Here’s where the Kansas State Wildcats women’s team is headed for NCAA Tournament
A room filled with Kansas State women’s basketball players, coaches and fans erupted with screams of excitement on Sunday when the Wildcats learned they were headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
It was a special moment for the program, which entered this season with the mentality of March Madness or bust.
“We felt really good that we were solidly in the field,” K-State coach Jeff Mittie said. “We had a lot of good wins. But until you see your name come up there it’s always a little nerve wracking. We’ve had a good bounce-back year after a really COVID-impacted bad year. I’m pleased that we’ve done it with a relatively young group. I think our future is really bright.”
K-State earned a No. 9 seed in NCAA Tournament and will open against No. 8 seed Washington State in the opening round this week. The game will be played at Raleigh, North Carolina at 10:30 a.m. Central time Saturday and air on ESPN2.
The Wildcats are part of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Region. They will most likely play North Carolina State in the second round if they defeat Washington State later this week.
That would be an interesting matchup, as K-State lost to NC State 90-69 earlier this season and learned a lot about itself during that difficult road atmosphere.
But first up is Washington State, which also offers some compelling story lines. Cougars coach Kamie Ethridge spent 18 seasons as a K-State assistant working under Deb Patterson, who now serves as director of player personnel and program analytics for WSU.
On top of that, Laurie Koehn is Washington State’s associate head coach and she is a former K-State player. Koehn still holds the record for most three-pointers made with the Wildcats.
Those connections mean nothing to current K-State players, who were in grade school when Patterson coached her last game in Manhattan. But it will make things interesting for fans.
“We need these story lines for the interest,” Mittie said. “The men do it, too, right? It’s always those story lines that generate interest. I’m not at all surprised they did that. It’s a smart move by them to match us up. There will be a lot of K-State interest with former coaches that were here for a long time.”
This game is K-State’s reward for going 19-11 in the regular season and finishing sixth in the Big 12 standings.
It is a dream come true for junior center Ayoka Lee.
“We made the tournament my redshirt freshman year and it was exciting,” Lee said “It’s even more exciting now. I think it’s great to have this experience again and to give this experience to our freshmen. All the work we put in paid off.”
The Wildcats figure to go as far as Lee can carry them. Lee averaged 22.4 points and 10.2 rebounds this season and is thought by many to be a candidate for All-America honors. She made a name for herself in January when she scored a NCAA record 61 points during a home victory over Oklahoma.
K-State enters the tournament having lost six of its past eight games. But the most important games of the year are still ahead.
That is what made Sunday so exciting for them.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Here’s where the Kansas State Wildcats women’s team is headed for NCAA Tournament."