PROVO, Utah (KStateSports.com) – (12/10) K-State used a big second quarter and a season-high from Temira Poindexter on Saturday evening against BYU to cruise to a 92-65 win at Marriott Center. The win improves K-State’s win streak to 12. The 12-game win streak is the sixth-longest win streak in program history.
K-State improved its overall record to 17-1 for the second time under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie. This is the second straight season K-State has opened with a 17-1 record. In its history, K-State has opened a season 17-1 or better five times.
With the win, Mittie improved his record at K-State to 207-136 (.603) and moves into sole possession of second in program history for wins, passing Judy Akers (1968-79; 206).
Poindexter, a senior forward and 2025 Cheryl Miller Award candidate registered a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting including a 5-of-10 effort from long range. This was Poindexter’s third game this season with 20 or more points.
Senior center and All-America candidate Ayoka Lee tallied 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds and four steals. With her seven rebounds, Lee moved into sixth on the Big 12 career rebounds list with 1,224 in her career.
Senior guard and All-America candidate Serena Sundell notched her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points, 13 assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. With her 13 assists, Sundell tied her career-high and tied the school record for assists in a game.
Lee and Sundell have now reached double figures in points in the same game in 46 of 75 career games together.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– Following a tightly contested first quarter that saw the Wildcats hold a 23-20 lead, K-State (17-1, 5-0 Big 12) built an 18-point halftime lead, 50-32, by winning the second quarter, 27-12. The Wildcats shot 50.0 percent in both quarters leading to a 50.0 percent (20-of-40) effort in the opening half.
– This was the fifth time this season and first time in league action that K-State carded 50 or more points in the opening half.
– The Wildcats would push its advantage to 23, 57-34, following a three-pointer from Poindexter and a layup from Lee with 7:04 to play in the third quarter.
– K-State would close out the third quarter on a 16-4 run to build a 73-40 entering the fourth quarter.
– BYU (10-6, 1-4) would win the fourth quarter, 25-19, by shooting 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the field.
– For the night, K-State shot 52.1 percent (37-of-71) from the field including a 46.2 percent (12-of-26) performance from long range.
– The Wildcats handed out 26 assists and were forced into a season-low five turnovers.
– The Cougars shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field and were boosted by the big fourth quarter.
QUICK FACTS
– K-State leads the series with BYU, 5-0. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 9-8 (.529) in his career against BYU.
– The Wildcats are 237-242 (.495) in Big 12 games.
– K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 661-371 (.641), including a mark of 207-136 (.603).
– K-State owns a record of 265-96 (.734) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 22-4 (.846) all-time when ranked 12th in the nation.
– The Wildcats are 263-193 (.577) in games played in the month of January. Under Mittie, K-State is 43-41 (.512) 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 16th time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 130th career start for Lee, the 121st career start for Sundell, the 117th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 105th career collegiate start and 18th at K-State for Poindexter and the 18th career start for Walker. With her 130th career start at K-State, Lee moves into a tie for the school record for career starts with Brittany Chambers (2009-13; 130). Lee also moves into a tie for seventh in program history for career games played. With her 121st career start, Sundell is ninth in program history for career starts. With her 117th career start, Glenn is tied for 10th in program history for career starts.
– The Wildcats held a 50-32 lead at halftime on Saturday. Under Mittie, K-State is 166-19 (.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 43 times this season, including the first, second and third quarters on Saturday. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 149-62 (.706) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game.
– K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter in all four quarters on Saturday. The Wildcats have 47 quarters this season, which is tied for the second most in program history for a full season, of 50.0 percent or better shooting.
– K-State improved to 106-8 (.930) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game. The Wildcats have dished out 20 or more assists in 14 games this season (14-0).
PLAYER NOTES
– With her 24 points on Saturday, Poindexter increased her collegiate point total to 1,785 points (1,560 at Tulsa; 225 at K-State). This was Poindexter’s third game this season and the 39th of her career with 20 or more points. This was her 91st career game and her 10th this season with 10 or more points.
– Poindexter made a personal season-high five 3-pointers on Saturday. This was her 19th career game with four or more connections, her 65th career game and her 11th this season with two or more connections.
