K-State WBB Meets with Media on Wednesday
Oct 13, 2021 | Women's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kansas – K-State women's basketball head coach Jeff Mittie and the 2021-22 roster participated in K-State women's basketball media day at the Ice Family Basketball Center on Wednesday. Below is a transcript of the session.
HEAD COACH JEFF MITTIE
Opening Statement...
"Yeah, I'm excited for another year. Excited to be back going, it feels a lot more normal in terms of the summer preparation, the getting back to the fall. All those things have felt very, very good. We got players in waves this summer, which was a little bit different and some of that was because of high school. Some of that was because we have a young lady from Australia back home, those kinds of things but all in all, everybody came in pretty good shape and in pretty good spirits. I think we got a big lift from the summer tournament, the 3-on-3 tournament. I think that gave (Ayoka) Lee, (Cymone) Goodrich, (Rachel) Ranke and (Emilee) Ebert a really good lift in the summer, gave them a good push and then that kind of carried us over to a very solid summer. I think we've had a good solid fall so excited to be a couple weeks away from the season.
On replacing Chrissy Carr…
"I think with our team, I think the balance will be the strength of this team. I think the balance that I expect to have will be the strength of this team. What I've liked about the early part of this fall has been the ball movement has been good. I think it's trying to move to the right spots on the floor. I think they've gotten better over the course of the fall by playing together. We've played a lot. That's probably been my biggest goal was to play a lot, and you can drill a lot, you can play a lot and we've played more than we have in the past so I really wanted to build off that 3-on-3 but I also wanted our newcomers to get some familiarity with each other so that was the goal over the fall so I think what I've seen is I think we'll have better depth. We may have more players that average seven or eight points or more than we've had in the past."
On finding more balanced scoring…
"Yeah I think (Rebekah) Dallinger shoots the ball very well. She shot it very well here in the fall and a couple scrimmages, she's got a scorer's mentality. I think our freshmen have come in and done a decent job, I still feel like they're where they should be there. We're implementing a lot on offense right now so it's hard to shoot the ball well right now when you're trying to comprehend and process a lot of what we're doing. We just came off of what I call kind of a mini camp weekend. We practiced twice on Friday, team dinner at my house Friday night, twice on Saturday, team movie Saturday night, 6 am practice Sunday, team breakfast Sunday morning. We implemented all of our stuff, and you can kind of see the overload. We know Yokie (Ayoka Lee) is going to be double teamed and we expect this team to shoot it better as the fall progresses."
On which newcomers will make the most impact…
"I think for maybe one of the few times it's really hard to say because I think the positive is everybody's had good moments in practice. The negative is I'm not sure anybody separated right now. And so we're still kind of trained to figure out who plays better together at this stage of the season. Do those have an impact on how well they play? One of the things that in doing that, it just takes some time, and that's one of the reasons why we're scrimmaging as much as we can and trying to get that feel so I don't totally know the answer to that right now."
On who has made the most improvement…
"I think the player that's made the most improvement is Cymone Goodrich. I thought she had a great tournament in the 3-on-3 tournament. I think she came back into the summer with a lot of confidence. Her conditioning level is higher. She's making more plays at the defensive end and she's getting to the rim very well. I think that (Ayoka) Lee is doing some really good things. She's expanding her game in terms of facing up, we're able to play her a little more in the pick and roll game, so I think those two stick out right away."
On if any newcomers have surprised him…
"Not surprised, surprise wouldn't be the word I'd use. I've been pleased. They've come in and they really haven't missed a beat. They've been extremely competitive. They came in well conditioned. We were able to get after them right away, so all those things have been a real positive. Like I said earlier, they've all had their moments but they've also had their moments of being overloaded and in trying to process things and that slows them down but they've all had good moments and they've all had moments that they've got to learn from and grow from."
