(2/2) K-State Squares Off with Oklahoma Wednesday

GAME #22
(2/2) Kansas State (20-1, 9-0 Big 12) at (rv/-) Oklahoma (13-6, 7-1 Big 12)
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | 6 p.m. | Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) | Norman, Okla.

TELEVISION
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Chad McKee
Analyst: Pooh Williamson

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagship: Sunny 102.5 & 1350 KMAN
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Oklahoma
45-31
• Oklahoma leads the series with K-State, 45-31.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 11-20 against Oklahoma in his career.
• K-State has won seven of the last 14 meetings, including a 74-57 decision in Manhattan on Jan. 10, 2024.

MANHATTAN, Kansas - (2/2) K-State (20-1, 9-0 Big 12) makes its only trip to the state of Oklahoma on Wednesday, as the Wildcats face Oklahoma (13-6, 7-1) at 6 p.m., at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

• The Wildcats have started 20-1 for the first time in school history and tallied the 27th 20-win season in program history.
• Wednesday's game can be seen on ESPN+, as Chad McKee (play-by-play) and Pooh Williamson (analyst) will have the call.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. K-State Second in Both Polls
• For the first time in program history, K-State is ranked second in both the Associated Press and WBCA/USA Today Coaches Polls at the same time. K-State is the first team in the history of the AP poll to go from unranked in the preseason to either No. 1 or No. 2 in the same season.
2. We're Going Streaking!
• K-State has won 14 straight games, tied for the second-longest winning streak in program history and the longest since the 2008-09 squad won 14 consecutive games.
3. Unblemished In January
• With a win on Wednesday, K-State would record the program's second-ever unbeaten month of January (2007-08).
4. K-State Among Top Defenses in Nation
• K-State leads the Big 12 and ranks 6th in the nation in scoring defense (52.1 ppg). The Wildcats lead the league and are 2nd in the nation in FG percentage defense (.333) and 3-point FG percentage defense (.222). K-State has held 18 foes to under 60 points in a game this season.
5. Road Cats
• K-State is 5-0 in road games this season. With a win on Wednesday, the Wildcats would achieve its most road wins since 2019-20 (7).

Number to Know
10
• With a win on Wednesday, K-State would win its 10th straight Big 12 game.
• A win would set the school record for consecutive wins in Big 12 play.
• If K-State wins its 10th straight, it would mark the first time K-State has reached 10-0 in either the Big 12 or Big Eight Conferences.
• The Wildcats would be the first Big 12 school to win its first 10 league games since Baylor in 2019-20.
• K-State's current nine-game winning streak in Big 12 play is the longest conference win streak in the Jeff Mittie era.

Last Time Out
at (4/2) K-State 67, BYU 65 (Jan. 27, 2024; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State extended its overall win streak to 14 and its home court winning streak to 14, its longest since 2008-09.
• The Wildcats are 3-0 this season and 45-29 (.622) in the last 12 seasons in games decided by five points or less.
• K-State was led by Gisela Sanchez with 18 points on a career-best 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from long range. Serena Sundell approached a triple-double with 14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Gabby Gregory tallied 10 points all in the third quarter which boosted the Wildcats to a 25-point frame.

At a Glance: Oklahoma
• Oklahoma (13-6, 7-1 Big 12) enters Wednesday's matchup following a 60-55 home win over Kansas on Saturday. The Sooners have won four straight games and are 8-2 at Lloyd Noble Center this season.
• The Sooners are fourth in the Big 12 in scoring offense with 76.8 points per game.
• Oklahoma is guided on the sideline by third-year head coach Jennie Baranczyk. The 2004 graduate of Iowa owns a career record of 256-118 (.684) including a 64-22 (.744) mark in Norman.
• The Sooners feature two players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Skylar Vann and Peyton Verhulst.
• Vann, a senior forward from Edmond, Oklahoma, is averaging 15.2 points on a .467 field goal percentage and a team-best 7.2 rebounds. Vann, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, recorded 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds against the Jayhawks.
• Verhulst, a junior guard from De Soto, Kansas, is averaging 11.6 points per game. 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. She has made 24 three-point field goals while shooting 35.8 percent from long range. Against Kansas, Verhulst notched 12 points and six rebounds.

