K-State, Kansas Clash on Sunday in Dillons Sunflower Showdown

Sunday, January 25

Lawrence, Kan.

12 p.m.

Kansas State University

Kansas

K-State, Kansas Clash on Sunday in Dillons Sunflower Showdown

Jan 23, 2026 | Women's Basketball

FS1 Listen Live Live Stats K-State notes (pdf)

GAME #21
K-State Wildcats (11-9, 4-3 Big 12) at Kansas Jayhawks (12-8, 2-6 Big 12)
Sunday, January 25, 2026 | 12 p.m. | Allen Fieldhouse (15,300) | Lawrence, Kan.

TELEVISION
FS1
Play-by-Play: Shelby Coppedge
Analyst: Missy Heidrick

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Kansas
82-51

• The two teams have played at least twice every season since 1968-69.
• K-State leads the series with Kansas, 82-51.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 22-10 against Kansas, including a 19-5 record while coaching at K-State.
• Over the last 52 meetings, K-State is 41-11 against the Jayhawks.

MANHATTAN, Kansas - The longest continuous rivalry in NCAA Division I women's college basketball is set for the 134th all-time meeting, as K-State (11-9, 4-3 Big 12) visits Kansas (12-8, 2-6) in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Sunday at 12 p.m.

• Sunday's game will air on FS1, as Shelby Coppedge (play-by-play) and Missy Heidrick (analyst) will have the call.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Freshmen Trio Punches Time Cards
• K-State is the only Power 4 team with a 3 or more freshmen averaging 20 or minutes per game (min. 20 games played): Gina Garcia, (27.0 mpg), Jordan Speiser, (22.3 mpg) and Brandie Harrod, (20.5 mpg).
2. Heal 60/40/90 in League Action
• In Big 12 action, senior guard Tess Heal is shooting 60.7 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from beyond the arc and 91.7 percent from the foul line with 116 points scored. Heal is the only player in the nation in the 60/40/90 club (min. 100 points scored) in their respective conference play.
3. Garcia with the Dish
• Gina Garcia leads all Big 12 freshmen and is third in the nation for freshmen for total assists (95). With five assists, Garcia will become the seventh freshman in program history with 100 or more assists in their freshman season and the second in the Jeff Mittie era (Serena Sundell, 176; 2021-22).
4. Freshmen Toe the Line
• Freshmen guards Jordan Speiser and Garcia have converted at a high rate at the foul line. Garcia is shooting 85.3 percent (29-of-34) at the line, while Speiser is shooting 87.8 percent (36-of-41). K-State is the only team in the nation with at least two freshmen shooting 85.0 percent or better from the foul line (min. 30 free throw attempts).
5. 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.

Number to Know
86.9

• K-State senior guard Tess Heal is among the active NCAA Division I leaders for career free throw percentage.
• In her career, Heal is shooting 86.9 percent (430-495) from the charity stripe and ranks third among active NCAA Division I players and leads all active Big 12 players for career free throw percentage.
• Heal's 430 career free throws made ranks eighth among active NCAA Division I players.
• The product of Melbourne, Australia, is shooting 87.5 percent (63-of-72) from the foul line this season, which is second in the Big 12.
• In league action, Heal has shot 91.7 percent (33-of-36) from the line, which is fourth in league-only games.

Last Time Out
at K-State 69, Houston 65 (Jan. 21, 2026; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State registered its first consecutive wins since opening the season with a three-game winning streak.
• The Wildcats and Cougars were tied three times in the fourth quarter before K-State secured a late six-point lead.
• Junior forward Nastja Claessens (16 pts), senior guard Tess Heal (15 pts), junior guard Taryn Sides (14 pts) and freshman guards Gina Garcia (11 pts) led the Wildcats.

At a Glance: Kansas
• Kansas (12-8, 2-6 Big 12) enters Sunday's Dillons Sunflower Showdown following an 80-69 win at Arizona on Tuesday. The win snapped a four-game skid.
• On the sideline, Kansas is led by 11th-year head coach Brandon Schneider. Schneider is 155-171 (.475) in his time in Lawrence. He has guided the program to the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the 2023 Postseason WNIT title.
• The Jayhawks feature two players averaging in double figures this season, led by freshman Jaliya Davis and junior S'Mya Nichols.
• Davis has been limited to 10 games but has been dominant in those games by averaging 20.7 points in a .639 field goal percentage and 5.1 rebounds. She is second in league-only games with 22.0 points per game and a field goal percentage of .637. At Arizona, Davis carded 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes of action.
• Nichols is second on the Jayhawks with 18.5 points per game on a .491 field goal percentage and is handing out 5.0 assists per game. She leads the nation in free throws made and attempted (137-of-164; .835). She tallied 18 points and three assists at Arizona.

