MANHATTAN, Kansas – Trailing by seven with just under six and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, (8/7) K-State strung together a late rally to down Oklahoma State, 69-68, on Saturday evening at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats extended its home court winning streak to 15 straight games with the win.K-State had four players reach double figures on Saturday and were led by junior guard Brylee Glenn with a game-high 23 points, including 13 in the second half, and three steals. This was her second career game with 20 or more points and she set a new career-high for field goals made (10) and attempted (23) and tied her career-high for 3-point field goals made (3).
Junior guard and All-American candidate Serena Sundell recorded approached a double-double with 16 points, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. This was Sundell's 10th straight game in double figures.
Senior guard Gabby Gregory tallied 11 points and four steals, while redshirt freshman Zyanna Walker came off the bench and narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points, a career-high eight rebounds and two steals.
Oklahoma State (11-12, 4-8) also had four players in double figures and were led by Quincy Noble and Stailee Heard with 19 points each.
HOW IT HAPPENED-
K-State (21-3, 10-2 Big 12) trailed 63-56 with 6:21 to play in the fourth quarter following an Oklahoma State layup.- The Wildcats clawed itself back into the contest with a 6-0 run to pull within one, 63-62, and force a Cowgirls timeout with 3:51 left.
Oklahoma State would regroup and go back in front by four, 66-62, with 2:57 remaining.- K-State responded with a layup from Walker with 2:40 to play and then Jaelyn Glenn connected on her only 3-pointer of the evening from the right corner with 2:01 left to push the Wildcats in front, 67-66.
This was K-State's first lead since the 6:42 mark of the third quarter.- A Cowgirl layup by Hannah Gusters with 1:32 to play gave Oklahoma State a 68-67 lead. Gusters finished with 13 points and four rebounds.- K-State would snare the lead back, 69-68, with 28 seconds left, as Sundell drove baseline on Gusters and finished the layup.-
After an Oklahoma State timeout, the Cowgirls ran the clock down for the last attempt. The ball found Gusters 15 feet from the basket, but she was unable to drive past Gregory for a closer attempt and her buzzer beater fell short of the rim.-
K-State ended the evening shooting 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the field and were a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line.-
Oklahoma State shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) including 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from long range, however the Cowgirls were 5-of-9 from (.556) from the free throw line.
QUICK FACTS-
K-State leads the series, 43-37. The Wildcats are 24-11 in games played in Manhattan against the Cowgirls. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 15-12 in his career against Oklahoma State.- The Wildcats are 229-239 (.489) in Big 12 games. This is the 14th time in program history that K-State has won 10 or more conference games, including the fourth time under the direction of Mittie.-
Head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 639-365 (.636) in 32 seasons as a head coach and is 185-130 (.587) during his 10-seasons at K-State.-
K-State's 15-game home court winning streak is the longest home court winning streak in the Mittie era, which started with the final two home wins of the 2022-23 season.
This is K-State's longest home court winning streak since a 15-game home winning streak spanning the end of the 2004-05 season to the middle of 2006-07 season.- K-State owns a record of 243-90 (.730) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 8-4 (.667) all-time when ranked eighth in the nation.
TEAM NOTES-
K-State's starting five consisted of guards: Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn, Gabby Gregory and forward Imani Lester. This was the first time this starting five has been used this season. This was the 102nd collegiate career start and the 56th start at K-State for Gregory, the 93rd career start for Sundell, the 89th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 83rd career start for Brylee Glenn and the first career start for Lester.-
The Wildcats held a 33-25 lead at halftime on Saturday. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 146-17 (.896) when leading at halftime, including a 17-0 record this season.- K-State pocketed 10 steals on Saturday.
This was K-State's 11th game this season with 10 or more steals.- The Wildcats tallied a 34-26 advantage in points in the paint. This was K-State's 18th game with 30 or more points in the paint.
PLAYER NOTES-
Brylee Glenn notched her second career game with 20 or more points (vs. Texas Tech, Jan. 14, 2023). This was her 32nd career game and her fifth this season with 10 or more points.-
Gregory registered her 79th career game, her 38th at K-State and her ninth this season with 10 or more points.-
Sundell notched her 62nd career game with 10 or more points, including her 17th this season. Sundell owns 1,132 career points and passed Carlisa Thomas (1983-87; 1,116), Kim Price (1978-83; 1,120) and Andria Jones (1993-97; 1,126) for 31st on the K-State career scoring list.-
Sundell's seven assists improved her career total to 487. This marked her 58th career game and the 16th this season with five or more assists.-
Sundell's two blocked shots marked her 16th career game with two or more blocked shots. Sundell owns 68 career blocked shots, which is the school record for blocks by a guard. Sundell needs nine blocks in her career to move onto the K-State career top-10 list for blocked shots.
UP NEXT
K-State will make a quick Valentine's Day road trip, as the Wildcats visit Iowa State on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.Wednesday's game can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and can be heard on the K-State Sports Network.