K-State Ends 2025 with Big Second Half Against Cincinnati

Wednesday, December 31

Manhattan, Kan.

1 p.m.

Kansas State University

8-7,1-1Big 12

Cincinnati

5-9,0-2Big 12

Cincinnati

Kansas St.

Photo by: ABBY KENNEDY PHOTOGRAPHY

KStateWBB vs Cincinnati | December 31, 2025 | Final: K-State 79, Cincinnati 52 | Manhattan, KS

Photo by: ABBY KENNEDY PHOTOGRAPHY

Photo by: Will Huster Photography

K-State Ends 2025 with Big Second Half Against Cincinnati

Dec 31, 2025 | Women's Basketball

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MANHATTAN, KANSAS – K-State turned a tie game at halftime on Wednesday afternoon into a 27-point win, 79-52, to close out the 2025 calendar year against Cincinnati at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (8-7, 1-1 Big 12) saw four players reach double figures on Wednesday, led by senior guard Tess Heal with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a season-best 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Heal added four steals, two rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes off the bench.

Freshman guard Jordan Speiser notched her fourth double figure effort in the last six games with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-11 from long distance. She tied for team-high honors on the glass with eight rebounds in 29 minutes of the bench.

Junior forward Nastja Claessens tallied 14 points, including 12 in the second half, on 5-of-9 shooting with a career-best 3-of-6 from 3-point range and added three assists and two rebounds.

Junior guard Taryn Sides tallied 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, a team-high nine assists, a career-high six steals and two rebounds. Sides is the first K-State player in program history and the first in the Big 12 since the 2023-24 season season to score 14 or more points, dish out nine or more assists and pocket six or more steals in the same game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cincinnati (5-9, 0-2) won the opening quarter, 16-10, as the Bearcats used a 12-3 run over the final five minutes of the stanza to secure the lead. The Wildcats were held scoreless for the final 3:50 of the quarter and shot 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the field over the entirety of the quarter.
- K-State held Cincinnati to a 26.7 percent (4-of-15) effort from the floor in the second quarter to capture the frame, 18-12, and knot the game at 28 at halftime. Heal and Sides paced the Wildcats with five points each in the second period.
- Trailing 26-19 with 3:19 remaining in the second frame, K-State closed the quarter on a 9-2 run. Speiser finished a putback attempt and was followed by a fastbreak layup from Heal. Heal then knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing before Jenessa Cotton finished the scoring with a layup.
- The Wildcats extended the run to a 24-2 rally, as K-State scored the first 15 points of the third quarter to take a 43-28 lead with 6:24 to play in the frame. Claessens scored eight points during the 15-0 burst to begin the second half.
- K-State would win the third quarter, 28-6, as the Wildcats shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the field including 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from long range. Cincinnati was held to 16.7 percent (2-of-12) shooting in the third quarter.
- The six points allowed in the third quarter were the fewest K-State has allowed in a quarter since Nov. 3, when the Wildcats held Omaha to four points in the second quarter.
- Cincinnati cut the K-State lead to 16, 61-45, with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. K-State responded with an 18-7 run to close the game, as the Wildcats knocked down four 3-pointers in the final 4:50 of the contest, including redshirt sophomore Mikayla Parks knocking down her first of the season.
- The Wildcats would capture the final frame, 23-18, shooting 53.3 percent from the field including 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from beyond the arc
- For the afternoon, K-State shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the floor and 41.2 percent (14-of-34) from long distance. The Wildcats have made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game four times this season including a school record 17 against Columbia on Nov. 27.
- Defensively, K-State forced Cincinnati into 30 turnovers with 15 coming off a steal. The 15 steals are the second-most by the Wildcats this season (19, vs. Omaha; Nov. 3). The Bearcats shot 30.8 percent (20-of-65) from the field including 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from beyond the arc.

