K-State women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie was in a good mood as he donned his pink tuxedo prior to the Play 4 Kay game against Oklahoma Saturday.
By the end of the contest, though, he had the look of a disappointed groom looking for answers, as the Wildcats fell to the Oklahoma Sooners 73-64 to move their losing streak to three games.
“I think you have to compete. We have to compete harder and we’re not winning enough individual things and we’re not fighting hard enough. Those things are not acceptable,” Mittie said after the game.
If the inconsistent play from the Wildcats wasn’t enough, Oklahoma’s Peyton Little added more misery to Mittie’s night with a career-high 30 points in the contest. For Little, the bombs from long range came early and often as she knocked down a total of eight 3-pointers.
“I think there is a sense of confidence or comfort maybe in knowing what you’re going to get. I think what we know what we’re gonna get from Little. She’s going to find a way to score points and she’s going to defend,” Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale said.
For the Wildcats, it was another slow start marked by poor rebounding. In the first half, the Sooners out-rebounded the Wildcats 23-9 (43-28 for the entire contest). Sophomore forward Breanna Lewis led the team with eight boards on the night, but Mittie was not pleased with the effort on the glass.
“We’re getting our butt kicked on the glass. You can say we’re competing but we’re getting our butt kicked on the glass and that started early. It is ridiculous to get beat that bad on the glass,” Mittie said.
One of the highlights on the evening for K-State was forcing turnovers and frustrating the Sooners enough to keep the deficit on the scoreboard at a competitive margin. The Sooners ended the game with an assist-to-turnover ratio of negative-8. However, when the Sooners needed a bucket, they got one from Little and Kaylon Williams, who finished with 13 points on the evening.
“I feel like when we would score two, they would come down and hit a three. It was a dagger for momentum and energy. I felt like on the court we would motivate and cheer, but it was just never a genuine lets go and get ourselves going. I do feel like those were some dagger plays down the stretch,” K-State senior forward Ashia Woods said.
Up next for the Wildcats, they travel to in-state rival Kansas on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
