SE: Cats Looking to Make Noise in Big 12 Play
Jan 05, 2022 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State is off to its best 13-game start to a season in 13 years, comes off its biggest win of the Jeff Mittie era, and heads into its first Big 12 Conference road game against Oklahoma State playing its best basketball this season.
It's still too early to call this a dream season, but if how K-State handled No. 10 Baylor 68-59 on Sunday to collect its first Big 12-opening victory since 2011-12 serves as any indication, the Wildcats, 11-2, could be a major player in the league — and possibly earn a national ranking.
"It's a big win, it's a big win," Mittie said immediately after the Wildcats ended a 36-game skid to the Bears. "Baylor has had such a hold on the league. It's kind of the way it's been. This is a huge win against a program that's dominated this league over the last decade. It's a big one for us.
"We have a lot of freshmen, and they obviously know Baylor's reputation, but they needed to play Baylor's team today, and they did."
Already the Wildcats, who were picked eighth in the preseason poll, have surpassed their entire win total from last season (9-18) and they look primed to make some noise. They levied an emphatic statement against Baylor — K-State led by as many as 15 points — for their first win over the Bears since January 27, 2004, and collected their first win over an Associated Press top-10 opponent since beating No. 10 Texas Tech on January 14, 2012.
Baylor has tied or won 12 regular-season titles, including the last 11.
This impressive win comes after K-State defeated No. 23 Oregon 68-56, which unofficially was the most-lopsided win in school history when the Wildcats are unranked and faced a ranked Power 6 conference opponent.
Mittie called the win over the Ducks "a really good win."
It was only a step, albeit perhaps a breakthrough step, that further built confidence to take down the powerhouse Bears 14 days later.
It doesn't hurt that K-State has arguably the best center in the nation.
Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-6, junior, earned three national player-of-the-week honors for her latest, and perhaps greatest, performance when it comes to facing a national powerhouse. Lee scored 28 of her 32 points in the second half against Baylor and added 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. The two-time ESPN.com National Player of the Week honoree already has reached 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game four times this season.
Lee leads the nation in total points (317) and made field goals (129). She leads the Big 12 in scoring (24.4), field-goal percentage (.578), 30-point games (5), blocks (50), and blocks per game (3.9).
"Going into the second half (against Baylor) it was just stick to the game plan and what we talked about at halftime," Lee said. "I wasn't like, 'Oh, I need to score.' We were playing well. It's a big win. It just goes back to our team and trusting our preparation and going out and executing."
Lee has an amazing supporting cast as well. It starts with freshman Serena Sundell, a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, who ranks second on the team in scoring (10.3), and ranks second in the Big 12 in total assists (67), assists per game, (5.2), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.48).
Her 67 assists through 13 games are the most in school history by a freshman to start the season.
"So far I feel like I've gotten better," Sundell said. "During the summer, the coaches did a really nice job helping me to adjust to the next level. Nothing is going to prepare you more than games. Each game I'm trying to improve from the game before. So far, I'm pretty proud of myself, but I still have a lot of room to grow, for sure."
The Wildcats are sharing the ball. They ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Big 12 in averaging 19.1 assists per game. Amazingly, eight of 10 active players have recorded at least 15 assists and four have totaled at least 25.
For as much as the Wildcats are unselfish on the floor, they are also tenacious on defense. They rank 12th nationally in field-goal percentage defense, 28th in scoring defense and 46th in 3-point field-goal percentage defense. They are holding opponents to just 54.5 points per game, 33.9% shooting from the floor, and 25.7% on 3-point attempts.
K-State outshot Baylor 51.1% to 38.9% from the floor and held the Bears to just 6 of 20 shooting (30%) from 3-point range while forcing them to commit 22 turnovers.
"I'd like to think that we had something to do with them not shooting well," Mittie said.
That K-State jumped out to a sizable lead in the first half against Baylor should come as little surprise. K-State has outscored its opponents 252-138 in the first quarter. The Wildcats are playing from ahead, which is key. They have led seven teams by double-digits after the first 10 minutes.
Still, Mittie cautions, "It's a 40-minute game."
"The danger in starting out like that is sometimes young teams, and teams in general, think that they're playing great and don't have to play the next 26 minutes," Mittie continued. "Our team knew that it was a 40-minute game. It was a really, really good start."
K-State is off to a really, really good start. That K-State is 17-19 in road games over the last four seasons might not matter. As the Wildcats demonstrated against Baylor, they are a streak-shattering, and trend-shattering bunch that has come to play in 2021-22.
And they're shaping up to be a player in the Big 12.