QUICK FACTS
- K-State leads the series with Cincinnati, 4-0. The Wildcats are 2-0 in games played in Manhattan. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 8-1 in his career against Cincinnati.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 680-385 (.638), including a mark of 226-150 (.601).
- In its 30^th season of play in the Big 12, K-State owns a record of 246-248 (.498) in Big 12 action.
- K-State is 417-160 (.723) in its 38th-season inside Bramlage Coliseum, including a 147-52 (.739) record under Mittie. Wednesday's home win was its first win in Bramlage in 44 days with its last home win coming on Nov. 18 against Troy. Over that span, K-State only played one home game before Wednesday (Dec. 10, vs. San Diego State).
- The Wildcats are 254-105 (.708) in games played in the month of December. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 53-20 (.726) in games during the 12^th month. With its win on Wednesday, K-State secured a 3-2 record in December, collecting the program's 50^thseason with a .500 or better record in the 12^th month including 30 straight seasons.

TEAM NOTES
- K-State's starting five consisted of guards Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Taryn Sides and forwards Jenessa Cotton and Nastja Claessens. This was the eighth time this lineup has started together this season, the most of any combination this season. This was the 15th career start for Harrod, who has started every game of her K-State career. This was the 14th career start for Sides. This was the 13th career start for Garcia. Cotton made her 11th career start. Claessens made her 11th career start.
- Since the start of the quarter system in 2015-16, K-State is 166-69 (.706) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game. K-State has 21 quarters this season with 20 or more points scored. K-State scored 20 or more in the third and fourth quarters on Wednesday.
- Kansas State is 117-29 (.801) when holding an opponent to single digits in any quarter in a game. This season, K-State has held foes to five quarters with single-digits. K-State is 3-0 when achieving this in 2025-26.
- In the Mittie era (2014-present), the Wildcats have made 10 or more three-pointers in a game 55 times (w-l: 48-7).
- Since 2011-12, when three or more players reach double figures in scoring in the same game, K-State is 207-91 (.695) with a 7-4 mark in 2025-26.
- Over the last 18 years, the Wildcats are 117-8 (.936) when handing out 20 or more assists. K-State has dished out 20 or more assists three times this season with its last coming on Nov. 27 against Columbia in the Cancun Challenge.
- The Wildcats' bench outscored the Bearcats' bench, 39-18. K-State has scored 20 or more bench points in 11 games. The 39 bench points were the second most this season, trailing only the season-best of 47 against Omaha on Nov. 3. The Wildcats have had the edge in bench points in 12 games this season (7-5).

PLAYER NOTES
- Heal reached double figures for the 79^th time in her career, including her fifth time this season. Heal's collegiate career point total now stands at 1,571 points.
- Heal connected on a season-high three 3-pointers on Wednesday. This was her 25^th career game with two or more 3-pointers made. Her three 3-pointers were half of her total entering Wednesday's game (6-of-22).
- Claessens scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
- Claessens made a career-high 3 three-pointers on Wednesday. This was her third career game with two or more 3-pointers made.
- Sides reached double figures for the 28^th time in her career and the 10th time this season including her seventh in the last eight games.
- Sides buried three 3-pointers on Wednesday. This was her 12th game this season and the 43^rd of her career with two or more connections from 3-point range. With her three connections, Sides surpassed the 150 career made 3-pointers (151).
- Sides dished out nine assists on Wednesday. Sides improved her career total to 248 and moved into 23^rd in program history, passing Chelsea Domenico (2001-05; 240). This was her 21^st career game with five or more assists and her sixth this season. She has paced K-State in assists 16 times in her career, including six times this season.
- Speiser scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
- Speiser connected on 3 three-pointers on Wednesday. This was her seventh career game with two or more connections from beyond the arc.
- Speiser pulled in eight rebounds on Wednesday. This was her fourth game this season with five or more rebounds.
- Jenessa Cotton registered a career-high three blocks on Wednesday. This was her first career game with two or more blocked shots.
- Cotton tied her career-high with two steals on Wednesday. This was her fourth career game with two or more steals and fourth this season.
- Brandie Harrod hauled in eight rebounds on Wednesday. This was her 10th career game with five or more rebounds. She has led K-State in rebounding a team-high six times this season.
- Gina Garcia registered five assists. This was her ninth career game with five or more assists.
- Freshman Ivona Scekic and redshirt freshman Alexis Hess each made their collegiate debuts.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
On if the defense succeeded in everything he hoped to…
"Well, I didn't like our energy in the first half. There were, while we were getting some things out of the press, we weren't finishing many plays. They had eight offensive rebounds in the first half. I thought Cincinnati was getting a lot of the 50/50 balls early in this game, and so while we were doing some things at the top part of the press decent, the back end of the press wasn't very good. We weren't tough enough, we weren't active enough, we weren't flying around. I thought as the game went on, that got better. I thought we rebounded better, not great, but better. I do think that as we've employed this more and more, our instincts are getting better in the press. We're understanding when to go more when not to go, so I'm seeing improvement in that area. But you know, Cincinnati without their point guard today [Caliyah DeVillasee], she's a heck of a player, young player, they were vulnerable. I felt like in that they were lacking a really good ball handler, so we wanted to see how it would look."

