OMAHA, Nebraska (Kansas State Athletics) – K-State women’s basketball used a barrage of 3-pointers to tie the school record and cruise to its first road win of the season, 87-56, at Omaha on Wednesday evening in Baxter Arena.
K-State (8-2) tied the school record for 3-point field goals made, knocking down 16-of-32 (.500). The 16 connections tied the record originally set on Jan. 23, 2013, against Oklahoma State. The 16 three-pointers were the most in the Jeff Mittie era.
Mittie was surprised by the volume of makes but pleased with how they came.
“It’s surprising to me. I think we just made a lot of right passes in that stretch and obviously people have to knock the shot down. But once again, the way they’re playing (Ayoka) Lee, we’re going have those kinds of shots if we can give good passes to each other, we’re not going to shoot what we did, but I think we’re nine of 11 or something to start but five or six of 11 on those kinds of shots wouldn’t be abnormal.”
The Wildcats were 11-of-18 (.611) from 3-point range in the first half, including seven in the first quarter. The 11 first half 3-point field goals were the most in a half by a K-State team since Nov. 19, 2001, against IUPUI when the Wildcats made 11.
K-State dashed out to a 13-point lead, 20-7, in the first five minutes of the first quarter as the Wildcats shot 7-of-8 from the field including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Freshman Jaelyn Glenn led the charge with 10 of the 20 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Wildcats kept their foot on the accelerator in the first quarter and would eventually set the school record for points in a quarter with a 36-9 advantage at the end of the frame. K-State missed just three shots total (12-of-15, .800) in the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats outscored Omaha (3-5), 20-15, as K-State knocked down four more from 3-point range and built a 56-24 lead at halftime. The Wildcats shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field.
The 56 first half points by K-State were the most in a first half since Nov. 18, 2019, when the Wildcats rolled up 63 points first half points against Oral Roberts.
K-State continued to rain 3-pointers in the third quarter, extending its lead to 70-30, with 4:38 remaining. Jaelyn Glenn connected on her fourth, while Laura Macke buried her second to increase the advantage in the first six minutes.
The Wildcats tied the school record, as Jada Moore connected on her second straight 3-pointer with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to give K-State an 87-52 lead. K-State had two chances to break the mark but were unable to knock down the chances.
Kansas State was led by 2022 All-America candidate Ayoka Lee with a game-high 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Jaelyn Glenn joined Lee in double figures with a career-high 16 points with a career-best 4-of-7 effort from 3-point range.
Freshman Serena Sundell added 12 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Macke came off the bench to chip in with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
As a team, K-State shot 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the field and were 11-of-13 (.846) from the foul line. The Wildcats handed out 24 assists on their 30 made field goals and committed only 10 turnovers.
With its win on Wednesday night, K-State snapped an 11-game road losing streak which was the longest since an 11-game skid over a two-season stretch in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Prior to Wednesday, K-State’s last road win came on Dec. 5, 2020 at Central Arkansas.
Mittie was happy to secure the road win at the start of the two-game road trip through the Summit League.
“Road victories are a lot of fun, as we’ve talked about over the years. Home victories they go home to their families or they go home to their apartments or they go out to eat with their families or whatever. And now we’ll go out to eat together and celebrate together. And those are special. It was a good win, as 30-point road wins don’t happen very often either. We’ll take it.”
Kansas State will complete the road portion of its non-conference schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m., as the Wildcats travel to Brookings, South Dakota, to face South Dakota State.
