The End of an Era

By: D. Scott Fritchen

They sat together one last time, Ayoka Lee and Serena Sundell, underneath the brilliant light cast from large lamps positioned above the NCAA Tournament backdrop, and they let out a collective sniffle in the aftermath of an incredibly valiant and incredibly gut-twisting 67-61 loss by No. 5 Kansas State against No. 1 seed USC in the Spokane Region 4 regional semifinal at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

For 40 minutes, Lee, Sundell and the Wildcats, in a game where there were no guarantees, played like there was no tomorrow. In the end, Sundell kicked and drove and floated, fighting ever fighting for a Wildcat victory, as time ticked down and eyes grew wide at the grim realization that this was in fact the end — that final chapter to a favorite book that you never wanted to close for good.

There was the final buzzer, the final handshake line, that final trot to the locker room for that final cry, where hugs are unable to fully console a roomful of broken hearts.

And now Lee and Sundell, the pair of All-American seniors, sat in front of a room of reporters, eyes wide, gazing into nothingness, as if it was all a dream, one they couldn't have fathomed, not with so much love for the game and for their team, which will go down as one of the top-five teams in school history, yet one that wasn't finished with what it had started several months before.

"I'm grateful to be a Wildcat," Sundell told the room of reporters.

The game that featured eight lead changes unfortunately didn't have a ninth. K-State led for just 4:28 but came excruciatingly close to snatching the lead time and time again. K-State trailed 60-59 after a Sundell layup with 3:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats would crawl no closer the rest of the game.

K-State's season ended with a 28-8 record and the school's first Sweet 16 appearance in 23 years. USC, 31-3, advanced to play UConn in the Elite Eight.

Sundell scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting, and she sank 10-of-11 free throws and added six rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block in 40 minutes. The 6-foot-1 native of Maryville, Kansas, finished her career with 1,771 points, 577 rebounds, 811 assists, 182 steals and 104 blocks.

"I would just credit my coaching staff and teammates for helping me grow over the last four years," she said. "I'm a much better player, and I have a lot more confidence than the 18-year-old I was when I first stepped on campus."

Lee scored 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks. She finished her career scoring 2,533 points and grabbed 1,262 rebounds to go along with 82 assists, 121 steals and 356 blocks. The three-time All-American from Byron, Minnesota, was asked to put her journey into words. She began to sob, and K-State head coach Jeff Mittie wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"To have a coach that has just continued to believe in me through everything I've been through and to have teammates like Serena who have just been game-changers from the minute they stepped on campus, not everyone gets to have a college career like that," Lee said, "so I'm extremely grateful."

K-State tied for its second-most wins in school history. USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said that "they were, I thought, a top-10 team when (Lee) was healthy, and they played like it tonight." And yes, K-State was rock solid, hardened by the second-round ouster a year ago, which made a Sweet 16 appearance — or more — a must this season for a proud team of Wildcats. Less than a week before, K-State outlasted No. 4 seed Kentucky 80-79 in an overtime thriller that featured 20 lead changes to bring the Wildcats to this point — on the cusp of the school's first Elite Eight since 1982.

"I'm just proud of this group," Sundell said. "I guess we had big goals coming into this season, so I'm obviously proud to get to where we did. It stings right now. The locker room was hard. We wanted to extend the season as long as we could, but I know we're going to look back and be really proud of what we've done for this program. So just proud of our group."

After posting records of 20-13 and 19-17, K-State has gone 26-8 and 28-8 in the last two seasons — enjoying the second-best two-year stretch in school history.

"They're a team that went somewhere that hadn't been done in 23 years," Mittie said. "The last two years in particular — it's one of the top two-year numbers. This is where we want to be. This group last year, we returned about 80%, and they wanted to get past the point of last year, and this is a team toward that."

This team came so incredibly close.

"We wanted this one," Mittie said. "There's no doubt we wanted this one. We wanted this one bad. We thought it was right there, and I think it was right there. We're a shot away from flipping it. It was that kind of game."

It was a game — and a story — that came down to the final minute. And then came the disbelief. And the finality.

"You get to this point, you're disappointed in the outcome," Mittie said. "You wanted to have one more film session, one more practice, one more walkthrough, one more — you know, and how long could you extend it. And when it ends, it ends like that."

Mittie continued.

"I'm proud of this senior group," he said. "Disappointed with the outcome tonight, but I told them in the locker room, at some point your tears will be happy tears that you start to remember the time you spent with your coaches, the wins, the bus trips, the plane trips."

There will be one final plane trip. And that, too, might sting.

For the final time together, Lee and Sundell rose from their chairs and ambled down metal stairs, and they disappeared behind a tall black curtain.

They were silent, lost in their thoughts as the final pages of their K-State story together came to an end.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ayoka Lee

Serena Sundell

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