🏀 K-State hangs on to beat Georgia Tech in WBIT opener

Kansas State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State fended off a pesky Georgia Tech squad on Thursday night, 69-65, in the first round of the 2026 Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (19-17) was paced by junior forward Nastja Claessens with 15 points, on 6-of-8 from the field, five rebounds and four steals. Junior guard Taryn Sides added 14 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Georgia Tech (14-19) was led by Talayah Walker with 29 points and 10 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1. K-State held a 30-27 lead at halftime, but Georgia Tech went in front for just the second time in the game, 35-34, with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter. The Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run, to build a 42-35 lead with 4:40 remaining in the frame. After two Heal free throws, Sides finished a fastbreak layup, followed by a baseline layup from Claessens with 5:06 remaining. After a Georgia Tech turnover, Foy converted a driving layup to cap the rally.
2. Behind a pair of 3-pointers by Catherine Alben at the end of the third quarter, Georgia Tech would tie the game at 52 entering the fourth quarter.
3. K-State used an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter to build a 60-52 lead with 5:52 remaining in the frame. Garcia finished a pair of layups, while Heal and Harrod each added one.
4. Claessens would give K-State a 66-58 lead with 2:40 remaining. The Yellow Jackets would get a pair of layups from Walker to close to within four points, 66-62, with 1:11 left. Sides would convert two free throws with 30 seconds left for a six-point edge, 68-62. A 3-pointer from Walker with 12 seconds left would bring Georgia Tech to within three, 68-65. Gina Garcia would secure the win by making 1 of 2 free throws with three seconds to play.
5. K-State shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) including 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc.

QUICK FACTS

1. K-State leads the series with Georgia Tech, 3-0. Head coach Jeff Mittie faced Georgia Tech for the first time in his career. The Wildcats are 12-16 against members of the ACC, including a 2-1 record this season.
2. K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 691-395 (.636), including a mark of 237-160 (.597). Mittie owns a career record of 27-22 (.551) in postseason play.
3. K-State is 421-165 (.718) in its 38th season inside Bramlage Coliseum, including a 151-57 (.726) record under Mittie.
4. The Wildcats are 148-111 (.571) in games played in the month of March. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 31-27 (.534) in games during the third month.

TEAM NOTES

1. K-State’s starting five consisted of guards Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Tess Heal and Taryn Sides and forward Nastja Claessens. This was the 13th time this lineup has started together this season, the most used starting lineup for K-State this season. This was the 35th career start for Sides. This was the 34th career start for Garcia. Heal made her 23rd start this season and the 97th of her career. Claessens made her 32nd career start. This was Harrod’s 32nd career start.
2. The Wildcats held a 30-27 lead at halftime on Thursday. Under Mittie, K-State is 187-24 (.886) when leading at halftime, including an 11-3 mark this season.
3. Since the start of the quarter-system in women’s college basketball in the 2015-16 season, K-State is 177-76 (.700) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game, including a 17-11 mark this season. The Wildcats have 50 quarters this season with 20 or more points scored.
4. This season, K-State owns 47 quarters with an effort of 50.0 percent or better shooting from the field, including the third (53.3) quarter on Thursday.
5. K-State pocketed 10 steals on Thursday. The Wildcats have recorded 10 or more steals in 21 games this season (13-8). For the season, the Wildcats have recorded 351 steals. The 351 steals this season ranks fifth in program history for a single season.

PLAYER NOTES

1. Claessens reached double figures for the 21st time this season. She has paced K-State in scoring in eight games this season.
2. Claessens has nine games this season in which she shoots 60.0 percent or better from the field, which includes at least one 3-point field goal made.
3. Claessens hauled in five or more rebounds in 15 games this season.
4. Sides tallied 10 or more points for the 40th time in her career and 22nd time this season.
5. Sides connected on two 3-point field goals. This was her 23rd game this season and the 54th of her career with two or more connections from long range. Sides ranks tied for fifth in K-State history for 3-point field goals in a junior season with 80. This was her second straight season with 80 or more connections from beyond the arc.
6. Sides handed out five assists. She moved into 14th for career assists with 325. This was her 28th career game, including her 13th game this season, with five or more assists.
7. Speiser made two 3-pointers on Thursday. This was her 21st game this season with two or more connections from long distance. She is third in program history for 3-point field goals made in a freshman season with 71.
8. Foy made two 3-pointers on Thursday. This was her sixth game this season with two or more connections from long range.
9. Gina Garcia handed out two assists. She is second in program history for assists in a freshman season with 179 and needs 11 assists to set the school record for assists in a freshman season. Garcia owns the school record for assists in a season by an international player.
10. Brandie Harrod pulled in six rebounds. This was her 18th game this season with five or more rebounds. She has led K-State in rebounding in 13 games this season, tied for the team lead with Claessens.

