A Senior Leading the Charge
Jan 31, 2025 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Afterward, after it was finally over, after No. 11 Kansas State outlasted Iowa State in an 87-79 overtime thriller at Bramlage Coliseum, Serena Sundell politely tossed the ball underhanded to the official and walked toward her teammates. Sundell's roommate, Taryn Sides, walked right behind her.
Sundell and Sides were the most dynamic duo on the court in the primetime matchup between two storied Big 12 Conference foes on ESPN. Sundell, the 6-foot-1 senior guard and All-America candidate, scored 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and had eight assists, four rebounds, three steals and one block. Sides, the 5-foot-7 sophomore guard came off the bench to deliver 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the line, and had five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
No matter where Iowa State turned, the Cyclones seemingly had to contend with one or the other — or both.
"I'm a huge Serena fan," Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. "I could be president of her fan club. If I was voting tonight, I think she's the player of the year in our league."
Fennelly is coaching his 30th season at Iowa State, has seen many fine players come through his program, and he sees commonalities between Sides and some of his own players.
"You can't measure someone's heart," he said. "She's a Kansas kid, I'm sure she loves K-State, she loves playing there, she shoots it, she plays with a lot of emotion, she's really physical and aggressive on the ball. She's a really, really good player who does it on both ends of the floor."
The game was tied at 71-71 when Sundell missed a turnaround jumpshot, and Iowa State's Emily Ryan, coming out of a timeout, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, prompting the overtime period.
Jaelyn Glenn knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to begin overtime, and the countdown to victory was on for the Wildcats, who improved to 20-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12, as their lead gently began to build.
Things really started to feel good for the Wildcats when Sides beat the buzzer on a fadeaway jumpshot that barely cleared the backboard for an 83-75 lead with 1 minute, 26 seconds remaining.
"I knew time was running down," Sides said. "I thought it was going to hit the backboard, I'm not going to lie. It went in, and I was like, 'Nice.'"
Moments later, there wasn't anything nice about how Sundell went up and under for a nasty reverse layup for an 85-75 lead — the largest lead by either team in the game.
"I was struggling to hit that turnaround jumper, so my teammates did a good job finding me in a different way in the post with that lob when I had a smaller girl on me," Sundell said. "That's just a credit to Taryn seeing there was no backside help, and I had that whole other side of the rim to go finish. That was a fun play."
Here's what K-State head coach Jeff Mittie saw in his senior captain: determination. Particularly after Iowa State took two games from the Wildcats last season, and particularly after the Wildcats suffered a 63-53 loss at Colorado on Saturday.
"Her huddles were very solid. Her body language was very businesslike — 'Let's go do this,'" Mittie said. "Where I saw her take over was that mid-overtime stretch where she made the up-and-under move. At that point she looked like the best guard on the floor, and she looked like 'this is our game, and we let it slip away one time and it's not happening a second,' but it's more on the floor and the confidence she showed in that stretch."
Iowa State, 15-8 and 6-4, showed vast confidence behind Second Team All-America center Audi Crooks (28 points and 11 rebounds) and 6-foot-2 forward Addy Brown (20 points). The Cyclones led by as many as five points in a game that featured six lead changes and 10 ties. K-State shot 47.3% overall and 42.9% (9-of-21) from 3-point range while Iowa State shot 43.1% and 33.3% (12-of-36).
"That was a battle for sure," Sundell said. "They have a lot of ways to score the ball, and we knew that the whole game. We were saying in the timeouts we couldn't let up and to keep pushing. I'm proud of this group for how we stayed consistent and level-headed through it all and remained confident and under control. When overtime came around, we were like, 'OK, let's go get it.'"
And K-State got it. And it did so as players took turns stepping up to the forefront. Zyanna Walker had 11 points, and Temira Poindexter and Glenn each had 10. Backup forward Imani Lester had six points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in nearly 20 minutes.
