SALT LAKE CITY (KStateSports.com) – (12/10) K-State used a big second half to roll past (22/22) Utah, 71-47, on Wednesday night at Huntsman Center. The win improves K-State’s win streak to 11. The 11-game win streak is tied for the sixth-longest win streak in program history.
K-State improved its overall record to 16-1 for the second time under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie. This is the second straight season K-State has opened with a 16-1 record. In its history, K-State has opened a season 16-1 or better five times.
With the win, Mittie improved his record at K-State to 206-136 (.602) and is tied for second in program history for wins with Judy Akers (1968-79; 206).
The Wildcats put four in double figures led by senior guard and All-America candidate Serena Sundell with 15 points, five assists and three rebounds. Sundell has handed out five or more assists in 11 straight games.
Senior center and All-America candidate Ayoka Lee notched 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. With her 14 points, Lee has moved into the top-100 on the NCAA Division I career scoring list.
Senior guard Jaelyn Glenn tallied her first double-double of the season and the fourth of her career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. This was Glenn’s 22nd career game with 10 or more points, five or more rebounds and two or more steals.
Senior forward Temira Poindexter notched 11 points including 3-of-7 from distance, three rebounds and two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) held a 31-22 lead at halftime, after Utah (12-3, 3-1) cut the Wildcat lead from 18 points to nine at the break with an 11-2 run to end the second quarter.
– K-State used a 14-4 run to end the third quarter and build a 57-35 lead. Taryn Sides buried a pair of 3-pointers during the run to boost K-State’s scoring. The Wildcats shot 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from the field in the frame.
– The Wildcats dashed any hope of a comeback by the Utes with a 12-4 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to build the advantage to its largest of the night at 30 points, 69-39.
– K-State ended the night shooting 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the field and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from beyond the arc. The Wildcats handed out 22 assists on its 30 made field goals.
– Defensively, the Wildcats held Utah to its lowest point total of the season and a 30.0 percent (18-of-60) effort from the field. K-State also limited the Utes to 15.8 percent (3-of-19) from the 3-point line and holding Utah well below its average of 10.5 three-point field goals made per game.
QUICK FACTS
– The series between the schools is tied, 4-4, and K-State has won two straight. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 11-8 (.579) in his career against Utah.
– The Wildcats are 236-242 (.494) in Big 12 games.
– K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 660-371 (.640), including a mark of 206-136 (.602). Mittie needs one win to move into second on the K-State career wins list.
– K-State owns a record of 264-96 (.733) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 21-4 (.840) all-time when ranked 12th in the nation. The Wildcats are 93-243 against teams ranked in the AP poll, including a 21-66 mark under Jeff Mittie. K-State is 5-5 against teams ranked 22nd in the AP poll.
– The Wildcats are 262-193 (.576) in games played in the month of January. Under Mittie, K-State is 42-41 (.506) in games during the first month.
TEAM NOTES
– K-State’s starting five consisted of guards: Zyanna Walker, Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell; forward Temira Poindexter and center Ayoka Lee. This was the 15th time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 129th career start for Lee, the 120th career start for Sundell, the 116th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 104th career collegiate start and 17th at K-State for Poindexter and the 17th career start for Walker. With her 129th career start at K-State, Lee moves into a tie for second in program history for career starts with Megan Mahoney (2001-05; 129). With her 120th career start, Sundell is ninth in program history for career starts.
– The Wildcats held a 31-22 lead at halftime on Wednesday. Under Mittie, K-State is 165-19 (.897) when leading at halftime. The Wildcats have led at the half in 15 games this season (15-0).
– K-State has scored 20-or more points in a quarter 40 times this season, including the first and third quarters on Wednesday. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 148-62 (.705) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game.
– K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in three quarters on Wednesday (first, third and fourth quarters). The Wildcats have 43 quarters this season of 50.0 percent or better shooting.
– K-State improved to 105-8 (.929) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game. The Wildcats have dished out 20 or more assists in 13 games this season (13-0).
– K-State improves to 60-3 (.952) over the last four seasons when holding foes to 60 points or less. The Wildcats are 64-0 in the Mittie era when holding an opponent to 49 points or less.
PLAYER NOTES
– With her 14 points on Wednesday, Lee boosted her career total to 2,450 and remains in seventh on the Big 12 career scoring list. Lee registered her 118th career game with 10 or more points. Her 118 career games with 10 or more points is second in program history. Lee has scored in every game of her career,129 games, and remains in third in school history for consecutive games scoring.