FROM THE HEAD COACH

K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie

Opening Statement… “Glad to be sitting here. It was a hard fought game, and we knew it was going to be. On film we were concerned that they were able to play a style that could give us some trouble. Their one-on-one ability, the post up of the guards, the one-on-one drive ability that concerned us. We had a lot of respect for [Talayah Walker], she’s a heck of a player, heck of a scorer, and she gave us fits all night. I’m proud of our group. We continue to get good production from a lot of people. It’s not just one player, it’s not just two players, it’s different people. And so I thought our group did some good things tonight.”

On if Georgia Tech’s defense was giving them fits or if they were rusty from the time off… “I think a little of both. It’s hard to recreate that momentum that you had in Kansas City [at the Big 12 Tournament], so you have to restart a little bit, and it’s even hard to practice in the unknown. You don’t find out till Sunday and then you get back into this. So a little bit of both. I was fairly pleased with the start, and thought it was okay. I thought we were able to get our rotations in. Foul trouble got us in a little bit of trouble with those rotations. But all in all, I was pretty pleased.”

On his team’s resilience tonight… “I thought we made a lot of winning plays. I told them in the locker room, you can be really proud of yourself, because it’s hard to make winning plays, and we made a lot of them, but we got to clean up the plays that can lose the game. We’ve had trouble with that recently, of just making some kind of panicky type plays that give other teams a window. But we’re making an awful lot of winning plays, and we can certainly build off of that.”

On getting back into a groove after playing last on March 7… “I think we’re back in it now. We had a good, tough game. Now you’re into the tournament and we’ll get into a little bit of routine. This was a hard fought one, and we’ll get a little bit of a rest tomorrow. We’ll find our opponent in a couple hours and get ready to play on Sunday.”

On the WBIT experimental rule… “I think it’s good. It’s not like Major League Baseball challenges where you have a person that didn’t make the call deciding if that call is correct, they’ve got to change their own call. And that’s harder to do. I don’t know how successful us coaches will be in those kinds of challenges. I’ve got to take a look at it. I thought it was a clear block. They told me it was close, so I’m going to look at it, and I’m going to probably send that in, and I’m going to say, is that right? Because I still think it’s going to be hard for officials to go in there and then you also got your partner, so your partner’s got to tell you you were wrong too. Those aren’t easy things to navigate. I think it’s probably going to be a good thing, particularly in the case where we might have an opportunity to challenge a foul call that we thought was given to the wrong player. I think those things can be valuable. The reason I challenged that one is because it was a big call. I didn’t mind if I lost the time out, because I thought we needed a little breather either way. So I thought it was a win-win for us.”

Georgia Tech Head Coach Karen Blair

Opening Statement… “First of all, congrats to Kansas State. I think that hot streak that they had in Kansas City [at the Big 12 Tournament] is still going strong. But I thought today was a great crowd, this was a great environment. You know, when you’re in March, these are the kind of environments that you want to play in. Super proud of our team. I thought our first half, we weren’t happy with kind of the intensity and, you know, the energy that we had on the offensive end. And I thought that second half, you know, that third quarter we came out, had those 25 points, I think we settled in a little bit. But, you know, today’s a sad day because it’s like to be able to coach this group in their last game, and if you guys just knew how much heart this group was about, what they’ve been through, how resilient they’ve been, you know, happy for our seniors that they were able to have this postseason experience.”

On the resilience of Georgia Tech staying in the game til the end… “I mean, this group has been so resilient all season long. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a group that has handled runs as well as they have. I mean, I’ve seen us handle runs of 12-0, and us also turn around and go on 12-0 runs, I mean, it has been, but they’re just there’s a steadiness about them. You know, they don’t get too high, they don’t get too low, they believe in each other, they know to stick together and I think that’s what separates them. You know, when things get hard, a lot of teams fall apart, and I think with us, when things get hard, they just get more focused and more together.”

