Work Toward the Season-Long Goal Begins Monday - Kansas State University Athletics

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Jeff Mittie, on the verge of his 700^th career victory and in his 13^th season as Kansas State head women's basketball coach, has a goal for the Wildcats as they embark upon their season opener against Wichita State on Monday.

"It's making the NCAA Tournament and advancing," Mittie said. "I don't think there's anything else for us. Getting back to the tournament where you need to be and advancing in the tournament — anything less will be a disappointment."

Mittie has taken K-State to the NCAA Tournament six times, including the 2023-24 season when the Wildcats finished No. 19 in the final Associated Press Poll and the 2024-25 season that saw the Wildcats advance to the Sweet Sixteen and finish at No. 13 in the country.

But K-State had to adjust with the absence of All-Americans Ayoka Lee, Serena Sundell and Temira Poindexter last season, and the Wildcats went 19-18 and advanced to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The run in the league tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, proved to be the season highlight, and kept the Wildcats hungry heading into November.

"We didn't have as good of a year last year as we would've liked," Mittie said, "but I certainly liked the way we finished, and we certainly played good basketball in Kansas City and looked to be a team that was building off that."

K-State officially begins its build toward a NCAA Tournament now.

When K-State faces Wichita State in the season opener on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum, the lightly regarded Wildcats in the Big 12 ranks get their first chance to show the strength, cohesiveness and teamwork that they've built over the course of weeks together.

"This is going to be an easy team to root for because they've been very, very consistent, and they're just good people who work hard," Mittie said. "They'll be an easy team to root for. Coaching them has been a lot of fun. What I want fans to see is the team I see in practice — a team that plays together well and that is good defensively. I think people will see that when they show up."

This season is unlike any in the history of K-State women's basketball, as the roster features a program-record seven players from six different countries. That includes Nastja Claessens (Belgium), Tea Cleante (France), Gina Garcia and Shaila Nde (Spain), Cristina Osazuwa (Italy), Ivona Scekic (Slovenia) and Tzoana Tampakou (Greece).

"We've found some really good international players that can come in and have great experiences," Mittie said. "They've caught up quicker than I expected. That gets me excited for the start of the season. We had a lot of work to do in the summer with roster spots to fill – and that didn't come together as quickly as we would've liked – but we found some really good pieces overseas that have some good experience."

The international flair meant that a majority of the players — 12 players total with five new faces including two freshmen (Sage Henry and Shaila Nde) and three transfers (Tea Cleante, Cristina Osazuwa and Tzoana Tampakou) — played in overseas leagues and or tournaments. The tour ended when Claessens competed on the Belgian Senior Women's National Team in September.

"Very different, very different preparation than I've ever had as a coach," Mittie said. "Obviously, the transfer portal, things that change kind of the dynamics of college athletics. We only had five players on campus this summer. We've got a heavy international influence. The good thing was they were playing a high level of competition, but they were all spread out across the world. I went to Lithuania in early July to see three of them play. We were still recruiting at that time.

"But we didn't have our team on campus until September 15 when Nas got here."

As for preseason practice and the three scrimmages to get the Wildcats ready for this season?

"I like what I've seen so far," Mittie said. "They've been pretty consistent in practice and have come in every day. We didn't have many lows in practice. We've been pretty consistent. That's been the most pleasing part for me. Even though we have players here playing American basketball for the first time ever, they've been consistent in their workouts."

The leaders of the pack are senior guard Taryn Sides along with Garcia and Claessens. Sides needs just 102 points to reach 1,000 points in her career, Garcia recorded 191 assists to set a school record for a freshman season, and Claessens became the ninth junior in school history to record at least 400 points while shooting at least 50.0% from the floor.

"Taryn has grown in that leadership role and is more assertive," Mittie said. "Nas is much more assertive in practice than a year ago. She's gotten on players to do things better. Gina isn't going to say a whole lot, but her actions speak very loudly. Gina competes every possession and does whatever the coaches ask her to do. When other players see that, it's great. I've been really pleased with the leadership of Taryn, Nas and Gina in different ways, and I've really seen them grow."

Sides was one of just three players in the nation to reach at least 450 points, 80 made 3-pointers, 125 rebounds, 125 assists and 60 steals last season, and she was one of two players to log two games with at least 12 assists and zero turnovers.

"When I came in, I was just a little baby and now I'm more mature and confident," Sides said. "On the court, I'm more assertive and aggressive and trying not to be one dimensional and to score at all three levels. Defensively, I'm trying to be smarter and do what I can to help the team win.

