Kansas State women’s basketball might’ve not loved their first half in their win against Fairfield in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, but they left Lexington, Ky.’s Historical Memorial Coliseum, smiling from ear to ear.
That’s because, fueled by a 16-0 run in the final six minutes of the third quarter, the Wildcats handled business against the Stags, picking up a big 41-point win, 85-41. The win pushes K-State to the Round of 32, where they’ll play Kentucky on Sunday.
“I thought we played well in that stretch. I thought we did a lot of things we talked about at halftime, said head coach Jeff Mittie. “That's what you're the most pleased about, is that sometimes your thoughts and emotions can get away from you, and as a player, being able to focus on the task at hand. I thought, in particular, in the third quarter, we were really good at that.”
Ayoka Lee’s 17-point double-double and Serena Sundell’s brilliancy at point guard was the headline, but strong shooting by guards Taryn Sides and Jaelyn Glenn during the run set the tone. During the stretch, Sides and Glenn combined for three consecutive three-pointers, forcing a Fairfield timeout late in the third quarter.
“You can see all of our energy, how fired up it gets us just making big runs like that, especially in this tournament, in a game like this, where it means literally everything,” Glenn said. “It just gets the team fired up. And it's a lot of fun.”
In some ways, the K-State run was their way of sending a message. For a program that builds itself around a gap goat – a stuffed goat used to signify three straight defensive possessions with a stop – the Wildcats reminded the country of what they were capable of when they’re riding the hot hands.
“In the first half, if there was something that we didn't do as well, while we may have passed it out of things, we weren't finding the most open player,” Mittie said. “ I thought in that third quarter, we were on time with it, and we found the right player.”
At its peak, the Wildcats are a lengthy and feisty team capable of frustrating even the most efficient offenses. Lee and Sundell headline the show, but “role players” like Glenn, Sides, and even forward Temira Poindexter are the difference makers on both sides of the ball. And when those secondary pieces make plays, K-State is a legitimate threat to any team on their schedule.
Glenn and Sides struggled to find their shots in the first half, shooting a combined 3-for-9 from the field. Mittie even mentioned that he wished Sides would’ve taken some of the shots she passed up in the first half to force Fairfield to defend her.
But when those two got going, K-State’s whole operation responded. That’s because energy is contagious, and when two players are having fun and making shots, everyone else will follow suit.
“I feel like when one person starts hitting, the rest follow,” said Sides. “We struggled as a group in the first half to knock down threes … But once the first one went down, they all just started falling.”
Call it cliche, but that energy is the most crucial part of any K-State tournament run. Sure, the Wildcats will have to play better against Kentucky than they did against Fairfield, and Lee will have to continue to be a featured part of their offense, but K-State won’t have too many 16-0 runs to provide an immediate energy boost.
Instead, they’ll have to find joy in the smaller scoring runs that can be as important in a game.
“You can see all of our energy, how fired up it gets us just making big runs like that, especially in this tournament, in a game like this, where it means literally everything,” said Glenn. “It just gets the team fired up, and it's a lot of fun.”
The good news is that K-State has loved playing with each other all season. Even when the pressure began to mount at the end of the season, and K-State lost their chance at sharing the Big 12 Championship, K-State kept the locker room in tact.
And now that they’re in March, that energy is at an all-time high.
“This is the best time of the year. This is what you work for, to play in March Madness. So, to be here and just go out there and have fun with one another,” said Sides. “We enjoy playing with each other. It's been such a fun ride, and we don't want it to end.”
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