A Big Win for a Young Group
Jan 19, 2026 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Toughness and poise. That's what 12th-year Kansas State women's basketball head coach Jeff Mittie preached to his young team inside the visitor's locker room at United Supermarkets Arena shortly after noon on a Saturday that the Wildcats won't soon forget.
K-State was an hour away from facing No. 17 Texas Tech, arguably the hottest team in the country, which was led by six core players returning and a total of nine seniors, and which was outscoring its opponents by 21.7 points per game, and which ranked in the top 25 in several major statistical categories, and which was riding one of the biggest highs in the history of the program.
Less than 24 hours before tipoff, one headline from a national sports publication read: "Why the 19-0 Texas Tech Lady Raiders are the best story in women's college basketball."
Well, K-State showed it has a story to tell as well on Saturday, and it silenced the crowd of 9,261, and it yanked the Lady Raiders back to earth on their homecourt in Lubbock, Texas.
K-State 65, No. 17 Texas Tech 59 FINAL.
"Our group played really tough," Mittie said. "We had good answers and good responses. We talked about that before the game, that we had to answer with toughness and poise. We answered with those two things every time. This was a great crowd, and it was loud in here. We had to find ways to silence them, and we did most of the day."
Texas Tech, 19-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12 Conference, has made plenty of noise all season. Its 19 wins tied the program's single-season win streak set by the 1992-93 national championship team. The Lady Raiders were 11-0 at home and began conference play at 6-0 for the first time in a quarter-century. The Lady Raiders joined No. 1 UConn and No. 5 Vanderbilt as the only remaining unbeatens in women's hoops.
Meanwhile, one year after reaching the Sweet 16 with a veteran group and two senior All-Americans, Mittie fields one of the youngest rosters in the country this season, as 10 of 13 players on roster are ether true freshmen or sophomores. Ten players on roster had never worn a K-State uniform prior to the season, and junior guard Taryn Sides entered the season as the only player on roster to score a point at K-State.
The Wildcats, who improved to 10-9 and 3-3, have eagerly navigated the Division I waters this season with hiccups and growth moments along the way. Senior Tess Heal came on with 31- and 25-point performances in her past two games. Sides is the seventh player in K-State history with 250 assists and 150 3-pointers. Junior transfer Nastja Claessens has scored in double digits in 10 games.
But their freshmen have steadily made an impact. Freshman guard Gina Garcia (26.6 minutes per game) leads Big 12 freshmen and ranks second in the nation among freshmen with 89 assists. Freshman guard Jordan Speiser (22.7), one of the nation's top high school prospects in the 2025 Class, has made at least two 3-pointers in nine games this season. Freshman guard Brandie Harrod (21.1) leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game. K-State is one of eight teams in the nation, and the only Power 4 team, to feature three or more freshmen averaging at least 20 minutes per contest.
Third-youngest team in America? Playing a top 20 team from the nation's best conference? A team that's won 19 straight games? And playing that team on their home court with 9,261 fans going crazy? And charged with handing Texas Tech a loss? C'mon. That stuff doesn't happen.
But K-State did it. It marked K-State's second AP Top 25 victory after beating then-No. 13 Ole Miss, 61-60, on December 7.
The Wildcats won by outscoring the Lady Raiders 14-8 in the second quarter and 23-15 in the fourth quarter.
K-State used a 14-3 scoring run to take a 30-25 lead at the half. The Lady Raiders fired back with an 11-0 run to lead by six points with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter. No matter, the Wildcats clamped down, allowing the Lady Raiders just one 3-pointer over the final 2:24 and closed the game with an 8-1 run.
K-State owned a dominant 46-20 margin on the glass, held Texas Tech to just three offensive rebounds, and that helped lead to a 28-14 advantage on points in the paint, and the Wildcats had a 14-3 advantage on second-chance points.
Heal had 12 points, Garcia had 11 points, Sides used three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws for 11 points, and Speiser came off the bench to score 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting on 3-pointers to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocks in 17 minutes.
Mittie noted that K-State had good practices during the week coming off an 80-73 loss to Utah in Manhattan last Saturday.
"I think of all the players that needed the week (without a game) was Gina because we're just asking so much out of a freshman," Mittie said. "They hit that wall a little bit, and now we're looking at some things to play her off a little bit more and to not take her off the floor but to give her some rest when she's on the floor. The week off was good for Taryn to hit the reset button and get a little bit of rest and you saw her really respond today.
"Jordan was better defensively. I wanted to play zone when she was in the game because there weren't a lot of great matchups. The progression she has to make as a player is being able to guard a physical one down low and a quick one on the perimeter. She's got good instincts down there. She made big plays defensively, and that turned into some buckets at the other end.
"Just good play overall."
The headline writers were busy again late Saturday night.
One headline read: "Down goes undefeated Texas Tech."
Another headline read: "CATS WIN."
"It sounds simplistic that you're going to be proud of them either way for the fight, but boy, when you get over the hurdle, and you get over that hump, and you see them be rewarded is great," Mittie said. "The league can be unforgiving at times. You can play well and lose in this league."
And once in a while, you can take one of the nation's youngest teams, play well, and shock the women's basketball world.
Toughness and poise. That's what 12th-year Kansas State women's basketball head coach Jeff Mittie preached to his young team inside the visitor's locker room at United Supermarkets Arena shortly after noon on a Saturday that the Wildcats won't soon forget.
