Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, November 14
Manhattan, Kan.
1 p.m.
Kansas State University
3-0,0-0Big 12
76
vs
44
Western Kentucky
-12,00 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Western Ky.
8
9
16
11
44
Kansas St.
19
20
18
19
76
Lee Marks 1,000 Career Points During Victory Against WKU
Nov 14, 2021 | Women's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kansas – Junior Ayoka Lee led the Kansas State women's basketball team to a 76-44 win over Western Kentucky, which included the All-America candidate surpassing the 1,000-career point mark and earning her 30th career double-double on Sunday afternoon in Bramlage Coliseum during the 2021 WNIT Preseason Tournament.
Lee ended the afternoon with 33 points on 14-of-17 shooting and pulled in 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the 2021-22 season. Lee also pocketed a career-high four steals.
The 33 points by Lee set the school record for points in a Preseason WNIT game, surpassing the previous mark of 26 by Kendra Wecker against Penn State on November 24, 2002.
With 8:36 to play in the second quarter, Lee scored her 1,000th-career point, becoming the 44th player in K-State women's basketball program history to reach the mark. Following her 33 points on Sunday, Lee's career total stands at 1,020 which ranks her 42nd in program history. Lee was pleased to reach the mark, but knew she couldn't relax for the rest of the game.
"Obviously it was exciting. But honestly, we still had a lot of game left and we had to keep it up. And we did. So yeah, it was exciting and fun to celebrate."
Lee's 14-of-17 (.823) shooting against the Lady Toppers tied for the fourth-highest single-game field goal percentage in school history (min. 15 field goal attempts).
K-State's (3-0) defense was stifling during the first half, holding Western Kentucky (1-2) to 19.4 percent shooting and with K-State building a 39-17 halftime lead.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 13-2 run, as Lee scored 11 of the 13 points. Kansas State would hold a 19-8 lead after the opening stanza.
It took Western Kentucky 4:28 to get out of a scoring drought with Alexis Mead making a jump shot. Mead led the Lady Toppers with 18 points.
After keeping the Lady Toppers to eight points in the first quarter and nine points in the second quarter, K-State strung together five straight quarters of holding its opponent to single digits. Head coach Jeff Mittie is pleased with his team's defensive effort.
"What I'm really pleased about right now is the growth that I've seen in not tying our defense to how well we're playing offensively. I think we're starting to learn to dig deep defensively."
K-State outscored Western Kentucky, 18-16, in the third quarter despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field (6-of-18), but managed a 5-of-8 effort from the foul line.
Kicking off the fourth quarter, K-State went on a 14-0 run. Senior forward Laura Macke recorded five points during the run, as the Wildcats increased their lead to 71-33 with 6:46 remaining in the final frame. Macke ended her day with seven points and three rebounds.
Sophomore center Taylor Lauterbach joined Lee in double figures with a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The product of Appleton, Wisconsin, added six rebounds and two blocks to her final line.
K-State has won six straight games in the Preseason WNIT.
K-State will end its four-game home stand and end the home portion of the 2021 Preseason WNIT on Monday night, as the Wildcats host North Carolina A&T at 6:30 p.m. Prior to K-State's game against the Aggies, Western Kentucky and UT Martin will square off at 4 p.m.
Ticket packages for the 2021 Preseason WNIT begin at $10 and can be purchased by calling (800) 221-CATS or by visiting kstatesports.com/tickets.
K-State's games in the 2021 Preseason WNIT will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
UT Martin 58, North Carolina A&T 40
Holly Forbes led UT Martin to its first win of the 2021-22 season, as the Skyhawks downed North Carolina A&T, 58-40, in Sunday afternoon's second game of the 2021 Preseason WNIT.
Forbes tallied 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Joining Forbes in double figures for the Skyhawks was Paige Pipkin with 13 points and seven rebounds.
What They Said
JEFF MITTIE, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Well, all in all, I think a good performance. We got off to a great start. Loved the start right away. Felt like we were the aggressors right away and that's what we wanted to be. There were some sloppy things in this. We only had 10 turnovers going into like the last six minutes and against the team that's been pushing people to 30 turnovers that's really good. So I think the fact that we were aggressive early got Western Kentucky on their heels a little bit and then we were able to play off of that. I can always nitpick on turnovers because that's been one of the things that we've prided ourselves on in my career, prided myself on, so I can always nitpick. But this team has made tremendous strides in the last three weeks taking care of the basketball. And that's been a big key to us playing better. We knew stylistically this was going to be a different game. We just knew that it was going to be way different than the Tennessee Martin game. But I thought our players handled it well. I felt like we were pretty solid most of the day."
On the performance of the younger players...
