For the fourth straight season, Kansas State women’s basketball will make a postseason appearance as the Wildcats have accepted a bid to play in the 2018 Postseason WNIT and will host Saint Louis in the first round on Thursday. The time for the game between K-State and Saint Louis will be announced on Tuesday.
This will be K-State’s sixth appearance in the Postseason WNIT and the first since reaching the second round of the 2015 WNIT. With K-State’s bid into the Postseason WNIT, the Wildcats are one of seven Big 12 schools to earn a women’s basketball postseason bid.
The Wildcats (16-15, 7-11 Big 12) will be opposed by the Billikens (17-15, 9-7 Atlantic 10) on Thursday in Bramlage Coliseum. K-State and Saint Louis will meet for the third time and the first time since Dec. 6, 2003. The Wildcats are 9-3 all-time against teams from the Atlantic 10 Conference, with the last meeting against an A-10 program coming on March 18, 2016 against George Washington in the 2016 NCAA Tournament in Columbia, South Carolina, a 56-51 K-State win.
Saint Louis, making the program’s third straight WNIT appearance, is led by senior guard Jackie Kemph. Kemph, a 2018 All-A-10 First Team selection, is averaging 15.8 points per game and 7.1 assists per game this season. Joining Kemph in double figures are senior forwards Madison Gits and Paige Rakers. Gits is averaging 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, while Rakers adds 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds.
The winner of the Kansas State-Akron game will play the winner of the Utah-UNLV matchup on either March 17, 18, 19 or 20 at a site to be determined.
Tickets for K-State’s first round matchup with Saint Louis are available now, by calling the K-State Ticket Office at (800) 221-CATS, visiting www.kstatesports.com/tickets or by stopping by the K-State Athletic Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum. Tickets are priced at $15 for chair backs, $10 for adult general admission and $5 for youth and senior citizens. All K-State students will receive free entry by showing a valid K-State ID at the door.
K-State is 14-4 in its previous four WNIT Tournament appearances in 1999, 2006, 2007, 2013 and 2015. The Wildcats captured the 2006 WNIT title for the first postseason title in school history in front of a sell-out crowd of 13,340 fans.