That Same March Feeling 23 Years Later

By: D. Scott Fritchen

A longtime women's basketball analyst for the K-State Sports Network, Kristin (Rethman) Waller has been around K-State women's hoops for more than 20 years. Today, she celebrates 23 — as in 23 years since K-State played in the Sweet 16. Waller was the lone senior on the last K-State team to advance to the Sweet 16 in 2001-02.

One of the best 3-point shooters in the Big 12, (Rethman) Waller finished her K-State career with 1,099 points, 401 rebounds, 294 assists in 120 career games. She ranked second in K-State history with 266 3-pointers and first with a 43.6% 3-point shooting percentage.

Waller sat down with K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen here in Spokane, Washington, to discuss her memories of the 2002 Sweet 16 team and analyze the 2025 Sweet 16 squad that prepares to face No. 1 USC at 7 p.m. tonight with a chance to advance to the second Elite Eight in history:

D. Scott Fritchen: Twenty-three years later, can you grasp the enormity of what the 2001-02 K-State accomplished?

Kristin Waller: You look back at what that team was and even after, you've got the Big 12 Championship team, you've got four WNBA players, five 1,000-point scorers on there. Hindsight is 20-20, but we hadn't been there since 1980, so to experience it in my college career, it's what you grew up watching, it's what you grow up playing for, is being able to play during March and in March Madness.

Fritchen: Can you give K-State fans a sense of the makeup of that 2001-02 team and what made it special?

Waller: You can look at the stats. The stats speak for themselves, especially for those players — Wecker, Ohlde, Koehn and Mahoney — leaving marks on the record books. Sure, that's one thing. But they were tremendous competitors, tremendous student-athletes in terms of really good humans, and really funny and onery and really good teammates and people to be around. When you have that kind of person and competitor and have a coaching staff that can bring everyone together, the numbers and progress doesn't seem so off-base that it could happen with that group of people.

Fritchen: What was it like being the lone senior on that 2001-02 team?

Waller: I think my nickname was "Grandma" if I remember correctly. I embraced it and tried to show the ropes and tried to be a counselor and example. I think I took on that role anyway. It was, 'Whatever you need.' If something needed to be done, let's do it, if something needs to be done over here, let's roll up our sleeves and compete and get it done. It was sure fun in the moment, you know? Fun in terms of being able to look back at it. Obviously, there were going to be some ups and downs and the grind of it all. And maybe you don't appreciate the grind in the moment, but you can appreciate the grind now, looking back and seeing it for what it's worth. I tried to be steady, tried to be a competitor, and tried to what was needed and do whatever the team needed.

Fritchen: You're an example of a K-State player who just continued to get better throughout your career. By your senior season, you were one of the best 3-point shooters in the country and your 47% 3-point shooting remains best ever for a single-season at K-State. What do you attribute to your success that 2001-02 season?

Waller: I think just work. Just the ability to work, to have a work ethic, and I think that came from how my parents brought us up. Coming from a small community, Corning, and from the people in the community being such a supporter and motivator, I think ultimately parents instill how to work and what it's going to take to do something and to be great at something. Even just lessons of who you're going to surround yourself with and what kind of decisions you're going to make that would impact what you want to do and where you want to go in terms of reaching certain goals. Definitely the family aspect is where it starts, first and foremost. I'm sure I needed my butt kicked along the way as a reminder of "let's go" but hopefully not too often. It's also got to be intrinsic. You have to want to do it because nobody can do it for you. Nobody can go to the gym and get the extra reps. So, you've got to be the one to do it. But it's good to have those folks to show you the way as well.

Fritchen: At what point did you have an idea that the 2001-02 team could be special?

Waller: We had a really good non-conference and then over break, when generally you're home, we went straight from our last non-conference game straight to No. 4 Iowa State. So, there was a stretch we were together for a spell before Iowa State and then we beat the Cyclones on their home floor. And it was like, "All right, this is for real. Let's keep this going."

Fritchen: You obviously played alongside a star-studded young cast. When I say Kendra Wecker what comes to mind?

