No. 11 Kansas State women’s basketball routed in-state rival Kansas 91-64 on Sunday, snapping a four-year drought inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, thanks to great three-point shooting and defense.
“I thought we played well today,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “I mean, Kansas is a talented team.”
K-State (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) improved its overall record to 21-2 thanks to a 65.2 percent three-point shooting percentage, the Wildcats’ highest since 2010. All nine Wildcats who touched the floor found the bottom of the net.
K-State featured four Wildcats in double figures and a season-high 19 points for Jaelyn Glenn, knocking down five from beyond the arc. The Wildcats forced the Jayhawks into 18 turnovers, eight of which were K-State steals.
Glenn was not alone in her dynamic three-point shooting day as sophomore Taryn Sides came off the bench and put up 14, going 4-for-9 from three-point land while adding on eight assists. Sides led the K-State bench to outscore KU’s 32-7.
Despite the absence of All-American Ayoka Lee, K-State was able to dominate in the paint, outscoring the Jayhawks in points in the paint, 32-22. Finding good post minutes from Kennedy Taylor, Eliza Maupin, and Imani Lester.
K-State’s lights-out shooting was the name of the game in the rout over Kansas. Still, the Wildcats’ defense took over the game, turning defense into offense with 21 points to Kansas’s nine off turnovers. K-State’s interior defense also found a total of six blocks.
The 14-8 Jayhawks stood no chance against the top-15 ranked K-State visitor. Despite All-Big 12 guard Serena Sundell picking up two early fouls; K-State jumped out to a 10-point lead before KU went on a 7-0 scoring run to end the first, 20-17.
The second quarter was all K-State. Jumping on an early 7-0 run forced Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider to call a timeout. The Wildcats would go on to pour 17 on the ‘Hawks – while holding them to just 27 percent shooting. K-State led by 12 into the half thanks to five different Wildcats knocking down threes.
K-State again came out firing at the start of the third, a 9-0 run forced a KU timeout. The timeout did not slow down the Wildcats’ hot hand as they extended the lead out to 28 before KU’s next timeout. K-State’s defense forced 11 turnovers in the third to lead 67-38.
“We wanted to come out hot, come out with a lot of energy, yeah, and just make a big push in the third quarter,” Glenn said about the K-State second-half start. “Didn’t want them to make the push first.”
After the explosive 30-point third, K-State seemed to coast in the final quarter. K-State held their massive lead even with an attacking KU offense, thanks to 17 from Kansas junior guard Sania Copeland. The Wildcats would go on to win by 27, ending the four-year winless drought in Lawrence for the lady Wildcats.
With the win, K-State now leads the all-time series 81-51. The Wildcat squad seemed to fire on all cylinders throughout the contest.
Quality post-play by K-State in its win against Iowa State on Thursday showed up again for the Wildcats as Taylor, Maupin, and Lester all played solid minutes down low.
“We got good production from everybody that played in this game,” Mittie said. “I thought our centers gave us a big lift today. We thought from Kennedy to getting Liza Maupin blocking shots, Imani Lester, continuing to play solid, very good minutes across the board.”
K-State had to find out what their other guards could do with Sundell in early foul trouble and missing big chunks of the first half.
“I thought these two both had great days,” Mittie said about Sides and Glenn. “I thought Zy Walker continued to defend all day we got good production across the board. We were able to run offense through her but Taryn [Sides] and Jaelyn [Glenn] both played very well today, and I thought Zy Walker played with a lot of energy at the defensive end.”
The sharpshooting sophomore Sides liked what she saw when asked about K-State’s three-point efficiency.
“No, 65% that’s pretty, pretty good from three,” Sides said. “I think just goes to show when we push the ball and just find open players and play well together. Anyone can knock down that shot, and that’s fun basketball.”
A K-State team that seems to finds open players game after game finished with 26 assists on the game, leading the Big 12 in assists per game.
K-State has a tall task arriving in Manhattan on Wednesday for potentially an all-out brawl against No. 9 TCU. K-State will have to play its best basketball for the 6:30 p.m. tip-off.