SE: Lee’s Sensational Week is Just the Beginning
Nov 16, 2021 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Understand this about Ayoka Lee: She is just getting started. We don't know when it will end. We don't know how it will end. But it is important to enjoy the ride. People talk about once-in-a-generation players. Sometimes the term is overused. But we haven't quite seen anything like this at Kansas State. Yes, there are six women's jerseys hanging in the rafters at Bramlage Coliseum, but Lee's size coupled with her dominance early in this 2021-22 season is, well, spellbinding.
For starters, she's scored 117 points — the most over a four-game stretch in the history of K-State women's basketball.
She is even better than a year ago. Which is saying something, considering she was on the Wooden Award watch list, the Naismith Trophy watch list and Lisa Leslie Award watch list last season.
Currently she's ESPN.com National Player of the Week.
And the season is one week old.
"It's an honor," Lee says. "People were telling me congrats this morning and I didn't know why. I had to figure that one out. It's an honor. I've got a lot of basketball left to play so I've just got to keep improving and got to keep playing well as a team."
Lee has kicked off her junior season on an absolute tear. Entering Monday, the 6-foot-6 All-America candidate led women's college basketball in total points (86) and total field goals made (36), ranked second in the nation in scoring average (28.7) and fifth in total rebounds (31).
And that was before she had 31 points on 13 of 17 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and 7 blocks in 25 minutes during Kansas State's 73-49 win against North Carolina A&T in the Preseason WNIT at Bramlage Coliseum on Monday night. It marked her 31st career double-double and her second in two days.
"She's been outstanding," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "It's really hard to put — you don't take it for granted because it's awfully special to watch."
She'll get her first true test against North Carolina State's All-American senior center Elissa Cunane on Friday. But there's no telling what she will have accomplished by the time K-State opens the Big 12 season against Baylor in January.
In wins against Central Arkansas, UT Martin and Western Kentucky, Lee averaged 28.7 points on 72% shooting, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.3 blocks and 1.0 assists in just 26.3 minutes per game. Those statistics also helped Lee to earn the league's first player-of-the-week honor of the 2021-22 season.
It's already been quite a path for Lee, the native of Byron, Minnesota, a town of about 5,000 people and nestled approximately five miles west of Rochester. Prior to the season, she was named 2021-22 National Player of the Year Honorable Mention by SI.com and one of the top 50 players in the nation by ESPN.com.
"She's progressed like you'd expect," Mittie says. "She works hard. (Against North Carolina A&T), the jump hook away from the rim was a big move for her against the size. She's been maybe overpowering some smaller players the last couple games, but she had some size against her. Her guards are really getting her the basketball."
Lee is just the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks in a career. With 8 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second quarter of a 76-44 win over Western Kentucky on Sunday, Lee scored her 1,000th career point.
Her 33 points against Western Kentucky gave her 1,020 points in her career. Lee shot 14 of 17 from the floor, grabbed 13 rebounds and added a career-high 4 steals. Her 82.3% shooting from the floor tied for the fourth-highest accuracy in a single game in school history when attempting at least 15 field goals.
Last Tuesday, Lee scored a school-record 43 points, shooting 17 of 25 from the floor, while adding 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals in a 103-40 win over Central Arkansas. She eclipsed the 42 points scored by Brittany Chambers on March 21, 2013. Lee became just the third player in K-State history to score 40 or more points in a game and the first player in school history to do so in a season-opener.
That same day, she was named to the 2022 Wooden Award and 2022 Naismith Trophy Watch Lists.
And now she's national player of the week.
"Yokie knows on Wednesday, I'll be getting on her to get better on Wednesday, and she wants that," Mittie says. "She wants to be really good. When we talk about what she's doing, she knows Wednesday has to be a good practice and that our team is the most important thing.
"Right now, we have 10 players who are contributing some really good things. In watching her do what she does, our confidence continues to grow as a team."
This early 2021-22 season marks the latest of milestones in a career laced in achievement.
The first freshman in K-State history with at least 400 points, 300 rebounds and 80 blocks, Lee set nine Big 12 or school single-season records and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week a record 12 times during the 2019-20 season.
As a sophomore, Lee was rated as the third most-efficient player in the nation. She was also the only Division I player to shoot better than 60% from the floor and 80% from the free-throw line. She averaged 19.1 points, ranked third in the nation in shooting 62.1% from the floor, ranked fifth in the Big 12 in shooting 81.2% on free throws, and ranked sixth in the Big 12 with 8.7 rebounds per game, while blocking 49 shots.
Lee became the first player in school history to reach at least 450 points, 200 rebounds and 45 blocks in her first two seasons.
"Anyone's season is going to be different than last year's in general," Lee shrugs.
Now she's just beginning her junior season.
And so far, it's been quite a ride.