On what K-State did to give them the edge in the fourth quarter… “You know, the thing that’s great about K-State is they’ve just got balance, right. Like, you try and shut somebody down, and then it’s like, [Gina] Garcia comes in, right? And then she gets a couple downhill drives, and then it’s a next possession then you try and make some adjustments, and, you know, you slow her down, and then somebody else steps up. And so I thought they hit real big baskets, like, even 4 [Nastja Claessens] on that one post move, you know that she had on [Brianna] Turnage late, like, those are just big baskets, you know. And so when it comes down to a game like this, it’s like possessions matter, it’s one of the things we talk about, there’s always three possessions in every game that really determine it. And you know, for them, I thought they hit some really timely big buckets.”

FROM THE FLOOR

K-State Junior Guard Taryn Sides

On how tough Georgia Tech was… “I think we knew coming in, it’s going to be a battle, it’s going to be a grind, and they didn’t stop. Even when we had a seven point lead, they just kept going. We made a few mistakes, and they took advantage of it, but thankfully, we closed it out.”

On what led to the season high in points… “I think it’s just a testament of how much everyone has grown individually throughout the year. We have a young team, and I think being in those situations throughout the year has helped us at this point. The Big 12 Tournament was a huge boost of confidence for us. So I think we believe in one another even more.”

On Georgia Tech’s ability to rebound… “We knew, especially [Brianna Turnage], one of the top or best rebounders in the country. I think that was one of our main focuses throughout these past few days of game planning. We have to keep them off the boards and just make sure we’re not fouling. We struggled at times with that, but making them take tough contested shots over us and then finishing the play was going to be a big reason we would win the game.”

K-State Junior Nastja Claessens

On the effect of not playing for two weeks… “It’s kind of weird to play almost two times a week, to not play for a week and a half. But I think we actually did great and we came in together. I think in the first half, we really did the game plan and what we had to do. So I think coming off a one and a half week break, we actually did really good.”

On how it felt finding a way to win this game… “I mean, the Big 12 was kind of the push for us. I think we also learned to play together and how fun it actually is when a ball moves and when everybody touches the ball. And I think we are trying to put that in our game right now too. In the beginning, the ball moved really well, so it was just really fun playing like that.”

On the preparation for round two of the WBIT… “We don’t know our opponent yet, they still have to play. Tomorrow, we have film and practice, and we have a little team building. Then everything is normal, like we always approach it.”

Georgia Tech Sophomore Guard Talayah Walker

On what the team was saying during K-State’s eight-point lead to stay motivated… “Yeah, we were just telling each other we had to settle in. You know, it’s their home court and it’s their environment, so we just have to settle into that and adjust and figure out what works for us. So just staying solid and staying together and just, you know, keep trying.”

On what was going through her head after her 3-pointer with seconds left in the game… “I don’t really know what was going on in my head, I was like, ‘Okay, we need to score so I’m just gonna shoot it, let’s see what happens.’ And then I made it, thankfully, and we got the steal, I was like, ‘Okay,’ I just needed the ball back. And, yeah, it was just a bunch of exciting feelings and just a sense of urgency.”

On what her first year under coach Blair meant to her… “It’s been great. I’ve definitely feel like I’ve grown a lot under her and our other coaches, and I felt like she was able to take a group and bring us all together and make us work harder and play for each other and make us truly love basketball again. So we can definitely feel that from this group and our fans have been amazing. Just seeing more people come every game shows how much support we have. So I’m very confident in this group for the following seasons, especially since we have a great core of people that are coming back. So yeah, very excited about the future.”

UP NEXT K-State will host the winner of California/Santa Clara in the second round of the 2026 WBIT on Sunday, March 22, at 6 p.m. Tickets for K-State’s second round matchup are available now, by visiting www.kstatesports.com/tickets, calling (800) 221-CATS or by stopping by the K-State Athletic Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.

Tickets are priced at $18 for chair backs, $15 for adult general admission (including Cat Cushion seats) and $10 for youth/K-State students. All ticket prices are subject to sales tax. Parking in advance is $10 and parking at the gate is $12.