Wildcats Off to Fast Start
• Kansas State has opened the season with a 20-1 overall record. This is the best 21-game start in program history.
• This is the fastest a K-State team has reached the 20-win mark in the history of the program.
• The Wildcats were one of two teams in the nation to secure 20 wins before the end of January (Gonzaga).

Wildcats Winning Streak
• K-State has pieced together one of the longest winning streaks in program history with its active 14-game winning streak.
• This is the longest winning streak in the Jeff Mittie era and is tied for the second-longest in school history.
• This is the 10th double-digit winning streak in school history and the longest since the 2008-09 season when the Wildcats carded a 14-game winning streak.
• K-State's winning streak is tied for the third-longest active winning streak in the nation.
• K-State's current nine-game winning streak in Big 12 play is the longest conference win streak in the Jeff Mittie era and tied for the longest conference win streak in program history joining the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. K-State is the first team since Baylor in 2019-20 to win its first nine Big 12 games.

K-State Among the Rankings
• Kansas State continued its climb in the Associated Press (AP) top-25 poll, as the Wildcats moved to 2nd in the Jan. 29 poll.
• The Wildcats have achieved the program's highest ranking in the Jeff Mittie era (2014-present). It is the highest ranking for the program in the AP poll since Nov. 25, 2002 when K-State was ranked 2nd.
• According to Stats Perform, K-State is the first women's program since the start of the AP poll in 1976 to go from unranked to either No. 1 or No. 2 in the same season.
• Since making its poll debut on Nov. 20 this season, K-State has been ranked for 11 consecutive weeks this season. This is the longest consecutive streak for K-State since a 12-week stretch in the 2008-09 season. In its history, K-State has now been ranked for a total of 185 weeks in the AP poll.
• As an AP ranked team, K-State owns a 242-88 (.733) record.
• The Wildcats are ranked 2nd in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. This is the highest K-State has been ranked in the Coaches Poll since being ranked 2nd in the third poll of the 2002-03 season.
• This season is the first time since the 2008-09 season that K-State has been ranked in 10 straight USA Today/WBCA Coaches Polls.

1st Month the 1st to 250 Wins
• January was the first month in the history of K-State women's basketball to surpass the 250-win plateau and the Wildcats own an overall record in the month of 259-192 (.574) in the first month of the year.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 39-40 (.494) in January with the Wildcats.
• K-State has registered a .500 or better record in January 34 times in the history of the program.

Wildcats on the Road
• This season, K-State is 5-0 in road games. The five-game road winning streak is K-State's longest since a five-game streak in the 2012-13 and 2018-19 seasons.
• Among its five road wins this season, the Wildcats own two over AP top-25 opponents (at #2 Iowa; at #13 Baylor)
• With its win at Little Rock on Nov. 11, 2023, K-State snapped an 11-game road losing streak. This was tied for the longest road losing streak in program history.
• With its win at then second-ranked Iowa on Nov. 16, 2023, K-State secured its highest ranked road win in program history and ended a 14-game road losing streak against ranked opponents.
• K-State has a 291-321 (.475) record in road games during the program's 56-year history.
• Since the 2000-01 season, K-State owns a 131-142 (.480) mark in road contests.
• In his career in games played on the road, head coach Jeff Mittie is 167-201 (.454) including a 42-64 (.396) mark during his time at K-State.

