KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Friday’s thrilling win over No. 4 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, the 12th-seeded Kansas State women are stepping into relatively unknown territory.
K-State will play its fourth game in as many days on Saturday, when it takes on No. 1 TCU in the tournament semifinals. The Wildcats have only played four games in four days like this once, in the 1997 Big 12 Tournament.
But of all of the concerns that head coach Jeff Mittie might have about facing the conference’s regular-season champions in a high-stakes tournament game, fatigue is not one of them.
“The (players) would tell you that we’ve practiced seven, eight days in a row, and some days the seventh or eighth day is the hardest day, and it also might be the best day,” Mittie said. “Their bodies are tired right now, but they’re young. I don’t think it’s any different. We’ll get our preparation
“I would say this: The one thing about playing early in the day is the day is pretty normal for us in terms of our recovery. We practice at 10, 11 a.m. (in Manhattan), so the day is pretty normal. I’m sure they’ve got a nap scheduled later at some point later today, but our preparation will be the same.”
Both junior Nastja Claessens and freshman Jordan Speiser agreed and mentioned plans for a nice ice bath to help with their recovery.
