Kansas State University Athletics
Kansas State University
13-2,3-0Big 12
West Virginia
7-5,0-2Big 12
K-State Wins Sixth Straight with Strong Second Half
Jan 08, 2022 | Women's Basketball
K-State secured its fourth straight road win, which is the longest road winning streak since a five-game streak in the 2018-19 season.
K-State (13-2, 3-0 Big 12) trailed by seven at the half, 35-28, but outscored West Virginia, 43-26, in the second half to secure the win. The 43-point second half received a jump start with a 21-11 third quarter to capture a 49-46 lead at the end of the stanza.
Jaelyn Glenn led the Wildcat attack in the third quarter, as she buried four 3-pointers for 12 points including a buzzer beater to end the quarter and push K-State into the lead.
The Wildcats expanded its lead to 59-52 in the fourth quarter and forced a pair of West Virginia timeouts. Ayoka Lee converted a short jumper with 7:33 remaining to give the Wildcats a 54-52 lead. Serena Sundell then connected on her fourth 3-pointer of the night to increase the advantage to 57-52. Another layup from Lee forced the second Mountaineer timeout as the Wildcats led 59-52.
West Virginia (7-5, 0-2) cut the K-State lead to four, 59-55, as Kari Niblack scored three quick points. The Wildcats responded with a 7-0 run to build a 66-55 lead with 1:05 remaining. K-State then iced the game from the foul line with a 5-of-6 effort in the final minute.
The Wildcats were paced by the freshmen duo of Serena Sundell and Glenn. Sundell finished with 21 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. This was Sundell's third career 20-point game.
Glenn registered a career-high 20 points and was the first Wildcat to make six 3-pointers in a game since Sydney Goodson connected on six at Oklahoma on March 7, 2021. Glenn also added six rebounds.
Lee recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 14 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. This was Lee's 39th career double-double and tied Nicole Ohlde (2000-04; 39) for second in school history for career double-doubles.
K-State struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field and were 6-of-19 (.316) from 3-point range.
West Virginia (7-4, 0-1) used an 11-3 run to build a 31-23 lead with 3:26 to play in the second quarter. The Mountaineers would close the opening half with a 35-28 lead. This was just the third time this season K-State has trailed at halftime.
K-State ended the night shooting 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the field, but connected on 12-of-35 from 3-point range. K-State shot 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the foul line. Defensively, K-State held West Virginia to its lowest field goal percentage of the season, 32.3 percent (21-of-65).
K-State will return to Bramlage Coliseum on Tuesday night, as the Wildcats host (12/12) Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for Tuesday's game can be purchased at kstatesports.com/tickets, calling (800) 221-CATS or in person at the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
Tuesday's game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The game will also be available on the K-State Sports Network and for free at kstatesports.com and on the K-State Sports app.
What They Said
JEFF MITTIE, K-STATE HEAD COACH
On what got the offense going…
"Yeah, I said on radio, I thought our assistant coaches had a great half. They really brought some good suggestions. We were really struggling and were struggling getting this group connected. But I think we got them on the same page. And then we started to get a little more of an open floor. And obviously, Jaelyn Glenn really made some big shots and Serena (Sundell) really delivered on time. She handled the ball so much better in the second half. Her decisions in the second half were so much better. She had a little bit of carryover from Oklahoma State, questioning and trying to get the ball out of her hands but I thought she really played well and then we got a good balance so we got enough touches inside for (Ayoka) Lee that we didn't get the first half. So we just had a really good balance."
On Serena Sundell and Jaelyn Glenn stepping up…
"Yeah, we didn't do a very good job getting her (Ayoka Lee) the ball. West Virginia did a really good job of keeping us out of that, but I also thought we missed her. That's where (Cymone) Goodrich and (Emilee) Ebert are veterans that really feed the post well, so we missed that tonight. I thought our young group tonight really, really grew throughout this game. You just saw them make better decisions as the game went on, and they really had to play some long stretches because of our eight-person group tonight, but they fought through the fatigue and played well."
On Niblack playing for West Virginia…
"We always go into everything and expect everybody. We were hearing different information, so they did a great job of putting out a lot of different information or just a lot of different information was out there. But we prepared for everybody. And I would say the one thing that we were able to do is not really focus on players as much as skill sets because Niblack has a similar skill set to number 21 when they get in the middle of a zone. (Esmery) Martinez, we can focus on her and her skill set and then the guard so instead of saying this particular player, we really just talked about what their players like to do. And I think that's going to be kind of what you have to do during the year now because you just don't know who's coming back off of COVID. I think hers was a knee injury actually so wasn't COVID, but yeah, we really just tried to focus on skill sets against what they were trying to do."
On fighting through a tough start…
"Yeah, I think it takes somebody to have a special day. The one thing is, if you don't have a great first half, you're gonna get an opportunity in the second because the bench is short. So you're just going to get that opportunity. I thought Jae (Glenn), that's her best game and that's her most aggressive game. I thought Serena (Sundell) really grew in the last 15 minutes of this game. I thought Jada Moore made a huge play at the end of the third quarter with the penetrate and kick to Jae (Glenn) in the corner. That gets us into some momentum with (Ayoka) Lee on the bench. And then I thought Laura Macke, while the numbers don't necessarily stick out, we would've had no chance if not for Laura doing what she does. So yeah, good overall."
On Sundell's performance in quarters two through four…
"Yeah, I think we saw a carryover from the Oklahoma State game, just a little hesitant. Got the ball out of her hands too early. We saw a really confident Serena really handle the basketball well in the second half and yeah, really did a nice job and you could just see not only doing a nice job of not having the turnovers but delivering the passes on time to people that are open. So she grew. She's grown up a lot in the last two games."
On the focus of the offense in the second half…
"One of the things that we tried to do in the second half was keep the ball in the middle of the floor a little bit more instead of choosing a side. We really missed (Emilee) Ebert, because she's such a good post feeder, but what ended up happening was we ended up getting some threes out of that action because Serena (Sundell) was able to handle the ball screen action in the middle floor. So we just made a couple subtle adjustments. They all look good on the board. Everything we do looks good on the board. Players have to make plays. Players have to handle things and you saw Serena really get to a good level and the second half."
On the confidence these conference road wins gives the team…
"This is the first one that we didn't get off to just a great start. We've gotten off to great starts in games and really if you go back to the Baylor game, I think it was 18-4. This was the first one where it was kind of a grind and as you can kind of see it, we were down one point at the end of the first quarter and in the huddle was like we're down 15. And that's where I get back to we were fairly internal early. To their credit, this is a close team. This is a team that trusts each other. This is a team that's committed, and you can see them really grow through the adversity and that's what you're going to have to do throughout the season. So yeah, back to back road wins in the Big 12, we'll take them every time."
CATS WIN!!#KStateWBB pic.twitter.com/AWwYpCbFdl
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 9, 2022
18 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds #KStateWBB x @serena_sundell pic.twitter.com/YmTkDS665c
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 9, 2022
Always finds a way #KStateWBB x @Yokie50 pic.twitter.com/YVkOBd5xOp
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 9, 2022
Big Time Jae
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 9, 2022
A new career-high 18 pts for @GlennJaelyn#KStateWBB x #BeKStateGr8 pic.twitter.com/Eq11MC4fKa
More 3's for #3 #KStateWBB x @GlennJaelyn pic.twitter.com/YX9nJw2pjZ
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) January 9, 2022
