An Opportunity to Respond to a Challenge
Nov 13, 2024 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Jumping three spots in the AP Top 25 rankings isn't necessarily a big deal, Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie contends. But the Wildcats, who moved three spots to No. 10 this week, assuredly have a target on their back.
K-State, 2-0, a largely veteran group, has been here before. The Wildcats seemed to thrive under such pressure last year, climbing from No. 16 to No. 14 to No. 13 to No. 12 to No. 7 to No. 4 to No. 2 in the rankings.
"I don't know that it makes any difference if you're 13th or 10th," Mittie said in his weekly news conference. "It looks good when you put it out there that you're in the top 10. It's so early that those things don't validate where we feel we are as a team.
"Are other people going to look at it? Sure. We know that."
That starts with Thursday's game against Creighton — a team that began the season ranked after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
"They have a majority of their roster back off a team that got beat by UCLA in the second round," Mittie said. "They have an excellent team."
K-State is league favorite in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll for the first time in history while it also entered the preseason ranked for the first time since 2004-05.
There's a mental maturity about this K-State squad that, coupled with talent, should give the Wildcats lasting power as the season progresses. After facing Creighton, 1-1, the Wildcats face Little Rock and Milwaukee before finishing November with a neutral-site clash against Duke and either DePaul or Oklahoma in the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada.
"As a team, we're making a lot of progress, but we also know we don't want to be satisfied with where we are," said guard Jaelyn Glenn, who joins Preseason All-American center Ayoka Lee and Preseason All-Big 12 guard Serena Sundell as one of three returning senior starters. "We want to keep taking steps forward. It's so early in the season that we have to just keep doing what we do and keep moving forward."
K-State is getting an added lift with the addition of 6-foot-2 senior forward Temira Poindexter and 6-foot-2 senior forward Kennedy Taylor. They have combined for 72 points in K-State's pair of victories over Green Bay (92-45) and Belmont (82-56). Poindexter shot 5-for-10 on 3-pointers against the Bruins.
Mittie said that Poindexter, the seventh leading scorer in Division I last year at Tulsa, has had no trouble acclimating to her new home.
"We recruited her for a reason," Mittie said of Poindexter, who averages 19.0 points and 5.1 rebounds. "She has scoring ability, instincts, and she's become more aggressive in our offense and seems more comfortable every day in that. She's a heck of a player and has been a great addition to our team and locker room."
Taylor, who averages 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, continues to get better each day.
"I love playing with Temira, and we're roommates, too, so that makes it even better," Taylor said. "We just try to play off each other and everyone here to propel us to where we need to go. If she's hot, get the ball to her. More times than not that thing is going in. I'm having so much fun."
Taylor saw significant action against Belmont as Lee sat out for precautionary reasons with an ankle. (Lee is expected to play against Creighton.)
"Kennedy certainly has shown a knack for getting offensive rebounds, a knack for getting position down low, and her physicality has improved over the course of the fall," Mittie said. "Her defense has been better. I feel good about where she's going. She's off to a good start."
As is K-State.
And the Wildcats might only become better.
"I don't think anybody wants to be playing their best basketball two games in," Mittie said. "The timetable is just to be getting better. We're playing good basketball and that's pretty evident when you watch us. We're connected well, and for it being early in the year we're doing some things better than expected, and that sounds strange because we have a veteran team, but as you mix in Kennedy and Temira, I applaud our group for playing as well as they have.
"I don't know that you put a timetable on anything. You want to be continuing to improve throughout the year knowing the really good teams are going to do that as well. I like where we're at. I think we'll get an excellent game Thursday that'll be a good challenge for us."
K-State leads the all-time series against Creighton 15-5 and is 231-30 against non-conference foes in Bramlage. The Bluejays come off an 80-72 win over Drake on Monday after suffering a 76-71 loss at South Dakota State in their season opener.
Picked second in the Big East Conference preseason poll (trailing only UConn), Creighton features a pair of Preseason All-Big East First Team selections in Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly.
Jensen averages 27.5 points and against Drake had 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and three steals. Maly averages 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
"Playing good opponents always exposes you in some areas and elevates you in some areas," Mittie said. "I expect we're going to have to elevate in some areas in playing Creighton because this is an established team that's won a ton of games. We're going to have to elevate our game in some areas in order to play well against them.
"Certainly, early in the year, you want to challenge your team and see how they respond, and Thursday will be a good opportunity to see that."