On how rare it is to have someone with Lee's talent…
"Well I'd like for it to be more common in our world, but she's got great hands. She's got a great feel around the rim. She's a great teammate, a great representative of Kansas State. She's everything you want in a player. What I'd like to see her improve on, I'd like to see her be more aggressive when she gets a step out of the paint, that's an area where she's still a little too indecisive. We've got to get her more aggressive there. I'd like to see her more aggressive when the double team comes in. That's something that we're going to be working on here quite a bit here in the next couple weeks because we do feel like teams are going to get extra help there. We're going to have to be able to play well out of that, so those are the areas I'd like to see her improve. But yeah, she's a special talent down there, there's no question."
On what Lee has meant to this program…
"Well I think that all those players are probably appreciated when they're here but they're even more appreciated. You see the great K-State fans, I was at the Hall of Fame when Darren Sproles was inducted and it's such a neat thing to see. I think our athletic department does such a great job of that and I think Yoki is gonna be in that category and staying in the present though and doing those things well now, enjoying the college experience and those things are the most important and I think Darren Sproles and Jordy Nelson and Laurie Koehn and those would all tell you that. And so, it's a special place to play women's basketball. It's a special place to coach women's basketball so you just come in and try to enjoy it the best you can. And I think our team has grown in that area, in that it's been a tough year for everybody across the country and in those areas and I think in summary they've probably grown just because of the adversity they faced in the last year."
On the athletes in grad school…
"She's (Lee) in grad school. We've got a good number of them in grad school. I think we've got four in grad school right now and I think with the COVID extra year and those things Yokie graduated early obviously we've got Rachel (Ranke) in grad school. Laura Macke should be in grad school, but she's an engineering major and that's hard. I didn't even know we had 700 level classes until I saw Laura's schedule. Apparently I didn't take any of those, but yeah, we've got a number of them in grad school."
On Dallinger's move to the Big 12…
"It's a big adjustment and it's a big jump from Miles CC to here and she knows that and she's got a knack for scoring the ball though and she shot the ball much better the last couple of weeks. I think conditioning, the speed of the game initially was much faster. She had the ball in her hands a lot at Miles and we're running her both. So I think that's been movement without the ball. Teams are gonna lock up differently at our level than they did at the junior college level, but I think she's where she should be. She's progressed nicely. In our scrimmage the other day she played very well and knocked down some big shots."
On the Glenn sisters…
"It's a good question in that there are some similarities to them but I would say Brylee is really a scrappy defender. She makes a lot of things happen there. She's coming off of ankle surgery so she wasn't attacking the basket as well a month ago but lately she's really got to the rim much better, which is what I wanted to see her be. She's got a nose for the basketball. J (Jaelyn) is more of you can probably play her one through four. She's got a deep three point shot, she's skilled with both hands, her activity level, she's probably not as scrappy as Brylee is, but she gets some things done so they both had very good moments and the one thing I'll say about our roster is I feel like every player on here can contribute and do good things. I really do. I feel like our depth is going to be a strength of our basketball team and when I look around the room here and I'm sitting here going, 'Okay, I don't know who's going to play in the game', but I expect all of them to play, and I expect all them to contribute because they've all had a pretty good fall."
On Emilee Ebert's progression…
"Yeah, late in the year I thought she made good strides. Aggressively we saw her score the basketball over the second half of the conference season much, much better than she did the first half of the conference season so just pick up where that is. I think more consistent shooter. I think getting her to the basket more is going to be important for us and I thought she really has made some good strides in that area. And then her leadership has really grown. Out of all the players coming back and talking about who defensively knows where everybody needs to be, who can instruct people, who can direct them. Emily's probably taken the biggest jump from last year to this year."
On Taylor Lauterbach…
"Taylor is one of our hardest workers, and Taylor comes in everyday. She's here many times. We practice in the mornings, it's a pretty good bet that Taylor is going to be back in here at 3:30 or 4 getting shots up or getting some extra work in the weight room, so she's really made some really good strides. She's more physical than she was. She's continuing to grow and in her explosiveness off the floor so yeah I feel very confident that if we have foul trouble or Yoki needs a breather early I feel very confident in putting Taylor in there and I think she's made big strides since a year ago. I think the biggest thing for us in terms of just our overall team is, you got a player like (Rachel) Ranke coming back that's nailed a bunch of threes, I think the balance of this will be our strength, the balanced scoring but I would include Taylor in being able to bring her in and really not miss a beat. There was a bigger gap last year, let's be honest. You got a freshman coming from high school, you've got a center that's been here. That gap has closed because of Taylor's hard work."