"Well yeah, I think they're continuing to grow. I think they all had moments today where they weren't as good. I saw some mental fatigue, physical fatigue as well but then they came back in, they made the adjustment and that's the area where I just think we're continuing to get better. Obviously, it's not always going to be all great, but the positive of this is the 10 players that are healthy and eligible to play right now are doing some good things together."
On where the team can grow...
"We're not shooting the ball very well right now. That's obvious. But I think we were taking the right threes. So I don't have a problem with it. I think we're gonna be a solid shooting basketball team. I think that every team's going to go through these stretches during the season and if this is ours, what I think that we need to hold on to is the fact that our defense, what I'm really pleased about right now is the growth that I've seen in not tying our defense to how well we're playing offensively. I think we're starting to learn to dig deep defensively. So I think we'll shoot the ball better as we go forward."
On how the team was pressed...
"One of the challenges of any press is that when teams get you sped up mentally or they get you sped up physically, you start to do things that you don't practice, what we call losing your fundamentals. If you can stay in your fundamentals, every press break is pretty good. If you can't stay in your fundamentals, that's when you start to do things that you don't practice, and that's when it just turns into a coach's nightmare. And today, I thought our group stayed in their fundamentals better. I think that they've continued to grow in that area. So it's much better."
On the performance in the fourth quarter...
"You look at 24 assist on 28 made baskets. I mean, that's a terrific number. I'll go back to it with when you have centers that catch and score, we're going to be a high assist team, but I think we're making the right play a good amount of the time and if you do that, I think our assist numbers will be even better. We start shooting the ball a little better from three, we're going to have some good assist numbers there. So I like where we're going. I'm glad that we're in tournament play and will face a different style team tomorrow. That will challenge our group on a short turnaround, but all this will be good for our team."
LAURA MACKE, SENIOR FORWARD
On the defense today...
"I think we're playing really good defense together. And, and like Coach Mittie said, even when our offense isn't doing good, we're still bringing it on defense. And so that's really important."
On the team working together to break the press...
"I mean, we just kind of do what we practice and if we stick to that we can break it, so we stick to that."
AYOKA LEE, JUNIOR CENTER
On reaching 1000 points in her K-State career...
"Obviously it was exciting. But honestly, we still had a lot of game left and we had to keep it up. And we did. So yeah, it was exciting and fun to celebrate. But yeah, staying focused on the game."
On what her next goal is...
"It's a great question. I don't know if I have it yet."
Lee ended the afternoon with 33 points on 14-of-17 shooting and pulled in 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the 2021-22 season. Lee also pocketed a career-high four steals.
The 33 points by Lee set the school record for points in a Preseason WNIT game, surpassing the previous mark of 26 by Kendra Wecker against Penn State on November 24, 2002.
With 8:36 to play in the second quarter, Lee scored her 1,000th-career point, becoming the 44th player in K-State women's basketball program history to reach the mark. Following her 33 points on Sunday, Lee's career total stands at 1,020 which ranks her 42nd in program history. Lee was pleased to reach the mark, but knew she couldn't relax for the rest of the game.
"Obviously it was exciting. But honestly, we still had a lot of game left and we had to keep it up. And we did. So yeah, it was exciting and fun to celebrate."
Lee's 14-of-17 (.823) shooting against the Lady Toppers tied for the fourth-highest single-game field goal percentage in school history (min. 15 field goal attempts).
K-State's (3-0) defense was stifling during the first half, holding Western Kentucky (1-2) to 19.4 percent shooting and with K-State building a 39-17 halftime lead.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 13-2 run, as Lee scored 11 of the 13 points. Kansas State would hold a 19-8 lead after the opening stanza.
It took Western Kentucky 4:28 to get out of a scoring drought with Alexis Mead making a jump shot. Mead led the Lady Toppers with 18 points.
After keeping the Lady Toppers to eight points in the first quarter and nine points in the second quarter, K-State strung together five straight quarters of holding its opponent to single digits. Head coach Jeff Mittie is pleased with his team's defensive effort.
"What I'm really pleased about right now is the growth that I've seen in not tying our defense to how well we're playing offensively. I think we're starting to learn to dig deep defensively."
K-State outscored Western Kentucky, 18-16, in the third quarter despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field (6-of-18), but managed a 5-of-8 effort from the foul line.
Kicking off the fourth quarter, K-State went on a 14-0 run. Senior forward Laura Macke recorded five points during the run, as the Wildcats increased their lead to 71-33 with 6:46 remaining in the final frame. Macke ended her day with seven points and three rebounds.
Sophomore center Taylor Lauterbach joined Lee in double figures with a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The product of Appleton, Wisconsin, added six rebounds and two blocks to her final line.
K-State has won six straight games in the Preseason WNIT.
K-State will end its four-game home stand and end the home portion of the 2021 Preseason WNIT on Monday night, as the Wildcats host North Carolina A&T at 6:30 p.m. Prior to K-State's game against the Aggies, Western Kentucky and UT Martin will square off at 4 p.m.