"I was just pleased with our confidence in those stretches because we got performances from different players," Mittie said. "You look up and Imani Lester is making plays, Jaelyn Glenn starting overtime, Taryn Sides had a phenomenal night tonight, Zy Walker did a great job defensively on Ryan. We had good balance and more options available to us than just Serena down the stretch. We could run different things. Serena stepped up big, but Imani, Taryn and Jaelyn all made big shots."
"Imani's impact was huge," Mittie added. "Her passing ability, she makes a great play to Serena on the post up there late in overtime, she had a couple big jumpers there, she's a different kind of post player because you can run a lot of action through her, but I loved her defense on Crooks, and she slid in for a couple steals."
K-State recorded 18 steals. The Wildcats don't rank in the top 5 in Division I in steals, but they do rank top 5 in the nation in 11 other different statistical categories, including No. 3 in scoring margin (29.2 points per game).
"I would've enjoyed making that last shot not to go into overtime, but overtime is exciting, and there were a lot of good plays made in this game," Sundell said. "Honestly, we haven't played a ton of super-close games this year, so that'll be helpful for us going down the stretch just to have an understanding of situational basketball."
Great game. Primetime game. ESPN. A Big 12 clash. What could be better?
"It's a great night for K-State," Mittie said. "It was a great game. I've already had a bunch of texts. I think a game where both teams are scoring and playing well, people like to watch. It's a great indication of how good our league is. Iowa State is always one of the top teams, and for us to get this win tonight is a big win for us."
And it was led by a senior guard, Sundell, who Mittie earlier in the week believed deserved to be in the conversation as one of the most versatile players in the country.
Fennelly would heartily agree.
"She just knows how to play," Fennelly said. "She plays the game the right way. The game looks easy to her. She doesn't do anything outside of what she's good at. She defends, she handles the ball, they run good stuff for her. I've told a lot of WNBA teams they'd be crazy not to draft her. She's one of those kids that is really impacting not just K-State basketball but our league. She's just a tremendous player.
"I'm glad she's a senior. I'll be happy to write her a nice graduation card and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. Special kid, special player."
And a special night for Sundell and the Wildcats.
Afterward, after it was finally over, after No. 11 Kansas State outlasted Iowa State in an 87-79 overtime thriller at Bramlage Coliseum, Serena Sundell politely tossed the ball underhanded to the official and walked toward her teammates. Sundell's roommate, Taryn Sides, walked right behind her.
Sundell and Sides were the most dynamic duo on the court in the primetime matchup between two storied Big 12 Conference foes on ESPN. Sundell, the 6-foot-1 senior guard and All-America candidate, scored 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and had eight assists, four rebounds, three steals and one block. Sides, the 5-foot-7 sophomore guard came off the bench to deliver 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the line, and had five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
No matter where Iowa State turned, the Cyclones seemingly had to contend with one or the other — or both.
"I'm a huge Serena fan," Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. "I could be president of her fan club. If I was voting tonight, I think she's the player of the year in our league."
Fennelly is coaching his 30th season at Iowa State, has seen many fine players come through his program, and he sees commonalities between Sides and some of his own players.
"You can't measure someone's heart," he said. "She's a Kansas kid, I'm sure she loves K-State, she loves playing there, she shoots it, she plays with a lot of emotion, she's really physical and aggressive on the ball. She's a really, really good player who does it on both ends of the floor."
The game was tied at 71-71 when Sundell missed a turnaround jumpshot, and Iowa State's Emily Ryan, coming out of a timeout, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, prompting the overtime period.
Jaelyn Glenn knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to begin overtime, and the countdown to victory was on for the Wildcats, who improved to 20-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12, as their lead gently began to build.
Things really started to feel good for the Wildcats when Sides beat the buzzer on a fadeaway jumpshot that barely cleared the backboard for an 83-75 lead with 1 minute, 26 seconds remaining.
"I knew time was running down," Sides said. "I thought it was going to hit the backboard, I'm not going to lie. It went in, and I was like, 'Nice.'"
Moments later, there wasn't anything nice about how Sundell went up and under for a nasty reverse layup for an 85-75 lead — the largest lead by either team in the game.
