K-State Wildcats knocked out of Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament by West Virginia
There was a sense of déjà vu in this year’s quarterfinal round at the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Kansas State Wildcats met West Virginia in the 2024 edition, and the Wildcats were victorious in a battle down to the last second.
For a moment, it looked like another K-State win might be added to the books. The Wildcats entered Friday fresh off their second-round win over UCF and came out of the gates strong.
K-State shot 13-of-15 from the field in the first quarter (86.7%) and 5-of-6 (83.3%) from 3-point range for 33 points in the frame.
Things were different this time around, though, as Jeff Mittie’s team was unable to stave off Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year JJ Quinerly and an explosive second half from junior guard Jordan Harrison in yet another close March contest at T-Mobile Center, 73-69.
“One heck of a game,” Mittie said. “Both teams battled extremely hard. … These things boil down to a couple of plays or a couple of things, either you make them or don’t make a shot or something. They made plays and we made a lot of plays in this game, so I can’t fault our group. I thought our group played well.”
Quinerly led the contest with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while Harrison led the Mountaineers in the second half with 19 points.
Between the two, the Mountaineers were able to cut into K-State’s 44-36 halftime lead coming out of the break.
“I would say my 3 kind of got me going a little bit,” Harrison said of her second half. “(I saw) some 3s going in, and then the basket just started getting big. I just went back to what I do, which is getting to the basket.”
K-State wasn’t doing itself any favors in the second half, either. The Wildcats struggled to match their first half, going just 9-of-24 from the field. They went 3-for-11 in the fourth quarter alone.
“I mean, the best shooters in the country shoot 50%. You’re going to miss half of them,” Mittie said. “We had a couple of good looks in there.”
Kansas City native Kennedy Taylor (Shawnee Mission Northwest) led the Wildcats with 21 points (9-for-9 shooting) on the day, followed by Temira Poindexter’s 16. Serena Sundell didn’t take as many shots as she did against UCF, when she scored 21 points, but she was still efficient in setting up others with nine assists.
As the Wildcats now await their draw for the NCAA Tournament, there’s another aspect hanging over their heads: hosting the first two rounds.
K-State has lost four of its last six, and a win over West Virginia could have been just what the Wildcats needed for the committee to decide in their favor. Instead, they now are relying on the return of Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Ayoka Lee and their resume heading into Selection Sunday.
Mittie, calling the Wildcats an “interesting case,” hopes it’ll be enough for March Madness in Manhattan.
“I think this team’s done enough,” he said. “I think this team has shown we’re a really good basketball team. This one really hurts. Some games you don’t play well, you don’t do things, you walk out of there and it hurts. … This team gave everything they had today. We came up on the short end, but I do think we’ve done enough.”
