#11 K-State Begins Big 12 Play at Cincinnati today at 1 p.m.
GAME #14
(11/16) K-State (12-1, 0-0 Big 12) at Cincinnati (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)
Saturday, December 30, 2023 | 1 p.m. (CT) | Fifth Third Arena (12,012) | Cincinnati, Ohio
TELEVISION
Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Anthony Mazzini
Analyst: AB Stocks
RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagship: Sunny 102.5 & 1350 KMAN
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Randy Peterson
Game also available on SiriusXM Channels 162 or 200 or the SiriusXM app
LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com
SERIES HISTORY vs. Cincinnati
0-0
• K-State and Cincinnati will meet for the first time.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 4-1 in his career against Cincinnati.
MANHATTAN, Kansas (K-State Sports) – (11/16) K-State (12-1) begins its 28th Big 12 slate on Saturday, as the Wildcats visit one of the newest members of the league, Cincinnati, for a 1 p.m. (CT), tip.
• The Wildcats have started 12-1 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. With a win, K-State would achieve the fifth 13-1 or better start to a season in school history.
• Saturday’s game can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Anthony Mazzini (play-by-play) and AB Stocks (analyst) will have the call.
Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women’s basketball
1. K-State Among Top Defenses in Nation
• K-State leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th in the nation in scoring defense (52.2 ppg). The Wildcats are second in the league and seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.325). K-State has held 11 foes to under 60 points in a game this season.
2. Third Quarter, Best Quarter
• K-State has used halftime wisely this season, as the Wildcats have scored 292 points in third quarters this season (22.5 ppg). The Wildcats have nine games this season with 20 or more points in the third frame.
3. Lee Making Run at 2K/1K Club
• Senior center Ayoka Lee needs 68 points and just seven rebounds to become the third active NCAA Division I WBB player with 2,000 or more career points and 1,000 or more career rebounds. She will be the only active Big 12 player in the 2K/1K club.
4. Lee Closing in on Ohlde
• Lee (993) needs three rebounds to pass Nicole Ohlde (995) for second on the K-State career rebounds list.
5. K-State in Big 12 Road Openers
• K-State starts its 28th Big 12 season on the road. The Wildcats are 9-18 all-time in Big 12 road openers and have won two of their last four road openers.
Number to Know
7
• K-State senior center Ayoka Lee needs seven rebounds to become the second player in program history with 1,000 or more career rebounds, joining Kendra Wecker (1,087; 2001-05).
• When Lee reaches the 1,000 rebound mark for her career, she will become the 24th player in Big 12 history and the second in program history with 1,000 or more points and 1,000 or more rebounds in their career.
• When including her 263 career blocked shots, Lee would become just the fourth player in Big 12 history with 1,000 or more points, 1,000 or more rebounds and 250 or more blocked shots.
Last Time Out
at (12/16) K-State 84, Southern 52 (Dec. 20, 2023; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in the first three quarters to roll past Southern, 84-52.
• The Wildcats improved to 12-1 for the season, including a 7-0 record at Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State had three players in double figures led by Ayoka Lee with 20 points and five rebounds. Serena Sundell filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds and a steal. Freshman Taryn Sides carded 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
At a Glance: Cincinnati
• Cincinnati (8-3) enters Saturday’s matchup with a six-game winning streak, following a 71-51 win over Siena to conclude its non-conference slate. The Bearcats are 5-1 at home this season.
• On the sideline, Cincinnati is led by first-year head coach Katrina Merriweather. The 2001 graduate of Cincinnati had previous head coaching stops at Wright State and Memphis.
• The Bearcats are led by Jillian Hayes.
• Hayes, a senior forward from Cincinnati, leads the squad in scoring with 12.4 points on a .512 field goal percentage and on the glass with 8.5 rebounds per game.
Wildcats Off to Fast Start
• Kansas State has opened the season with a 12-1 overall record.
• This is the best start for K-State in the Jeff Mittie era through the first 13 games.
• In program history, K-State has opened a season 12-1 or better six times.
K-State Among the Rankings
• Kansas State continued its stay in the Associated Press (AP) top-25 poll, as the Wildcats are 11th in the Dec. 18 poll.
• This is the program’s highest ranking in the Jeff Mittie era (2014-present). It is the highest ranking for the program since the final poll of the 2003-04 season, when the Wildcats were ranked eighth.
• The Wildcats debuted at 16th on Nov. 20, which was the highest debut for K-State since being ranked fifth in the 2003-04 preseason poll.