On Ranke's progression…
"Well I think the biggest thing that I saw in the 3-on-3, the thing that I loved about it for our particular team was I wanted everybody to be more aggressive and you got a 12-second shot clock so be more aggressive and play better at the end of the shot clock so those are all things that I think when you put that 3-on-3 in and you have 12 seconds to shoot you have to learn to play well at the end of the shot clock and you also have to learn to have a good aggressive balance. So I think she really progressed at not forcing that shot with three or four seconds left, she was able to get a better shot. She was able to trust that somebody else could get a shot. She's a veteran. She knows, she's a little bit like Ebert in that she knows what to say, when to say it, and she can help others out on the floor so yeah I think those are big benefits, especially for the young group."
On Lee getting two feet in the paint…
"I think the rule you're talking about is that I think we put it in there that she had to have two feet in the paint. I think our rule was, and that's where I talked about expanding. We don't necessarily have that rule but we had the rule that we have terminology that we use when she feels like or Taylor feels like any of our centers, it started kind of with the Yoki rule but it's for any of our centers, but just that if they have two feet in the paint, they have to throw it to them. That's the rule. All right, and they have to do everything they can to throw it to them."
On Malene Lind Pedersen…
"Yeah, well we haven't got to see her a lot because she's gonna red shirt. She's coming off the knee injury she had. Medical won't be happy with me. She had an injury that was in her lower body area. Randy's happy now. Alright so anyways, she had that injury about a month after she committed so we made the plan right away to come in and so she actually just today was able to start doing more stuff. She won't be contact until probably after the first of the year, but she's starting to get into individual work and that kind of stuff so she's actually a little bit ahead. They've been very pleased and worked very hard to get where she's at."
On Heavenly Greer…
"Yeah, right now we're in the process because Heavenly falls in that category of needing a waiver so we're in the process of working on that and we recruited Heavenly the first time around. A very athletic, strong physical body can really pass for a big. She's going to remind you a little bit of Peyton (Williams) in the passing ability that she has. She has great vision. She can find, even we've seen as she has been in practice a little bit in the last couple of weeks we've seen kind of a knack for getting there. She's pretty proud of beating me 1-on-1 the other day, 11 to 10 Apparently I thought the score was actually 10-10, but Heavenly felt like she had got the winning bucket so I let her feel good about that. You can ask her about that. I did remind her that I should have gotten the ball a couple extra times as an older person. But no, I think she can be a talented player, she gets it off the glass. Really, really got a knack there and then she's got some explosiveness around the rim that's really going to be good but yeah we're hopeful that we'll see where this next process goes with her. But we're hopeful."
AYOKA LEE, JUNIOR CENTER
On being compared to other great players…
"Yeah, I guess it's not something I ever thought about like 'yeah this is what I want'. That is how I want to be known though but I think it is just an honor. I think it is also an opportunity to grow and develop as a player because I do have more time here."
On perspective about accomplishments…
"Yeah, I think so. I strongly believe you've never arrived. There is always something you can be doing to get better whether it is on the court or even with the team, like being a good teammate and developing relationships on and off the court...Coach also talks about being where your feet are also plays into it. I am here now, what can I do to contribute?"
On 20 pts and 20 rebounds…
"I mean that would be great, but if the team is not going to adjust then yeah. I don't know if that is my goal going out every night just because I think it looks different depending on who we play. If they are double-teaming or I kick it out, we will get points off of 3's."
On being proud of any personal numbers being put up…
"Probably Oklahoma, like two years ago. That one just surprised me because I was not aware whatsoever and to be the first person in K-State history with that stat line was something I didn't expect."
RACHEL RANKE, REDSHIRT SENIOR GUARD
On the last go around…
"Oh yeah, it's crazy to think that I am a 5th year, feels like I have been here for forever but at the same time it feels like I just got here too. Looking back it is crazy to think I am already a senior but at the same time, it has been some time."
