K-State Opens 2021-22 Season on Tuesday Night

GAME #1
Central Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 ASUN) at Kansas State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Bramlage Coliseum | Manhattan, Kan.

TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Missy Heidrick
Sideline: Kelsey Bigelow

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Matt Walters
Analyst: Kristin Waller

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

PROMOTIONS & TICKETS
Tickets
Call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets

COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 579-332/30th season | At K-State: 125-97/8th season

Central Arkansas: Sandra Rushing (Alabama '86)
Overall: 570-364/33rd season | At Central Arkansas: 167-108/10th season

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)
Kansas State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
G: #4 Serena Sundell | G: #5 Brylee Glenn | G: #13 Laura Macke | G: #14 Rebekah Dallinger | C: #50 Ayoka Lee

Central Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 ASUN)
G: #11 Savanna Walker | G: #12 Carly Hudspeth | F: #21 Jayla Cody | F: #24 Lucy Ibeh | F: #42 Hannah Langhi

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads, 3-0
In Manhattan: 2-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 5, 2020; K-State won 47-33 (Conway, Ark.)
Head Coach Jeff Mittie vs. Central Arkansas: 2-0
• This is the second straight season the Wildcats and Sugar Bears will meet. The 2020-21 matchup was not on the original schedule, but COVID-19 cancellations on both teams' schedules in the same weekend resulted in the quickly arranged December 5, 2020, contest in Conway, Arkansas, a 47-33 win for K-State.
• The Wildcats are 7-0 against schools from the Atlantic Sun Conference.

MANHATTAN, Kansas - K-State begins its 54th season on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats host Central Arkansas at 6:30 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum. Tuesday night's game is the start of a four-game homestand for the Wildcats.

• Tuesday's game can be seen live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Missy Heidrick (analyst) and Kelsey Bigelow (sideline) will have the call.
• Kansas State completed a two-game exhibition schedule with a pair of wins - 68-39 over Washburn and 101-54 over Pittsburg State.
• As a team, the Wildcats averaged 84.5 points per game and shot .478 from the field. Defensively, K-State held its two opponents to a .284 field goal percentage including a .158 three-point field goal percentage.
• Junior center and All-America candidate Ayoka Lee led K-State with an average of 28.5 points on .758 shooting with 11.0 rebounds in just 19.0 minutes per game.
• Sophomore center Taylor Lauterbach came off the bench to record 9.0 points on a .643 field goal percentage and hauled in 6.0 rebounds.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Home Openers
• Kansas State has won 27 of its last 29 home openers in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats are 44-9 (.830) all-time in home openers and 29-4 (.879) in openers in Bramlage.
2. Lee Named to Leslie Award Watch List
• Ayoka Lee was just one of two Big 12 players selected to the 20-member candidate list for the 2022 Lisa Leslie Award Watch List. This is the second straight season Lee has been named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List.
3. Lee Nearing 1K
• With 66 points, Ayoka Lee will become the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 or more career points. When she reaches the milestone, Lee will become the 27th player in program history and the sixth center to reach 1,000 or more career points and 500 or more career rebounds.
4. Experienced Guards
• With their first official game action in the 2021-22 season, senior guards Cymone Goodrich and Rachel Ranke will become the third and fourth players in program history - Jenny Coalson (1995-00) and Kim Price (1978-83) - to play at least one game in five different seasons for the Wildcats and the first set of teammates to achieve the feat.
5. Masterpiece in the Paint
• K-State scored 66 points in the paint against Pittsburg State, which would have outscored the Gorillas, 66-54. In the two exhibition games, the Wildcats scored 106 of its 169 total points in the lane (62.7 percent).

Number to Know
1,050

• K-State has blocked 1,050 shots in the last seven seasons, which is 4.73 per game.
• The 1,050 blocks are the most in any seven-season span in program history.
• In the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats blocked 123 shots (4.56 bpg) and ranked third in the Big 12 and 39th in the nation for blocks per game. K-State was 23rd in the nation for total blocks.
• The 123 blocks last season were the 14th highest total in program history and marked the seventh straight season K-State has blocked 120 or more shots.

At a Glance: Central Arkansas
• Central Arkansas begins its first season in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Sugar Bears were chosen by the ASun's coaches for an eighth-place finish, while the league's media pegged UCA for a seventh-place finish in the preseason polls.
• On the sideline, Central Arkansas is led by 10th-year head coach Sandra Rushing. The 1986 graduate of Alabama owns a career record of 570-364 (.610) and is 167-108 (.607) during her time in Conway.
• On the floor, the Sugar Bears are led by senior Lucy Ibeh.
• Ibeh was named to the Atlantic Sun's Preseason All-Conference Team. Ibeh averaged 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in the 2020-21 season.

Last Time Out
at K-State 101, Pittsburg State 54 (Nov. 5, 2021; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State turned a 16-point halftime lead into a 47-point final margin with the help of a 57-26 second half performance which included a .583 second half field goal percentage.
• The Wildcats recorded 66 points in the paint on Friday.
• Ayoka Lee led the Wildcats with 40 points on 17-of-20 shooting and 13 rebounds.