• As an AP ranked team, K-State owns a 234-88 (.727) record. In its history, K-State has now been ranked for 180 weeks in the AP poll.
• The Wildcats are ranked 16th in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. This is the highest K-State has been ranked in the Coaches Poll since being ranked 16th on in the second to last poll of the 2008-09 season.
• This season is the first time since the 2008-09 season that K-State has been ranked in five straight USA Today/WBCA Coaches Polls.
Wildcats on the Road
• K-State has a 288-321 (.473) record in road games during the program’s 56-year history.
• Since the 2000-01 season, K-State owns a 128-142 (.474) mark in road contests.
• In his career in games played on the road, head coach Jeff Mittie is 164-201 (.449) including a 39-64 (.379) mark during his time at K-State.
• With its win at Little Rock on Nov. 11, 2023, K-State snapped an 11-game road losing streak. This was tied for the longest road losing streak in program history.
• With its win at number 2 ranked Iowa on Nov. 16, 2023, K-State secured its highest ranked road win in program history and ended a 14-game road losing streak against ranked opponents.
• In the 2022-23 season, the Wildcats suffered a 10-game road losing streak and went winless in true road games.
• When including its loss at North Carolina State to conclude the 2021-22 season, K-State owns an active road losing streak off 11 straight games. The 11 straight road losses tied the school record.
Sky-High Field Goal Percentage
• When K-State shoots 50.0 percent or better in the Jeff Mittie era, Kansas State has been victorious. Since the 2014-15 season, the Wildcats are 34-5 (.872) when shooting 50.0 percent or better.
• The Wildcats are shooting 48.3 percent from the field this season, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 18th in the nation. K-State owns 22 quarters with a field goal percentage of 50.0 percent or better.
• K-State tallied a season-high 56.7 percent (34-of-60) effort from the field against Southern on Dec. 20. The Wildcats have shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in a game five times this season.
• The Wildcats made a season-high 40 field goals against McNeese State on Dec. 6 and against Oral Roberts on Dec. 18. The 40 made field goals were the most by a K-State team since making 41 field goals on Nov. 26, 2004.
20-Pt Quarters For the Wildcats
• Since the inception of the quarter system in the 2015-16 season, K-State owns an overall record of 123-58 (.680) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• This season, K-State has 24 quarters with 20 or more points scored.
• The Wildcats scored a season-high 36 points in the third quarter against Missouri on Dec. 9. The 36 points tied the school record for points in any quarter (36, at Omaha, 12/8/21) and set the school record for points in a third quarter.
• Since the 2015-16 season, K-State has registered 291 quarters with 20 or more points with a high of 50 in the 2022-23 season.
• K-State registered five straight quarters of 20 points or more in the final two quarters against Presbyterian followed by the first three quarters at Little Rock.
Wildcats’ Defense Forges Identity
• K-State has continued to be a force on the defensive end during head coach Jeff Mittie‘s 10 seasons on the bench.
• In the 2023-24 season, K-State is holding opponents to 52.2 points per game and a field goal percentage of .325. The Wildcats lead the Big 12 and rank 13th in the nation for scoring defense, ranks second in the Big 12 and seventh in the nation for field goal percentage defense and sevcond in the Big 12 and sixth nationally for 3-point field goal percentage defense (.229).
• In the season-opener, K-State held Presbyterian to 35 points. This marked the fewest points allowed by the Wildcats since holding UT Martin to 30 points on November 12, 2021.
• During the last 21 seasons, K-State is 133-3 (.978) when holding an opponent to 49 points or less including a 52-0 mark in the Mittie era. During Mittie’s tenure K-State has held 17 opponents to 40 or fewer points.
• The Wildcats held Iowa on Nov. 16 to 58 points, 34 points below its 2023-24 season average and their fewest points since 2019.
We Are An Ag School
• Fans and media may notice a stuffed four-legged friend on the K-State bench this season.
• During the summer, the K-State coaching staff encouraged the team to get gaps which are three consecutive stops on defense and to do this seven times in a game.
• Before the season, head coach Jeff Mittie asked Serena Sundell, Gabby Gregory and Ayoka Lee to make this their own and to embrace the three straight defensive stops. Enter Gap Goat.
• Gap Goat, who can be followed on Instagram (@GapGoat7), is hoisted aloft when the Wildcats register three consecutive defensive stops. Gap Goat lives at the Ice Basketball Training Center and comes to Bramlage and on road trips to get gaps.
• Gap Goat’s apparel includes a K-State jersey and gold chains with one chain featuring a goal number seven pendant.
