By KStateSports.com
MANHATTAN, Kansas – With a combined 55 points in the second and third quarters, K-State cruised to a 90-56 win over Wichita State in the first round of the 2023 Postseason WNIT at Bramlage Coliseum on Thursday night. The 90 points and the 34-point margin of victory set school records for a Postseason WNIT game.
K-State (18-16) held a 19-12 lead after the first quarter, but outscored Wichita State (18-15) 55-23 over the next two quarters to build a 47-point advantage with five minutes remaining. The 47-point lead was the highest for the Wildcats this season.
The Wildcats poured in a season-high 31 points in the third quarter, surpassing the previous mark of 30 against Clemson on November 24. During the third frame, K-State shot 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the field including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
For the night, K-State placed four of its five starters in double figures and were led by sophomore Serena Sundell with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added seven assists and two steals.
Joining Sundell, were sophomores Brylee Glenn with 15 points and Jaelyn Glenn with her third double-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. Senior Gabby Gregory added 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State used an 8-0 run spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second to capture a 23-12 lead with 8:44 remaining. Brylee Glenn opened the run with a driving layup and was followed by a Serena Sundell layup before the expiration of the first quarter. Emilee Ebert then finished an open layup to start the second quarter and was followed by another Sundell layup to force a Shocker timeout.
– The Wildcats then used a 10-0 run to build a 36-18 lead with 4:19 remaining. Jaelyn Glenn started the burst with her second 3-pointer of the quarter and was followed by a baseline runner from Brylee Glenn. Jaelyn Glenn then added a left-handed jumper with 5:26 to play and was followed by three made free throws from Brylee Glenn and Gabby Gregory after a foul and technical on Daniela Abies.
– The Wildcats would hold a 43-23 lead at halftime, as they shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) in the opening half.
– A 21-2 run by the Wildcats, which started at 6:01 of the third quarter, carried the Wildcats to a 74-32 lead and ended any chance of a Wichita State comeback. During the run, Jaelyn and Brylee Glenn each scored five points.
– The Wildcats finished the night shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field, including 40.7 percent (11-of-28) from 3-point range. K-State’s 11 made 3-point field goals were the most by the Wildcats in a WNIT game since making a record 12 against Ball State on March 28, 2013.
– K-State shot 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the free throw line. With its 25 made free throws, K-State set the school record for free throws made in a WNIT game.
QUICK FACTS
– K-State leads the series with Wichita State, 42-8, and has won seven of the last 10 in the series. K-State is 21-4 against the Shockers in games played in Manhattan.
– The Wildcats are 54-13 all-time against schools from the American Athletic Conference.
– K-State is 17-5 all-time in the Postseason WNIT. The Wildcats own a 17-3 record in Postseason WNIT games played in Manhattan.
– Kansas State owns a 137-103 record in the month of March including an 20-19 mark in the Jeff Mittie era.
– K-State is 14-4 in games played in Bramlage Coliseum this season. Over the last two seasons, the Wildcats are 28-7 in games played in Bramlage. The 28 wins are tied for the most home wins over a two-season span in the Mittie era.
TEAM NOTES
– Thursday’s starting five were Sarah Shematsi, Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Gabby Gregory. This was the 20th time this group started a game together this season (9-11). Sundell has started all 67 games in her K-State career. Jaelyn Glenn started her 63rd career game and her 32nd this season. Brylee Glenn recorded her 57th career start and the 30th this season. This was the 76th career start for Gregory and her 30th at K-State. Shematsi tallied her 30th career start and her 28th at K-State.
– The Wildcats led at halftime, 43-23. This was the 15th time this season (15-0) K-State led on the scoreboard after the first 20 minutes. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 128-16 when leading at halftime. Thursday was K-State’s largest halftime lead since Dec. 21, 2022, against Morgan State (21).
– With its 11 3-pointers made on Thursday, K-State has made 252 three-pointers this season. This season’s three-point field goals made total is a new season-high in the Jeff Mittie era and third-most in school history.
– This season marks the third in program history with five players making 20 or more three-point field goals, joining the 2002-03 and 2009-10 seasons.
– With its 25 made free throws on Thursday, K-State boosted its season total and school record for free throws made to 547 on the season.
– With its 11 made three-pointers on Thursday, K-State became the third team in the nation with 500 or more made free throws and 250 or more 3-point field goals made this season. K-State is the only Big 12 team this season to achieve these marks and the fourth Big 12 squad since 2009-10 to reach this milestone in a season.
– With its 24-point second quarter and 31-point third, K-State has registered 48 quarters this season with 20 or more points. This set a new school record for quarters with 20 or more points in a season.
PLAYER NOTES
– With their combined total of 29 points on Thursday, Gregory (608) and Sundell (471) have combined for 1,079 points this season. They are the 10th tandem in program history to combine for 1,000 or more points in a season (min. 400 or more points by each player) and rank eighth for total combined points by a K-State tandem.
– Sundell reached double figures in points for the 24th time this season and the 43rd time in her career.
– With her seven assists, Sundell improved her season total to 175 and remains in second for assists in a sophomore season in K-State history. She remains in 12th on the K-State career assists list with 346. Thursday was the 21st game this season and the 41st of Sundell’s career with five or more assists. She has led K-State in assists in 54 of her 67 career games.
– Gregory tallied her 68th career game in double figures for points and her 27th at K-State.
– Gregory ended the night with three 3-pointers. This was her 24th game this season and the 52nd of her career with two or more connections from 3-point range. She improved her season total to 77 connections from beyond the arc. Her 74 three-point field goals made are the most by a Wildcat since Kindred Wesemann made 90 in the 2016-17 season.