On improvement…
"Really all areas honestly. Towards the end of the year I had a big emphasis on my defense. I felt like I wanted to make more plays on the defensive end and be more active which also helps me on the offensive end, so this summer I have really just been trying to involve my game on all three levels, people obviously know I am a shooter, so being a threat on every single area is going to be huge this year."
On being a mentor…
"Stepping up in that leadership role is definitely big especially because Cymone (Goodrich) and I both came in together and we are both 5th years so we have been through this a time or two before. So I am just trying to take everyone else since we have a younger team and taking everyone else under our wing is very important just because we are used to the style and we are used to our tradition and the way we do things. We are just trying to get everyone else used to our style of what we do."
On the biggest goal for this year…
"I would say just getting better each and every day. We talk about all these goals going to the Big 12 and winning NCAA Tournaments, which is the same goal every year. I think right now we just need to focus on the process versus the results because the process will help us get to the results that we want."
EMILEE EBERT, JUNIOR GUARD
On where she wants to improve…
"The offseason has been great. We've put in a lot of good work. Everyone has seen improvement. I think one big one for me was just working on my shot, continuing to get better out there and staying aggressive."
On her leadership role…
"Yeah, the leadership role is definitely something that is going to fall on me a little bit. It's gone really well, and practice has been great. I'm happy to have a bigger role in that area."
On the new faces…
"Yeah, lots of new faces. It's been great. They came in really good. They were excited right off the bat and were ready to work. Right away, we meshed really well and they fit in. It's been awesome to see their growth and our growth and to see us become one as a team. It's been really good."
On the team's balance…
"I think we have all the pieces. I think we're really excited to get to play and see it all come together."
REBEKAH DALLINGER, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On adjustments from Australia...
"From a basketball aspect, it's more intense, more work here, we do 3-hour practices during the season or whatever, it was a big adjustment for me getting used to the training but I think it's really been worth it. I've enjoyed everything."
On how she would describe her game...
"I think I am super aggressive, I really like to get to the rim, and I can shoot the three as well, I think that's really good but I try and pride myself on defense, to get stops and help my teammates when I can, that's my main focus but scoring, driving, being aggressive is what I like most."
On the biggest challenge outside of basketball...
"In Montana it was definitely snow, I hadn't seen snow before. It was really cold and right now it is already snowing there, so I don't know how I did that for a year. I think getting used to the culture, the food is different, some language barriers are different, I think just getting used to that has been one of the biggest challenges."
On the biggest differences basketball wise...
"There's a few different rules, like the backcourt rule and the 30-second shot clock, we have a 24-second shot clock, we play FIBA rules so that's been different. That was really confusing when I first got here, I think it is pretty similar, much faster pace here and more aggressive, that's always been my game so it's been easier to adjust, it's pretty similar."
SERENA SUNDELL, FRESHMAN GUARD
On Miss Basketball last year brings extra pressure...
"I wouldn't say pressure, it was definitely a big honor considering the people before me that have received that award. I wouldn't say any pressure but Kansas State was the place for me. Being here now I can confirm that."
On the chemistry of this team...
"I think from the get go it's been good, everyday we kind of keep getting better playing together, and I think coach has done a good job kinda helping us work through that by putting in different leadership things that we're doing, allowing us to play a lot more rather than stopping us and drilling, he's just allowing us to just kind of gel right now and I think every week and everyday, were playing more together as a team."
On what she brings to the team...
"Well right now he has me playing point guard, so they call me a 3-level scorer, so I can shoot 3 pointers, I have a little bit of a mid-range game, and then I can also get to the basket, so I think I'm vertisitile. I'm a point guard now which is exciting, it's a big role but I'm taking it on to the best of my ability."
CYMONE GOODRICH, SENIOR GUARD
On finding open players…
"I have always been a pass first guard, and I enjoy getting my teammates involved and sharing the ball because this is a team sport. Being able to get everyone involved and an open shot and if somebody has it, I'm going to always pass the ball to them."
On being a senior...
"It's honestly weird, because this is my fifth year and I am kind of one of the oldest players so it definitely feels weird."
On being a leader...
