Furious Fourth Quarter Rally Comes Up Short for K-State

Saturday, January 10

Manhattan, Kan.

4 p.m.

Kansas State University

9-9,2-3Big 12

Utah

13-4,4-1Big 12

Utah

Kansas St.

Photo by: K-State Sports

Photo by: ABBY KENNEDY PHOTOGRAPHY

Photo by: K-State Photo

Photo by: K-State Sports

Photo by: K-State Photo

Furious Fourth Quarter Rally Comes Up Short for K-State

Jan 10, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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MANHATTAN, KANSAS – Trailing by 19 points entering the fourth quarter, K-State pulled to within four points, but Utah made just enough shots to prevail, 80-73, in Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday evening.

K-State (9-9, 2-3 Big 12) was led by the trio of Tess Heal, Nastja Claessens and Izela Arenas. Heal carded a game-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Heal, a senior from Melbourne, Australia, is the fourth player in program history since 1981-82 to register 25 or more points with 11 or more made field goals and shoot 84.0 percent or better from the field. She is the first since Ayoka Lee tallied 36 points on 15 made field goals and 88.2 percent shooting against North Florida on Dec. 16, 2023.

Claessens, a junior from Waregem, Belgium, tallied 13 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Arenas, a sophomore from Los Angeles, California, came off the bench to card 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pocketed three steals.

Utah (13-4, 4-1) was led by Reese Ross with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds and Grace Foster with 17 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trailing 62-41 after Ross scored a layup for the Utes to begin the fourth quarter, K-State responded with a 21-5 run to pull to within four, 67-63, with 3:07 remaining. During the run, Heal scored 11 points during the run, while Arenas added five and Claessens chipped in with four. Aiding in the comeback effort, K-State was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field for the first seven minutes of the stanza.
- Following the second Utah timeout, the Utes finished a three-point play from Maty Wilke and then added a 3-pointer from Foster to rebuild the advantage to 10, 73-63, with 2:09 left.
- Free throws by the Utes kept the margin at no less than 10 points until Heal connected on a three-pointer with 11 seconds left for the final margin.
- The Wildcats scored a season-high for any quarter 32 points in the fourth frame on 81.3 percent (13-of-16) shooting. The 32 points are the most in a fourth quarter for K-State since scoring a fourth quarter school record 34 points against Central Arkansas on Nov. 9, 2021.
- Utah put itself in position for its big fourth quarter lead by capturing the first half, 41-29, and shooting 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the opening half.
- The Wildcats started the third quarter with a four-point burst to narrow the margin to eight, 41-33. Utah answered with a 17-2 run to build its lead to 23, 58-35, with 2:06 left. K-State was held scoreless for over five minutes during the run.
- K-State ended the evening shooting 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the field including 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from beyond the arc.
- Utah shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in three of the four quarter and finished at 50.0 percent (27-of-54) including 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from long distance.

QUICK FACTS
- Utah leads the series with K-State, 5-4. The Wildcats are 2-3 in games played in Manhattan. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 11-9 in his career against Houston.
- K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 681-387 (.638), including a mark of 227-152 (.599).
- In its 30^th season of play in the Big 12, K-State owns a record of 247-250 (.497) in Big 12 action.
- K-State is 417-162 (.720) in its 38th-season inside Bramlage Coliseum, including a 147-54 (.731) record under Mittie.
- The Wildcats are 266-197 (.575) in games played in the month of January. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 46-45 (.505) in games during the 1^st month.

TEAM NOTES
- K-State's starting five consisted of guards Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Taryn Sides and Jordan Speiser and forward Nastja Claessens. This was the first time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 17th career starts for Sides and Harrod. This was the 16th career start for Garcia. Claessens made her 14th career start. Speiser made her third career start.
- This season, K-State owns 26 quarters with an effort of 50.0 percent or better shooting from the field, including the fourth (81.3) quarter on Saturday.
- The Wildcats' bench outscored the Utes' bench, 39-27. The Wildcats have had the edge in bench points in 15 games this season (8-7).