Waller: Tremendous athlete, tremendous person. She could play at all three levels — shoot the 3, had a beautiful midrange game, could drive to the rim. She was a tremendous matchup problem. She was a Kansas kid, and that means something in terms of the grittiness and the work ethic, so there's an appreciation and a familiarity there with Kansas sports, and having that tie automatically. She was onery, funny, and just good to be around in general.

Fritchen: Nicole Ohlde?

Waller: Same. Good person and student and teammate. She had a different game, obviously, a much more — the grace and footwork. She really worked to stretch her game as well. She could handle the ball if needed. The footwork and the up-and-unders and working around the bigger posts that we were going up against at that time is what comes to mind with her.

Fritchen: Laurie Koehn?

Waller: Worker. Man, she was a kid who was always in the gym, battled some injuries early on and still found ways to be in the gym, and her numbers show that, right? K-State charts, tops, and tops of the NCAA charts for a spell. Laurie had a super dry sarcastic sense of humor, so we spoke that same language a lot. That was good. She was the ultimate worker and competitor.

Fritchen: Megan Mahoney?

Waller: Same. Competitor. She was just going to win. She wanted to win and compete. That season, she really was the glue and the player who did a little bit of everything. She could score and her assist numbers were tops for quite a while. She was a competitor and go and take if from you. She wasn't going to wait to have it handed to her. Worker and competitor. Also very funny and had a great sense of humor.

Fritchen: In the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, K-State beat Kent State 93-65, then it beat Arkansas 82-68 in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16. Describe the feeling at that moment when you realized your team was moving on to that regional semifinal?

Waller: To do it at home in front of your fans and especially having, I mean we were 2-14 in the Big 12 the season before, so to have that switch flipped and to have people lined up outside of Bramlage waiting to get in and turning away busses of Nebraska fans at that first sellout and to be able to close it out at home and cut down the nets in front of your home fans was huge. It was something special. It's why you play and what you play for is to still be playing this time of year.

Fritchen: In the end, Old Dominion won 88-62 to end your magical season. What do you remember about the locker room and the flight home after that game?

Waller: It was somber. We didn't really play well. We didn't shoot the ball tremendously well. Old Dominion was a really good team. They had three or four 1,000-point scorers that went to the WNBA. That was the difference, I think is that they had a much more veteran group, and our players were just getting started. Maybe some of that plays into it, being in that spot, but just somber. I don't think you really appreciate the experience until a little time after.

Fritchen: You've been around women's basketball for more than two decades. You've seen a lot of ball and have seen a lot of teams. In the end, it comes down to 16 teams, then eight, then four, then two. Can you put into perspective exactly how difficult it is to reach this stage of a season?

Waller: You want to celebrate it and enjoy it because that's the goal and why you play. You want to be a part of March Madness because it's very different being in it than sitting at home watching it. Also, though, you want to balance that of keeping it within the team and within the circle and focus on what you need to focus on in terms of keeping and being able to play as long as you can.

Fritchen: This 2024-25 K-State team appears vastly different than the 2001-02 K-State squad. This is a very veteran team that has been through all the battles. Are there any intrinsic similarities between this team and the 2001-02 team?

Waller: The connectivity that they genuinely enjoy each other and are good teammates to be around. We're seeing a little bit more this time around with maybe some of the new pieces and maybe it's just grown into their confidence, too. There's a little bit more swagger. I think we saw that in the Kentucky game. And even against Fairfield a little bit, we saw, "All right, come get it. We're going to battle." The way we battled back, I was very, very proud of that moment. The ability to keep competing and even a little bit of the going-to-run-through-a-wall mentality and come-and-get-it mentality was really fun to see from this team in the first two rounds.

Fritchen: How close was the Kentucky game to being the most exciting game you've been a part of?

Waller: To me, from an analytical perspective, what an amazing game of back-and-forth and punch and punch back. That's what March Madness is all about. It was absolutely a top game in Kansas State women's basketball history. No doubt.

Fritchen: Just how exciting has it been to be a part of this ride with this K-State team?

Waller: To get to see the student side of them, the more human side of them as well, and being around and seeing how focused and how businesslike, and how on-point that they want to be has been a lot of fun. There's a great sense of pride in terms of being an alum and being a part of that last Sweet 16 team. K-State fans should be proud of having this group of women come through and how they've competed. It's pretty awesome.

Kansas State University Athletics

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