The Kansas State women’s basketball team held the first and second rounds of the NCAA women’s basketball championship at home in Bramlage Coliseum for the first time since 2003.
K-State, being the No. 7 seed, advanced to the second round after beating No. 11 seed Drake University on Saturday, 67-54. For the second round on Monday, they went against No. 2 seed Stanford University, where they were defeated, 69-48.
At the end of the first half, Stanford led K-State with a score of 39-21. They largest lead the Wildcats were able to achieve was by two points in the first quarter.
It was clear K-State was struggling during the game. The usual high-scoring players for the Wildcats, senior guard Kindred Wesemann and senior center Breanna Lewis, went below their average. Wesemann ended the game with 11 points, while Lewis ended with nine points.
At the end of the game, Lewis came forth in the press conference saying, “it doesn’t even feel real right now.”
Much like K-State, Stanford had various players on their team that were taller than six feet. Although the Wildcats tried to shuffle around and make fit, they still missed shots and were giving the Cardinal easy steals.
It was clear that even after all of it was done, family was what was most important to the Wildcats, as they appreciated each other and head coach Jeff Mittie.
“Nobody cares about this team more than I do, I don’t care what people say,” Wesemann said. “I would say that (Mittie) turned what I dreamt about as a little girl into a reality.”
At the end of the day, both Lewis and Wesemann were proud of their careers at K-State. As they checked out for the last time in their collegiate career, thunderous applause filled Bramlage Coliseum, and off came two teary-eyed individuals.
“I think we put this program back where it needs to be,” Wesemann said.
