K-State Collects 16th Straight Home Win

MANHATTAN, Kansas – (7/6) K-State saw an 11-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter evaporate late, but a layup from Jaelyn Glenn in the final seconds pushed the Wildcats past UCF, 60-58, on Saturday evening at Bramlage Coliseum. Dating back to the final two home wins of last season, the Wildcats have now won 16 consecutive home games.

K-State had four players reach double figures on Saturday and were led by senior guard Gabby Gregory with a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal.

Sophomore forward Eliza Maupin came off the bench to record her third career double-double and her first this season with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a career-high 11 rebounds and added three steals in a career-best 34 minutes of action. Maupin scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half.

Junior guard and All-American candidate Serena Sundell recorded 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot. This was Sundell’s 12th straight game in double figures.

Redshirt freshman Zyanna Walker also came off the bench to register 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

HOW IT HAPPENED

– K-State (22-4, 11-3 Big 12) held an 11-point advantage, 49-38, following a three-pointer from Gregory with 9:08 remaining.

– UCF (12-12, 3-11) chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within two, 56-54, with 46 seconds remaining as Kaitlin Peterson outscored the Wildcats, 7-1 over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch.

– Sundell tallied a layup with 28 seconds left to push K-State into a four-point lead, 58-54. The Wildcats surrendered a layup by Peterson with 20 seconds left and then missed two free throws with 15 seconds remaining.

– UCF raced up the floor with the rebound and found Mya Burns with a right-handed layup with six seconds to play.

– Walker inbounded the ball to Sundell, who dribbled near the right sideline. With the UCF defenders lining midcourt, Jaelyn Glenn snuck behind all defenders and Sundell found her with a long pass. Glenn collected the ball, took one dribble and made a right-hand layup with two seconds remaining to win the game for the Wildcats. Glenn finished Saturday’s game with five points, a career-high seven steals and three rebounds.

– K-State shot 41.8 percent from the field (23-of-55) and were held to 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from 3-point range. The Wildcats shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the foul line.

– UCF shot 40.0 percent (24-of-60) from the floor and shot 15.0 percent (3-of-20) from long range.

QUICK FACTS

– K-State leads the series, 2-0. This was the first meeting between the programs in Manhattan. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 3-0 in his career against UCF.

– The Wildcats are 230-240 (.489) in Big 12 games.

– Head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 639-366 (.636) in 32 seasons as a head coach and is 185-131 (.585) during his 10-seasons at K-State.

– K-State’s 16-game home court winning streak is the longest home court winning streak in the Mittie era, which started with the final two home wins of the 2022-23 season. This is K-State’s longest home court winning streak since a 16-game home winning streak in the 2003-04 season.

– K-State’s 14-game home court winning streak this season is the longest single-season home winning streak since the Wildcats won 19 consecutive home games in the 2002-03 season.

– K-State owns a record of 244-91 (.728) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 15-5 (.750) all-time when ranked 7th in the nation.

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 sixth time this starting five has been used this season. This was the 104th collegiate career start and the 58th start at K-State for Gregory, the 95th career start for Sundell, the 91st career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 85th career start for Brylee Glenn and the sixth career start for Sanchez.

– The Wildcats held a 27-24 lead at halftime on Saturday. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 147-17 (.896) when leading at halftime, including an 18-0 record this season.

– Over the last 12 seasons, K-State is 47-31 (.603) in games decided by five points of less, including a 5-2 mark this season.

– K-State pocketed 15 steals on Saturday. This was K-State’s 12th game this season with 10 or more steals.

– The Wildcats tallied a 40-38 advantage in points in the paint. This was K-State’s 20th game with 30 or more points in the paint.

PLAYER NOTES

– Maupin reached double figures for the third time this season and the ninth time in her career.

– Maupin pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds on Saturday. This was her third career game with 10 or more rebounds. This was her 11th career game and her third this season with five or more rebounds.

– Maupin’s three steals on Saturday tied her career-high and marked her sixth career game with two or more steals.

– Gregory registered her 81st career game, her 40th at K-State and her 11th this season with 10 or more points.

– Gregory hauled in seven rebounds on Saturday. This was her 54th career game and her ninth this season with five or more rebounds.

– Walker carded her 11th career game with 10 or more points.

– Walker hauled in five or more rebounds for the ninth time in her career.

– Walker’s two steals marked her eighth game of her career with two or more steals.

– Sundell notched her 64th career game with 10 or more points, including her 19th this season. Sundell owns 1,162 career points and is 30th on the K-State career scoring list.

– Sundell’s five assists improved her career total to 499. This marked her 60th career game and the 18th this season with five or more assists.

– Jaelyn Glenn pocketed a career-high seven steals on Saturday. This was her ninth career game with five or more steals and moves her into second in program history for career games with five or more steals. This was her 52nd career game with two or more steals.

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