By KStateSports.com
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State looked to collect its third win over a ranked opponent this season, but (16/13) Oklahoma held by the Wildcats with a 85-68 win at Bramlage Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
K-State (14-11, 3-9 Big 12) saw four players reach double digits and were led by former Sooner Gabby Gregory with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-19 shooting and a 10-of-11 effort from the foul line. This was Gregory’s 15th game this season with 20 or more points, most in the Big 12. Gregory also hauled in six rebounds and dished out three assists in 40 minutes of action.
Joining Gregory in double figures was the sophomore trio of Brylee Glenn, Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell with 12 points each. The trio also each tallied four steals each, while Sundell recorded five assists.
Oklahoma (20-4, 10-3) also featured four players in double figures and were led by Liz Scott with 20 points, while Madi Williams added 16 points and Ana Llanusa chipped in with 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State used an 8-0 run from Gabby Gregory to take a 14-12 lead with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter. However, the Wildcats would go without a field goal for the final 4:15 of the frame as Oklahoma took a 20-15 lead at the end of the quarter.
– Oklahoma would score the first seven points of the second quarter, 27-15, and force a K-State timeout with 8:37 remaining. The Sooners received five points during the quick burst from Skylar Vann.
– The Sooners would hold a 41-25 lead at the half, as the Wildcats shot 21.2 percent (7-of-33) from the field and were forced into nine turnovers.
– K- State pulled to within 11, 46-35, with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter following a pair of layups from Jaelyn Glenn. The Sooners rebuilt its lead with a 22-5 run to hold a 67-40 advantage with 2:18 to play in the third.
– The Wildcats strung together a late push, outscoring the Sooners over the last four minutes of the game, 13-3, to bring the contest to its final margin.
– K-State ended the day shooting 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, including 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from beyond the arc. The Wildcats were 22-of-31 (.710) from the free throw line.
– Oklahoma shot 53.1 percent (34-of-64) from the floor and shot 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from 3-point range. The Sooners held a 44-20 advantage on points in the paint.
QUICK FACTS
– K-State trails in the series with Oklahoma, 31-43. The Wildcats have won six of its last 12 meetings against the Sooners.
– The Wildcats are 18-17 all-time against the Sooners in games played in Manhattan.
– Kansas State owns a 227-195 record in the month of February including a 30-36 mark in the Jeff Mittie era.
– The Wildcats are 2-2 this season against Associated Press top-25 opponents.
– K-State is 11-3 in games played in Bramlage Coliseum this season. Over the last two seasons, the Wildcats are 25-6 in games played in Bramlage.
TEAM NOTES
– Sunday’s starting five were Sarah Shematsi, Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Gabby Gregory. This was the 12th time this group started a game together this season (5-7).
– The Wildcats trailed at halftime, 41-25. This was the 14th time this season K-State trailed on the scoreboard after the first 20 minutes.
– K-State saw three or more players in double figures for points for the 21st time this season.
– The Wildcats tallied 13 steals on Sunday afternoon. The 13 thefts were the most since registering 13 against South Dakota State on Dec. 10, 2022.
PLAYER NOTES
– Gregory tallied her 62nd career game in double figures for points and her 21st at K-State. She has scored in double figures in seven straight games.
– Sunday was Gregory’s 15th game this season and the 23rd of her career with 20 or more points. Gregory leads the Big 12 for games with 20 or more points.
– Gregory ended the day with two 3-pointers. This was her 18th game this season and the 46th of her career with two or more connections from 3-point range. She improved her season total to 60 connections from beyond the arc. She is the first Wildcat to make 60 or more 3-pointers in a season since Rachel Ranke made 71 in the 2018-19 season.
– Sundell reached double figures in points for the 17th time this season and the 36th time in her career.
– Sundell moved into 15th on the K-State career assists list with 298 assists and passed Kristin Rethman (294; 1998-02).
– Jaelyn Glenn scored in double figures for the 18th game this season and the 24th time in her career.
– Brylee Glenn scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the 23rd time in her career.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Initial thoughts on the game…
“Good performance by OU. They took it right at us. 30 paint points in the first half to our four. I think that pretty much was the game.”
On OU’s points in the paint…
“I would say this. I thought there were two things. I thought we were behind the play and I thought we were not physical enough. That’s a bad combination, that’s a really bad combination. I thought Scott played really well. I thought Williams played really well. They had a good high-low game going on there. Once again, I’ll go back to it wasn’t really complicated what they were doing, but we were not physical enough and we were not playing early enough.”
On turnovers, points missed and offensive rebounds…
“We missed a lot of layups, it felt like. It felt like we missed some real opportunities with turnovers. Felt like we had an open floor in stretches there you know. I’m going to have to go back and look at the film. The one thing is that we were 2-of-14 in the second quarter and 1-of-8 from three. I’ll have to look at the threes. It’s probably too many threes in a game where we wanted to drive it but I don’t remember. I got to take a look because I don’t remember if they’re good threes or they’re late shot clock threes. But obviously that stretch really hurt us because that quarter they stretched it out. I thought we got off to a good start today. I thought our pace was good, I thought we had a good emphasis on getting the ball down low but ultimately way too many missed shots both inside and out.”
On driving to the basket in the second quarter…
“We wanted to do that the whole game. That wasn;t some new strategy. But it’s kind of been, you know our struggles have been that we’ll do some things well sometimes we’re not committed or we are not willing to stay in things long enough. I think when you talk about us offensively, I didn’t feel like we played as well together today as we have. Now part of that is we are going to some iso stuff and playing out of that, but the flow of the game where you are mentioning is players playing together and we had a lot of things that maybe we could have done better in that stretch. ”
Oklahoma Head Coach Jennie Baranczyk
On Gabby Gregory’s play tonight…
“It was one of those unique situations obviously with her last year in our program, and then you know, wanting something different and there’s mutual respect I think. She’s done a great job, she really has and we don’t have any ill will. There’s nothing. We want her to be really happy. We want her to do well and it looks like she’s doing that. So I don’t think I was happy with us fouling her so much tonight, but I think she’s done an incredible job and especially this year when they’re missing Ayoka Lee. I think she’s been a pretty good fit here.”
FROM THE FLOOR
GABBY GREGORY, K-STATE SENIOR GUARD
On her run in the first quarter…
“Obviously it was a good start to the game. We’ve got to figure out how to string stops together as well. I think that’s where we are hurt a lot, especially in the second quarter. Like shots going in and then also not getting stops on defense makes for a bad combo.”
SERENA SUNDELL, K-STATE SOPHOMORE GUARD
On struggles shooting…
“There was a point in the game where coach mentioned we were getting it in good spots and we had it where we wanted. We’ve been working on kind of getting it isolated within the spots, but personally, I don’t feel like I made the best reads and I took it up softer than I should have rather than trying to go through my defender and draw contact. So I think once we get the ball down there we can be more physical and get to the free throw line or have a better chance to get the ball in the basket.”
UP NEXT
K-State completes a two-game home stand, as the Wildcats host Baylor on Wednesday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday’s game is K-State’s annual Play 4Kay game. The first 1,200 fans will receive a free pink K-State trucker hat. For tickets, call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets.
Wednesday’s game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and can be heard on the K-State Sports Network.
