K-State Hosts Houston on Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 21

Manhattan, Kan.

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Houston

Jan 19, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Buy Tickets ESPN+Listen Live Live Stats K-State notes (pdf)

GAME #20
Houston Cougars (6-12, 0-7 Big 12) at K-State Wildcats (10-9, 3-3 Big 12)
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | 6:30 p.m. | Bramlage Coliseum (11,010) | Manhattan, Kan.

PROMOTIONS & TICKETS
Promotion
Hawaiian Night
- 1st 500 K-State students will receive a K-State Hawaiian shirt

Tickets
Call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com

TELEVISION
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Missy Heidrick
Sideline: Sophie Smith

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Matt Walters
Analyst: Kristin Waller

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Houston
5-0

• K-State leads the series with Houston, 5-0.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 14-6 in his career against Houston, including a 4-0 mark during his time at K-State.

K-State Hosts Houston on Wednesday Night

MANHATTAN, Kansas - Beginning Wednesday, K-State (10-9, 3-3 Big 12) will be in the state of Kansas for its next three games, as the Wildcats host Houston (6-12, 0-7) at 6:30 p.m., at Bramlage Coliseum.

• Wednesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, as Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Missy Heidrick (analyst) and Sophie Smith (sideline) will have the call.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. K-State Secures Second Ranked Win of '25-26
• K-State has two wins this season over a AP-ranked opponent. This is the fifth straight season K-State has defeated two or more AP-ranked foes in a season.
2. Heal 50/40/90 in League Action
• In Big 12 action, senior guard Tess Heal is shooting 58.9 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from beyond the arc and 93.3 percent from the foul line with 101 points scored. Heal is one of four players nationally and the only player in the Big 12 in the 50/40/90 club (min. 100 pts scored) in their respective conference play.
3. Garcia with the Dish
• Freshman guard Gina Garcia leads all Big 12 freshmen and is fourth in the nation for freshmen for total assists (93). Since 1981-82, Garcia is the 10th freshman in program history with 90 or more assists in their freshman season and the fourth in the Jeff Mittie era.
4. Harrod on the O-Boards
• Freshman Brandie Harrod has pulled in 49 offensive rebounds this season. With one offensive board, she will become the seventh freshman in program history with 50 or more offensive rebounds in their freshman season.
5. Freshmen Toe the Line
• Freshmen guards Jordan Speiser and Garcia have converted at a high rate at the foul line. Garcia is shooting 90.3 percent (28-of-31) at the line, while Speiser is shooting 89.2 percent (33-of-37). K-State is the only team in the nation with at least two freshmen shooting 88.0 percent or better from the foul line (min. 30 free throw attempts).

Number to Know
+26

• K-State registered a rebound margin of +26 in its upset win at 17th-ranked Texas Tech on Jan. 17.
• The +26 rebound margin (46-20) was a season-best for K-State, surpassing the previous best of 21 against Omaha on Nov. 3.
• Since the 2009-10 season, Kansas State has tallied six games with a rebound margin of +20 or better, including five games between November 2023 to present day.
• The rebound margin of +26 was K-State's highest since carding a +33 effort against Milwaukee on Nov. 20, 2024.
• The 20 rebounds by Texas Tech were the fewest in a Big 12 game this season and the fewest rebounds by a Big 12 team in all games in 2025-26.

Last Time Out
K-State 65, at (17/18) Texas Tech 59 (Jan. 17, 2026; Lubbock, Texas)
• K-State trailed by six points early in the fourth quarter, but used a 10-3 run to take a five-point lead with 41 seconds left and secure its second win over a top-20 foe this season.
• K-State held Texas Tech to its lowest point total of the season.
• Senior guard Tess Heal (13 pts), junior guard Taryn Sides (11 pts) and freshmen guards Gina Garcia and Jordan Speiser (11 pts) led the Wildcats.