"It feels kind of weird that I'm the old one now. Playing with Serena and all those girls was so much fun. Coming in as a freshman, I just wanted to be a sponge and learn as much as I could from all of them. I'm passing that along to the rest of my team now."

Sides and Garcia are named the No. 2 returning passing duo in Division I by Basket Under Review heading into this season.

"We came in playing really well, and we're trying to build as much as we can from the end of the season," Garcia said. "Overseas we play a different style of game. We've tried to help them this offseason, and it's been easy to connect with them and so fun to play.

"The biggest difference my first season was the physicality and how fast the game was and the style of game. It took me a while to adjust, but it's been great so far. The biggest thing for me this year is to be more aggressive and score more. That'd help the team and create a lot of opportunities for us."

Claessens, a 6-foot-1 forward, has proven herself to be one of the more notable international success stories at K-State as she averaged 11.9 points while shooting 51.6% from the floor and 35.6% on 3-pointers and adding 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals. She scored in double figures in 22 games including three games with at least 20 points during her first season with the Wildcats.

"We're trying to build on the end of the season, and how fun it was to play in Kansas City," Claessens said. "We're trying to build off that energy. I'm learning to take up that aspect of leadership in my game and use experience that I've had on an international level to help my teammates where I can to win.

"The international players are very eager to learn and to compete in this environment. At first, it was maybe an eye opener for them in adjusting to the American style of play, but they're very eager to learn, so they want to do better. It's easy if you have to players like that who just want to learn. We have open communication and we can help them adjust and get better every day."

K-State is adjusting to added height this season. Cristina Osazuwa of Italy (6-foot-4), Ivona Scekic of Slovenia (6-foot-4) and Tzoana Tampakou of Greece (6-foot-5) give K-State three active players at 6-foot-4 or taller. It was an emphasis for Mittie during the offseason.

"We had to get bigger across the front line and more physical and have better rim protection than a year ago, and they've done a good job coming in. They didn't get on campus until August 21. I've really been pleased with the strides made by them. If you back a month ago, they were struggling with pace of play. We've seen great improvement there. They still have a long way to go, but I like where they're headed."

K-State must adapt as sophomore guard Brandie Harrod will miss the season due to injury after her team-high 78 offensive rebounds last season tied for second in program history for a freshman. Junior center Ramiya White will miss the season after a scooter accident.

"I spent three separate days in the emergency room with players," Mittie said. "We lost a really good player in Brandie. Ramiya had as good of an offseason as she could."

K-State held three scrimmages with other college basketball teams. Mittie likes what he's seen heading toward the season opener.

"We just have more size," he said. "We have more physicality to us on the front line. I see the guard play playing really well together. I've seen early this team play better together than maybe they should be right now. They all have a good IQ, and as we mesh the lineups together and we have more problem solving going on than we've had the last couple years and that's fun to watch as a coach."

Perhaps K-State's top freshman is 5-foot-10 Sage Henry, a four-star prospect and the No. 89-rated prospect in the nation by World Exposure Report who scored over 1,500 points and earned 2025-26 Arizona 6A Offensive Player of the Year as one of the top high school guards in the country. A native of Gilbert, Arizona, Henry averaged 20.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game her senior season.

Henry won't have to wait long to see action — along with her K-State teammates.

K-State will open the season with a four-game home stand that begins against Wichita State and then features Southern Indiana (November 5), UTRGV (November 8) and Montana (November 10) in Manhattan.

Mittie assembled arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in program history — a non-conference schedule that over the summer he said was "as tough of a non-conference schedule as we've ever had." The non-conference schedule includes eight games against postseason teams, including five NCAA Tournament squads in Minnesota, NC State, Stephen F. Austin, Villanova and Western Illinois.

"My scheduling philosophy has never changed," Mittie said. "We always schedule really, really hard. Last year, our schedule bit us in the sense that we didn't play well early enough. It was one of the top-20 schedules in the country. I'd expect this schedule to be the same. That's why we really have to expedite our work here. We have to be ready to go from the start. We know how important the non-conference season is not only to get wins in the non-conference but to prepare you for Big 12 play because this conference is one of the best in the country."

K-State is picked ninth in the conference poll this year.

Sides and her teammates are eager to help prove that the Wildcats belong back in March.

"After last season's ending in playing well in the Big 12 Tournament but not making the NCAA Tournament, that's left a chip on my shoulder," Sides said. "I want to win for this university, this team and this coaching staff."

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Nastja Claessens

Gina Garcia

Brandie Harrod

Sage Henry

Shaila Nde

Cristina Osazuwa

Ivona Scekic

Taryn Sides

Tzoana Tampakou

Ramiya White

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