There’s no such thing as an easy win in March. And as Kansas State women’s basketball prepares for its own March run, the Wildcats got their first taste in their Big 12 Tournament opener.
In a hard-fought battle that starred No. 6-seeded West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly (27 points), the No. 3 seed Wildcats outlasted the Mountaineers 65-62.
Ayoka Lee, who scored 22 points, became the Wildcats’ all-time rebounding leader after collecting 11 boards. She passed Kendra Wecker and now has 1,088 career rebounds.
“I’m just thankful,” Lee said. “Every game out is going to be a fun opportunity to play with my teammates. … I think it takes a lot to have that accomplishment, and really good coaches and teammates put you in a position to do that.”
As head coach Jeff Mittie noted in his postgame news conference, Saturday was a “game of runs” for both squads, with West Virginia sinking four 3s in the first four minutes between Quinerly and Kylee Blacksten. The Mountaineers built an early 21-9 lead.
As the Wildcats closed out the first quarter, though, they slashed the deficit to six while West Virginia failed to make any field goals for the remaining 4:28.
That comeback continued into the second quarter, and the Wildcats held a 34-31 halftime lead after layups on back-to-back possessions from Lee and Serena Sundell.
The Wildcats led from there throughout the third, though it ultimately became too close for comfort for Jeff Mittie’s squad; West Virginia pulled within one point after another Quinerly 3 landed in the final seconds of the period. The Mountaineers even took a 51-49 lead in the fourth quarter.
But Sundell later scored to put K-State up four, and, at the end of the game, Quinerly missed a Hail Mary 3-pointer at the buzzer that could’ve tied the score.
“That was a fun game, and West Virginia’s a good team,” Sundell said. “They had a great team and they’re scrappy. They didn’t go away when we were back in Manhattan, but they were going to fight ‘til the very end.
“That was a very March type of basketball game.”
The Wildcats will now face the No. 2 seed Longhorns on Monday, but as they continue to look towards the Big Dance, Lee remembers it’s important to be “where your feet are.”
“I think our team is really locked in to where we’re at,” Lee said. “It’s really just about going out on any given night and giving them our best shot, and to do that, we have to be present.”
Saturday’s ESPN bracketology update has K-State as a No. 5 seed, which could improve if the Wildcats can continue their winning ways in KC.
“I think when you’re playing the quality of basketball we have in this league all year long, and you’re looking at teams that have been ranked and the quality of their wins,” Mittie began. “… You look at the balance of this league, there are a lot of tight games, and we’ve played as tight of games in February as in any year that I’ve had. … We were grinding out some really hard-fought wins.
“I think Serena said it best: It felt like March basketball, it felt like NCAA Tournament basketball and had a great atmosphere in T-Mobile tonight. We’re glad that we came out on top.”
The Wildcats tip against the Longhorns on Monday at 4 p.m. in the Big 12 semifinals.