"I would say yes. I am just trying to talk more and help everyone out more whether it is this area or that area but definitely trying to talk more and help out everybody."
HEAD COACH JEFF MITTIE
Opening Statement...
"Yeah, I'm excited for another year. Excited to be back going, it feels a lot more normal in terms of the summer preparation, the getting back to the fall. All those things have felt very, very good. We got players in waves this summer, which was a little bit different and some of that was because of high school. Some of that was because we have a young lady from Australia back home, those kinds of things but all in all, everybody came in pretty good shape and in pretty good spirits. I think we got a big lift from the summer tournament, the 3-on-3 tournament. I think that gave (Ayoka) Lee, (Cymone) Goodrich, (Rachel) Ranke and (Emilee) Ebert a really good lift in the summer, gave them a good push and then that kind of carried us over to a very solid summer. I think we've had a good solid fall so excited to be a couple weeks away from the season.
On replacing Chrissy Carr…
"I think with our team, I think the balance will be the strength of this team. I think the balance that I expect to have will be the strength of this team. What I've liked about the early part of this fall has been the ball movement has been good. I think it's trying to move to the right spots on the floor. I think they've gotten better over the course of the fall by playing together. We've played a lot. That's probably been my biggest goal was to play a lot, and you can drill a lot, you can play a lot and we've played more than we have in the past so I really wanted to build off that 3-on-3 but I also wanted our newcomers to get some familiarity with each other so that was the goal over the fall so I think what I've seen is I think we'll have better depth. We may have more players that average seven or eight points or more than we've had in the past."
On finding more balanced scoring…
"Yeah I think (Rebekah) Dallinger shoots the ball very well. She shot it very well here in the fall and a couple scrimmages, she's got a scorer's mentality. I think our freshmen have come in and done a decent job, I still feel like they're where they should be there. We're implementing a lot on offense right now so it's hard to shoot the ball well right now when you're trying to comprehend and process a lot of what we're doing. We just came off of what I call kind of a mini camp weekend. We practiced twice on Friday, team dinner at my house Friday night, twice on Saturday, team movie Saturday night, 6 am practice Sunday, team breakfast Sunday morning. We implemented all of our stuff, and you can kind of see the overload. We know Yokie (Ayoka Lee) is going to be double teamed and we expect this team to shoot it better as the fall progresses."
On which newcomers will make the most impact…
"I think for maybe one of the few times it's really hard to say because I think the positive is everybody's had good moments in practice. The negative is I'm not sure anybody separated right now. And so we're still kind of trained to figure out who plays better together at this stage of the season. Do those have an impact on how well they play? One of the things that in doing that, it just takes some time, and that's one of the reasons why we're scrimmaging as much as we can and trying to get that feel so I don't totally know the answer to that right now."
On who has made the most improvement…
"I think the player that's made the most improvement is Cymone Goodrich. I thought she had a great tournament in the 3-on-3 tournament. I think she came back into the summer with a lot of confidence. Her conditioning level is higher. She's making more plays at the defensive end and she's getting to the rim very well. I think that (Ayoka) Lee is doing some really good things. She's expanding her game in terms of facing up, we're able to play her a little more in the pick and roll game, so I think those two stick out right away."
On if any newcomers have surprised him…
"Not surprised, surprise wouldn't be the word I'd use. I've been pleased. They've come in and they really haven't missed a beat. They've been extremely competitive. They came in well conditioned. We were able to get after them right away, so all those things have been a real positive. Like I said earlier, they've all had their moments but they've also had their moments of being overloaded and in trying to process things and that slows them down but they've all had good moments and they've all had moments that they've got to learn from and grow from."
On how rare it is to have someone with Lee's talent…
"Well I'd like for it to be more common in our world, but she's got great hands. She's got a great feel around the rim. She's a great teammate, a great representative of Kansas State. She's everything you want in a player. What I'd like to see her improve on, I'd like to see her be more aggressive when she gets a step out of the paint, that's an area where she's still a little too indecisive. We've got to get her more aggressive there. I'd like to see her more aggressive when the double team comes in. That's something that we're going to be working on here quite a bit here in the next couple weeks because we do feel like teams are going to get extra help there. We're going to have to be able to play well out of that, so those are the areas I'd like to see her improve. But yeah, she's a special talent down there, there's no question."