• Gregory chose a goat because it is her favorite animal.
Lee Reaching Rare Stat Lines
• Ayoka Lee has registered unique stat lines throughout her career and this season is no different.
• At Little Rock on Nov. 11, Lee notched 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds. She is the only player in the nation this season to record a 30-point, 10-rebound game with a field goal percentage of 80.0 percent or better.
• Against North Florida on Dec. 16, Lee registered a season-high 36 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line in just under 24 minutes of action. She also recorded four rebounds, a season-high three steals and a blocked shot.
• According to Stats Perform, Lee is the only NCAA Division I women’s player since at least the 1999-00 season to score 36 or more points, while shooting 88.0 percent or better from the field in under 25 minutes of action.
• Against Oral Roberts on Dec. 16, Lee registered a season-high 36 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line in just under 24 minutes of action. She also recorded four rebounds, a season-high three steals and a blocked shot.
• According to Stats Perform, Lee is the only NCAA Division I women’s player since at least the 1999-00 season to tally a 20-20 double-double with five blocks in less than 25 minutes. Also, no NCAA Division I men’s basketball player since 1996-97 and no NBA player since 1983-84 has achieved this stat line in fewer than 25 minutes.
Lee Among Top-5 for Career Boards
• Ayoka Lee has continued to own the glass in her K-State career and is moving closer to the top spot in program history.
• Lee ranks third in school history for career rebounds with 993 and was the sixth player in school history with 900 or more career rebounds. Her career rebound total ranks second in school history by a center.
• With 95 rebounds, Lee will surpass Kendra Wecker (2001-05; 1,087) for the school record for rebounds in a career.
• She owns the school record for career rebounding average and ranks fourth in Big 12 history at 9.9 rebounds per game.
• Among active NCAA Division I players, Lee ranks seventh in the nation for career rebounding average and total rebounds.
• She owns the school record for career games with 15 or more rebounds (8).
• This season, Lee leads the Wildcats with 8.2 rebounds per game. She ranks eighth in the Big 12 for rebounds per game.
• In her last active season of 2021-22, Lee ranked second in the Big 12 and 31st in the nation with 10.3 rebounds per game. She ranked 17th in the nation in total rebounds (339). In Big 12-only games, Lee was second in the league in rebounding with 9.78 per game.
• With her 339 rebounds during the 2021-22 season, Lee set a new career single-season high and broke the school record for rebounds in a single-season.
• Lee was the eighth player in school history with three or more consecutive seasons with 200 or more rebounds and was the second player in program history (Peyton Williams) with two or more seasons with 300 or more rebounds.
Sundell Nears 1K Mark
• In addition to her distribution skills, guard Serena Sundell adds a scoring punch to the K-State lineup.
• During her career, Sundell has scored 975 points (11.9 ppg) and needs 25 points to become the 45th player in school history to score 1,000 points in her career. She has tallied double figures in 51 career games.
• This season, Sundell is averaging 9.5 points on a career-high .527 field goal percentage. She registered a season-high 21 points against Western Kentucky on Nov. 24 and has scored in double figures in six games.
• During the 2022-23 season, Sundell was second on the team and 12th in the Big 12 in scoring with 13.9 points per game on a career-best .489 field goal percentage. In Big 12 games, she averaged 15.11 points and ranked eighth in the league.
• Sundell recorded a personal career-high 501 points last season. She was the seventh player in program history to score 500 or more points in their sophomore season. Her total ranked tied for sixth for a sophomore season at K-State.
• In the 2022-23 season, the product of Maryville, Missouri, scored in double figures in 26 games including eight games with 20 or more points, which ranked tied for sixth in the Big 12 last season.
• At Oklahoma on March 1, Sundell carded a career-high 33 points on 11-of-17 shooting. She joined Gabby Gregory as the only Wildcats last season with 30 or more points in a game.
• Sundell earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career by leading the Big 12 in scoring (22.5) during the week of games on Feb. 20-26.
• Against Kansas on Feb. 22, Sundell registered the most unique stat line in the nation. According to Stats Perform, Sundell was the only player last season, one of four since 1999-00 and the only player in the Big 12 since 1999-00 to record 24 points on 80 percent shooting and also registering seven assists, five rebounds, four steals and one block.
• At Texas Tech on Feb. 5, Sundell scored 27 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a career-best 16-of-18 effort from the foul line.
• Against Iowa on Nov. 17, Sundell registered 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting including 5-of-7 from the foul line.
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