Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 12
Kansas City, Missouri
5:30 PM
Kansas State University
vs
West Virginia
K-State Tangles with (17/20) West Virginia in 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Mar 12, 2021 | Women's Basketball
2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship - Quarterfinals
GAME #27
(10) Kansas State (9-17, 3-15 Big 12) at (2) West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12)
Friday, March 12, 2021  |  5:30 p.m.  |  Municipal Auditorium  |  Kansas City, Mo.
TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Chuckie Kempf
Analyst: Brenda VanLengen
RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Kristin Waller
LIVE STATS
www.big12sports.com
COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 579-331/29th season  |  At K-State: 125-96/7th season
West Virginia: Mike Carey (Salem '80)
Overall: 717-324/33rd season  |  At West Virginia: 429-222/20th season
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)
Kansas State (9-17, 3-15 Big 12)
G: #2 Cymone Goodrich  |  G: #12 Rachel Ranke  |  G: #24 Emilee Ebert  |  F: #43 Christianna Carr  |  C: #50 Ayoka Lee
        Â
West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12)
G: #00 Jayla Hemingway  |  G: #2 Kysre Gondrezick  |  G: #3 Kirsten Deans  |  F: #12 Esmery Martinez  |  F: #14 Kari Niblack
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads, 14-6
In Big 12 Championships: 1-1
Last Meeting: March 3, 2021; West Virginia won 72-64 (Manhattan)
Head Coach Jeff Mittie vs. West Virginia: 6-16
KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Following a first round win on Thursday, K-State will compete in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals against two-seed West VIrginia on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
• Friday's game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Chuckie Kempf (play-by-play) and Brenda VanLengen (analyst) will have the call.
• The Wildcats have been led this season by All-Big 12 honorees: sophomore Ayoka Lee and junior Christianna Carr.
• Lee, a 2021 All-Big 12 First Team selection, leads K-State in scoring (19.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.624), rebounds (8.6 rpg) and blocks (1.9). Against Texas Tech, Lee tallied 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists.
• Carr, a 2021 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention recipient, is second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game. She leads the team with 55 connections from beyond the arc. Carr led the Wildcats with 22 points against Texas Tech, while also pulling in six rebounds and dishing three assists.
Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Wildcats in the Big 12 Championships
• K-State is 21-23 in the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championships and have advanced at least one round in 18 of the previous 24 championships.
2. Lee in 60.0/80.0 Club
• Ayoka Lee leads the Big 12 and ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage (.624) and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.808). She is the only player in NCAA Division I this season to shoot 60.0 percent or better from the field and 80.0 percent of better from the line. Her field goal percentage this season ranks eighth in Big 12 history.
3. Lee Big 12 PER Leader
• Ayoka Lee leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth in the nation, according to HerHoopStats.com, for PER (40.5) which is a measure of a player's value based on their box score stats.
4. High Efficiency Dishes
• The Wildcats have 415 assists (16.0 apg) and an assisted shot rate of 71.4 percent this season. According to HerHoopStats.com, K-State ranks fifth in the nation in assisted shot rate and are the highest ranked Power 5 member in the category.
5. Mittie Secures Win 125
• With the win over Texas Tech, K-State head coach Jeff Mittie secured his 125th victory as the K-State women's basketball head coach. He tied Lynn Hickey (1979-84) for third on the K-State career wins list.
Number to Know
7
• Ayoka Lee made her Big 12 Championship debut a memorable one.
• Lee set the school record for blocks in a Big 12 Championship game with seven against Texas Tech. The seven blocks rank Lee fifth in school history for career blocks in Big 12 Championship play.
• Lee's seven blocks tied for the third-most in the history of the Big 12 Championship and are the most since Baylor's Lauren Cox blocked seven on March 5, 2018.
• Lee's seven blocks tied her career-high, which was set earlier this season against Kansas on February 13.
At a Glance: West Virginia
• After opening Big 12 action with two losses, (17/20) West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12) rolled to a 10-game winning streak in league play to ascend to second in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers ended the regular season with a four-game road trip including a 96-73 loss at Baylor on March 8.