PLAYER NOTES
- Heal reached double figures for the 82^nd time in her career, including her eighth time this season. This was her 29^th career game with 20 or more points and her first this season. Heal's collegiate career point total now stands at 1,643 points. She has led K-State in scoring in four straight games and five times this season.
- Heal is the first player since Ayoka Lee from March 9 to March 24, 2024, to register consecutive games of 20 or more points.
- Heal made two 3-pointers on Saturday. This was her 27^th career game with two or more 3-point field goals made.
- Claessens scored in double figures for the 10th time this season and the fourth straight game.
- Sides buried two 3-pointers on Saturday. This was her 13th game this season and the 44^th of her career with two or more connections from 3-point range. With her two connections, Sides moved into a tie for 13^th in program history for career 3-pointers (153).
- Sides dished out five assists on Saturday. Sides ranks 22^nd in program history for career assists (260). This was her 23^rd career game with five or more assists and her eighth this season.
- Gina Garcia registered five assists. She is the 12^th freshman in program history to record 80 or more assists (89 assists this season). This was her 11th career game with five or more assists.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement…
"Well, unfortunately, by the time we decided to compete, they had a pretty big lead, and we'd let them get fairly comfortable. So it was disappointing for us, because we wanted the game like it was the last maybe 12, 13,14, minutes. We didn't play hard enough and didn't compete well enough early to get that kind of game. So, I'm disappointed for our fans. I'm disappointed that we had another pretty solid crowd and we come out and don't play as well as I think we're capable of."

On if Tess Heal can be the go-to scorer the rest of the season…
"Well, I wouldn't count Tess out. She's got that right mentality. We got to get the right match up for her. But she's a crafty scorer. She's done it in her career. (She) did it at Santa Clara, but wasn't as big a score at Stanford before she came here. She knows how to play. She competes every possession and certainly she's given us a big lift in that area."

On if he approached Tess Heal asking her to step up the last couple games…
"No, it's been more of a natural progression. Her and I talked right after the break with some things about what we needed more going forward, but it really wasn't related to necessarily scoring. I think what we found as a staff is there's some things that we're probably coaching her better and getting her in better position, and, boy, she sure is delivering. One of the things that we're trusting now with Tess is that she understands how to score down there. I think early in the year, she was maybe throwing up some wild shots trying to get fouls. Now you're seeing a much better patience. In the last three or four games, you've really seen her excel."

On why K-State switched to zone defense in the fourth quarter…
"Well, they shot 60% in the first (quarter), 50% in the second (quarter). They end up 50% in the fourth (quarter). We weren't guarding them very well in the man-to-man early. I wanted a lot more chaos in this game. I use that word. It was one of the words on the board before the game that we wanted to create. We just didn't do it early in this game. We weren't playing with the effort. We weren't playing with the urgency. I didn't think our starting group got off to a very good start that way. I thought Aniya Foy gave us a big lift there. I thought (Izela) Arenas gave us a lift there.
She ends up with three steals and that's almost half of what she had in the entire season. I thought (Nastja) Claessens early defensively wasn't very good. I didn't like the way she was flying around. I didn't like her aggressiveness. I thought she was behind plays. She picks up the two fouls mainly because I think she was behind plays. But, I thought as the game progressed, she got really good. So, we just needed to throw a different look at them. Sometimes it's not necessarily about what you're doing well. They were really in a good rhythm against our man-to-man. I just wanted to give them a different look."

On if it's a good thing or a bad thing that K-State closed the gap late…
"I think that both can be true. Both can be true. I can positively say that (I'm) proud of the fight, proud of the fact that we continue to raise our level up. You saw us dive on the floor (and) play the game the right way. It's equally as frustrating to say, 'What would have happened if that would have been our start today?' If that would have been our start. If that's how we would have started this game, diving on the floor, creating chaos, playing better together. If that would have been our start with this game, would this game have been different? That's where it's disappointing and frustrating that that wasn't our start because we don't know the answer to that. We obviously fought hard at the end, and, for that, I hope we can build off of it."

Utah Head Coach Gavin Petersen
Opening Statement…
"(It was a) really, really good game, exciting game for those in attendance down the stretch. Credit to Kansas State for continuing to scrap and fight. They went with a really small lineup that we obviously had a hard time containing. Defensively, they got into a zone. (It was the) first time we've seen zone all season. Kind of high risk, high reward, but that's kind of what you got to be ready for in our conference – great coaches, great players – so we've got to be ready for everything. But, extremely proud. I challenged our team to start every quarter off with an intensity and focus, and we did that. In the fourth quarter, I think we started to play not to lose as opposed to attack and play to win. But, like I always said, it's always good to learn some of these lessons on how to close games out in wins as opposed to losses. So, we'll watch the film, and we'll learn from it and grow. (I'm) just really proud of how we closed it out. Even when they cut it to six, we're able to get it back up to 10. Obviously the end result was up by seven. But again, credit to K-State and Coach Mittie, an amazing coach and his players played hard all the way to the end."

