were more aggressive today and I thought we had a better look offensively," Mittie said. "It was a step in the right direction. I thought [Emilee] Ebert had spots as well."
The Wildcats saw their hand forced on Monday afternoon, with Lee in foul trouble throughout much of the afternoon.
Macke picked up those minutes with a tough assignment in 2020 All-Big 12 First Team center Natasha Mack.
Macke has been in and out of the starting five this season, but asking her to slide into the paint and play with her back to the basket against the Cowgirls was a different kind of challenge.Holding a player that Mittie called a "first-round draft pick" in the WNBA to a 5-for-18 night from the field, Macke gave the Wildcats an opportunity down the stretch.
On offense, Ranke seemed to find her shooting touch from distance against the Cowgirls, hitting the kind of three-point shots that helped the 'Cats grab momentum in the third quarter.
Only a few misses around the rim held Ranke back from the kind of monster performance that the Wildcats needed with Lee on the bench. For a player who picked up an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention before the season, Ranke has got the needle pointing in the right direction.
The same could be said for Goodson, who returned to the starting lineup against Oklahoma State and logged 34 minutes after two games coming off the bench.
"I think it's fun, I want to play as many minutes as I can," she said. "Take care of your body on off days and handle recovery with our strength coach. This is why we're here."
Goodson was active and engaged as the lead guard for K-State on Tuesday, her fourth-straight game with at least two steals and another efficient night shooting the basketball.
"Yokie is a crucial part of our team, so when she's not in, we've all got to step up," Goodson said. "There's room for us to grow in that area."
She finished with nine points, just missing a season-high scoring performance in the loss.
Those numbers from Goodson, along with bounce-back nights from Macke and Ranke, were crucial without Lee and put the Wildcats in a position to compete on Monday.
Improving on those numbers, even when their All-Big 12 center is back on the floor, could go a long way towards determining how K-State responds to this difficult stretch in conference play.
"We've got to find a third scorer. We've got to find a fourth scorer. We haven't had that," Mittie said. "This was a better-balanced scoring effort by our team. Hopefully, we can carry that forward."
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