No. 10 Kansas State women’s basketball dominated in all facets with a 111-46 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday, hitting a season-high ahead of the 2024 Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas starting on Monday.
“I thought this was a good step forward for us,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “We saw a lot of people play well tonight, and that’s what I was looking for.”
Graduate center Ayoka Lee finished her dominant night with 25 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. All Big-12 guard Sundell had a great all-around game, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Senior guard Jaelyn Glenn had 17 points off 7-8 shooting. Sophomore guard Zyanna Walker nearly notched a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Lee found looks in the paint instantly to start the game. The seventh-year star had the Wildcats first six points, leading to a 10-0 head start. After that, the Wildcats never looked back.
Guard Taryn Sides found points from the perimeter in quarter one, hitting two 3-pointers as K-State finished the first quarter up 27-11. She finished with
“Coach has instilled some confidence in me to shoot the ball,” Sides said. “When your coach is telling you that, it gives you free will and you just play looser.”
The senior Sundell kept it rolling in the second quarter, scoring six points in the first five minutes. The K-State defense picked up where it left off, as Milwaukee had trouble controlling the ball.
“I think we did a really good job of focusing on ourselves,” Sundell said. “We had a practice yesterday where we focused on ourselves. We focused on what we needed to do and what we can control.”
The stats proved their focus. K-State finished the first half with six blocks and nine steals as the defensive masterclass led to a 54-18 advantage at halftime.
By the end of the third quarter the scoreboard showed complete domination from K-State, as it led 87-33 going into the fourth. The scoring onslaught continued all through the fourth quarter as well, leading to the 111-46.
K-State will face No. 14 Duke on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m in Vegas.
“We know we’ve got a really good matchup with Duke, and it’s a great tournament,” Mitte said. You’ve got Oklahoma and DePaul on the other side. We’re going [there] to win a tournament championship.”