• On the sideline, West Virginia is led by 20th-year head coach Mike Carey. In his time with the Mountaineers, Carey has achieved a record of 429-222 (.659) and captured a share of the 2014 Big 12 regular season title and the 2017 Big 12 tournament crown.
• On the floor, West Virginia has three players averaging double figures in scoring and are paced by All-Big 12 First Team selections Kysre Gondrezick and sophomore Esmery Martinez.
• Gondrezick paces the Mountaineers with 20.0 points and is shooting .364 (52-of-143) from beyond the arc. She also leads West Virginia with 4.7 assists per game.
• Martinez is averaging a double-double this season with 13.9 points and 11.8 rebounds. At Baylor, Martinez recorded 13 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Last Time Out
K-State 75, Texas Tech 65 (March 11, 2021; Kansas City, Mo.)
• K-State advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Big 12 Championships by scoring a season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter on a 64.3 field goal percentage.
• The Wildcats dished out 23 assists and were a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.
• Christianna Carr led the WIldcats with 22 points, while Ayoka Lee notched a double-double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and a school record for a Big 12 Championship game with seven blocks. Sydney Goodson chipped in with 10 points and four assists.
Mittie In 7th season at K-State
• Jeff Mittie, one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I with over 575 career wins, is in his seventh season at the helm of the K-State program in 2020-21.
• Mittie, the ninth head women's basketball coach in K-State history, owns an overall career record of 579-331 (.636) in 29 years as a head coach, including a 125-96 (.566) mark in his time at K-State. He has won 19 or more games in four of his previous six seasons with K-State.
• With his 125 wins at Kansas State, Mittie ranks tied for third for wins at the helm of the K-State program.
• Mittie registered the 575th win of his coaching career, a 74-57 decision over Kansas City on Dec. 14, 2020.
• In the 2016-17 season, K-State's 23 wins were Mittie's most at the helm of the Wildcats and the most for Mittie since registering 23 in the 2007-08 season at TCU.
• He has averaged 20.4 wins per season and experienced only one losing season in his previous 28 seasons.
• Mittie has 20 postseason appearances in his career (NCAA or WNIT Tournaments), in which he has a combined record of 20-18 (.526).
Cats Send Back Shots Under Mittie
• Under head coach Jeff Mittie, Kansas State has sent back 1,042 shots for 4.71 per game in the 221 games. K-State has 140 or more blocks in each of Mittie's previous six seasons.
• The 1,042 blocks in the last seven seasons are the most in a seven-season span in program history.
• This season, the Wildcats have 115 blocks (4.42 bpg) and rank third in the Big 12 and 43rd in the nation for blocks per game. K-State is 21st in the nation for total blocks.
• The 115 blocks this season marks the seventh straight season K-State has blocked 100 or more shots.
• K-State has a 2020-21 season-high of 11 blocks against Kansas. The 11 blocks are the sixth-most in a game in school history and a K-State record for blocks in a conference game. The Wildcats have blocked 10 or more shots in a game 11 times (10-1) since Mittie's first season in 2014-15.
• K-State has a blocked shot differential of +39 this season (115-76). Since blocks became official in 1982-83, K-State has 19 seasons with a positive blocked shot differential including a school record +73 (163-90) in the 2005-06 season.
Cats Cash in at the Charity Stripe
• Kansas State has continued to earn trips to the free throw line, which is a trend during head coach Jeff Mittie's time at K-State.
• The Wildcats are 317-of-431 (.735) from the line this season. K-State is getting 19.3 percent of its points from the foul line this season. K-State ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage.
• K-State's free throw percentage this season ranks second in school history and the highest since the 2009-10 season.
• In Big 12 action, K-State ranks third in the Big 12 for free throw percentage at .768 (228-of-297).
• K-State is averaging 16.6 trips to the foul line this season and are converting 12.2 per game.
• The Wildcats recorded a season-high 29 made free throws against TCU on March 1. The 29 made free throws were the most in the Mittie era and the highest number of made free throws since January 13, 1990, when K-State made 31 against Colorado.
• K-State registered a season-high 34 free throw attempts against TCU on March 1. The 34 free throw attempts were the most since February 27, 2019, against West Virginia when the Wildcats attempted 34 free throws.
• K-State has been perfect from the line twice this season: 8-of-8 from the free throw line at West Virginia on January 20 and 10-of-10 against Texas Tech on March 11.