– Jaelyn Glenn tallied her third career double-double. Glenn is the sixth player in program history to register at least one career double-double in a WNIT game.
– Jaelyn Glenn scored in double figures for the 24th game this season and the 30th time in her career.
– With her three connections from 3-point range, Jaelyn Glenn improved her season total to a career-high 70. She owns 23 games this season and 33 in her career with two or more connections from beyond the arc.
– Jaelyn Glenn pulled in 11 rebounds against the Shockers to tie her career-high. This was her 18th game of the season and the 28th of her career with five or more rebounds. She hauled in 10 or more boards for the fourth time in her career.
– Jaelyn Glenn pocketed two steals on Thursday. She has a career-high 83 steals this season, which are the fourth-most steals in a single season in program history. She is the fifth player in program history to log 80 or more steals in a season. Glenn owns 25 games this season and 36 career games with two or more steals.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement…
“I’ll just say, we played really well. We obviously did some really good things I liked. I liked our attitude coming out of the gates. I thought we started defensively. I can tell early that our group was locked into the little things that we had talked about. Pace got to where we wanted it and then I thought it was really just about them making the right reads and staying active and staying on the attack, which for the most part they did. ”
On whether today was a statement win…
“Well I think it’s a good sign. When you come out of the 20 game gauntlet that we face in the Big 12, you’re just kind of excited to see a different jersey, even coaching it gets you excited because you don’t know the team, you walk out there and you’re kind of curious about the opponent. I was curious to see. We knew their 4s and 5s had really scored at a high level. They’re coming off of knocking off a number one seed in South Florida, who has gotten many good wins over the course of the season. So I was curious and excited to play somebody that we hadn’t seen before.”
On the defensive scheme…
“Yeah I think we only played a couple possessions of zone the whole game on some out of bounds stuff. But yeah, I thought we were really good. I thought we we’re getting the help to the post for the most part. The points that Curtessia [Dean] got were hard points. I don’t think it was us not having awareness, I think she just hit some really tough shots, so give her credit. Yeah, like I said, I felt like we had just had a good focus about us and we had a good pace. You know, it was good to see. ”
On the assist to field goal ratio…
“It was good, yeah I thought it was good. I thought we had some good skip passes that led to shots. We had some good ball movement, led to shots. We turned down some good shots to get great shots. That’s what we’ve been preaching and I felt like we did that for the most part.”
Wichita State Head Coach Keitha Adams
Opening statement…
“Kansas State played extremely well, we did not. We didn’t play very well today and it was just an old-fashioned butt kickin’ and they shot the ball very well. Going into today’s game we’d prepared all week about them being shooters and wanting to shoot the three but we didn’t defend it well, they hit 11 threes and probably one of our poorer performances on the defensive end. It’s been a long time since we’ve given up 90 points, that’s a lot of points. So tough day on the offense, the ball wasn’t going in for us. We had one in double figures, Curtessia Dean, but you know one thing you should be able to count on is your defense night in and night out. You’re going to have some nights there, where the ball doesn’t go in but we just didn’t play very well and we’re disappointed. K State played well and wish them good luck.”
On the ability of Curtessia Dean…
“Well, you know, that’s why we recruited her, her being a scorer. You know, I only coached her for one year. I think in the last month she’s gotten in a better rhythm and wished I had her for another season but she’s a good ballplayer and she showed why we recruited her today. She needed a little help. Didn’t have much added help today.”
FROM THE FLOOR
Jaelyn Glenn, Sophomore Guard
On getting a double double…
“I think just in my head I knew I had to chase after rebounds. Our centers and Gabby [Gregory] and Brylee [Glenn] were doing a good job at boxing out their best offensive rebounders so I knew that I just had to chase after those boards. Yeah, so really I owe it all to my teammates to keep their players off the boards. ”
On playing a non Big 12 school…
“I was pretty excited coming in just because we have been playing some teams repetitively, so I was excited to see someone that we haven’t seen. Yeah but I think we were well prepared for just playing against teams in the Big 12.”
Brylee Glenn, Sophomore Guard
On whether she felt her ankle was 100%…
“I feel good today, especially like going off the first drive that I had to the right hand. It’s always like a little nerve racking that you might get hit, but like once I think I saw the ball go through the basket it really upped my confidence and I just continued to attack the basket and shoot open shots. So yeah, I feel good.”
On the team’s motivation…
“We were super motivated coming in. We knew what we had to do and I think it just helped that everyone was on the same page. Everyone was plugging in their spots. Everyone ran the floor and was ready to attack the basket. But I think throughout the game we had a good balance between attacking the basket and shooting threes. Whereas like Coach Mittie tells us all the time that sometimes we maybe favor the three a little bit more, but I think we had a good balance today and that’s why we were successful.
Serena Sundell, Sophomore Guard
On how she thought the offense performed…
“I think just playing together today, moving the ball well, and when we get paint touches, which when we make that our main focus people are going to be wide open for the three. It’s a drill we work on everyday in practice is getting down in there and kicking out to our teammate. So yeah, I think we were just on the same page trying to get the the paint but also finding our shooters ”
On what was going well in the second and third quarter…
“Yeah, we were just flowing. I think we had the game at a pace that we liked. Our defense felt good. We were all kind of locked in. We had a good amount of time, I think, to prepare for this game. So just strategy wise, we were all locked in on plugging and keeping the ball out in the middle. So when your defense is going well and then you can get out and run then it’s pretty fun basketball and I feel like we’re pretty hard to stop.”
UP NEXT
K-State will face the winner of Wyoming-Texas A&M–Corpus Christi. The game date, time and location will be announced by the WNIT after the conclusion of the Wyoming-Texas A&M–Corpus Christi game late Friday night.
