There’s More to Come
Nov 18, 2024 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Here we are in the postgame news conference at Bramlage Coliseum. No. 10 Kansas State has just laid an 86-68 whipping on a very good Creighton team that will likely win 20 games this season, and K-State head coach Jeff Mittie is lamenting how his team was late on some timely passing and how there were times in transition that they couldn't take advantage of Creighton because not enough players were downcourt and how the overall timing was just a little bit off — perfectionism at its finest. These are small concerns. These are the type of concerns that one of the nation's top teams loves to have this time of year.
In truth, the K-State/Creighton game stat sheet paints a portrait of domination.
"Total team effort," Mittie says. "We had to battle through some foul trouble, and we had to battle through some players coming back off the injury that hadn't had as many reps. Yet, you look up and we shoot 53% from the field and do a lot of really good things."
There's more to come. There are more good times to come. In wins over Green Bay (92-45), Belmont (82-56) and Creighton (86-68), the Wildcats have scored at least 80 points in the first three games of a season for the first time since 2004-05.
Against Creighton, K-State had four double-digit scorers — Ayoka Lee (28 points), Temira Poindexter (12), Serena Sundell (12) and Kennedy Taylor (10) — but were dangerously close to having seven double-digit scoring with Zyanna Walker (eight), Taryn Sides (eight) and Jaelyn Glenn (six).
Seems whatever lineup K-State throws out there, it's better than the opposing five players on the other end of the floor. Opponents are going to find there are few answers to slow, much less, halt, the Wildcats, which makes the meeting against Duke at the Ball Dawgs Classic on November 25 a date of particular intrigue.
"That's the fun part about this team is whoever is hot you just want to keep giving them the ball, and when it's your turn and you're hot, then you (score) and pass the torch to someone else," Sundell says. "Our offense is a lot of fun right now because we have a lot of different scorers who can score a lot of different ways."
Against Creighton, Lee scored 28 points in 15:41 minutes, becoming the only player in the nation this season and the fourth since 2009-10 to score at least 25 points in 16 or fewer minutes. Lee, the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, needs 13 points to pass Nicole Ohlde (2,241 points) for No. 2 in all-time scoring in school history.
"We have a really solid team," Lee says. "Our guards did a really good job looking and getting good entry passes."
Sundell, a Preseason All-Big 12 guard, is the only player in the Big 12 and one of 14 nationally averaging at least 10 points while shooting at least 45% and collecting five or more rebounds and five or more assists. She had 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 24 minutes against the Blue Jays.
"Our team, like right now, we have such a mindset that we just want to win and that's where I'm at," she says. "I just want to win games and don't care how I do it. I know I'm going to have to step up in certain moments, but it hasn't been something I've been worried about."
There's no worry about this squad. By the end of the season, it could go down as the deepest and most explosive K-State squad in the last 20-plus years — deeper than the great 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 teams. Interestingly, the 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams are tied for third all-time in averaging 75.5 points per game. This team could top that, and, who knows, could go after the school-record mark of 81.3 points per game set in 1979-80.
Which brings us back to the K-State postgame news conference. You can tell Mittie is thinking of ways for this bunch to get better. He's straining his brain. He pauses before he answers: How does this offense need to improve?
"I think it's playing pretty good," he replies.
We should see another chapter when K-State, 3-0, hosts Little Rock, 1-2, in Monday's 6:30 p.m. tipoff at Bramlage Coliseum.
The points will come, Ray. The points will come. Terence Mann never spoke those words. But Mann was never in Manhattan, home to one of the top women's basketball teams in America.
The points are coming. And they aren't stopping anytime soon in the Little Apple.
Here we are in the postgame news conference at Bramlage Coliseum. No. 10 Kansas State has just laid an 86-68 whipping on a very good Creighton team that will likely win 20 games this season, and K-State head coach Jeff Mittie is lamenting how his team was late on some timely passing and how there were times in transition that they couldn't take advantage of Creighton because not enough players were downcourt and how the overall timing was just a little bit off — perfectionism at its finest. These are small concerns. These are the type of concerns that one of the nation's top teams loves to have this time of year.
In truth, the K-State/Creighton game stat sheet paints a portrait of domination.
"Total team effort," Mittie says. "We had to battle through some foul trouble, and we had to battle through some players coming back off the injury that hadn't had as many reps. Yet, you look up and we shoot 53% from the field and do a lot of really good things."
There's more to come. There are more good times to come. In wins over Green Bay (92-45), Belmont (82-56) and Creighton (86-68), the Wildcats have scored at least 80 points in the first three games of a season for the first time since 2004-05.
Against Creighton, K-State had four double-digit scorers — Ayoka Lee (28 points), Temira Poindexter (12), Serena Sundell (12) and Kennedy Taylor (10) — but were dangerously close to having seven double-digit scoring with Zyanna Walker (eight), Taryn Sides (eight) and Jaelyn Glenn (six).
Seems whatever lineup K-State throws out there, it's better than the opposing five players on the other end of the floor. Opponents are going to find there are few answers to slow, much less, halt, the Wildcats, which makes the meeting against Duke at the Ball Dawgs Classic on November 25 a date of particular intrigue.
"That's the fun part about this team is whoever is hot you just want to keep giving them the ball, and when it's your turn and you're hot, then you (score) and pass the torch to someone else," Sundell says. "Our offense is a lot of fun right now because we have a lot of different scorers who can score a lot of different ways."
Against Creighton, Lee scored 28 points in 15:41 minutes, becoming the only player in the nation this season and the fourth since 2009-10 to score at least 25 points in 16 or fewer minutes. Lee, the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, needs 13 points to pass Nicole Ohlde (2,241 points) for No. 2 in all-time scoring in school history.
"We have a really solid team," Lee says. "Our guards did a really good job looking and getting good entry passes."
Sundell, a Preseason All-Big 12 guard, is the only player in the Big 12 and one of 14 nationally averaging at least 10 points while shooting at least 45% and collecting five or more rebounds and five or more assists. She had 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 24 minutes against the Blue Jays.
"Our team, like right now, we have such a mindset that we just want to win and that's where I'm at," she says. "I just want to win games and don't care how I do it. I know I'm going to have to step up in certain moments, but it hasn't been something I've been worried about."
There's no worry about this squad. By the end of the season, it could go down as the deepest and most explosive K-State squad in the last 20-plus years — deeper than the great 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 teams. Interestingly, the 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams are tied for third all-time in averaging 75.5 points per game. This team could top that, and, who knows, could go after the school-record mark of 81.3 points per game set in 1979-80.
Which brings us back to the K-State postgame news conference. You can tell Mittie is thinking of ways for this bunch to get better. He's straining his brain. He pauses before he answers: How does this offense need to improve?
"I think it's playing pretty good," he replies.
We should see another chapter when K-State, 3-0, hosts Little Rock, 1-2, in Monday's 6:30 p.m. tipoff at Bramlage Coliseum.
The points will come, Ray. The points will come. Terence Mann never spoke those words. But Mann was never in Manhattan, home to one of the top women's basketball teams in America.
The points are coming. And they aren't stopping anytime soon in the Little Apple.
Players Mentioned
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