The Kansas State women’s basketball team kicked off their season tonight with an exhibition game against the Washburn Ichabods. K-State didnt play great in the first half but still beat Washburn with relative ease winning 66-31.
First Half
The Wildcats came out of the gate fairly well but the jitters of playing the first game of the season showed. K-State shot just 39 percent in the first quarter and 31 percent in the second. Head coach Jeff Mittie said the first half was a struggle and lacked effort.
“I didn’t like our effort early in the game that was a big concern,” Mittie said. “We seemed to be frozen in our thoughts of what we were doing and probably thinking way too much. I thought there were a lot of shots early in the game that were uncontested.”
Washburn out-rebounded the Wildcats 28-14 in the first half which allowed them to stay within 10 points at halftime.
Second Half
The Wildcats came out ready to play in the second half. They shot much better and their defense was salty. Washburn didn’t score a single point in the fourth quarter.
“To hold a team to zero that’s hard to do for 10 minutes,” Mittie said. “We had players that were making the right pass, making the right decision, the ball was turning to the right player.”
The Cats were led by senior preseason All-Big 12 center Breanna Lewis. Lewis finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, she sat out most of the fourth quarter.
Notes
The Wildcats freshman looked promising. Eternati Willock, Peyton Williams and Mercedes Brooks all played some good minutes especially in the second half. Willock was third on the team in points with 11.
There was a scary moment in the fourth quarter when sophomore Kayla Goth went to the floor hard. Goth walked off the court with a bloody towel compressed against her head. Mittie said after the game that Goth was fine and would just need some stitches.
K-State will have one more exhibition game against Newman on Monday night before their regular season starts next Friday night against Chicago State.
