Excited for March
Mar 17, 2025 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
For Jeff Mittie and his players, it was the waiting game for the Kansas State women's basketball team on Selection Sunday. When K-State's name finally flashed across the TV screen in the Spokane 4 Regional, it revealed that the team from the Little Apple will begin their Road to the Final Four journey in the Bluegrass State.
No. 5 seed K-State, 26-7, will face No. 12 seed Fairfield, 28-4, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Lexington, Kentucky. The winner will meet the winner of the No. 4 Kentucky-No. 13 Liberty matchup on Sunday.
"We're excited to be in the bracket we're in," Mittie said. "I've never coached in Kentucky, so from a basketball perspective, it's a state that loves its basketball and I'd guess it'll be a great atmosphere for the four of us."
K-State, which boasts the program's most wins since the 2008-09 season, was a bubble team to be a No. 4 seed and host the first two rounds of the tournament in Manhattan for a second straight season, so the Wildcats faced some anxious moments following a 73-69 loss to West Virginia in the second round of the Big 12 Championship.
Turned out that K-State was the top No. 5 seed in the bracket.
"I'm excited," senior center Ayoka Lee said. "Definitely not what we were wanting, but we knew that it was going to be one or the other. We're excited for the opportunity. It'll be good."
And Lee should be good to go, which is great news for the Wildcats. Lee, the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks, has missed time while recovering from a fractured foot. The return of the 6-foot-6 two-time All-American has put a collective spring in the Wildcats' steps in practice.
K-State has lost three of the last four — all without Lee on the floor.
"I'm feeling good," she said. "It's been a good progression."
She added: "I don't have any worries or reservations."
Mittie said that Lee is "better than expected."
"Thursday and Friday we went back-to-back, and I didn't think she'd go Friday because we went heavy Thursday," Mittie said. "So that was a pleasant surprise for me, because I was concerned about the back-to-back. On Friday, she said, 'I feel pretty good, let's do it.' We had Saturday off, came back today and practiced, and she did more and didn't step out of a drill at all.
"It's probably as good as we could expect."
All-Big 12 First Team senior guard Serena Sundell could feel a spark in practice.
"She just is such a big role for our team," Sundell said. "Just the way I see the court and the way we can have different reads open up, it's been completely different. I felt really good with our last practices with her in it. She raises everybody around her. I feel good about how we're playing right now, and I'm excited to play in the tournament."
Lee and Sundell headline a talented senior class that will make its final push together in the postseason. They saw their hopes of reaching a Sweet 16 dashed a year ago in a 63-50 loss to Colorado in the second-round game in Manhattan.
"Any night any team can come out and win," Sundell said. "Clearly, it doesn't matter where you're playing. That's one thing I'm excited about is playing on the road after last year being beat at home, it stings. It's a game of runs and to be consistent through the game for 40 minutes will be key."
Fairfield has won 22 of its last 23 games and captured the MAAC title and MAAC tournament title for the league's automatic bid. The Stags, who have posted a 59-6 record over the last two seasons, will be making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
"My thought process is just the game in front of us and what we need to do to win and continuing to stay in the moment," Lee said, "which is doing whatever it takes to win. It could end any given night."
For Jeff Mittie and his players, it was the waiting game for the Kansas State women's basketball team on Selection Sunday. When K-State's name finally flashed across the TV screen in the Spokane 4 Regional, it revealed that the team from the Little Apple will begin their Road to the Final Four journey in the Bluegrass State.
No. 5 seed K-State, 26-7, will face No. 12 seed Fairfield, 28-4, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Lexington, Kentucky. The winner will meet the winner of the No. 4 Kentucky-No. 13 Liberty matchup on Sunday.
"We're excited to be in the bracket we're in," Mittie said. "I've never coached in Kentucky, so from a basketball perspective, it's a state that loves its basketball and I'd guess it'll be a great atmosphere for the four of us."
K-State, which boasts the program's most wins since the 2008-09 season, was a bubble team to be a No. 4 seed and host the first two rounds of the tournament in Manhattan for a second straight season, so the Wildcats faced some anxious moments following a 73-69 loss to West Virginia in the second round of the Big 12 Championship.
Turned out that K-State was the top No. 5 seed in the bracket.
"I'm excited," senior center Ayoka Lee said. "Definitely not what we were wanting, but we knew that it was going to be one or the other. We're excited for the opportunity. It'll be good."
And Lee should be good to go, which is great news for the Wildcats. Lee, the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks, has missed time while recovering from a fractured foot. The return of the 6-foot-6 two-time All-American has put a collective spring in the Wildcats' steps in practice.
K-State has lost three of the last four — all without Lee on the floor.
"I'm feeling good," she said. "It's been a good progression."
She added: "I don't have any worries or reservations."
Mittie said that Lee is "better than expected."
"Thursday and Friday we went back-to-back, and I didn't think she'd go Friday because we went heavy Thursday," Mittie said. "So that was a pleasant surprise for me, because I was concerned about the back-to-back. On Friday, she said, 'I feel pretty good, let's do it.' We had Saturday off, came back today and practiced, and she did more and didn't step out of a drill at all.
"It's probably as good as we could expect."
All-Big 12 First Team senior guard Serena Sundell could feel a spark in practice.
"She just is such a big role for our team," Sundell said. "Just the way I see the court and the way we can have different reads open up, it's been completely different. I felt really good with our last practices with her in it. She raises everybody around her. I feel good about how we're playing right now, and I'm excited to play in the tournament."
Lee and Sundell headline a talented senior class that will make its final push together in the postseason. They saw their hopes of reaching a Sweet 16 dashed a year ago in a 63-50 loss to Colorado in the second-round game in Manhattan.
"Any night any team can come out and win," Sundell said. "Clearly, it doesn't matter where you're playing. That's one thing I'm excited about is playing on the road after last year being beat at home, it stings. It's a game of runs and to be consistent through the game for 40 minutes will be key."
Fairfield has won 22 of its last 23 games and captured the MAAC title and MAAC tournament title for the league's automatic bid. The Stags, who have posted a 59-6 record over the last two seasons, will be making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
"My thought process is just the game in front of us and what we need to do to win and continuing to stay in the moment," Lee said, "which is doing whatever it takes to win. It could end any given night."
Players Mentioned
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