K-State Upsets 13th-Ranked Ole Miss in Final Seconds

ST. JOSEPH, Missouri – K-State went toe to toe with (13/13) Ole Miss in the third annual Bill Snyder Classic on Sunday afternoon at Civic Arena and freshman Brandie Harrod hit the game-winning jumper with two seconds left to send the Wildcats home with a 61-60 upset of the Rebels.

K-State (6-5) saw three players reach double figures, led by freshman guard Jordan Speiser with a career-high 19 points while adding four rebounds.

Joining Speiser in double figures was junior guard Taryn Sides with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Senior guard Tess Heal chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Starting at the 6:28 mark of the fourth frame, the teams tied the game four times. Sides would put the Wildcats in front, 59-58, with 31 seconds remaining with an old-fashioned 3-point play with a driving layup and free throw. Ole Miss (8-1) answered with a layup from Cotie McMahon with 15 seconds for a 60-59 lead. McMahon led the Rebels with 22 points and eight rebounds.
- On the ensuing K-State possession, the ball fell to Harrod in the paint and with two seconds left Harrod finished an off-balance jumper off the glass to put the Wildcats in front, 61-60. The final opportunity for Ole Miss fell short at the buzzer.
- The Wildcats closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run, as Heal connected on a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining in the frame. Izela Arenas added a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left and Speiser beat the buzzer by banking in a left wing three-pointer to square the game at 15 entering the second quarter.
- K-State would go in front by four, 20-16, as Speiser started the second quarter with a long 3-pointer and Arenas added a driving layup with 9:05 to play in the second quarter. Ole Miss (7-0) answered with an 11-0 rally to take a 27-20 lead with 4:16 remaining.
- The Wildcats would close the margin with its defense and from the foul line, as K-State went 5-of-6 from the line to trail by three at the half, 31-28.
- K-State used a 9-3 run to begin the third quarter to go in front, 37-34, with 5:10 remaining. Speiser would score four of the nine points during the run.
- The Rebels would rally from a five-point deficit, 39-34, to take a 40-39 advantage with two minutes left in the third stanza. An old-fashioned three-point play from Speiser with 1:32 left put the Wildcats back in front, 42-40. Mississippi would square the game at 42 on a layup with six seconds left.
- Ole Miss connected on their fifth 3-pointer of the afternoon to hold a four-point lead, 48-44, with 7:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.
- For the game K-State shot 38.3 percent (18-of-47) from the field including 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from long range. The Wildcats shot a season-high 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the foul line.
- Defensively, the Wildcats held the Rebels to a 31.9 percent (22-of-69) performance from the field including 16.7 percent (5-of-30) from beyond the arc.

QUICK FACTS
- The series between the school is tied, 1-1. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 2-4 in his career against Ole Miss. The Wildcats are 125-147 against current members of the SEC.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 678-383 (.639), including a mark of 224-148 (.602).
- K-State is 3-0 in the Bill Snyder Classic.
- The Wildcats are 252-103 (.710) in games played in the month of December, including an active winning streak of 15. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 51-18 (.739) in games during the 12^th month.
- K-State is 96-249 (.278) against teams ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll. Under Mittie, the Wildcats are 24-72 (.250) against AP ranked foes.

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 fourth time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 11th career start for Harrod. This was the 10th career start for Sides. This was the ninth career start for Garcia. Cotton made her seventh career start. Claessens made her seventh career start.
- Since the 2011-12 season, the Wildcats are 205-91 (.693) when three or more players score in double figures in the same game. K-State is 5-4 this season when three or more players score 10 or more points in a game.
- K-State has 17 quarters this season with an effort of 50.0 percent or better including 54.5 percent performance in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
- This was the third time this season K-State has scored 35 or more points from the bench, registering exactly 35 points on Sunday. The 35 points are the third-most bench points this season and the most since scoring 37 against South Dakota on Nov. 13. The Wildcats have received 20 or more points from its bench in 10 games this season.

PLAYER NOTES
- Speiser scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and fourth time in the last five games.
- Speiser knocked down two 3-pointers on Sunday. This was her sixth career game with two or more connections from long range.
- Heal reached double figures for the fourth time this season and the 78^th time in her career.
- Sides reached double figures for the 25^th time in her career and the seventh time this season.
- Sides buried two 3-pointers on Sunday. This was her eighth game this season and the 39^th of her career with two or more connections from 3-point range.
- Sides hauled in seven rebounds on Sunday. This was the seventh time this season and 23^rd time in her career with five or more rebounds in a game.
- Brandie Harrod hauled in seven rebounds on Sunday. This was her seventh career game with five or more rebounds.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement...
"I would just start off by just saying, you know, I appreciate Brett (Esely) and his staff putting on a really good event again. You know, for me, and I've said this a couple times, I've been back, you know, St Joe's always been a special place to me. I went to school here, I started my coaching career here. And you know it, I don't get back here as much as I'd like, but, but certainly when I've come back for whether it be Hall of Fame banquets and stuff, it's been really special to be back in around the players that I coached here. You know, this is a unique event with our legendary football coach's name on it. He was here in St. Joe and so we take a lot of pride in coming over here, and this is a great opponent that Brett lined up for us, and it was a great game. We grew up a lot. I think this week in particular, we hadn't had a lot of practice time. So one thing that has been really challenging with our schedule in a young group is that we just haven't had much practice time. This the first time we've strung together probably three practices without working on another opponent, and with a young team, that's really hard. So just proud of our group. They were resilient today. I thought they got tougher as the game went on. Made a lot of toughness plays down the stretch that maybe we hadn't been making in previous games but today, we certainly did. And these three up here made some plays, certainly in that fourth quarter. But we had a lot of players make plays."