Jumping three spots in the AP Top 25 rankings isn't necessarily a big deal, Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie contends. But the Wildcats, who moved three spots to No. 10 this week, assuredly have a target on their back.
K-State, 2-0, a largely veteran group, has been here before. The Wildcats seemed to thrive under such pressure last year, climbing from No. 16 to No. 14 to No. 13 to No. 12 to No. 7 to No. 4 to No. 2 in the rankings.
"I don't know that it makes any difference if you're 13th or 10th," Mittie said in his weekly news conference. "It looks good when you put it out there that you're in the top 10. It's so early that those things don't validate where we feel we are as a team.
"Are other people going to look at it? Sure. We know that."
That starts with Thursday's game against Creighton — a team that began the season ranked after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
"They have a majority of their roster back off a team that got beat by UCLA in the second round," Mittie said. "They have an excellent team."
K-State is league favorite in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll for the first time in history while it also entered the preseason ranked for the first time since 2004-05.
There's a mental maturity about this K-State squad that, coupled with talent, should give the Wildcats lasting power as the season progresses. After facing Creighton, 1-1, the Wildcats face Little Rock and Milwaukee before finishing November with a neutral-site clash against Duke and either DePaul or Oklahoma in the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada.
"As a team, we're making a lot of progress, but we also know we don't want to be satisfied with where we are," said guard Jaelyn Glenn, who joins Preseason All-American center Ayoka Lee and Preseason All-Big 12 guard Serena Sundell as one of three returning senior starters. "We want to keep taking steps forward. It's so early in the season that we have to just keep doing what we do and keep moving forward."
K-State is getting an added lift with the addition of 6-foot-2 senior forward Temira Poindexter and 6-foot-2 senior forward Kennedy Taylor. They have combined for 72 points in K-State's pair of victories over Green Bay (92-45) and Belmont (82-56). Poindexter shot 5-for-10 on 3-pointers against the Bruins.
Mittie said that Poindexter, the seventh leading scorer in Division I last year at Tulsa, has had no trouble acclimating to her new home.
"We recruited her for a reason," Mittie said of Poindexter, who averages 19.0 points and 5.1 rebounds. "She has scoring ability, instincts, and she's become more aggressive in our offense and seems more comfortable every day in that. She's a heck of a player and has been a great addition to our team and locker room."
Taylor, who averages 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, continues to get better each day.
"I love playing with Temira, and we're roommates, too, so that makes it even better," Taylor said. "We just try to play off each other and everyone here to propel us to where we need to go. If she's hot, get the ball to her. More times than not that thing is going in. I'm having so much fun."
Taylor saw significant action against Belmont as Lee sat out for precautionary reasons with an ankle. (Lee is expected to play against Creighton.)
"Kennedy certainly has shown a knack for getting offensive rebounds, a knack for getting position down low, and her physicality has improved over the course of the fall," Mittie said. "Her defense has been better. I feel good about where she's going. She's off to a good start."
As is K-State.
And the Wildcats might only become better.
"I don't think anybody wants to be playing their best basketball two games in," Mittie said. "The timetable is just to be getting better. We're playing good basketball and that's pretty evident when you watch us. We're connected well, and for it being early in the year we're doing some things better than expected, and that sounds strange because we have a veteran team, but as you mix in Kennedy and Temira, I applaud our group for playing as well as they have.
"I don't know that you put a timetable on anything. You want to be continuing to improve throughout the year knowing the really good teams are going to do that as well. I like where we're at. I think we'll get an excellent game Thursday that'll be a good challenge for us."
K-State leads the all-time series against Creighton 15-5 and is 231-30 against non-conference foes in Bramlage. The Bluejays come off an 80-72 win over Drake on Monday after suffering a 76-71 loss at South Dakota State in their season opener.
Picked second in the Big East Conference preseason poll (trailing only UConn), Creighton features a pair of Preseason All-Big East First Team selections in Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly.
Jensen averages 27.5 points and against Drake had 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and three steals. Maly averages 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
"Playing good opponents always exposes you in some areas and elevates you in some areas," Mittie said. "I expect we're going to have to elevate in some areas in playing Creighton because this is an established team that's won a ton of games. We're going to have to elevate our game in some areas in order to play well against them.
"Certainly, early in the year, you want to challenge your team and see how they respond, and Thursday will be a good opportunity to see that."
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