– With her 19 points on Saturday, Lee boosted her career total to 2,469 and remains in seventh on the Big 12 career scoring list. Lee registered her 119th career game with 10 or more points. Her 119 career games with 10 or more points is second in program history. Lee has scored in every game of her career,130 games, and remains in third in school history for consecutive games scoring.
– Lee hauled in seven rebounds on Saturday. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,224, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds and moves into fifth in Big 12 history for career boards. She owns 113 career games with five or more rebounds.
– Sundell notched her 85th career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,492 career points and remains in 14th on the K-State career scoring list.
– Sundell’s 13 assists on Saturday improved her career total to 686. This was her 10th career game and her sixth this season with 10 or more assists. This was her 80th career game with five or more assists and her 15th this season including her 12th straight.
– Sundell hauled in three rebounds on Saturday to improve her career total to 499.
– Sundell sent back two shots on Saturday. Sundell boosted her career total to 91 and ranks ninth in school history for career blocks and owns the school record for blocks by a guard. This was her 21st career game with two or more blocks.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
On second quarter adjustments…
“I think Serena Sundell had a really good feel of where BYU was bringing the help. I felt we found (Temira) Poindexter a lot in that stretch. And obviously Temira was really hot in that stretch. I think it was all about us making good decisions with the basketball. And so I liked our movement at that time. I think we were getting enough balance of inside stuff with (Ayoka) Lee, outside stuff with Temira, enough drives here and there with the guards, so we just had a good balance to us.”
On a the depth and a different player leading the way…
“I think all 10 on our roster can really play. There were things I was not happy about in this game, but I think when we’re at our best, we’ve got all 10, and certainly we’ve had good balance over the course of the season. It’s been a big strength of ours. Temira, I thought tonight, played with a great balance to her game. I thought defensively, she played very well. You know, I think one of the things that we’re all striving for is to when you have that kind of balance, we talk about constantly just making the right play, make the right play. Nobody has to force shots if we’re just making the right play. We’ve got enough balance that it might be Temira’s night tonight, it might be somebody else’s night the next night, but just try to focus on making the right play. I did think there was a stretch of this game where we got pretty tired. We’re fatigued. I mean, we’re on a five-day road swing, and I thought there was some fatigue, but I thought players fought through it and got to the other side of it and played very well.”
On going unbeaten on the road trip…
“I was in the Mountain West, you know, with these guys (BYU) and so, you know, we did a lot of those five-day swings. So to talk about the toughness of the travel, when those trips were commercial and we’re about to hop on a charter flight, they don’t know how spoiled they are (laughing), the true grinders know. Anytime you’re gone for five-days now, I will be honest with the 15-16, inches of snow we had it wasn’t a bad time to leave Manhattan, Kansas, but we’ll be glad to be back home and glad to sleep in our own beds, proud of our group. It’s not easy to do. These are both, I think, from a road trip perspective, two quality teams, they’ve got a lot of really good players, and so we’re excited to get out of here with a couple W’s and get back home.”
On Ayoka Lee’s 19 points…
“A lot of attention goes to her. We constantly talk about gravity and who’s drawing who where. Temira is going to draw a lot of gravity the way she was shooting the ball. I think teams start with Lee, right? How are we going to defend Lee? They wanted to obviously be super physical. Meet her at the free throw line, bump her. There were times when we didn’t do as good a job of playing off that gravity, but when we did, we’re able to get pretty good shots off of that. Yokie, whether she’s scoring or not, is such a presence. And I agree with you, it was a quiet 19 tonight, but the one thing is, is she’s hard to play one-on-one, and if you play her one-on-one, then we’re fine with taking that as well. And if you want to bring extra help, then it’s on us to make the play to the right players.”
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Forward Temira Poindexter
On her shooting tonight…
“I feel like Serena and the guards were just finding me very well. I just having my feet set and just having the confidence to shoot the ball.”
On the easy finish to the game…
“We still have a lot to work on. I mean, it’s good to look at the good things, but I know when we get back, we still have a lot of work to do. And you know, we’re going to have a reset.”
UP NEXT
K-State begins a two-game homestand on Thursday, January 16, as the Wildcats host new Big 12 member Arizona at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or call (800) 221-CATS.
