<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762230448428.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas State Athletics
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MANHATTAN, Kansas &ndash;&nbsp;K-State opened its 58th season of women's basketball on Monday night, as the Wildcats dashed by Omaha, 100-35, at Bramlage Coliseum. This was K-State's 15th straight win in a season-opener. The Wildcats carded 100 points in a season-opener for the second time in five seasons, as K-State notched a 103-40 win over Central Arkansas to begin the 2021-22 season. This was the sixth time K-State has scored 100 or more points in the first game of a season. K-State (1-0) saw five players reach double figures and were led by sophomore guard&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/izela-arenas/12623" rel="smarttag" rev="12623">Izela Arenas</a></dfn>&nbsp;with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added four rebounds, three assists and three steals. The 18 points were the most in a K-State career debut since Gabby Gregory tallied 19 against Central Arkansas on Nov. 7, 2022. Junior guard&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/taryn-sides/12613" rel="smarttag" rev="12613">Taryn Sides</a></dfn>&nbsp;narrowly missed a triple-double as she tallied her second career double-double and her first with points and assists as she tallied 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 12 assists with zero turnovers, seven rebounds and four steals. Freshman guard&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aniya-foy/12617" rel="smarttag" rev="12617">Aniya Foy</a></dfn>&nbsp;carded 13 points, four steals and three rebounds. Junior forward&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/nastja-claessens/12677" rel="smarttag" rev="12677">Nastja Claessens</a></dfn>&nbsp;chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals in her collegiate debut. Sophomore forward&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jenessa-cotton/12624" rel="smarttag" rev="12624">Jenessa Cotton</a></dfn>&nbsp;tallied career-highs with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting and eight rebounds. HOW IT HAPPENED - K-State held Omaha (0-1) without a made field goal for the duration of the first quarter to build a 31-5 advantage at the end of the frame. This was the first time K-State held a team without a made field goal in a quarter since Feb. 20, 2022, against Oklahoma State. - The Wildcats buried seven 3-pointers on 12 attempts in the opening quarter, including five consecutive possessions. - The 31-point first quarter was the most in an opening quarter since March 7, 2025, when the Wildcats tallied a 33-point first quarter against West Virginia in the Big 12 quarterfinals.&nbsp; - The Wildcats did not allow a made field goal by the Mavericks until the 6:40 mark of the second quarter. K-State would end the half with a 50-9 lead and held Omaha to two made field goals in the half (2-of-22; 9.1 percent). The two made field goals allowed tied the school record for fewest field goals allowed in a half, which has been done four times in program history. - Offensively in the first half, K-State shot 51.3 percent (20-of-39) from the field including 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from beyond the arc.&nbsp; - K-State closed out the third quarter on an 11-4 run to build a 73-24 advantage entering the fourth quarter. - In the final frame, the Wildcats matched their shooting from the third quarter by going 10-of-17 from the floor (.588) and outscore the Mavericks, 27-11. K-State reached the 100-point mark on a steal and layup from Foy with 1:20 remaining. Over the final 7:25 of the fourth frame, the Wildcats went on a 23-3 run. - K-State shot 54.8 (40-of-73) from the field including 31.3 percent (10-of-32) from long range. - The Cats dished out 25 assists to 11 turnovers on the night. K-State handed out 21.2 assists per game a season ago, which was second in the nation. - The Wildcats tallied a 36-0 advantage in fastbreak points. QUICK FACTS - Monday's game was the earliest season-opener in program history. - Kansas State is 49-9 (.845) in season openers and have won 23 of the last 25 season openers, including 15 straight. - The Wildcats have won 31 of its last 33 home openers in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats are 49-9 (.845) all-time in home openers and 34-4 (.895) in openers in Bramlage. - K-State leads the series with Omaha, 9-0. The Wildcats are 44-6 (.880) against current members of the Summit League. - K-State head coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/jeff-mittie/2670" rel="smarttag" rev="2670">Jeff Mittie</a></dfn>&nbsp;owns a career record of 673-378 (.640), including a mark of 219-143 (.605). - K-State is 414-157 (.725) in its 38th-season inside Bramlage Coliseum, including a 144-49 (.746) record under Mittie. The Wildcats are 239-30 (.888) in non-conference games in Bramlage including an 85-9 (.904) mark during Mittie's time with at K-State.&nbsp; - The Wildcats are 167-55 (.752) in games played in the month of November, including wins in 55 of its last 67 games in the month. Under head coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/jeff-mittie/2670" rel="smarttag" rev="2670">Jeff Mittie</a></dfn>, K-State is 53-12 (.815) in games during the 11th month.&nbsp; TEAM NOTES - K-State's starting five consisted of guards&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/brandie-harrod/12619" rel="smarttag" rev="12619">Brandie Harrod</a></dfn>,&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/tess-heal/12622" rel="smarttag" rev="12622">Tess Heal</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/taryn-sides/12613" rel="smarttag" rev="12613">Taryn Sides</a></dfn>&nbsp;and forwards&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/nastja-claessens/12677" rel="smarttag" rev="12677">Nastja Claessens</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jenessa-cotton/12624" rel="smarttag" rev="12624">Jenessa Cotton</a></dfn>. This was the first time this lineup has started together this season. - K-State improves to 66-0 in the&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/jeff-mittie/2670" rel="smarttag" rev="2670">Jeff Mittie</a></dfn>&nbsp;era when holding an opponent to 49 points or less. During the last five seasons, K-State is 66-3 (.957) when holding foes to 60 points or less. - The Wildcats held a 50-9 lead at halftime on Monday. Under Mittie, K-State is 177-21 (.894) when leading at halftime. - K-State scored 20-or more points in a quarter three times on Monday. A season ago, the Wildcats set the school record for 20-point quarters with 68. Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, the Wildcats are 160-65 (.711) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter of a game. - K-State improved to 115-8 (.935) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game. PLAYER NOTES - Sides tied for ninth in program history for assists in a game with 12 on Monday. Her 12 assists pushed her career total to 202. - Sides made two or more 3-point field goals for the 32nd time in her career. - Cotton achieved career-highs in points (11) and rebounds (8). She tallied her first career double digit scoring game. This was her first career game with five or more rebounds. - Arenas surpassed double figures in scoring for the sixth time in her career.&nbsp; - Arenas tallied her fourth career game with two or more steals. -&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/gina-garcia/12618" rel="smarttag" rev="12618">Gina Garcia</a></dfn>&nbsp;dished out five assists on Monday. Her five assists were the most in a K-State career debut since&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/serena-sundell/11858" rel="smarttag" rev="11858">Serena Sundell</a></dfn>&nbsp;handed out nine on Nov. 9, 2021, against Central Arkansas. FROM THE HEAD COACH K-State Head Coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/jeff-mittie/2670" rel="smarttag" rev="2670">Jeff Mittie</a></dfn> Opening Statement&hellip; "I thought it was a solid performance. [It was]Important that we got out on the court, first time for a lot of these players. We obviously had a closed scrimmage here. We had the road [exhibition at Tarleton State], but it's different at home, with different emotions, energy and nerves that go into that. I thought our group really did some things that were pretty solid. Most of the night, you could see we were kind of excited to play, so I think that led to a lot of early fouls. We have to clean those things up and do those things better. We fundamentally missed some shots that I think we'll make over time. So we have to clean those things up, but all in all, it was a pretty good performance." On set connections on the court&hellip; "I don't know if I found any tonight. I think through practice and through this early fall, we'll start to get some answers. I still think that one of the things when we're going into these games&ndash; is that it's important we get these players minutes together. It's why I'm changing the lineup a lot, it's why I'm changing rotations a lot. I think every opportunity to get them some different connections with each other on the floor. We still have a lot of things we have to answer. Can we rebound against size? Tonight we really weren't challenged in that area. So we have to do those things better in practice." On some things they will work on in practice following game one&hellip; "Well they'll be excited, there's no practice tomorrow. We got the day off, but when we get back to work, I'm not going to like our box outs when I just look at them. I'm going to say that we just rebounded the ball because we chased it better and we were bigger and more athletic. I'm probably going to be pretty nitpicky on that, and because we didn't get tested in that area tonight, it's probably going to be a pretty big part of practice going forward, because I think we'll be tested more in the coming weeks. Offensively, I don't know how to gauge the half court. We weren't in the half court enough tonight, I didn't like our pace at times in the half court. It felt like one person would do something, then we'd go, 'Oh, okay, it's time for me to do something.' 'Oh, wait, it's time for me to do something.' And our timing has got to be better. Now that's just my eyes watching it. I'll evaluate it tonight, but I think the half court is going to be tough for me to evaluate." On&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/taryn-sides/12613" rel="smarttag" rev="12613">Taryn Sides'</a></dfn>&nbsp;performance&hellip; "You look at her stat line, I mean she's very efficient, 12 assists and no turnovers. Just a little bit of everything, and more importantly for her, it's just those that have watched her grow and play with a confident pace out there. You saw it last year, we've seen it continue to grow. This year, it'll be interesting as we progress as a basketball team, whether she's off the ball more or with the ball more, that's something that we're still experimenting with, but it was a really good performance by her." On fundamentals paying off in practice&hellip; "Yeah, I've said this a couple times. Whatever you invest in practice, you want to see that those things are good. So when you talk about us, we've spent a lot of time on just the fundamentals defensively. From that standpoint, I was a little disappointed, because we had way too many fouls and too many hand checks. That's an area that we've invested time in, not doing those things right, so that's disappointing. I did think our communication defensively, with some of our switch outs, some of our ball screen coverages were really pretty solid. From that standpoint, I saw that it was really good. I did not think Omaha pushed it against us, so it's difficult for me to judge transition defense. &nbsp;That would have been an area that I would have liked to have been tested more tonight. They did a pretty good job of that. Can they stay unselfish and can they keep sharing the basketball to the right player? All in all, pretty solid. Most of the night's effort is something that we saw for 40 minutes. I thought it was pretty good. I think you saw the same thing I saw because I'm judging that, with three or four minutes to go, do we have our hands up? Are we talking? I really thought, for the most part, I didn't think we