A dog found its way to mid-court after the women’s basketball team thwacked in-state rival Kansas 83-63 on senior day Sunday afternoon in Bramlage Coliseum.
The dog, named Jack, belonged to senior point guard Angela Harris, who had 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“Man, she loves that dog,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “When we recruited Angela, she kept bringing up this dog. … It’s a first time for me that we’ve had an animal at senior night.”
Harris was just one of the three seniors Mittie said goodbye to this season. She was joined by forwards Peyton Williams and Jasauen Beard, who are also nearing the end of their final season of college basketball.
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Williams put down 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes of play. She checked out of the game to roaring applause with just over a minute left to play.
“It’s a great last game to have,” Williams said of playing the Jayhawks on senior day. “To beat them by how much we did was just awesome.”
The Topeka product was a dual-sport athlete as well as a dual-major at Kansas State, starring for both the women’s basketball and volleyball teams.
“I came from a team that really didn’t have a leader like [Williams] besides me,” Harris said. “Playing with somebody like Peyton has been a breath of fresh air. … I don’t know if I would have had the season that I had if I didn’t come here.”
Harris, who found her way to Manhattan after three seasons with Houston, wound up fitting in with the team quickly.
“I think if I would have came here out of high school, it would have been a very tough adjustment,” Harris said. “The adjustment period was probably the first couple of months, I think we’re gelling really well right now.”
Beard was another transfer who found a home in Manhattan. She spent time at Oral Roberts, South Plains College and Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Beard spent two seasons with K-State.
The win, accompanied with wins by Iowa State over Baylor and Texas over Oklahoma State, locked K-State into the fifth seed in the upcoming Big 12 tournament. Their opponent will be Iowa State when they hit the court at 11 a.m. on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
“The Iowa State win over Baylor is an interesting opportunity because obviously that’s going to get huge attention nationally,” Mittie said. “We have an opportunity against the team that just beat Baylor.”