On playing to the scouting report...
"Pretty good. You know, one of the things we wanted to do, you look at the first half, we wanted to make them shoot a lot of threes, because we knew their rebounding was, their one of the best rebounding teams in the country, and in the first half, we didn't rebound it. We didn't. We weren't playing as tough. We weren't chasing like we needed to too many times we were on the ground when we needed to be upright. But in the second half, we only give up five offensive rebounds, and I thought that was a big key to the game. So I think all in all, scouting report from a defensive standpoint was good. Scouting report from an offensive standpoint, I think where it benefited us some was getting 12 involved in the ball screen, because we got a couple fouls that got them to play a different lineup. She is such a good player that she's a lot easier to guard over on the bench."

On the defensive looks...
"I think one of the things we've got to I think we need to be a team that plays multiple defenses, and I think there are going to be certain games that man to man is going to be critical. We have done some things well in man, but it seems like every time we've made a mistake, people have really made us pay, and those are the things we wanted to spend most of our week on. Half and half was spent man and half we just put the zone in. I mean literally Tuesday. We spent a lot of time on man to man, because it's an area that even when I've coached a lot of zone, we still do 95% of our drills man to man. And so I think it's good to see it. And I thought our group played really well for a short amount of time."

On the play of the bench...
"I thought (Izela) Arenas off the bench. I thought Tess Heal off the bench gave us a lift, because the starting group, Brandie struggled early in this game. Nastja (Claessens) struggled early in this game. Gina (Garcia) struggled early in this game. I thought the bench was a huge key. I thought Tess Heal was the toughest player for us early in that game, and I thought that became contagious. I thought Izela made some big baskets early in the game, early in her rotation. Jordan, obviously, coming in, makes a tough three, and has a good look to her. So yeah, I thought our bench was key, because you're right, we did not get off to a great start."

On the final play…
"The play was really we, I mean, we'd ran it. We wanted to get Gina involved in the ball screen. And we trust Gina but Ole Miss really guarded it well. She found Brandie on a dive cut, but there was a lot of contact there, and Brandie really had to gather. I'm not sure she makes that early in the game. I don't think she was playing that tough. I don't she kind of willed her way to that basket, but I thought she played tougher as the game went on. She had rebounds in the second half that were different, and I thought she played really tough."

FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Freshman Guard Brandie Harrod
On the game-winning shot...
"I was excited. You know, I was struggling the whole game, and my teammates just encouraging me the whole game and making me feel better. And that going in, the going in the goal, just made it even better."

On how this experience helps her...
"Whenever I get to my senior year, I'll have all this experience, so it will help me. I think it's important."

On the final play...
"I was struggling with it a little bit, getting a lot of contact from number 12. I think it was. She was playing good defense, but it was a better shot."

K-State Freshman Guard Jordan Speiser
On how this experience helps her...
"I think just having like, that connection on the court, and then just our teammates that are the veterans on the team, especially Taryn, just giving us the confidence always, and just knowing that we can do it."

On getting this win in her home state...
"It means a lot. My whole family was here to be able to see that win. So it meant a lot. And then, yeah, just back in Missouri. I mean, it's a great win."

On her career-high in scoring...
"Just glad we got the win. I think that driving the basket a few times I was like surprising myself because they were guarding me so tight on the three. Once I figured out that was working, my teammates just kept on giving me the confidence to keep doing it, and that's what I had to do."

K-State Junior Guard Taryn Sides
On her and-1 in the final moments...
"We had ran it a few times throughout the game, and I knew that they guarded it really well coming off the stagger back through the other way or the elevator. And so I think my read was, if she beats me to the spot, I'm going to curl it, and I should have an advantage on her. And I was lucky enough to turn the corner and just get a little bit of the edge and finish it."

On the growth of the team...
"I think this team has continued to grow. I think we know that we're capable of playing like this. Every game we've just had like you said, had the growth period. The tournament in Cancun has helped us, and having a full week of practice has helped us learn and work on different things with such a young group. These girls beside me played so well today. I'm so proud of them. Gina played really well for a freshman. I know I couldn't have done that when I was a freshman, so I'm just proud of them and proud of this team."

UP NEXT
K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday, as the Wildcats host San Diego State at 11 a.m., in the annual School Day game.

The game will stream 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.

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Team Stats

Jordan Speiser

Taryn Sides

Tess Heal

Gina Garcia

Players Mentioned

Jenessa Cotton

Gina Garcia

Brandie Harrod

Taryn Sides

Jordan Speiser

Players Mentioned

Jenessa Cotton

Gina Garcia

Brandie Harrod

Taryn Sides

Jordan Speiser

Kansas State University Athletics