"I was struggling to hit that turnaround jumper, so my teammates did a good job finding me in a different way in the post with that lob when I had a smaller girl on me," Sundell said. "That's just a credit to Taryn seeing there was no backside help, and I had that whole other side of the rim to go finish. That was a fun play."
Here's what K-State head coach Jeff Mittie saw in his senior captain: determination. Particularly after Iowa State took two games from the Wildcats last season, and particularly after the Wildcats suffered a 63-53 loss at Colorado on Saturday.
"Her huddles were very solid. Her body language was very businesslike — 'Let's go do this,'" Mittie said. "Where I saw her take over was that mid-overtime stretch where she made the up-and-under move. At that point she looked like the best guard on the floor, and she looked like 'this is our game, and we let it slip away one time and it's not happening a second,' but it's more on the floor and the confidence she showed in that stretch."
Iowa State, 15-8 and 6-4, showed vast confidence behind Second Team All-America center Audi Crooks (28 points and 11 rebounds) and 6-foot-2 forward Addy Brown (20 points). The Cyclones led by as many as five points in a game that featured six lead changes and 10 ties. K-State shot 47.3% overall and 42.9% (9-of-21) from 3-point range while Iowa State shot 43.1% and 33.3% (12-of-36).
"That was a battle for sure," Sundell said. "They have a lot of ways to score the ball, and we knew that the whole game. We were saying in the timeouts we couldn't let up and to keep pushing. I'm proud of this group for how we stayed consistent and level-headed through it all and remained confident and under control. When overtime came around, we were like, 'OK, let's go get it.'"
And K-State got it. And it did so as players took turns stepping up to the forefront. Zyanna Walker had 11 points, and Temira Poindexter and Glenn each had 10. Backup forward Imani Lester had six points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in nearly 20 minutes.
"I was just pleased with our confidence in those stretches because we got performances from different players," Mittie said. "You look up and Imani Lester is making plays, Jaelyn Glenn starting overtime, Taryn Sides had a phenomenal night tonight, Zy Walker did a great job defensively on Ryan. We had good balance and more options available to us than just Serena down the stretch. We could run different things. Serena stepped up big, but Imani, Taryn and Jaelyn all made big shots."
"Imani's impact was huge," Mittie added. "Her passing ability, she makes a great play to Serena on the post up there late in overtime, she had a couple big jumpers there, she's a different kind of post player because you can run a lot of action through her, but I loved her defense on Crooks, and she slid in for a couple steals."
K-State recorded 18 steals. The Wildcats don't rank in the top 5 in Division I in steals, but they do rank top 5 in the nation in 11 other different statistical categories, including No. 3 in scoring margin (29.2 points per game).
"I would've enjoyed making that last shot not to go into overtime, but overtime is exciting, and there were a lot of good plays made in this game," Sundell said. "Honestly, we haven't played a ton of super-close games this year, so that'll be helpful for us going down the stretch just to have an understanding of situational basketball."
Great game. Primetime game. ESPN. A Big 12 clash. What could be better?
"It's a great night for K-State," Mittie said. "It was a great game. I've already had a bunch of texts. I think a game where both teams are scoring and playing well, people like to watch. It's a great indication of how good our league is. Iowa State is always one of the top teams, and for us to get this win tonight is a big win for us."
And it was led by a senior guard, Sundell, who Mittie earlier in the week believed deserved to be in the conversation as one of the most versatile players in the country.
Fennelly would heartily agree.
"She just knows how to play," Fennelly said. "She plays the game the right way. The game looks easy to her. She doesn't do anything outside of what she's good at. She defends, she handles the ball, they run good stuff for her. I've told a lot of WNBA teams they'd be crazy not to draft her. She's one of those kids that is really impacting not just K-State basketball but our league. She's just a tremendous player.
"I'm glad she's a senior. I'll be happy to write her a nice graduation card and wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. Special kid, special player."
And a special night for Sundell and the Wildcats.
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