Sweet Victory

By: D. Scott Fritchen

In the end, she wept.

A thousand thoughts and emotions hit Kansas State All-American super senior center Ayoka Lee at once as she stood victorious on the basketball court at Memorial Coliseum surrounded by blue in Lexington, Kentucky, and the feat that once eluded her and the Wildcats for so long delivered a mighty slap of reality to her and her victorious teammates who survived one of the greatest games of the NCAA Tournament — an 80-79 overtime thriller over Kentucky — to deliver the program its first Sweet 16 in 23 years.

The 6-foot-6 Lee, who battled Kentucky's big post players for 28 minutes while battling foul trouble, finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, and she was one of many stars for a K-State team that celebrated and hugged, the purple passion strong amidst a silenced, shocked crowd and Kentucky players who wouldn't see tomorrow.

No. 5 seed K-State 80, No. 4 seed Kentucky 79. In overtime.

"We've been knocking on the door, and we just haven't gotten it done, and I haven't gotten it done," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "This group has been a special group… I'm just so proud of this group. I'm really happy for our fans. I know they wanted this. I know it's been a long time. I'm just really happy for our fans."

So much has been written about this special K-State team, which improved to 28-7 to tie for the second-most victories in program history, and that had overcome adversity in the absence of their All-American center (Lee missed 11 of 12 games with a fractured foot), who so badly wanted a special March with her teammates.

And so opens a new chapter and a new journey for this 2024-25 K-State women's basketball squad, which heads to Spokane, Washington, to face the winner between No. 1 seed USC and No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 on Saturday — a journey that seems a small lifetime away, yet soon will be filled with the exciting hustle-and-bustle of packing for a new destination.

For two games, K-State made Lexington its old Kentucky home.

"We came into this game knowing we were capable of winning," K-State All-American guard Serena Sundell said. "We never lost that throughout the whole 45 minutes. We knew that we had a shot, and we were going to play until the buzzer.

"The confidence of this team is what carried us through."

We might never know exactly what Lee was thinking as she stood near midcourt and wept at 4:10 p.m. (ET) Sunday, but we do know gratitude and happiness was near the top of the list.

The happiness spilled over to K-State coaches and fellow players, what with the hootin' and hollerin' and hugs following an incredibly gutty performance with it all on the line.

"We were prepared," K-State senior forward Temira Poindexter said. "We knew this was their home floor. We were definitely prepared."

Poindexter had 24 points and a career-high eight 3-pointers and six rebounds and six blocks. Sundell had 19 points and a program record-tying 14 assists. Kennedy Taylor came off the bench for 11 points, made all 7 of her free-throw attempts, and added eight rebounds. Jaelyn Glenn had nine points on three 3-pointers. Zyanna Walker had one point and a career-high four blocks while guarding Kentucky All-American Georgia Amoore, who had 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting from the floor and suffered four turnovers.

When K-State needed her the most, Walker, a sophomore guard from Wichita, delivered the final defensive blow by wresting with a pack of Kentucky players as seconds ticked away in overtime. Kentucky had one last chance, but Amoore missed her jumpshot just before the final buzzer and Kentucky's season ended with a 23-8 record.

"We had opportunities throughout the whole basketball game, and I think everybody will try to focus on the floater that Georgia missed at the end," Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks said. "Georgia had a 3 toward the end, Amelia Hassett had a wide-open 3, so we had opportunities.

"We're going to leave, we know we went down fighting. We had the opportunities we wanted. We wish we could've stepped up and knocked them down, but it wasn't for a lack of effort."

Brooks added: "Some of the things that happened, you give them credit. We had a lead, and they had to make shots, and they did, and they made big shots. We came back down, and we were countering. It was a terrific basketball game. There had to be a winner, there had to be a loser."

One of the biggest stories of this classic proved to be Poindexter, who Mittie said executed one of her best defensive efforts of the season, yet who also came alive with arguably her best overall performance as a Wildcat. After starting the game 0-of-5 on 3-pointers, Poindexter made eight of her next 10 3-point attempts.

"Honestly, it's my teammates that tell me and give me the confidence because in those moments I do like to get down on myself," she said. "So, my teammates come in and have my back and tell me to keep shooting. That's what really lifts me up and give me confidence."

It's been quite a ride for Poindexter, who transferred from Tulsa to play on the big stage. An All-Big 12 Third Team selection, Poindexter has scored more than 2,000 points in her career and entered the game hitting 82-of-207 (39.6%) 3-pointers this season.

"I'm really proud of her because she transferred to us and this is one of her reasons," Mittie said. "She goes, 'I want to go to the NCAA Tournament. I haven't done that in my career.' She said, 'Coach, I want to go to an established locker room. I want to go to a group that wants to go further.' To see her step up in the biggest moments after a start like that is pretty special."

Meanwhile, playing in what could've been her final game of a celebrated career, Sundell issued an early statement that she wasn't ready to go home. She scored 15 points to get the offense cooking — jumping to sixth-place all-time in scoring in K-State history — and then added 14 assists — giving her 805 career assists, the most in K-State history.

Someone in the postgame news conference asked Sundell how her personal accomplishment compared to her team advancing to the Sweet 16.

"It doesn't compare," she said. "I would choose a Sweet 16 every single day over getting that record. A really cool record, and once again, credit to my teammates for being able to make shots.

"To be honest, at the beginning of this year, I didn't really see that record being something that I would reach, but I've been able to play with a bunch of really good shooters. Obviously, having Yokie gives me a lot of different options."

Fittingly, Sundell's record came when she found Lee inside for a layup in the heat of this back-and-forth battle that was so good that it required an overtime period.

Five minutes later, the Wildcats were on the court celebrating like it was 2002 — the last time K-State advanced to a Sweet 16.

"This was a hell of a game," Mittie said. "My gosh, it'll be a great one to rewatch. I can't imagine there's a better game in the tournament yet. Both teams hit huge shots right and left and there were big plays and bodies all over the place. There were just a lot of tough plays today."

On Sunday, K-State had a date with destiny. And so, in the end, awash in emotion, Lee, the program's all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks, and who is arguably the greatest player to put on a K-State uniform, stood near midcourt and wept.

After an emotional tussle, K-State had plenty to celebrate. And now the Wildcats are headed to Spokane.

"You fight and scrap," Mittie said, "and have to end up one point better."

K-State stays alive.

And is still dancing.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jaelyn Glenn

Ayoka Lee

Temira Poindexter

Serena Sundell

Kennedy Taylor

Zyanna Walker

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