K-State was an hour away from facing No. 17 Texas Tech, arguably the hottest team in the country, which was led by six core players returning and a total of nine seniors, and which was outscoring its opponents by 21.7 points per game, and which ranked in the top 25 in several major statistical categories, and which was riding one of the biggest highs in the history of the program.
Less than 24 hours before tipoff, one headline from a national sports publication read: "Why the 19-0 Texas Tech Lady Raiders are the best story in women's college basketball."
Well, K-State showed it has a story to tell as well on Saturday, and it silenced the crowd of 9,261, and it yanked the Lady Raiders back to earth on their homecourt in Lubbock, Texas.
K-State 65, No. 17 Texas Tech 59 FINAL.
"Our group played really tough," Mittie said. "We had good answers and good responses. We talked about that before the game, that we had to answer with toughness and poise. We answered with those two things every time. This was a great crowd, and it was loud in here. We had to find ways to silence them, and we did most of the day."
Texas Tech, 19-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12 Conference, has made plenty of noise all season. Its 19 wins tied the program's single-season win streak set by the 1992-93 national championship team. The Lady Raiders were 11-0 at home and began conference play at 6-0 for the first time in a quarter-century. The Lady Raiders joined No. 1 UConn and No. 5 Vanderbilt as the only remaining unbeatens in women's hoops.
Meanwhile, one year after reaching the Sweet 16 with a veteran group and two senior All-Americans, Mittie fields one of the youngest rosters in the country this season, as 10 of 13 players on roster are ether true freshmen or sophomores. Ten players on roster had never worn a K-State uniform prior to the season, and junior guard Taryn Sides entered the season as the only player on roster to score a point at K-State.
The Wildcats, who improved to 10-9 and 3-3, have eagerly navigated the Division I waters this season with hiccups and growth moments along the way. Senior Tess Heal came on with 31- and 25-point performances in her past two games. Sides is the seventh player in K-State history with 250 assists and 150 3-pointers. Junior transfer Nastja Claessens has scored in double digits in 10 games.
But their freshmen have steadily made an impact. Freshman guard Gina Garcia (26.6 minutes per game) leads Big 12 freshmen and ranks second in the nation among freshmen with 89 assists. Freshman guard Jordan Speiser (22.7), one of the nation's top high school prospects in the 2025 Class, has made at least two 3-pointers in nine games this season. Freshman guard Brandie Harrod (21.1) leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game. K-State is one of eight teams in the nation, and the only Power 4 team, to feature three or more freshmen averaging at least 20 minutes per contest.
Third-youngest team in America? Playing a top 20 team from the nation's best conference? A team that's won 19 straight games? And playing that team on their home court with 9,261 fans going crazy? And charged with handing Texas Tech a loss? C'mon. That stuff doesn't happen.
But K-State did it. It marked K-State's second AP Top 25 victory after beating then-No. 13 Ole Miss, 61-60, on December 7.
The Wildcats won by outscoring the Lady Raiders 14-8 in the second quarter and 23-15 in the fourth quarter.
K-State used a 14-3 scoring run to take a 30-25 lead at the half. The Lady Raiders fired back with an 11-0 run to lead by six points with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter. No matter, the Wildcats clamped down, allowing the Lady Raiders just one 3-pointer over the final 2:24 and closed the game with an 8-1 run.
K-State owned a dominant 46-20 margin on the glass, held Texas Tech to just three offensive rebounds, and that helped lead to a 28-14 advantage on points in the paint, and the Wildcats had a 14-3 advantage on second-chance points.
Heal had 12 points, Garcia had 11 points, Sides used three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws for 11 points, and Speiser came off the bench to score 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting on 3-pointers to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocks in 17 minutes.
Mittie noted that K-State had good practices during the week coming off an 80-73 loss to Utah in Manhattan last Saturday.
"I think of all the players that needed the week (without a game) was Gina because we're just asking so much out of a freshman," Mittie said. "They hit that wall a little bit, and now we're looking at some things to play her off a little bit more and to not take her off the floor but to give her some rest when she's on the floor. The week off was good for Taryn to hit the reset button and get a little bit of rest and you saw her really respond today.
"Jordan was better defensively. I wanted to play zone when she was in the game because there weren't a lot of great matchups. The progression she has to make as a player is being able to guard a physical one down low and a quick one on the perimeter. She's got good instincts down there. She made big plays defensively, and that turned into some buckets at the other end.
"Just good play overall."
The headline writers were busy again late Saturday night.
One headline read: "Down goes undefeated Texas Tech."
Another headline read: "CATS WIN."
"It sounds simplistic that you're going to be proud of them either way for the fight, but boy, when you get over the hurdle, and you get over that hump, and you see them be rewarded is great," Mittie said. "The league can be unforgiving at times. You can play well and lose in this league."
And once in a while, you can take one of the nation's youngest teams, play well, and shock the women's basketball world.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballK-State Track & Field | Thane Baker Invitational Recap
Monday, January 19
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Oklahoma State
Sunday, January 18
K-State Women's Basketball | Postgame Highlights at Texas Tech
Sunday, January 18
K-State Men's Basketball | Game Replay vs UCF - January 14, 2026
Thursday, January 15