K-State in Season Openers
• The Wildcats have been dominant in season-openers since the team's first season in 1968-69. Kansas State is 44-9 (.830) in season openers and have won 20 of the last 22 season openers, including 11 straight.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 23-6 (.793) in season-openers, including a 7-0 mark at K-State.

K-State in Home Openers
• Kansas State has won 27 of its last 29 home openers in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats are 44-9 (.830) all-time in home openers and 29-4 (.879) in openers in Bramlage.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 27-2 (.931) in home openers in his previous 29 seasons.

K-State Holds Foes to Single-Digits
• Entering the seventh season of the quarter system in women's college basketball, K-State's defense has limited its opponents point production for 10 minute durations.
• Kansas State is 56-21 (.727) when holding an opponent to single digits in any quarter in a game.
• K-State held opponents to 14 single-digit scoring quarters in the 2020-21 season.
• For the first time since the beginning of the quarter system in women's basketball, the Wildcats held a foe to single digits in three of four quarters. K-State kept Central Arkansas in single digits in the first, second and fourth quarters. The Wildcats held the Sugar Bears to four points in the fourth quarter, which tied the school record for the fewest allowed in a fourth quarter.
• The four points allowed were the fewest K-State allowed in any quarter since holding Oklahoma State to three points in the first quarter on January 23, 2019.
• In the quarterfinals of the 2021 Big 12 Championship, K-State held West Virginia to five points in the second quarter. The five points tied the Big 12 record for fewest points allowed in a quarter in Big 12 Championship history.

K-State Cleaning the Glass
• The Wildcats had an advantage on the boards in 2020-21, 36.7 to 34.9. K-State was fifth in the Big 12 for rebound margin at +1.81.
• K-State had 11 games last season with 40 or more rebounds including a season-high 57 against Kansas City on December 14.
• Since the 2001-02 season, Kansas State owns a record of 243-43 (.850) when holding the edge on the glass.

Sharing is Caring
• K-State dished out 429 assists (15.89 apg) on 602 made field goals in the 2020-21 season which was an assist percentage of 71.3. The Wildcats ranked third in the Big 12 for all games in assists per game and third in the league for Big 12-only games (16.0 apg).
• The assisted shot rate of 71.3 percent was the highest in school history.
• K-State handed out the most assists per game, 15.9, in the Mittie era. The 15.9 assists per game were the most for the program since the 2005-06 season.
• According to HerHoopStats.com, K-State ranked fifth in the nation in assist percentage and are the top Power 5 program in the category. Since assists became an official stat in 1981-82, Kansas State has registered an assisted shot rate of 60.0 percent or higher at the end of a season 21 times in its history.
• The Wildcats featured seven players last season with 20 or more assists and were led by returners Emilee Ebert (90) and Cymone Goodrich (68).
• K-State had eight games last season with 20 or more assists.
• The Wildcats had a season-high 24 assists against Oklahoma on January 31. Of the eight players that saw the floor against the Sooners, seven handed out three or more assists.
• The Wildcats are 71-6 when handing out 20 or more assists over the last 14 years.
• K-State handed out 20 or more assists in consecutive games for the first time this season with 21 at TCU on February 10 and 22 against Kansas on February 13.
• K-State tallied a season-high assist percentage of 88.9 percent with 24 assists on 27 made field goals against Oklahoma on January 31.

Nobody Does It Like Ayoka Lee
• Ayoka Lee averaged a career-best 19.1 points per game while scoring a career-high 478 points in the 2020-21 season. She ranked seventh in the Big 12 and 41st in the nation in scoring. Nationally among centers, Lee ranked second in the nation for scoring average.
• Her scoring average in the 2020-21 season was the highest by a Wildcat since Brittany Chambers set the school record at 21.0 per game in 2012-13.
• With her 478 points in the 2020-21 season, Lee established a new career-high and was the 17th player in program history to register two or more consecutive seasons with 400 or more points scored.
• She scored in double figures in 20 games last season including a career-high streak of four straight games (twice) with 20 or more points. Lee has scored in double figures in 47 career games, including 21 games with 20 or more points.
• According to HerHoopStats.com, Lee led the Big 12 and ranked third in the nation in PER (39.9). PER measures a player's value based on their box score stats.
• Against Oklahoma on January 31, Lee scored a career-high 37 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
• Her 37 points set the school record for points in a conference game and broke the record for points in a game by a sophomore. Overall, it was the fifth-highest single-game total in school history and the most points scored by a Wildcat since Brittany Chambers set the school record with 42 against Texas Southern on March 21, 2013.
• She is the eighth player in program history to score 30 or more points in a game three or more times in a career.
• In her career, Lee has scored 934 points in 54 career games (17.3 ppg). Her career scoring average of 17.3 ranks fourth in school history.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rebekah Dallinger

Emilee Ebert

Brylee Glenn

Cymone Goodrich

Taylor Lauterbach

Ayoka Lee

Laura Macke

Rachel Ranke

Serena Sundell

Kansas State University Athletics