On what changes things in the third quarter…
"I thought Tess [Heal] really ended the second quarter well, and Tess got us off to a great start in the third quarter. That's why I started her, she was the player that had the most energy, I thought she competed the most. But I thought Gina [Garcia], Taryn [Sides] and Tess, early, I thought Nas [Nastja Claessens] was good in that stretch, and obviously, I think they [Cincinnati] turned it over four or five straight times, so we had an open floor."

On Alexis Hess and Ivona Sckevic playing in the second half…
"Alexis has had, she doesn't have good knees, I mean, and the surgeries that she's had to have are tough, and long, long, long rehabs, very similar to what [Ayoka] Lee had, okay, very similar. And she [Hess] had them on both so, you know, to have this day come, because [it was] pretty unpredictable whether this would ever get here. But she's been practicing pretty well, she got cleared right before the TCU game, right before the TCU game. So didn't quite feel comfortable there, she really hadn't been through it. But yeah, it's good to see her out there. Good to see [Mikayla] Parks, you know, Parks has battled a couple knee injuries as well, and while she has been on the floor, good to see her knock a three down and get out there as well. And then Scekic it, you know, just really hard, an 18 year old coming in, maybe has had five practices down, six, she was able to practice the day before TCU. Just to be able to get her out there for two or three minutes, I think was good."

On the energy shift at the end of the second period and starting the third period…
"Horrible first half. I mean, gosh, just in terms of energy, just in terms of any life. You know, you sometimes get this out of the Christmas break, but we were slow lining up things, I mean, and we have practiced well, and that's what's kind of this team is a mystery at times. So that last three minutes was really, really critical for us. It gave us some confidence. Nas [Nastja] obviously picked up two really tough calls, so that was big when she went out. And then, you know, I decided to not foul her out, you know, I don't like to sit players, they got to learn to play with fouls. And to get her back was critical as well."

On if dialing up the defense aided the offense…
"Well, we had gone into this game wanting to do it, you know, we've been building this way, Creighton, we pressed quite a bit. Pressed some at TCU now they have a different point guard, but we did press her some. We did want, you know, there's all kinds of ways you can press this particular game, we wanted more chaos. And so when we got chaos, we were pretty good. So yeah, and I do think it jump started the offense. I think we got some layups, I think some players moved the ball better in the break. And yeah, it was good to see the ball go in a little bit."

On if the plays looked better as the third quarter progressed…
"Yeah, I think that two things occurred. I think we were playing better and I think their young players got a little frustrated. And, you know, like we've seen our young players do, you know? So when you're playing youth, both of us are having some challenges in moments of the game. And I think in that stretch we had had so many good plays, I think, you know, they contribute a little bit to that."
On if he thinks of the conference schedule as a separate season…
"Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely. I've always been one that thought the season was in thirds. You had the non-con, the conference play, and then you got the postseason. And I think now with the 18 teams, and now we have a conference game in December, it's a little bit different, but still, there's a different feel, you know, and even though the leagues are so huge now, and it's not like it used to be where you played everybody twice, and you really had that. There's still a different feel when another team walks in with Big 12 across their jersey, and you know that you're all competing for the same Championship, the same seeding, all of those things are different."