On what Lee has meant to this program…
"Well I think that all those players are probably appreciated when they're here but they're even more appreciated. You see the great K-State fans, I was at the Hall of Fame when Darren Sproles was inducted and it's such a neat thing to see. I think our athletic department does such a great job of that and I think Yoki is gonna be in that category and staying in the present though and doing those things well now, enjoying the college experience and those things are the most important and I think Darren Sproles and Jordy Nelson and Laurie Koehn and those would all tell you that. And so, it's a special place to play women's basketball. It's a special place to coach women's basketball so you just come in and try to enjoy it the best you can. And I think our team has grown in that area, in that it's been a tough year for everybody across the country and in those areas and I think in summary they've probably grown just because of the adversity they faced in the last year."
On the athletes in grad school…
"She's (Lee) in grad school. We've got a good number of them in grad school. I think we've got four in grad school right now and I think with the COVID extra year and those things Yokie graduated early obviously we've got Rachel (Ranke) in grad school. Laura Macke should be in grad school, but she's an engineering major and that's hard. I didn't even know we had 700 level classes until I saw Laura's schedule. Apparently I didn't take any of those, but yeah, we've got a number of them in grad school."
On Dallinger's move to the Big 12…
"It's a big adjustment and it's a big jump from Miles CC to here and she knows that and she's got a knack for scoring the ball though and she shot the ball much better the last couple of weeks. I think conditioning, the speed of the game initially was much faster. She had the ball in her hands a lot at Miles and we're running her both. So I think that's been movement without the ball. Teams are gonna lock up differently at our level than they did at the junior college level, but I think she's where she should be. She's progressed nicely. In our scrimmage the other day she played very well and knocked down some big shots."
On the Glenn sisters…
"It's a good question in that there are some similarities to them but I would say Brylee is really a scrappy defender. She makes a lot of things happen there. She's coming off of ankle surgery so she wasn't attacking the basket as well a month ago but lately she's really got to the rim much better, which is what I wanted to see her be. She's got a nose for the basketball. J (Jaelyn) is more of you can probably play her one through four. She's got a deep three point shot, she's skilled with both hands, her activity level, she's probably not as scrappy as Brylee is, but she gets some things done so they both had very good moments and the one thing I'll say about our roster is I feel like every player on here can contribute and do good things. I really do. I feel like our depth is going to be a strength of our basketball team and when I look around the room here and I'm sitting here going, 'Okay, I don't know who's going to play in the game', but I expect all of them to play, and I expect all them to contribute because they've all had a pretty good fall."
On Emilee Ebert's progression…
"Yeah, late in the year I thought she made good strides. Aggressively we saw her score the basketball over the second half of the conference season much, much better than she did the first half of the conference season so just pick up where that is. I think more consistent shooter. I think getting her to the basket more is going to be important for us and I thought she really has made some good strides in that area. And then her leadership has really grown. Out of all the players coming back and talking about who defensively knows where everybody needs to be, who can instruct people, who can direct them. Emily's probably taken the biggest jump from last year to this year."
On Taylor Lauterbach…
"Taylor is one of our hardest workers, and Taylor comes in everyday. She's here many times. We practice in the mornings, it's a pretty good bet that Taylor is going to be back in here at 3:30 or 4 getting shots up or getting some extra work in the weight room, so she's really made some really good strides. She's more physical than she was. She's continuing to grow and in her explosiveness off the floor so yeah I feel very confident that if we have foul trouble or Yoki needs a breather early I feel very confident in putting Taylor in there and I think she's made big strides since a year ago. I think the biggest thing for us in terms of just our overall team is, you got a player like (Rachel) Ranke coming back that's nailed a bunch of threes, I think the balance of this will be our strength, the balanced scoring but I would include Taylor in being able to bring her in and really not miss a beat. There was a bigger gap last year, let's be honest. You got a freshman coming from high school, you've got a center that's been here. That gap has closed because of Taylor's hard work."