At a Glance: Houston
• Houston (6-12, 0-7 Big 12) visits the Wildcats following a 71-61 home loss against Utah on Saturday.
• On the sideline, the Cougars are led by first-year head coach Matthew Mitchell. A 1995 graduate of Mississippi State, Mitchell owns a career record of 339-174 (.661) in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• On the floor, Houston is led by Kierra Merchant and TK Pitts.
• Merchant, a junior guard from Spring, Texas, paces the Cougars in scoring with 9.5 points on a .400 field goal percentage. Against the Utes, she notched 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
• Pitts, a senior guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is averaging 9.4 points, a team-best 6.9 rebounds and a team-high 36 steals (2.3 spg). She has scored in double figures in four straight games. Against Utah, Pitts tallied 14 points and seven rebounds.

Wildcats 400+ Wins in Bramlage
• K-State is 417-162 (.721) all-time inside Bramlage Coliseum, which is in its 38th season of existence.
• In his career in games played in his home venue, head coach Jeff Mittie is 421-119 (.780) including a 147-54 (.731) record at K-State.
• Kansas State has protected Bramlage Coliseum with determination against non-conference foes with a record of 241-33 (.880). Mittie is 87-12 (.879) in non-conference games in Bramlage.
• In the 2024-25 season, K-State was 17-1 (.944) in home games, which included a 17-game home winning streak, tied for the fifth-longest home win streak in program history and tied for the second-longest in Bramlage. This was the longest in-season home win streak since 2002-03 (19). The .944 winning percentage last season was the best since going 19-1 (.950) in 2002-03.
• This was the 34th time in program history that the Wildcats reached double figures in home victories. It was the 26th season K-State has won 10 or more games in Bramlage.
• The 33 home wins by the Wildcats over the last two seasons are the most wins in Bramlage over a two-season span in program history.

2025-26 Roster Youngest Since 2018-19
• K-State will have one of the youngest rosters in the country this season, as 10 of the 13 players on the 2025-26 roster are either true freshmen or sophomores. The roster features five true freshmen (Aniya Foy, Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Ivona Scekic and Jordan Speiser) a redshirt freshman (Alexis Hess), three sophomores (Izela Arenas, Jenessa Cotton and Ramiya White) and one redshirt freshman (Mikayla Parks).
• The 2025-26 roster is the third-youngest roster in program history and the second-youngest under head coach Jeff Mittie trailing the 2018-19 roster, which had 10 underclassmen among its 14 players and the 1977-78 season, which featured a program-high 11 underclassmen (seven freshmen and four sophomores) among the 16 players in the roster.
• K-State's roster of 13 features six players combined to have played 226 career collegiate games before the 2025-26 season.
• Of the six players to play a college game, Heal played the most at 96.
• Among Big 12 programs this season, K-State is second in the league (10, UCF) for the most underclassmen on its roster.
• The freshmen class for the 2025-26 season for K-State was ranked among the top-10 signing classes by ESPN.com.
• In terms of K-State playing experience, the Wildcats' roster featured 10 players that had yet to play a game in purple and white entering the 2025-26 season.

Freshmen Seeing Extended Action
• K-State has three freshmen averaging 20.0 or more minutes per game this season - Gina Garcia, 26.7 mpg; Jordan Speiser, 22.5 mpg. Brandie Harrod, 21.1 mpg.
• The Wildcats are one of nine teams in the nation to feature three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes per game (min. 15 games played by player).
• K-State is the only school from a Power 4 conference with three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes per game.
• Of the nine schools with three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes played per game, K-State owns the highest NET rating at 55.

Halftime Lead = K-State 'W'
• Since the 2001-02 season, K-State is 408-55 (.881) when leading at the break, including a 5-1 record this season.
• K-State is 181-22 (.892) when leading at the break under head coach Jeff Mittie.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, K-State is 315-19 (.943) when leading with five minutes to play including a 199-8 (.961) record under Mittie.

Bench Boost
• K-State has received an offensive boost from its second unit.
• The Wildcats opened the season with 47 points from its bench against Omaha. The 47 points from the bench were the most since K-State scored 47 against McNeese State on Dec. 6, 2023.
• K-State is averaging 28.7 points per game from its bench (545 points), which leads the Big 12 and is 16th in the nation. The Wildcats have had the edge in bench points in 15 games this season (8-7).
• K-State has scored 20 or more bench points in 15 games.
• In the 2024-25 season, the Wildcats averaged 22.6 points per game (813 points) from the bench and ranked second in the Big 12 and 50th in the nation for bench points per game. K-State had the upperhand in bench points in 24 games last season (20-4).
• K-State's 813 bench points were the second time in the Jeff Mittie era in which the bench recorded 700 or more points in a season and the top mark under Mittie for a season.

