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No. 10 K-State Women’s Basketball (4-0) picked up the 400th in Bramlage Coliseum in Monday night’s game. K-State dominated the Little Rock Trojans 73-43 despite a lackluster night from the Wildcats, shooting just above 40 percent from the field and only 20 percent from beyond the arc.
The win marker was not the only record changed during last night’s contest. Ayoka Lee became K-State’s second all-time scorer, passing Nicole Olde. Lee now has 2,245 career points and is chasing K-State’s leading scorer Kendra Wecker who finished with 2,333. Serena Sundell also moved up in the ranks of scorers, now ranked 19 of all-time.
Wildcat Warm-Up
Opponent Matchup
The Little Rock Trojans hail from the Ohio Valley Conference. The Trojans have had a rough start to the season, now 1-3. First year head coach, Steve Wiedower, took over in July after the previous head coach retired from the game. The Trojans were 12-18 a season ago, one loss coming from K-State. Trojans are led by Faith Lee who is averaging 17.5 points a game.
Tip-Off to Buzzer
Quarter Breakdowns
First Quarter-
K-State started slow offensively until Little Rock led 13-12 with just under two minutes to play. K-State finished off the quarter on an 11-0 run. The Trojans had no answers to stop Lee who led the Wildcats in scoring with 10 in the first quarter. Zyanna Walker scored eight of her own to help the Cats lead 23-13 after one.
Second Quarter-
The Wildcat bench picked up quality minutes in the second quarter, with 10 Wildcats seeing the floor. Kansas State’s stout defense was displayed in the second, holding the Trojans to only 10 points. The Trojans only shot 13 percent and got out-rebounded 16-11. The Trojans had no answers for Lee and her dominant night continued with six boards in her four minutes of play in the quarter. A first-half double-double for Lee helped the Cats to an 18-point lead at half, 41-23.
Third Quarter-
The ice-cold night for the Trojans continued in the third, shooting only 21 percent in the quarter. The Wildcat's offense was good for everyone in the third with six players finding the net. Out of the 14 total points, in the quarter for the Cats, eight came off the bench. Despite only shooting 35 percent and 0-5 from the arc, K-State stretched the lead to 55-32.
Fourth Quarter-
The cold shooting for both teams continued in the fourth. Little Rock only found the bucket for 11 in the final quarter, while K-State put up 18. The Wildcats poured it on early going on a 15-4 in the first five minutes before the offense cooled off. Kansas State pummeled the Trojans with aggressive defense, winning by 30, 73-43.
Courtside Conclusions
K-State was able to dominate inside with a good size advantage against the Trojans. Winning the rebound battle 58-36, and had 20 more second-chance points than Little Rock. Lee’s dominant night only came from three-quarters of play as she sat for the entire final quarter. Head Jeff Mittie shared his thoughts on the game in the postgame press conference.
“It's always good to get another win under our belt,” Mittie said. “We weren't particularly sharp for most of the night—it was kind of an ugly game, to be honest. I didn't feel like we had much of a rhythm.”
The Wildcats couldn’t find much success from the field all game, which is the first of the season so most likely just an off day. Mittie continued with his disappointed tone as the presser went on.
“I hate to come in here and sound negative, but I'm not going to praise mediocrity either,” Mittie said. “I can't say something was good when, in reality, it wasn't. That said, there were some positives. I thought we had spurts where we played well.”
K-State Leaders
The poor shooting from the Wildcats allowed for a season low in points scored, but a season high in rebounds. K-State was led by Lee who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in only 15 minutes of play. Walker also had 16 of her own and six assists to lead the team in that category. Taryn Sides and Eliza Maupin both had 10 points on the night. Sides filled up the rest of her stat sheet with six boards and four assists, while Maupin had 8 rebounds.
Future Focus
A Look Ahead at the K-State Schedule
K-State’s final game of its early season home stand on Wednesday against Milwaukee University. The Wildcats will look to bounce back offensively against Milwaukee who has a 2-3 record on the year. Kansas State will then travel to the Ball Dawgs Classic to take on an ACC foe of Duke. K-State’s game against Milwaukee will be live here on Wildcat 91.9, with a pregame show before the 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
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