– Lee hauled in six rebounds on Wednesday. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,217, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds and remaining in sixth in Big 12 history for career boards. She owns 112 career games with five or more rebounds.
– Lee registered two blocks on Wednesday and boosted her career total to 342. Lee is fourth in Big 12 history for career blocks. This was her 89th career game with two or more blocks.
– Sundell notched her 84th career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,479 career points and remains in 14th on the K-State career scoring list.
– Sundell’s five assists on Wednesday improved her career total to 673. This was her 79th career game with five or more assists and her 14th this season including her 11th straight.
– Sundell hauled in three rebounds on Wednesday to improve her career total to 496.
– Sundell sent back a shot on Wednesday. Sundell boosted her career total to 89 and ranks ninth in school history for career blocks and owns the school record for blocks by a guard.
– With her 11 points on Wednesday, Glenn improved her career total to 1,027 points. She is the 46th player in program history to score 1,000 or more career points at K-State and ranks 44th on the Wildcat career scoring list. This was her 48th career game with 10 or more points.
– Glenn pulled in a season-high 10 rebounds on Wednesday and improved her career total to 546 and sole possession of 25th on the K-State career rebounds list.
– Glenn pocketed two steals on Wednesday. She improved her career total to 232 and remains in sixth in school history for career steals.
– With her 11 points on Wednesday, Poindexter increased her collegiate point total to 1,761 points (1,560 at Tulsa; 201 at K-State). This was her 90th career game and her ninth this season with 10 or more points.
– Poindexter made three 3-pointers on Wednesday. This was her 64th career game with two or more connections.
– Sophomore guard Taryn Sides connected on two 3-pointers on Wednesday. This was her 20th career game and her 12th this season with two or more made 3-pointers.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement…
“I think that we got off a great start, and I think we wanted to get some things established as best we could. I think one, our perimeter defense needed to be really, really good, because we knew, certainly, Torre was coming off a big game, and Kneepkens is so good that we wanted to make sure that we got off to a good start there. I thought Zy Walker was a big key for us early, because she set the tone up top of our defense, and I thought was disruptive up top. And then offensively, Poindexter got some early looks, and I was proud of our group for getting off against a really good Utah team. You know, we had a good night tonight. I think our group really worked hard to have a good night tonight. So proud of them.”
On Utah cutting the lead to nine at halftime…
“A team like Utah is going to come back at you. I did feel like we contributed to some of that. We had some scattered possessions that weren’t very good, so we needed to clean that up. I think two big keys coming out in the second half were we rebounded the ball better, and our bench played really, really well. We had zero points from the bench at half. We end up with 12 points in the second half from our bench. Those are big keys. I thought we got a lift from Imani Lester tonight. We were able to run good offense with her in the game. Taryn Sides second half, she had a rough first half. Second half, we were able to get her some open looks. So, you know, in games like this, you’re gonna have to answer. I don’t think there was any magical thing at halftime that we did. I think those things are overrated, sometimes. We just kind of talked about, hey, here’s what we want to be able to do. Let’s execute what we practice. And our group did that.”
On the defense on Maye Torre…
“I thought early Sundell did a good job on her. You know, we wanted to make sure that she didn’t get any freebie looks early. And so I thought Sundell got us off to a good start. And then I think when we guarded her with bigs, I thought they did a good job of just being physical with her and making it tough. And this was a physical game. I mean, both teams down low. There was a lot of contact down there, but I think we played through it better in the second half than we did in the first half, and I think that was a big key for us.”
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Center Ayoka Lee
On the interior defense against Utah…
“I mean, I was just talking to one of our assistants about this. I think our centers just take so much pride in our post defense. I think that just didn’t change tonight. We knew they had a good inside game. And we just take, I take a lot of pride in my post defense, and I know Kennedy and Imani do too, and Serena as well, did a great job. So I think it just comes down to our standard in there.”
On the double and triple teams and moving the ball out of them…
“I think it’s just such a great feeling. And I think it just shows that our offense is flowing when we’re able to find open shooters. I think it definitely is plays like that we definitely build off of when we go on runs and stuff. I think it’s just a testament to us continuing to just have a fluid offense.”
UP NEXT
K-State completes its two-game road trip to the state of Utah on Saturday, as the Wildcats visit BYU on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. (CT).