GAME #27
(10) Kansas State (9-17, 3-15 Big 12) at (2) West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12)
Friday, March 12, 2021  |  5:30 p.m.  |  Municipal Auditorium  |  Kansas City, Mo.
TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Chuckie Kempf
Analyst: Brenda VanLengen
RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Kristin Waller
LIVE STATS
www.big12sports.com
COACHES
Kansas State: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western '89)
Overall: 579-331/29th season  |  At K-State: 125-96/7th season
West Virginia: Mike Carey (Salem '80)
Overall: 717-324/33rd season  |  At West Virginia: 429-222/20th season
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (based on previous game)
Kansas State (9-17, 3-15 Big 12)
G: #2 Cymone Goodrich  |  G: #12 Rachel Ranke  |  G: #24 Emilee Ebert  |  F: #43 Christianna Carr  |  C: #50 Ayoka Lee
        Â
West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12)
G: #00 Jayla Hemingway  |  G: #2 Kysre Gondrezick  |  G: #3 Kirsten Deans  |  F: #12 Esmery Martinez  |  F: #14 Kari Niblack
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: West Virginia leads, 14-6
In Big 12 Championships: 1-1
Last Meeting: March 3, 2021; West Virginia won 72-64 (Manhattan)
Head Coach Jeff Mittie vs. West Virginia: 6-16
KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Following a first round win on Thursday, K-State will compete in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals against two-seed West VIrginia on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
• Friday's game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Chuckie Kempf (play-by-play) and Brenda VanLengen (analyst) will have the call.
• The Wildcats have been led this season by All-Big 12 honorees: sophomore Ayoka Lee and junior Christianna Carr.
• Lee, a 2021 All-Big 12 First Team selection, leads K-State in scoring (19.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.624), rebounds (8.6 rpg) and blocks (1.9). Against Texas Tech, Lee tallied 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists.
• Carr, a 2021 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention recipient, is second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game. She leads the team with 55 connections from beyond the arc. Carr led the Wildcats with 22 points against Texas Tech, while also pulling in six rebounds and dishing three assists.
Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Wildcats in the Big 12 Championships
• K-State is 21-23 in the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championships and have advanced at least one round in 18 of the previous 24 championships.
2. Lee in 60.0/80.0 Club
• Ayoka Lee leads the Big 12 and ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage (.624) and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.808). She is the only player in NCAA Division I this season to shoot 60.0 percent or better from the field and 80.0 percent of better from the line. Her field goal percentage this season ranks eighth in Big 12 history.
3. Lee Big 12 PER Leader
• Ayoka Lee leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth in the nation, according to HerHoopStats.com, for PER (40.5) which is a measure of a player's value based on their box score stats.
4. High Efficiency Dishes
• The Wildcats have 415 assists (16.0 apg) and an assisted shot rate of 71.4 percent this season. According to HerHoopStats.com, K-State ranks fifth in the nation in assisted shot rate and are the highest ranked Power 5 member in the category.
5. Mittie Secures Win 125
• With the win over Texas Tech, K-State head coach Jeff Mittie secured his 125th victory as the K-State women's basketball head coach. He tied Lynn Hickey (1979-84) for third on the K-State career wins list.
Number to Know
7
• Ayoka Lee made her Big 12 Championship debut a memorable one.
• Lee set the school record for blocks in a Big 12 Championship game with seven against Texas Tech. The seven blocks rank Lee fifth in school history for career blocks in Big 12 Championship play.
• Lee's seven blocks tied for the third-most in the history of the Big 12 Championship and are the most since Baylor's Lauren Cox blocked seven on March 5, 2018.
• Lee's seven blocks tied her career-high, which was set earlier this season against Kansas on February 13.
At a Glance: West Virginia
• After opening Big 12 action with two losses, (17/20) West Virginia (19-5, 13-5 Big 12) rolled to a 10-game winning streak in league play to ascend to second in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers ended the regular season with a four-game road trip including a 96-73 loss at Baylor on March 8.
• On the sideline, West Virginia is led by 20th-year head coach Mike Carey. In his time with the Mountaineers, Carey has achieved a record of 429-222 (.659) and captured a share of the 2014 Big 12 regular season title and the 2017 Big 12 tournament crown.