On Ranke's progression…
"Well I think the biggest thing that I saw in the 3-on-3, the thing that I loved about it for our particular team was I wanted everybody to be more aggressive and you got a 12-second shot clock so be more aggressive and play better at the end of the shot clock so those are all things that I think when you put that 3-on-3 in and you have 12 seconds to shoot you have to learn to play well at the end of the shot clock and you also have to learn to have a good aggressive balance. So I think she really progressed at not forcing that shot with three or four seconds left, she was able to get a better shot. She was able to trust that somebody else could get a shot. She's a veteran. She knows, she's a little bit like Ebert in that she knows what to say, when to say it, and she can help others out on the floor so yeah I think those are big benefits, especially for the young group."
On Lee getting two feet in the paint…
"I think the rule you're talking about is that I think we put it in there that she had to have two feet in the paint. I think our rule was, and that's where I talked about expanding. We don't necessarily have that rule but we had the rule that we have terminology that we use when she feels like or Taylor feels like any of our centers, it started kind of with the Yoki rule but it's for any of our centers, but just that if they have two feet in the paint, they have to throw it to them. That's the rule. All right, and they have to do everything they can to throw it to them."
On Malene Lind Pedersen…
"Yeah, well we haven't got to see her a lot because she's gonna red shirt. She's coming off the knee injury she had. Medical won't be happy with me. She had an injury that was in her lower body area. Randy's happy now. Alright so anyways, she had that injury about a month after she committed so we made the plan right away to come in and so she actually just today was able to start doing more stuff. She won't be contact until probably after the first of the year, but she's starting to get into individual work and that kind of stuff so she's actually a little bit ahead. They've been very pleased and worked very hard to get where she's at."
On Heavenly Greer…
"Yeah, right now we're in the process because Heavenly falls in that category of needing a waiver so we're in the process of working on that and we recruited Heavenly the first time around. A very athletic, strong physical body can really pass for a big. She's going to remind you a little bit of Peyton (Williams) in the passing ability that she has. She has great vision. She can find, even we've seen as she has been in practice a little bit in the last couple of weeks we've seen kind of a knack for getting there. She's pretty proud of beating me 1-on-1 the other day, 11 to 10 Apparently I thought the score was actually 10-10, but Heavenly felt like she had got the winning bucket so I let her feel good about that. You can ask her about that. I did remind her that I should have gotten the ball a couple extra times as an older person. But no, I think she can be a talented player, she gets it off the glass. Really, really got a knack there and then she's got some explosiveness around the rim that's really going to be good but yeah we're hopeful that we'll see where this next process goes with her. But we're hopeful."
AYOKA LEE, JUNIOR CENTER
On being compared to other great players…
"Yeah, I guess it's not something I ever thought about like 'yeah this is what I want'. That is how I want to be known though but I think it is just an honor. I think it is also an opportunity to grow and develop as a player because I do have more time here."
On perspective about accomplishments…
"Yeah, I think so. I strongly believe you've never arrived. There is always something you can be doing to get better whether it is on the court or even with the team, like being a good teammate and developing relationships on and off the court...Coach also talks about being where your feet are also plays into it. I am here now, what can I do to contribute?"
On 20 pts and 20 rebounds…
"I mean that would be great, but if the team is not going to adjust then yeah. I don't know if that is my goal going out every night just because I think it looks different depending on who we play. If they are double-teaming or I kick it out, we will get points off of 3's."
On being proud of any personal numbers being put up…
"Probably Oklahoma, like two years ago. That one just surprised me because I was not aware whatsoever and to be the first person in K-State history with that stat line was something I didn't expect."
RACHEL RANKE, REDSHIRT SENIOR GUARD
On the last go around…
"Oh yeah, it's crazy to think that I am a 5th year, feels like I have been here for forever but at the same time it feels like I just got here too. Looking back it is crazy to think I am already a senior but at the same time, it has been some time."
On improvement…
"Really all areas honestly. Towards the end of the year I had a big emphasis on my defense. I felt like I wanted to make more plays on the defensive end and be more active which also helps me on the offensive end, so this summer I have really just been trying to involve my game on all three levels, people obviously know I am a shooter, so being a threat on every single area is going to be huge this year."