Understand this about Ayoka Lee: She is just getting started. We don't know when it will end. We don't know how it will end. But it is important to enjoy the ride. People talk about once-in-a-generation players. Sometimes the term is overused. But we haven't quite seen anything like this at Kansas State. Yes, there are six women's jerseys hanging in the rafters at Bramlage Coliseum, but Lee's size coupled with her dominance early in this 2021-22 season is, well, spellbinding.
For starters, she's scored 117 points — the most over a four-game stretch in the history of K-State women's basketball.
She is even better than a year ago. Which is saying something, considering she was on the Wooden Award watch list, the Naismith Trophy watch list and Lisa Leslie Award watch list last season.
Currently she's ESPN.com National Player of the Week.
And the season is one week old.
🔥🔥🔥
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 15, 2021
✅ @ESPN_WomenHoop 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸
✅ @Big12Conference 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 #KStateWBB
📰 https://t.co/darF1RkIFS pic.twitter.com/fI1HRn7es3
"It's an honor," Lee says. "People were telling me congrats this morning and I didn't know why. I had to figure that one out. It's an honor. I've got a lot of basketball left to play so I've just got to keep improving and got to keep playing well as a team."
Lee has kicked off her junior season on an absolute tear. Entering Monday, the 6-foot-6 All-America candidate led women's college basketball in total points (86) and total field goals made (36), ranked second in the nation in scoring average (28.7) and fifth in total rebounds (31).
And that was before she had 31 points on 13 of 17 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and 7 blocks in 25 minutes during Kansas State's 73-49 win against North Carolina A&T in the Preseason WNIT at Bramlage Coliseum on Monday night. It marked her 31st career double-double and her second in two days.
"She's been outstanding," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "It's really hard to put — you don't take it for granted because it's awfully special to watch."
She'll get her first true test against North Carolina State's All-American senior center Elissa Cunane on Friday. But there's no telling what she will have accomplished by the time K-State opens the Big 12 season against Baylor in January.
In wins against Central Arkansas, UT Martin and Western Kentucky, Lee averaged 28.7 points on 72% shooting, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.3 blocks and 1.0 assists in just 26.3 minutes per game. Those statistics also helped Lee to earn the league's first player-of-the-week honor of the 2021-22 season.
It's already been quite a path for Lee, the native of Byron, Minnesota, a town of about 5,000 people and nestled approximately five miles west of Rochester. Prior to the season, she was named 2021-22 National Player of the Year Honorable Mention by SI.com and one of the top 50 players in the nation by ESPN.com.
"She's progressed like you'd expect," Mittie says. "She works hard. (Against North Carolina A&T), the jump hook away from the rim was a big move for her against the size. She's been maybe overpowering some smaller players the last couple games, but she had some size against her. Her guards are really getting her the basketball."
Lee is just the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks in a career. With 8 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second quarter of a 76-44 win over Western Kentucky on Sunday, Lee scored her 1,000th career point.
💯✖️🔟@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
Her 33 points against Western Kentucky gave her 1,020 points in her career. Lee shot 14 of 17 from the floor, grabbed 13 rebounds and added a career-high 4 steals. Her 82.3% shooting from the floor tied for the fourth-highest accuracy in a single game in school history when attempting at least 15 field goals.
Last Tuesday, Lee scored a school-record 43 points, shooting 17 of 25 from the floor, while adding 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals in a 103-40 win over Central Arkansas. She eclipsed the 42 points scored by Brittany Chambers on March 21, 2013. Lee became just the third player in K-State history to score 40 or more points in a game and the first player in school history to do so in a season-opener.
That same day, she was named to the 2022 Wooden Award and 2022 Naismith Trophy Watch Lists.
And now she's national player of the week.
"Yokie knows on Wednesday, I'll be getting on her to get better on Wednesday, and she wants that," Mittie says. "She wants to be really good. When we talk about what she's doing, she knows Wednesday has to be a good practice and that our team is the most important thing.
"Right now, we have 10 players who are contributing some really good things. In watching her do what she does, our confidence continues to grow as a team."
This early 2021-22 season marks the latest of milestones in a career laced in achievement.
The first freshman in K-State history with at least 400 points, 300 rebounds and 80 blocks, Lee set nine Big 12 or school single-season records and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week a record 12 times during the 2019-20 season.
As a sophomore, Lee was rated as the third most-efficient player in the nation. She was also the only Division I player to shoot better than 60% from the floor and 80% from the free-throw line. She averaged 19.1 points, ranked third in the nation in shooting 62.1% from the floor, ranked fifth in the Big 12 in shooting 81.2% on free throws, and ranked sixth in the Big 12 with 8.7 rebounds per game, while blocking 49 shots.
Lee became the first player in school history to reach at least 450 points, 200 rebounds and 45 blocks in her first two seasons.
"Anyone's season is going to be different than last year's in general," Lee shrugs.
Now she's just beginning her junior season.
And so far, it's been quite a ride.
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