On what he feels where his team was excelling the most…
"I think it was a mentality like we're going to execute, we're going to get our post some touches, play inside out if you have an open shot, then let it fly. That's Utah basketball. We always pass up a good shot for a great shot. Keep the ball moving. It wasn't until I think the crowd got into it, the full court pressure might have got us to kind of be on our heels. That's probably why we got off that run. But, when we were hitting our shots, hitting our passes, we're playing a little differently mentally, with an edge and confidence about us. But again, credit to them, and we just got to get back to the drawing board in terms of learning how to close things out with that type of mentality."

On the scoring threat of Reece Ross…
"She's finding her rhythm within our offense. We do call some plays for her, but other than that, when she's just having to read and take what the defense gives us, I think her experience having been with us for three years, I'm starting to see a confidence in her and understanding where those moments are. So, really good. When our posts, our fours and our fives, are able to do that and put pressure on the rim, defenses are going to have to figure out how they want to stop us. That opens up open looks for our good shooters."

On Brooke Walker playing two games in her home state…
"Brooke having gone through some games where she missed and then getting her rhythm back back into the starting lineup, I still think she doesn't think it's very long, but four weeks out is a long time in the middle of the season to take a break, right? So, I think she's getting her game experience back. With her at full go, it just makes us a better team. So, (I'm) really happy for her. She got to come back home. You know, mom and dad went to KU and then, obviously, I'm sure they might dislike the color purple a little bit, but you know that it's cool that she gets to bring her team here and walk out of here in the state of Kansas with two victories. Pretty cool."

FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Guard Tess Heal
On what the biggest change was that K-State made during the fourth quarter…
"I think we just wanted it more. I think the realization hit that, 'Damn, we're down, whatever we were down, 12, 15, seven, whatever it was, I don't know, but we're down. We wanted to win that fourth quarter, which wasn't emblematic of the entire game."

On her performance in recent fourth quarters…
"I think it's the sense of urgency of the clock. Like, yeah, we only have five minutes to get this done, or 10 minutes to get this done. I got to be better. I can't keep just showing up in the fourth quarter. That's not fair to this team. I need to be better."

On why she was the one to drive to the basket in the second half…
"I think just the way they were playing it allowed me to go one on one a lot. They were staying out on our shooters. I felt in the first half, they really crashed down on a lot of things, and when I would drive, they would cram paint. So, there wasn't really much space to maneuver. But, in the second half, I felt like they stayed out on everybody. So, it was a one-on-one matchup, which I can take advantage of. But, like I said, I need to be better. I need to be able to do what I did in the second in the first. I think we need more contributors, and we just need to be more consistent."

On taking her leadership to a different level the past few games…
"I think it's a mentality thing. I've definitely been more aggressive. The first couple games or the first half of the season that I've come to K-State, I was a bit more passive than I have been. I looked in the mirror, and I thought, 'No, I need to go back to how I was at Santa Clara.' At Santa Clara, I was a point guard, a leader and scorer. I went away from that role at Stanford. It was just a different team, different circumstances. So, I assumed a different role where I just sort of played a shooter and stood in the corner. I think the recognition of, 'No, this team needs me to score and needs me to create and needs what I can do offensively,' that was really big for me when I reflected on it. That's what I've tried to embody in the past few games."

K-State Junior Forward Nastja Claessens
On the biggest challenge that Utah presented to K-State's defense…
"It is a great shooting team. We knew that from the start. We should be able to know the scout and stop their shooters because they had a lot of 3s, and those really hurt us."

On if she feels she picked it up offensively in the second half…
"You can always do better, I feel like. I made more points in the second half, but I need to be more present and more aggressive on offense. Sometimes I tend to not include myself in the offense and tend to watch it. So I need to be more aggressive and be more into plays so I can help my teammates and help the offense."

UP NEXT
Following a midweek break, K-State will make its fourth trip to the state of Texas this season, as the Wildcats visit (17/20) Texas Tech at 1 p.m.

The game can be streamed 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.