WACO, Texas (KStateSports.com) – (4/7) K-State got defensive in the second half to pick up the program’s second-ever win in Waco, 58-55, over (13/13) Baylor at Foster Pavilion on Monday night. The win was K-State’s first in Waco since February 8, 2003.
This was K-State’s 13th straight victory, the longest winning streak for the Wildcats since the 2008-09 team won 14 consecutive games to begin the season.
K-State improved its overall record to 19-1 for the first time in program history. The Wildcats are 8-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since the formation of the league in 1996-97.
The Wildcats have defeated four Associated Press top-25 foes this season. This marks the most ranked wins for K-State since the 2016-17 season. K-State is one of six teams in the nation to win four or more wins against AP top-25 foes this season.
K-State had three players reach double figures on Wednesday and were led by junior guard and All-American candidate Serena Sundellwith 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block.
Sophomore forward Eliza Maupin tallied a career-high 16 points and hauled in a season-high nine rebounds off the bench.
Senior Gabby Gregory notched 16 points and added four rebounds and four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State (19-1, 8-0 Big 12) trailed by nine at halftime, 39-30, and by as many as 13 in the first half. The Wildcats then held Baylor (15-3, 4-3) to 16 points on 23.1 percent (6-of-26) shooting.
– The Wildcats won the third quarter, 14-8, and narrowed the gap to three, 47-44, at the end of the third quarter. Defensively, K-State held the Bears to 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from the field in the third stanza. The Wildcats struggled from the foul line in the third quarter, shooting 4-of-10 from the charity stripe.
– K-State captured its first lead since the first quarter, 50-49, as Maupin buried her first career 3-pointer with 7:19 to play in the fourth quarter.
– The Wildcats grabbed the lead permanently with a layup from Sundell with 3:27 remaining and was followed by a baseline layup from Gregory with 1:50 to play. Defensively, K-State held the Bears without a point for the final 4:33 of the fourth quarter.
– Baylor had a chance to tie the game on the final possession of the game with 10.8 seconds left. Sundell committed a quick foul as the Wildcats had three to give. On the ensuing inbound play for Baylor, Jada Walker took possession and heaved the ball at the basket anticipating a K-State foul that never came. A scramble for the ball led to possession for the Bears with 2.7 seconds. Jaelyn Glenn would block the attempt by Dre’una Edwards and seal the K-State victory.
– For the night, K-State shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field and connected on six 3-pointers.
– The Wildcats held Baylor to 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the floor including 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from beyond the arc.
QUICK FACTS
– Baylor leads the series, 43-12, while K-State has won three of the last five meetings.
– The Wildcats are 226-237 (.488) in Big 12 games.
– Head coach Jeff Mittie coached the 1,000th game of his 32-year college coaching career on Monday night. Mittie owns a career record of 637-363 (.637) and is 183-128 (.588) during his 10-seasons at K-State.
– The Wildcats are 291-321 (.475) all-time in road games. K-State is 5-0 this season in true road games and are 42-64 (.396) in road contests in the Mittie era.
– K-State owns a record of 241-88 (.733) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 10-1 (.909) all-time when ranked 4th in the nation. The Wildcats are 4-8 all-time against teams ranked 13th in the AP poll.
TEAM NOTES
– K-State’s starting five consisted of guards: Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn, Gabby Gregory and forward Gisela Sanchez. This was the second time this starting five has been used this season. This was the 98th collegiate career start and the 52nd start at K-State for Gregory, the 89th career start for Sundell, the 85th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 79th career start for Brylee Glenn and the second career start for Sanchez.
– K-State had three players reach double figures in scoring on Monday. This is the 15th time (14-1) this season in which the Wildcats had three or more players in double figures.
– K-State held its 18th opponent to under 60 points this season and the 13th straight game.
PLAYER NOTES
– Sundell notched her 58th career game with 10 or more points, including her 13th this season. Sundell owns 1,073 career points and passed Kim Woodlee (1,058; 1997-01) and Sue Leiding (1,071; 1983-87) for 37th on the K-State career scoring list.
– Sundell’s three assists improved her career total to 456, which moved her into fifth in school history for career assists and passing Mariah White (2009-13; 455).
– This was Sundell’s 37th career game and the 11th this season with five or more rebounds.
– Maupin reached double figures for the first time this season and the seventh time in her career. Her 16 points were a personal season-high.
– Maupin pulled in a personal season-high nine rebounds. This was her 10th career game and her second this season with five or more rebounds.
– Gregory registered her 77th career game, her 36th at K-State and her seventh this season with 10 or more points.
– Gregory made three 3-pointers on Wednesday, which is the 64th time in her career with two or more connections from long range. During her time at K-State, Gregory has made 112 from long range.
– Jaelyn Glenn tallied six rebounds on Monday. This was her 37th career game and her eighth this season with five or more rebounds.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement…
For us defensively, that was the tale of two halves. I was really disappointed in our defense the first half and I couldn’t have been more pleased in the second half with what we did so we’re really happy for our group to just battle through it. And you know, we have some players obviously playing in different roles right now and I thought Eliza Maupin was absolutely huge for us tonight. She made huge plays all the way around and happy for that kid. She’s put in the work the last couple of weeks and really improved and she was really starting to pick up on some things that we need her to do so great win for us. I thought both teams were pretty fatigued at the end and exerted a lot of energy. And, you know, quick turnaround for both of us coming off a Saturday, but couldn’t be more proud of our group for hanging in there and giving us an opportunity to have a chance at the end.”
On how this team is built…
“I’ve been really pleased with this group for how it has played for the most part, every possession and their DNA has been a lot of hard work all the way back to June. So it doesn’t surprise me that we hung in there but we got tested tonight. We were frustrated. Baylor did a great job in the first half, they frustrated us and but I did feel fortunate to be only down nine at half. And I just thought we got more confident as the game went on. I thought we got stronger as the game went on.”
On the final Baylor possession…
“We in that scenario had decided to foul them. We had fouls to give. We decided to foul them if they had their back to the basket or if they were dribbling. So that was the first foul. We were not going to file a catch and shoot player which really ended up being a smart play there because obviously I think they thought we might be fouling right away and went ahead and heaved one up. Now with two and a half seconds, I didn’t want to foul. I didn’t want to foul at that point. Everything was going to be in and around the arc. I just wanted to live with the result and I thought our group did a good job of forcing the throw inside the arc. And you know we’ve got good length to us.”
UP NEXT
K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday, as the Wildcats host BYU at 4 p.m. For tickets, call (800) 221-CATS, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