K-State Holds Foes to Single-Digits
• In the 11th season of the quarter system in women's college basketball, K-State's defense has limited its opponents point production for 10 minute durations.
• To open the 2025-26 season, K-State held Omaha to nine points in the first half (5 pts - 1st qtr; 4 pts - 2nd qtr). The nine points in the first half were the fewest K-State allowed since holding Clemson to nine points in the second half on Nov. 24, 2022.
• The Wildcats held Omaha without a made field goal in the first quarter (0-of-12) and two made field goals in the first half (2-of-22; .091).
• This season, K-State has held foes to seven quarters with single-digits. K-State is 5-0 when achieving this in 2025-26.
• Kansas State is 119-29 (.804) when holding an opponent to single digits in any quarter in a game.
• Last season, K-State held foes to 27 quarters with single-digits. The Wildcats were 20-0 when holding an opponent to single digits in any quarter in a game.
• Against USC Upstate on Dec. 5, K-State held the Spartans to two points in two different quarters (first and fourth quarters). The 2 points in a quarter tied the school record for fewest points allowed in any quarter.

Garcia with Helpers
• Guard Gina Garcia has been an adept passer to begin her K-State career.
• For the season, Garcia is averaging 4.9 assists per game (93 assists). She ranks fourth among all NCAA Division I freshmen for total assists, including leading the freshmen in the Big 12. She has led K-State in assists in 14 games this season.
• With her 93 assists, Garcia is the 10th freshman at K-State since 1981-82 to hand out 90 or more assists in their debut season and first since Taryn Sides in the 2023-24 season (92).
• Against Columbia on Nov. 27, Garcia handed out a career-high eight assists. She has 10 games this season with five or more assists.

Taryn It Up from Long Distance
• Taryn Sides has been a threat from long distance in her career.
• Sides owns a career 3-point field goal percentage of .403 (156-387), which is fourth in school history (min. 2 attempts/game). She was the 16th player in program history with 150 or more made 3-point field goals and is tied for 13th in program history for career 3-point field goals made.
• She has made two or more 3-pointers in a game 45 times, including 12 games with four or more.
• This season, Sides is shooting 40.0 percent from long distance (46-of-115) and has 14 games with two or more connections and three games with four or more.
• She ranks 54th in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage. Her 46 connections ranks 51st in the nation and fifth in the Big 12.
• During the 2025 Cancun Challenge, Sides went off from long range as she was 15-of-25 (.600) in the three games. Against Columbia, Sides shot a career-best 8-of-12 from long range including 5-of-6 in the second half.
• Starting with her buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter against Columbia, Sides made eight consecutive 3-pointers by shooting 3-of-3 in the fourth quarter, 2-of-2 against North Carolina and started by making her first two attempts against South Dakota State.
• With her eight made 3-pointers against Columbia, Sides tied for the fourth most in a game in program history and was the eighth different player in school history to make eight or more three-pointers in a game. Her eight 3-point connections were the most since Temira Poindexter made eight at Kentucky in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
• She was the second K-State player since 1999-00 to shoot 66.7 percent or better from long distance on 12 or more attempts, joining Laurie Koehn who shot 76.9 percent (10-of-13) against Iowa on Jan. 5, 2003.
• In the 2024-25 season, Sides shot a career-high 43.3 percent from 3-point range (84-of-194). She ranked 17th in the nation for 3-point percentage. She ranked eighth in the Big 12 and 47th in the nation for 3-point field goals made per game (2.40). Sides has tallied 78.0 percent of her points this season from beyond the arc.
• Among sophomores in the nation, Sides was second for 3-point percentage (min. 60 or more 3-point field goals made) and was fourth with 84 three-point field goals made.
• Sides ranks second in program history for 3-point field goals made in a sophomore season. She was the fourth player in program history and ranked second (+58) to improve her made 3-pointers by 50 or more from one season to the next in program history.

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.