• On the floor, West Virginia has three players averaging double figures in scoring and are paced by All-Big 12 First Team selections Kysre Gondrezick and sophomore Esmery Martinez.
• Gondrezick paces the Mountaineers with 20.0 points and is shooting .364 (52-of-143) from beyond the arc. She also leads West Virginia with 4.7 assists per game.
• Martinez is averaging a double-double this season with 13.9 points and 11.8 rebounds. At Baylor, Martinez recorded 13 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Last Time Out
K-State 75, Texas Tech 65 (March 11, 2021; Kansas City, Mo.)
• K-State advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Big 12 Championships by scoring a season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter on a 64.3 field goal percentage.
• The Wildcats dished out 23 assists and were a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.
• Christianna Carr led the WIldcats with 22 points, while Ayoka Lee notched a double-double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and a school record for a Big 12 Championship game with seven blocks. Sydney Goodson chipped in with 10 points and four assists.
Mittie In 7th season at K-State
• Jeff Mittie, one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I with over 575 career wins, is in his seventh season at the helm of the K-State program in 2020-21.
• Mittie, the ninth head women's basketball coach in K-State history, owns an overall career record of 579-331 (.636) in 29 years as a head coach, including a 125-96 (.566) mark in his time at K-State. He has won 19 or more games in four of his previous six seasons with K-State.
• With his 125 wins at Kansas State, Mittie ranks tied for third for wins at the helm of the K-State program.
• Mittie registered the 575th win of his coaching career, a 74-57 decision over Kansas City on Dec. 14, 2020.
• In the 2016-17 season, K-State's 23 wins were Mittie's most at the helm of the Wildcats and the most for Mittie since registering 23 in the 2007-08 season at TCU.
• He has averaged 20.4 wins per season and experienced only one losing season in his previous 28 seasons.
• Mittie has 20 postseason appearances in his career (NCAA or WNIT Tournaments), in which he has a combined record of 20-18 (.526).
Cats Send Back Shots Under Mittie
• Under head coach Jeff Mittie, Kansas State has sent back 1,042 shots for 4.71 per game in the 221 games. K-State has 140 or more blocks in each of Mittie's previous six seasons.
• The 1,042 blocks in the last seven seasons are the most in a seven-season span in program history.
• This season, the Wildcats have 115 blocks (4.42 bpg) and rank third in the Big 12 and 43rd in the nation for blocks per game. K-State is 21st in the nation for total blocks.
• The 115 blocks this season marks the seventh straight season K-State has blocked 100 or more shots.
• K-State has a 2020-21 season-high of 11 blocks against Kansas. The 11 blocks are the sixth-most in a game in school history and a K-State record for blocks in a conference game. The Wildcats have blocked 10 or more shots in a game 11 times (10-1) since Mittie's first season in 2014-15.
• K-State has a blocked shot differential of +39 this season (115-76). Since blocks became official in 1982-83, K-State has 19 seasons with a positive blocked shot differential including a school record +73 (163-90) in the 2005-06 season.
Cats Cash in at the Charity Stripe
• Kansas State has continued to earn trips to the free throw line, which is a trend during head coach Jeff Mittie's time at K-State.
• The Wildcats are 317-of-431 (.735) from the line this season. K-State is getting 19.3 percent of its points from the foul line this season. K-State ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage.
• K-State's free throw percentage this season ranks second in school history and the highest since the 2009-10 season.
• In Big 12 action, K-State ranks third in the Big 12 for free throw percentage at .768 (228-of-297).
• K-State is averaging 16.6 trips to the foul line this season and are converting 12.2 per game.
• The Wildcats recorded a season-high 29 made free throws against TCU on March 1. The 29 made free throws were the most in the Mittie era and the highest number of made free throws since January 13, 1990, when K-State made 31 against Colorado.
• K-State registered a season-high 34 free throw attempts against TCU on March 1. The 34 free throw attempts were the most since February 27, 2019, against West Virginia when the Wildcats attempted 34 free throws.
• K-State has been perfect from the line twice this season: 8-of-8 from the free throw line at West Virginia on January 20 and 10-of-10 against Texas Tech on March 11.
Players Mentioned
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