had a whole lot of lapses. Some of the threes that they hit late, those were more credit to them and our coverage of who got those threes, we were going over some stuff, and they finally started knocking some things down. So I thought our effort was pretty good with the freshmen." On the performance of the freshmen&hellip; "I think all of them did good things. All of them did good things tonight. I thought Jordan [Speiser] improved defensively. It's an area that she's working harder at improving. I thought her recognition of things was better. She did not shoot it great, but she made good moves off the bounce. [Brandie] Harrod got off to a rough start, and she had some layup opportunities. She didn't finish, but I liked her activity. You saw as the game went on, what kind of versatile player she is. Gina [Garcia] had foul trouble early. You saw her make a really good adjustment in the second half to get the hands off. And then you saw&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aniya-foy/12617" rel="smarttag" rev="12617">Aniya Foy</a></dfn>&nbsp;have a really good fourth quarter, and I thought she played really well. I thought all the freshmen did some nice things." On the adjustments to the hand check ruling&hellip; "I have to look at that on film. I didn't think we were as bad as they were calling it, so I have to really look at that. There was an adjustment to the rule, but it was actually a more aggressive adjustment in that you could measure them up a couple times now, so you can get multiple touches. So I have to look at it, I don't know that. You know we can do that in practice to officiate that better and teach it better. Yeah, I don't know. All three officials, though., kept talking about [Gina] Garcia, how handsy she was, and they kept telling us, so I've really got to take a look at that, because she picked up three pretty quick ones [fouls]. Fortunately for her, we're in a game where I can still get her minutes because, if it was a really tight game, I would have probably not gotten her some extra minutes there." On stretches when shots stopped falling&hellip; "I think in that stretch, we just had some steals and were able to get some layups that way. I think watching us tonight, it would be hard to gauge in the half court what we're good at. I don't mean that critically of our team, I just don't think we were in it very much. I just don't think we were in it enough to really gauge what kind of rhythm that was going to take. So I'll look at it on film and see and certainly we'll get back to the drawing board against our practice squad and see if there's some things that we can get better at." On&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/gina-garcia/12618" rel="smarttag" rev="12618">Gina Garcia's</a></dfn>&nbsp;performance&hellip; "I thought she was really efficient, what she's really given us is an ability to score one on one. She's got a good step back. If she gets to that left hand, she's got a nice floater. She can also get to the rim there. We're still evaluating Garcia, [Taryn] Sides and [Izela] Arenas on how to best utilize them together, because all three of them bring some things. Garcia is really the only true point guard that thinks past first&ndash; both Sides and Arenas, they go look for their shot, but I thought Arenas played really well, and I liked her defense better tonight. It's an area that we've asked her to be peskier. It's an area that we've asked her to be more disruptive and I thought she was pretty good." On&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/taryn-sides/12613" rel="smarttag" rev="12613">Taryn Sides</a></dfn>&nbsp;and what she needs to improve on&hellip; "I wasn't really happy at the end of the first quarter, because we messed that end of quarter play. I got to see those things better from her. We had messed up a couple of them at Tarleton. We spent some time on it this week. Those things got to be better, because she is a veteran, and she has been in a lot of different environments, she's got to use those experiences. She's played at Kentucky, she's played at Iowa, she's played in the biggest games in the Big 12. We got to draw from those experiences. And what I've loved about her from the summer on, we were running her off as a shooter this summer. She was more of a scorer and she started to show that ability to play with pace that is required as a scorer. So I want to see her continue to do that, because I think there's a lot more in her." On&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jenessa-cotton/12624" rel="smarttag" rev="12624">Jenessa Cotton's</a></dfn>&nbsp;performance&hellip; "I like the way Jenessa played, I really did. I thought she was a little calmer than she's played. I thought she was rushed at Tarleton. A lot of the things that we're doing offensively puts her into a decision making spot on the floor. She's going to be in the middle of the floor a lot, which, depending on how the defense plays us, she's going to be in that spot to make decisions. We have constantly talked to her about slower is better, and tonight you saw that be better. I think it's a good step for her, because she was rushed at Tarleton. She wasn't seeing it very well, so I really thought she got off to a nice start. And I thought she had a good practice, I thought she's had a good couple days of practice. It looked like she was starting to see things better, and it looked like the game was slowing down for her. She's a player that only played about 45-50 minutes last year at Duke, had the injury, and didn't play all summer for us. She just needs time, she needs minutes, she needs reps, she needs time. She's going to be a heck of a player. We just got to keep getting her out there and giving her some time." UP NEXT K-State makes its first regular season road trip of the 2025-26 season, as the Wildcats visit SMU on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ACCNX and can be heard on the K-State Sports Network, online at kstatesports.com and on the K-State Sports app and the flagship stations of K-State women's basketball in Manhattan, Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN.</div>

🏀 K-State women race by Omaha in season-opener