K-State Heads to Houston for Wednesday Night Matchup

Wednesday, January 7

Houston, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Houston

KStateWBB vs West Virginia, January 4th, Manhattan, KS, Final: K-State: 58, WVU: 60

Jan 05, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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

GAME #17
K-State Wildcats (8-8, 1-2 Big 12) at Houston Cougars (6-8, 0-3 Big 12)
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 | 6:30 p.m. | Fertitta Center (7,100) | Houston, Texas

TELEVISION
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Kevin DiDomenico
Analyst: Austyn Iven
Sideline: Kendra Sheehan

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Houston
4-0

• K-State leads the series with Houston, 4-0.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 13-6 in his career against Houston, including a 3-0 mark during his time at K-State.

MANHATTAN, Kansas - K-State (8-8, 1-2 Big 12) makes its third of five trips this season to the state of Texas, as the Wildcats visit Houston (6-8, 0-3) at 6:30 p.m.

• Wednesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, as Kevin DiDomenico (play-by-play), Austyn Iven (analyst) and Kendra Sheehan (sideline) will have the call.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Sides Joins Rare K-State Club
• Taryn Sides is the seventh player in K-State history with 250 or more assists and 150 or more 3-point field goals made.
2. Taryn the Ball Away
• In K-State's last two games, Sides has pocketed 12 steals and set and then tied her career-high for steals in a game with six against both Cincinnati and West Virginia. In league games, Sides leads the Big 12 with 4.3 steals per game. Sides is the second player in the Big 12 this season with six or more steals in at least two games this season.
3. Freshmen Toe the Line
• Freshmen guards Jordan Speiser and Gina Garcia have converted at a high rate at the foul line. Speiser is shooting 90.3 percent (28-of-31) at the line, while Garcia is 89.7 percent (26-of-29). K-State is the only team in the nation with two freshmen shooting 88.0 percent or better from the foul line (min. 25 free throw attempts).
4. Garcia With the Dish
• Garcia leads all Big 12 freshmen and is second in the nation for freshmen for total assists (80). Since 1981-82, Garcia is the 12th freshman in program history with 80 or more assists in their freshman season and the fourth in the Jeff Mittie era.
5. Free Throws Made - Again and Again
• Three different Wildcats have registered a consecutive free throws made streak of 15 or more this season - Tess Heal (22 straight; 12/7/25-active), Garcia (19; 11/3/25-12/7/25) and Speiser (17; 11/29/25-active).

Number to Know
3

• K-State has three freshmen averaging 20.0 or more minutes per game this season - Gina Garcia, 26.6 mpg; Jordan Speiser, 22.8 mpg Brandie Harrod, 21.3 mpg.
• The Wildcats are one of 10 teams in the nation to feature three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes per game (min. 10 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 10 schools with three or more freshmen averaging 20 or more minutes played per game, K-State owns the highest NET rating at 61.

Last Time Out
West Virginia 60, at K-State 58 (Jan. 4, 2026; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State stumbled in the third quarter with a 27.3 percent effort from the field and scored 10 points before falling in the final 20 seconds to the Mountaineers.
• Three players reached double figures in scoring: senior guard Tess Heal (16 pts), senior forward Nastja Claessens (13 pts) and freshman guard Jordan Speisser (12 pts).

At a Glance: Houston
• Houston (6-8, 0-3 Big 12) hosts the Wildcats following an 83-52 loss at Oklahoma State 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 339-170 (.666) in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• On the floor, Houston is led by Kierra Merchant and Briana Peguero.
• Merchant, a junior guard from Spring, Texas, paces the Cougars in scoring with 8.7 points on a .430 field goal percentage and is second on the team with 5.3 rebounds.
• Peguero, a grad transfer from Troy, is second on the team in scoring with 8.6 per game and leads Houston in assists with 2.1.

Wildcats on the Road
• K-State has a 301-331 (.476) record in road games during the program's 58-year history.
• In his career in road games, head coach Jeff Mittie is 177-211 (.456) including a 52-74 (.413) 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).

Wildcats in Nail-Biters
• Kansas State owns an all-time record in overtime games of 32-30 (.516), including a 28-25 (.528) record in single overtime games and a 3-6 (.333) record in double overtime games.
• The Wildcats were 2-0 last season in overtime games with wins over Iowa State (1/30/25) and at Kentucky (3/23/25).
• Over the last 12 seasons, K-State is 53-37 (.589) in games decided by five points or less including a 4-4 mark this season.
• With its comeback win at SMU on Nov. 8, it was K-State's first win when trailing entering 4th quarter since a 73-64 (ot) win on Feb. 21, 2024, against West Virginia, ending a seven-game losing streak when trailing entering the final frame.
• Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, K-State is 174-15 (.921) when entering the fourth quarter with the lead and is 29-117 (.199) when trailing entering the fourth quarter.

Three is not a Crowd, It's a Benefit
• Since 2011-12, when three or more players reach double figures in scoring in the same game, K-State is 207-92 (.692) with a 7-5 mark in 2025-26.
• The Wildcats had a season-high five players reach double figures against Omaha on Nov. 3.
• K-State saw the freshmen trio of Brandie Harrod, Gina Garcia and Jordan Speiser each tally 12 points against Texas A&M on Nov. 16. This was the first time three K-State freshmen scored 12 or more points in the same game since Feb. 5, 2022, against Texas Tech (Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Jaelyn Glenn).

Wildcats Picking Pockets
• The Wildcats continue to swipe the basketball at a high rate.
• K-State pocketed 19 steals in the season-opener against Omaha. The 19 steals were the most for the Wildcats since Dec. 7, 2022, against Kansas City when K-State pilfered 20 steals.
• The Wildcats pocketed 15 steals against Cincinnati on Dec. 31. The 15 steals were the most by K-State in a Big 12 game since Feb. 15, 2025, against UCF.
• This season, K-State has tallied 142 steals (8.9 spg). Of the 268 opponent turnovers this season, 53.0 percent have come from a K-State steal. The Wildcats have registered 10 or more steals in a game seven times this season.
• In the 2024-25 season, K-State pocketed 307 steals (8.5 spg). Of the 542 opponent turnovers this season, 56.6 percent have come from a K-State steal. The 307 steals were the third-most since 2014-15.

Speiser From Distance
• Guard Jordan Speiser has been producing from beyond the arc in her debut season.
• For the season, Speiser is 27-of-94 (.287) from distance. Since Nov. 16, she is shooting 23-of-68 (.338) from 3-point range.
• She has made two or more 3-pointers in a game eight times this season. Speiser tallied a career-high four 3-pointers made twice - Nov. 16 vs. Texas A&M and Jan. 4 vs. West Virginia.
• With her 27 connections from long range, Speiser is the 18th freshman in program history with 25 or more 3-point field goals made in a freshman season.

Heal Toes the Line
• Guard Tess Heal has continued her career trend of shooting free throws at a high level of efficiency.
• For the season, Heal is 42-of-48 (.875) from the foul line. She is second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage and 35th in the nation. She owns an active streak of 22 consecutive makes from the free throw line. Her streak is the longest by a Wildcat this season.
• Against West Virginia on Jan. 4, Heal shot a personal season-best 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
• In her collegiate career, Heal is 409-of-471 (.868) and was 191-of-219 (.872) during her sophomore season at Santa Clara.

– k-statesports.com –

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