Ticket packages for the 2021 Preseason WNIT begin at $10 and can be purchased by calling (800) 221-CATS or by visiting kstatesports.com/tickets.
K-State's games in the 2021 Preseason WNIT will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
UT Martin 58, North Carolina A&T 40
Holly Forbes led UT Martin to its first win of the 2021-22 season, as the Skyhawks downed North Carolina A&T, 58-40, in Sunday afternoon's second game of the 2021 Preseason WNIT.
Forbes tallied 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Joining Forbes in double figures for the Skyhawks was Paige Pipkin with 13 points and seven rebounds.
What They Said
JEFF MITTIE, HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Well, all in all, I think a good performance. We got off to a great start. Loved the start right away. Felt like we were the aggressors right away and that's what we wanted to be. There were some sloppy things in this. We only had 10 turnovers going into like the last six minutes and against the team that's been pushing people to 30 turnovers that's really good. So I think the fact that we were aggressive early got Western Kentucky on their heels a little bit and then we were able to play off of that. I can always nitpick on turnovers because that's been one of the things that we've prided ourselves on in my career, prided myself on, so I can always nitpick. But this team has made tremendous strides in the last three weeks taking care of the basketball. And that's been a big key to us playing better. We knew stylistically this was going to be a different game. We just knew that it was going to be way different than the Tennessee Martin game. But I thought our players handled it well. I felt like we were pretty solid most of the day."
On the performance of the younger players...
"Well yeah, I think they're continuing to grow. I think they all had moments today where they weren't as good. I saw some mental fatigue, physical fatigue as well but then they came back in, they made the adjustment and that's the area where I just think we're continuing to get better. Obviously, it's not always going to be all great, but the positive of this is the 10 players that are healthy and eligible to play right now are doing some good things together."
On where the team can grow...
"We're not shooting the ball very well right now. That's obvious. But I think we were taking the right threes. So I don't have a problem with it. I think we're gonna be a solid shooting basketball team. I think that every team's going to go through these stretches during the season and if this is ours, what I think that we need to hold on to is the fact that our defense, what I'm really pleased about right now is the growth that I've seen in not tying our defense to how well we're playing offensively. I think we're starting to learn to dig deep defensively. So I think we'll shoot the ball better as we go forward."
On how the team was pressed...
"One of the challenges of any press is that when teams get you sped up mentally or they get you sped up physically, you start to do things that you don't practice, what we call losing your fundamentals. If you can stay in your fundamentals, every press break is pretty good. If you can't stay in your fundamentals, that's when you start to do things that you don't practice, and that's when it just turns into a coach's nightmare. And today, I thought our group stayed in their fundamentals better. I think that they've continued to grow in that area. So it's much better."
On the performance in the fourth quarter...
"You look at 24 assist on 28 made baskets. I mean, that's a terrific number. I'll go back to it with when you have centers that catch and score, we're going to be a high assist team, but I think we're making the right play a good amount of the time and if you do that, I think our assist numbers will be even better. We start shooting the ball a little better from three, we're going to have some good assist numbers there. So I like where we're going. I'm glad that we're in tournament play and will face a different style team tomorrow. That will challenge our group on a short turnaround, but all this will be good for our team."
LAURA MACKE, SENIOR FORWARD
On the defense today...
"I think we're playing really good defense together. And, and like Coach Mittie said, even when our offense isn't doing good, we're still bringing it on defense. And so that's really important."
On the team working together to break the press...
"I mean, we just kind of do what we practice and if we stick to that we can break it, so we stick to that."
AYOKA LEE, JUNIOR CENTER
On reaching 1000 points in her K-State career...
"Obviously it was exciting. But honestly, we still had a lot of game left and we had to keep it up. And we did. So yeah, it was exciting and fun to celebrate. But yeah, staying focused on the game."
On what her next goal is...
"It's a great question. I don't know if I have it yet."
CATS WIN!!! #KStateWBB pic.twitter.com/OyIQHoeBkH
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 14, 2021
Another one ✅#KStateWBB x #BeKStateGr8 pic.twitter.com/WXGt0rF6EO
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 14, 2021
No. 3⃣ for THREE!!!#KStateWBB x @GlennJaelyn pic.twitter.com/AQ53mVQAhr
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 14, 2021
💯✖️🔟@Yokie50 becomes the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.#KStateWBB pic.twitter.com/P5Her43KQK
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 14, 2021
💯💯💯💯💯
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 14, 2021
💯💯💯💯💯#KStateWBB x @Yokie50 pic.twitter.com/L6sLLpXeWi
Team Stats
WestKy
KState
FG%
.283
.444
3FG%
.154
.188
FT%
.600
.708
RB
34
46
TO
22
15
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
C
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