As the Kansas State women’s basketball team kicked off their season with an exhibition game against Fort Hays State on Thursday, the fans probably recognized a few names on the court, and not necessarily playing for the Wildcats.
Junior forward Lanie Page for the Tigers from Wamego played for K-State as a redshirt freshman during the 2016-2017 season.
Page appeared in 25 games for the Wildcats totaling 129 minutes. During that span Page scored 52 points and 11 rebounds.
On Thursday night, Page shot for 20 percent from the field in the first half. Page collected 3 rebounds and 13 minutes on the floor.
Redshirt sophomore guard Madison Mittie, daughter of Wildcat head coach, Jeff Mittie, scored two points while playing four minutes before halftime.
Mittie was on the bench in last season’s exhibition game against K-State to start the season while recovering from a knee injury. Although this time around, she got the chance to compete against her dad’s team in the town where she graduated high school.
Freshman guard Christianna Carr, daughter of assistant coach for the Wildcats, Chris Carr, saw her first game action for the Wildcats with 18 minutes of play in just the first half.
Exhibition games are meant to get mistakes out of the way before the season starts. Let’s hope that is what these teams were trying to do tonight with their play.
In regards to Carr’s performance, head coach Jeff Mittie commented on how she had just been moved to point guard on Monday.
At the end of the first half, the Wildcats already had seven turnovers, three of which came from Carr in her first collegiate game. As someone who could be a strong asset for K-State this season, Carr was the only one to make a shot from beyond the arc with under eight minutes in the second half.
This former Wildcat, Page only had three points which came on a shot beyond the arc. Mattie ended the game with just two points and eight minutes of play. This game was sloppy from both sides. K-State has some new faces, but it also has several returners,
Neither team shot better than 30 percent from the floor or 20 percent from the three-point line. There were very few silver linings in this game, but if you are trying to find one, it is that Peyton Williams kept the game from going overtime with a last-second basket in the paint.
“It’s definitely frustrating, but we can’t live by the three and die by the three,” sophomore guard Rachel Ranke said in regards to the 1-20 three-point shooting. “But you know we’re gonna have bad shooting nights and one of those, unfortunately, was tonight, but all we can do is get past this.”