20-Pt Quarters For the Wildcats
• Since the inception of the quarter system in the 2015-16 season, K-State owns an overall record of 128-58 (.688) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• This season, K-State has 32 quarters with 20 or more points scored.
• The Wildcats scored a season-high 36 points in the third quarter against Missouri on Dec. 9. The 36 points tied the school record for points in any quarter (36, at Omaha, 12/8/21) and set the school record for points in a third quarter.
• Since the 2015-16 season, K-State has registered 299 quarters with 20 or more points with a high of 50 in the 2022-23 season.
• K-State registered five straight quarters of 20 points or more in the final two quarters against Presbyterian followed by the first three quarters at Little Rock.

They Got Their Eye on Them
• K-State has continued to receive national recognition in the 2023-24 season.
• Senior center Ayoka Lee was named a Lisa Leslie Award Top-10 Finalist, given annually to the top center in the nation. This is the third time in her career that Lee was named a Leslie Award finalist (2021, 2022 & 2024).
• Lee was named to the John R. Wooden Award presented byb Principal Midseason Top-25 Watch List and was selected by The Athletic as a Second Team Midseason All-American.
• In the preseason, K-State women's basketball placed three players on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) national positional awards watch lists. Fans can vote for these honors daily at hoophallawards.com.
• In addition to Lee on the Leslie Award Watch List, junior guard Serena Sundell was chosen for the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list, given annually to the top point guard in the nation. This was the first time Sundell was named to the list.
• Senior guard Gabby Gregory was selected to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list, given annually to the nation's top shooting guard. Gregory was a top-10 selection for the Drysdale Award in 2023.
• K-State was one of 11 teams in the nation and one of three in the Big 12 (Baylor, Texas) this season to place three players on three different positional award watch lists.
• Gregory and Lee were also named to the 2023-24 Jersey Mike's Naismith Women's Player of the Year and the 2023-24 Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Principal watch lists.

Glow of Sundell
• Serena Sundell continues to fill up the stat sheet with her diverse skills and is approaching a rare career stat line.
• Sundell is the first player in program history with 1,000 or more career points, 400 or more career assists and 50 or more career blocked shots.
• In her career, Sundell owns 35 career games with 10 or more points and five or more assists.
• Over her last three games, Sundell is averaging 15.0 points on a .519 field goal percentage, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.7 steals.
• Against Kansas on Jan. 20, Sundell registered a stat line of 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks. She is the only player in the Big 12 since at least the 2009-10 season to reach these numbers in a game.
• At the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, Sundell owned the most diverse stat line in the nation. She was the only player in the nation during the 2022-23 season with 500 or more points, 180 or more assists and 60 or more steals.
• Since 2009-10, she was one of two Wildcats (Kayla Goth, 2017-18) to achieve these marks in a single-season. In the same time frame, Sundell was one of three players in the Big 12 to achieve these marks in a single season (Goth; Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma, 2009-10).

Sanchez Boosting Bench
• Redshirt sophomore Gisela Sanchez has brought the heat to K-State's bench unit this season.
• The product of Barcelona, Spain, is averaging 6.1 points on a .403 field goal percentage, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.5 blocks.
• In her brief time at K-State, the transfer from Arizona has established career season-highs in every statistical category.
• Against BYU on Jan. 27, Sanchez achieved a career-high 18 points on a career-best 7-of-12 from the field including a career-high 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
• During the Gulf Coast Showcase, Sanchez had a breakout three games as she averaged 8.3 points on a .474 field goal percentage and 6.7 rebounds in 21.0 minutes off the bench.
• Against North Carolina on November 25, Sanchez notched 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and five rebounds. Sanchez helped ice the game with four free throws in the final 30 seconds.
• Against McNeese State on December 6, Sanchez tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, a career-high four blocks, two assists and a steal in 21 minutes of action. According to HerHoopStats.com, Sanchez joins Breanna Lewis and Ayoka Lee as the only Wildcats since 2009-10 to register 10 or more points, 8 or more rebounds and four or more blocks in 22 minutes or less.

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Players Mentioned

Gabby Gregory

Ayoka Lee

Gisela Sanchez

Serena Sundell

Kansas State University Athletics