K-State women’s basketball makes history in win vs. Cincinnati at Big 12 Tournament
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- K-State set Big 12 tourney record after hitting 15 threes by end of third quarter.
- Speiser scored 20 off bench; Claessens 18 and Sides 17 also led offense.
- Wildcats shot 50% overall (53% from 3), won 91-66 and advance to face Texas Tech.
With a backdrop of hundreds of cheering elementary school students, No. 12 seed Kansas State rode a fiery 3-point attack to cruise to a 91-66 win over 13-seeded Cincinnati in the first round of the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center.
The Wildcats set a new Big 12 Tournament record for 3-pointers in a game by making 17 of their 32 attempts. They had hit 15 by the end of the third quarter.
Iowa State was one of three teams who previously held the record with 14 3-pointers in a tournament game in 2008.
Freshman guard Jordan Speiser guided K-State with 20 points (7-for-10 FG, 6-for-8 3PT) and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench. Juniors Taryn Sides (20 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Nastja Claessens (18 points, eight rebounds) made five 3s apiece.
In the process, Speiser tied the program record for 3s in a game and broke the program record for 3-point percentage in a game (75%). The Wildcats set a program record for points in a conference tournament game (91).
The team’s ball movement was the catalyst to finding open shots.
“It’s really awesome to hear, but I owe it to my teammates,” Speiser said of the record-breaking performance. “All my shots came from one more (pass).”
“I think that when the ball moves like that, it’s more like a shooting drill,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “When we got it going, we had players turn down good shots to get somebody else a great shot, and that was a lot of fun to watch.”
K-State jumped out to a 25-14 lead in the first quarter, with Sides dropping three consecutive 3s at one point. The Wildcats ended the period on a 14-2 run, making three 3-pointers in that stretch.
“As a starter, your job is to get the game rolling and get the team going and playing well together,” Sides said. “And I think Gina (Garcia, 10 assists) and the rest of the girls got me in good positions for open looks, and I knocked them down.”
The Bearcats cut the deficit to six in the second quarter, but K-State’s ball movement, swarming defense and 3-point prowess helped push the halftime lead back to double figures at 40-29.
Sides (11 points in the half) and Claessens (12 points) led the Wildcats in the first half, swishing three 3-pointers apiece.
The Wildcats made seven 3s in the third quarter and led by as many as 27 points. Speiser scored 11 points in the period, including hitting three consecutive 3s in a two-minute span toward the end of the quarter.
K-State ended the day shooting 50.8% from the field and 53.1% from 3.
Mya Perry led the Bearcats with 23 points.
This was also the debut game of the Big 12’s glass court that will be in place for the next two years. The Wildcats practiced on the court when they played against UCF in Orlando in February and noted there wasn’t much difference than playing on hardwood.
“It was still exciting to play on,” Speiser said. “We were the first team to play on it, and we made sure to get the W.”
K-State will face No. 5 seed Texas Tech in the second round at 11 a.m. Thursday.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 1:40 PM.