Kansas State is off to its best 13-game start to a season in 13 years, comes off its biggest win of the Jeff Mittie era, and heads into its first Big 12 Conference road game against Oklahoma State playing its best basketball this season.
It's still too early to call this a dream season, but if how K-State handled No. 10 Baylor 68-59 on Sunday to collect its first Big 12-opening victory since 2011-12 serves as any indication, the Wildcats, 11-2, could be a major player in the league — and possibly earn a national ranking.
"It's a big win, it's a big win," Mittie said immediately after the Wildcats ended a 36-game skid to the Bears. "Baylor has had such a hold on the league. It's kind of the way it's been. This is a huge win against a program that's dominated this league over the last decade. It's a big one for us.
"We have a lot of freshmen, and they obviously know Baylor's reputation, but they needed to play Baylor's team today, and they did."
Already the Wildcats, who were picked eighth in the preseason poll, have surpassed their entire win total from last season (9-18) and they look primed to make some noise. They levied an emphatic statement against Baylor — K-State led by as many as 15 points — for their first win over the Bears since January 27, 2004, and collected their first win over an Associated Press top-10 opponent since beating No. 10 Texas Tech on January 14, 2012.
Baylor has tied or won 12 regular-season titles, including the last 11.
This impressive win comes after K-State defeated No. 23 Oregon 68-56, which unofficially was the most-lopsided win in school history when the Wildcats are unranked and faced a ranked Power 6 conference opponent.
Mittie called the win over the Ducks "a really good win."
It was only a step, albeit perhaps a breakthrough step, that further built confidence to take down the powerhouse Bears 14 days later.
It doesn't hurt that K-State has arguably the best center in the nation.
Ayoka Lee, a 6-foot-6, junior, earned three national player-of-the-week honors for her latest, and perhaps greatest, performance when it comes to facing a national powerhouse. Lee scored 28 of her 32 points in the second half against Baylor and added 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. The two-time ESPN.com National Player of the Week honoree already has reached 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game four times this season.
Lee leads the nation in total points (317) and made field goals (129). She leads the Big 12 in scoring (24.4), field-goal percentage (.578), 30-point games (5), blocks (50), and blocks per game (3.9).
"Going into the second half (against Baylor) it was just stick to the game plan and what we talked about at halftime," Lee said. "I wasn't like, 'Oh, I need to score.' We were playing well. It's a big win. It just goes back to our team and trusting our preparation and going out and executing."
Lee has an amazing supporting cast as well. It starts with freshman Serena Sundell, a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, who ranks second on the team in scoring (10.3), and ranks second in the Big 12 in total assists (67), assists per game, (5.2), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.48).
Her 67 assists through 13 games are the most in school history by a freshman to start the season.
"So far I feel like I've gotten better," Sundell said. "During the summer, the coaches did a really nice job helping me to adjust to the next level. Nothing is going to prepare you more than games. Each game I'm trying to improve from the game before. So far, I'm pretty proud of myself, but I still have a lot of room to grow, for sure."
The Wildcats are sharing the ball. They ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Big 12 in averaging 19.1 assists per game. Amazingly, eight of 10 active players have recorded at least 15 assists and four have totaled at least 25.
For as much as the Wildcats are unselfish on the floor, they are also tenacious on defense. They rank 12th nationally in field-goal percentage defense, 28th in scoring defense and 46th in 3-point field-goal percentage defense. They are holding opponents to just 54.5 points per game, 33.9% shooting from the floor, and 25.7% on 3-point attempts.
K-State outshot Baylor 51.1% to 38.9% from the floor and held the Bears to just 6 of 20 shooting (30%) from 3-point range while forcing them to commit 22 turnovers.
"I'd like to think that we had something to do with them not shooting well," Mittie said.
That K-State jumped out to a sizable lead in the first half against Baylor should come as little surprise. K-State has outscored its opponents 252-138 in the first quarter. The Wildcats are playing from ahead, which is key. They have led seven teams by double-digits after the first 10 minutes.
Still, Mittie cautions, "It's a 40-minute game."
"The danger in starting out like that is sometimes young teams, and teams in general, think that they're playing great and don't have to play the next 26 minutes," Mittie continued. "Our team knew that it was a 40-minute game. It was a really, really good start."
K-State is off to a really, really good start. That K-State is 17-19 in road games over the last four seasons might not matter. As the Wildcats demonstrated against Baylor, they are a streak-shattering, and trend-shattering bunch that has come to play in 2021-22.
And they're shaping up to be a player in the Big 12.
Players Mentioned
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