On how important this win was early in conference play…
"Yeah, huge. Can't overstate it, we need every win we can get right now. We played one of the top two or three teams in the league to start off on the road [TCU], so this was a big one for us to get, I think big for our confidence to play well. Certainly the last 25 minutes of today, hopefully we can take from that and carry that forward to some games. Because, you know, you got a really talented West Virginia team coming in here that will be much different. They play a chaotic style, like we played today."

On his communication approach to the team when shots aren't falling…
"Yeah, it's a great question, because, you know, one of the things that I felt like with this team was that I call it staying in the storm. We've had players, when they get in the storm of frustration or lack of success, they haven't played as hard. And then when they've gone to the bench, they haven't been able to hit the reset button, especially if they stayed over there too long. So what I tried to do in the last maybe four games is sub them quicker, because I didn't want them to be too deep in the problems to where they got too down, and then I didn't want them to sit too long with it either. That was a little more difficult today, I didn't do that as much today. I felt like we had seven playing pretty well in those 15 minutes from the five at the end of the second quarter to the end of the third, I had left that group out there pretty long. So I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out each player better and still trying to hopefully figure this team out. But yeah, my message has always been that don't let the offense affect your effort. But that's been the message for 30 years of coaching."

On the big difference in offensive rebounding in the second half…
"I think it's effort. There's two things that I think good offensive rebounding teams have, one, they know where their shots are coming from, and then sometimes, when we get maybe a little too hungry at times, maybe our shots aren't as good as they need to be, so the offensive rebounding isn't as good. When we're moving the basketball and we know where shots are coming from I think our offensive rebounding is a lot better. But yeah, effort, shot selection, I think those two things are the biggest things."

Cincinnati Head Coach Katrina Merriweather
Opening statement…
"Obviously, Kansas State did a great job in the second half, making adjustments and knocking down shots. Frustrating on our end for a lot of different reasons, lost Joya Crawford for the second half, I mean, it's our primary ball handler. Because of how banged up we are, we just don't have anybody else to do it. It put some of our other players in uncomfortable positions that we haven't practiced, and the result is 30 turnovers, but again, kudos to Kansas State for being able to take advantage of that."

On if K-State's full court pressure ramped up in the second half…
"I think so. But I mean, that's just good coaching. I mean, when you can tell that a team struggles with confidently breaking presses, then press them. And so ultimately, I think that that's what what we encountered, and it didn't matter what I drew up. Like when you draw up something different than when you practice, especially with a young team that doesn't have as much experience, it's going to be very hard to execute something from the drawing board to the court. We're just in a position where, Kylie Torrence, I mean it's her first game back, and here we are, I'm asking her to handle the ball under pressure, and that's not something that she did before she was out. And so it didn't look very good today, but we'll just have to keep working at it."

On the start of the third period with multiple turnovers…
"Again, having a press breaker and the kids are close to you on your end, is a little different than them being all the way down on the other end, they can't hear you. The fans in here were awesome, it was loud. I think that Kansas State could feel the energy from the people in the building. There's just, for a lot of reasons, everything that could go wrong went wrong there in that first couple of minutes. It's hard, hard to give up nine points and I think it was a minute and 15 seconds."

UP NEXT
K-State begins the 2026 calendar year on Sunday, as the Wildcats host West Virginia at 1 p.m. Sunday's game is Junior Wildcat Day with pregame activities in the Shamrock Zone for Junior Wildcat members. For tickets, call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets.

The game can be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard online at kstatesports.com, on the K-State Sports app and the flagship stations of K-State women's basketball in Manhattan, Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN.

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.