K-State Top-25 in NCAA History for Wins
• K-State is in its 58th season of action and ranks among the top programs in NCAA history for all-time wins.
• K-State's all-time record stands at 1,082-681 (.614) and the Wildcats enter the 2025-26 season ranked 21st in NCAA Division I women's basketball history for program wins. The Wildcats were the 19th program in NCAA Division I history to reach 1,000 or more wins as a program and are one of four members of the Big 12 (Baylor, Utah, Texas Tech). K-State is averaging 18.5 wins per season.
• K-State is one of three teams in the nation to be guided by an active head coach with 650 or more career wins and the program has surpassed the 1,000-win mark (UConn, NC State).
• The Wildcats have accumulated 28 20-win seasons and have secured 418 victories inside Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State has 249 wins in the Big 12 Conference.
• Kansas State has registered 276 victories when they were ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll and achieved 97 wins against teams ranked in the AP poll.

Wildcats on the Road
• K-State has a 303-331 (.478) record in road games during the program's 58-year history.
• In his career in road games, head coach Jeff Mittie is 179-211 (.459) including a 54-74 (.422) mark during his time at K-State.
• In the 2024-25 season, K-State was 7-4 in road games including two wins against an Associated Press Top-25 foes (22, Utah, 1/8/25; 13, Kentucky, 3/23/25).
• The seven road wins last season were the most since the 2019-20 season (7-5).

1st Month the 1st to 250 Wins
• January was the first month in the history of K-State women's basketball to surpass the 250-win plateau and the Wildcats own an overall record in the month of 268-197 (.576) in the first month of the year.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 49-45 (.521) in January with the Wildcats, including a 16-5 mark the last three seasons.
• K-State has registered a .500 or better record in January 35 times in the history of the program.

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, 27.0 mpg; Jordan Speiser, 22.3 mpg. Brandie Harrod, 20.5 mpg.
• The Wildcats are one of three teams in the nation to feature three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes per game (min. 20 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 three schools with three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes played per game, K-State owns the highest NET rating at 56.

20-Pt Quarters for the Wildcats
• Since the inception of the quarter system in the 2015-16 season, K-State owns an overall record of 169-70 (.707) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• Since the 2015-16 season, K-State has registered 407 quarters with 20 or more points with a program record of 68 in the 2024-25 season.
• This season, K-State has registered 27 quarters with 20 or more points scored in quarters including a high of 32 points in the fourth quarter against Utah on Jan. 10. The 32 points were 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.
• The Cats are 9-5 this season when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.

Speed Merchants
• K-State has taken advantage of its opportunities in transition this season.
• The Wildcats have scored 209 fastbreak points this season (10.5 per game) and are outscoring its opponents by a margin of +130 (6.5 per game; 209-79).
• K-State scored a season-high 36 fastbreak points against Omaha on Nov. 3. The Wildcats have scored 10 or more points in transition in nine games and have had the advantage in fastbreak points in 15 games (9-6).
• The Cats have had a +10 margin in fastbreak points in five games (4-1).
• A season ago, K-State outscored its foes on fastbreak points, 398-211 (+187).

Garcia with Helpers
• Guard Gina Garcia has been an adept passer to begin her K-State career.
• For the season, Garcia is averaging 4.75 assists per game (95 assists). She ranks third 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 95 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 11 games this season with five or more assists.

Turn of Heal
• Guard Tess Heal continues to be an elite collegiate scorer and has gone on a hot streak in Big 12 action.
• Heal has scored more points in the last six games (116) than she did in her first 14 games with K-State (80).
• At Houston on Jan. 7, Heal tallied a K-State season-high 31 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 from the foul line. This was her fifth career game with 30 or more points.
• She became the 31st player in program history to score 30 or more points in a game with her 31 at Houston. She was the first Wildcat to score 30 or more points and make 11 or more free throws in a game since Gabby Gregory tallied 35 points with 13 made free throws against Northern Arizona on Nov. 25, 2022.
• Heal was the first player in program history to score 30 or more points after entering the game off the bench.
• The product of Melbourne, Australia, set the school record for points by an international player in a game.
• Against Utah on Jan. 10, Heal carded her second straight game with 25 or more points as she tallied a game-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
• Her field goal percentage of .846 was a career-high on 13 or more attempts. She was the first K-State guard and just the fourth Wildcat since at least 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. Heal was 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.
• With her 7-of-8 effort from the field in the fourth quarter against the Utes, Heal set the school record for field goals made in a fourth quarter and tied the school record for field goals made in any quarter.
• Heal was the first player in program history to score 25 or more points in two or more games after entering the game off the bench.
• Her four straight games with 15 or more points is her longest stretch since carding a 10-game stretch in her sophomore season at Santa Clara in the 2023-24 season.
• For the season, Heal is averaging 9.8 points per game while shooting .504 from the field, including .366 from beyond the arc and .875 from the foul line. Heal is second in the Big 12 and 32nd in the nation in free throw percentage.
• She has led K-State in scoring in six games this season including five straight beginning on Dec. 31, 2025, against Cincinnati.
• In her first seven career Big 12 games, she is averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting .607 from the floor, including .474 from long distance and a .917 effort from the free throw line. She ranks ninth in the Big 12 for league-only games in scoring and fourth in league-only games for free throw percentage.
• In her collegiate career, Heal has registered 1,660 points (14.3 ppg). She ranks 24th among active NCAA Division I women's basketball players for career points.
• On Nov. 16 against Texas A&M, Heal surpassed the 1,500-point mark in her career and became the second player to transfer to K-State and then surpass the 1,500-point mark in their collegiate career (Gregory).

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.