K-State Faces Columbia to Begin Cancun Challenge

2025 CANCUN CHALLENGE

GAME #8
Columbia (3-2, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. K-State (4-3, 0-0 Big 12)
Thursday, November 27, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. (CT) | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya | Cancun, Mexico

TELEVISION
FloCollege (subscription required)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Columbia
0-0

• K-State and Columbia will meet for the first time in the series.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 1-0 in his career against Columbia.
• The Wildcats are 10-1 against current members of the Ivy League.

CANCUN, Mexico - K-State will make its sixth appearance at a tournament in Mexico and its first since the 2018-19 season, as the Wildcats face a strong field in the 2025 Cancun Challenge on Thursday through Saturday.

• The Wildcats will face Columbia on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
• All games can be streamed live on FloCollege (subscription required).

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Lockdown Defense
• K-State has held three opponents this season to under 50 points in a game. The Wildcats have limited opponents to a field goal percentage of 33.8 and 56.4 points per game.
2. Cat Baskets
• The Wildcats have made 30 or more field goals in 3 of its first 7 games this season. A season ago, K-State made 30 or more field goals in 6 of its first 7 games.
3. Head of the Claessens
• Junior forward Nastja Claessens led K-State in scoring for the second time this season while carding a team season-high 21 points at Green Bay on Nov.22. Claessens, who missed three K-State games due to playing two games with the Belgian Senior National Team, is tied with Taryn Sides for games leading K-State in scoring this season with two.
4. Sides Dish
• Junior guard Taryn Sides is approaching membership on the K-State career assists list. With 15 assists, Sides will tie for 26th on the K-State career assists list. With 32 assists, Sides will become the 22nd player in program history with 250 or more career assists.
5. Speiser Seeing Double
• Freshman Jordan Speiser has collected two double-doubles in her first collegiate season. Speiser is tied for the Big 12 lead in double-doubles and tied for the Big 12 lead in double-doubles by a freshman.

Number to Know
21

• Junior forward Nastja Claessens registered a career-high 21 points at Green Bay.
• She is the third international Wildcat since 2009-10 to register a game with 20 or more points.
• Her 21 points were the most by an international K-State player since Sarah Shematsi tallied 25 against Oklahoma State on Jan. 4, 2023.
• Since 2009-10, the most games with 20 or more points by a K-State international player in a season came from Leticia Romero with six in the 2013-14 season.

At a Glance: Columbia
• Columbia (3-2) enters Thursday's matchup following a 73-60 win over Binghamton on Monday. The win ended a two-game skid for Columbia.
• The Lions are guided on the sideline by head coach Megan Griffith, who is in her 11th season at Columbia. The 2007 graduate of Columbia owns a career record of 149-93 (.616) all at her alma mater. She led Columbia to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2024 and 2025 and reached the final of the 2023 WNIT.
• Columbia is led on the floor by junior guard Riley Weiss and senior guard/forward Perri Page. Weiss is averaging 16.2 points and has pulled in 3.6 rebounds per game.
• Page is averaging 14.4 points on a .527 field goal percentage and a team-high 7.2 rebounds. Against Binghamton, Page tallied 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Last Time Out
at Green Bay 47, K-State 44 (Nov. 22, 2025; Green Bay, Wis.)
• K-State shot 8.7 percent from 3-point range and scored a season-low and its fewest points since March 10, 2023.
• The Wildcats are averaging 45.0 points in its two road games this season.
• Junior forward Nastja Claessens led the Wildcats with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting and added nine rebounds and two steals.

K-State in Mexico
• Kansas State will make its sixth appearance in Mexico for a Thanksgiving holiday tournament and its fifth in Cancun.
• K-State is 2-8 (.200) in games played in Mexico, including a 1-8 mark in Cancun. Head coach Jeff Mittie owns an all-time record of 5-6 in games played in Mexico, including a 2-3 mark in Cancun. Mittie is 2-2 at K-State in games played in Mexico.
• The Wildcats won their last appearance in Mexico, downing Princeton, 80-61, on Nov. 24, 2018, in Cancun.

Wildcats' Defense Forges Identity
• K-State continues to be a force on the defensive end during head coach Jeff Mittie's 12th season on the bench.
• This season, K-State has held opponents to 56.4 points per game on a .338 field goal percentage.
• During the last 22 seasons, K-State is 148-4 (.974) when holding an opponent to 49 points or less including a 67-1 mark in the Mittie era. During Mittie's tenure, K-State has held 22 opponents to 40 or fewer points including the 2025-26 season-opener when the Wildcats limited Omaha to 35 points.
• Under Mittie, K-State is 148-16 (.902) when holding its foes to 60 points or less including a 68-4 (.944) record over the last five seasons. The Wildcats held 19 opponents to 60 points or less last season (19-0).
• In the 2024-25 season, K-State limited foes to 58.9 points per game on a .367 field goal percentage. The Wildcats were third in the Big 12 and 58th in the nation in scoring defense and led the Big 12 and rank 20th in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

Wildcats Picking Pockets
• The Wildcats continue to swipe the basketball at a high rate.
• K-State pocketed 19 steals in the season-opener against Omaha. The 19 steals were the most for the Wildcats since Dec. 7, 2022, against Kansas City when K-State pilfered 20 steals.
• This season, K-State has tallied 69 steals (9.9 spg). Of the 119 opponent turnovers this season, 58.0 percent have come from a K-State steal.
• In the 2024-25 season, K-State pocketed 307 steals (8.5 spg). Of the 542 opponent turnovers this season, 56.6 percent have come from a K-State steal. The 307 steals were the third-most since 2014-15.

Halftime Lead = K-State 'W'
• Since the 2001-02 season, K-State is 406-54 (.883) when leading at the break, including a 3-0 record this season and a 26-2 mark in the 2024-25 season.
• K-State is 179-21 (.895) when leading at the break under head coach Jeff Mittie.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, K-State is 312-19 (.943) when leading with five minutes to play including a 196-8 (.961) record under Mittie.

Wildcats in Nail-Biters
• Kansas State owns an all-time record in overtime games of 32-30 (.516), including a 28-25 (.528) record in single overtime games and a 3-6 (.333) record in double overtime games.
• The Wildcats were 2-0 last season in overtime games with wins over Iowa State (1/30/25) and at Kentucky (3/23/25).
• Over the last 12 seasons, K-State is 50-36 (.581) in games decided by five points or less including a 1-3 mark this season.
• With its comeback win at SMU on Nov. 8, it was K-State's first win when trailing entering 4th quarter since a 73-64 (ot) win on Feb. 21, 2024, against West Virginia, ending a seven-game losing streak when trailing entering the final frame.
• Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, K-State is 172-15 (.920) when entering the fourth quarter with the lead and is 28-112 (.200) when trailing entering the fourth quarter.

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Women's Basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Taryn Sides

Jordan Speiser

Kansas State University Athletics