On being a mentor…
"Stepping up in that leadership role is definitely big especially because Cymone (Goodrich) and I both came in together and we are both 5th years so we have been through this a time or two before. So I am just trying to take everyone else since we have a younger team and taking everyone else under our wing is very important just because we are used to the style and we are used to our tradition and the way we do things. We are just trying to get everyone else used to our style of what we do."
On the biggest goal for this year…
"I would say just getting better each and every day. We talk about all these goals going to the Big 12 and winning NCAA Tournaments, which is the same goal every year. I think right now we just need to focus on the process versus the results because the process will help us get to the results that we want."
EMILEE EBERT, JUNIOR GUARD
On where she wants to improve…
"The offseason has been great. We've put in a lot of good work. Everyone has seen improvement. I think one big one for me was just working on my shot, continuing to get better out there and staying aggressive."
On her leadership role…
"Yeah, the leadership role is definitely something that is going to fall on me a little bit. It's gone really well, and practice has been great. I'm happy to have a bigger role in that area."
On the new faces…
"Yeah, lots of new faces. It's been great. They came in really good. They were excited right off the bat and were ready to work. Right away, we meshed really well and they fit in. It's been awesome to see their growth and our growth and to see us become one as a team. It's been really good."
On the team's balance…
"I think we have all the pieces. I think we're really excited to get to play and see it all come together."
REBEKAH DALLINGER, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On adjustments from Australia...
"From a basketball aspect, it's more intense, more work here, we do 3-hour practices during the season or whatever, it was a big adjustment for me getting used to the training but I think it's really been worth it. I've enjoyed everything."
On how she would describe her game...
"I think I am super aggressive, I really like to get to the rim, and I can shoot the three as well, I think that's really good but I try and pride myself on defense, to get stops and help my teammates when I can, that's my main focus but scoring, driving, being aggressive is what I like most."
On the biggest challenge outside of basketball...
"In Montana it was definitely snow, I hadn't seen snow before. It was really cold and right now it is already snowing there, so I don't know how I did that for a year. I think getting used to the culture, the food is different, some language barriers are different, I think just getting used to that has been one of the biggest challenges."
On the biggest differences basketball wise...
"There's a few different rules, like the backcourt rule and the 30-second shot clock, we have a 24-second shot clock, we play FIBA rules so that's been different. That was really confusing when I first got here, I think it is pretty similar, much faster pace here and more aggressive, that's always been my game so it's been easier to adjust, it's pretty similar."
SERENA SUNDELL, FRESHMAN GUARD
On Miss Basketball last year brings extra pressure...
"I wouldn't say pressure, it was definitely a big honor considering the people before me that have received that award. I wouldn't say any pressure but Kansas State was the place for me. Being here now I can confirm that."
On the chemistry of this team...
"I think from the get go it's been good, everyday we kind of keep getting better playing together, and I think coach has done a good job kinda helping us work through that by putting in different leadership things that we're doing, allowing us to play a lot more rather than stopping us and drilling, he's just allowing us to just kind of gel right now and I think every week and everyday, were playing more together as a team."
On what she brings to the team...
"Well right now he has me playing point guard, so they call me a 3-level scorer, so I can shoot 3 pointers, I have a little bit of a mid-range game, and then I can also get to the basket, so I think I'm vertisitile. I'm a point guard now which is exciting, it's a big role but I'm taking it on to the best of my ability."
CYMONE GOODRICH, SENIOR GUARD
On finding open players…
"I have always been a pass first guard, and I enjoy getting my teammates involved and sharing the ball because this is a team sport. Being able to get everyone involved and an open shot and if somebody has it, I'm going to always pass the ball to them."
On being a senior...
"It's honestly weird, because this is my fifth year and I am kind of one of the oldest players so it definitely feels weird."
On being a leader...
"I would say yes. I am just trying to talk more and help everyone out more whether it is this area or that area but definitely trying to talk more and help out everybody."
📲📹🟣
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) October 14, 2021
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