Editor’s note: Updated the title from “strong defensive” to “strong defense.”
In a season that has seen ups and downs, Wednesday night was a positive for the Kansas State women’s basketball team, defeating Kansas after suffering a blowout loss to them back in late-January.
In the 63-45 victory over the Jayhawks, the Wildcat defense held the Kansas offense to 31% field goal shooting and to 23 points in the second half. Outside of 10 points from Zakiyah Franklin, not a single player who received minutes for the Jayhawks on Wednesday night scored double digits.
“We got an effort from a lot of people tonight,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “I’m really pleased with the way we played.”
On the offensive side, K-State got outstanding performances once again from guards Serena Sundell and Gabby Gregory. Sundell had a game-high 24 points on 80% shooting and Gregory scored 20, the 17th time she scored 20 or more this season.
The defensive effort of Gregory and guard Jaelyn Glenn was crucial against the Jayhawks.
“Both of them have a big responsibility defensively,” Mittie said. “Even though they didn’t shoot the ball great tonight, they did a nice job containing [Taiyanna] Jackson and it was really fun to watch from a coaching standpoint.”
Even though many were quiet offensively for K-State on Wednesday night, the team’s ability to out rebound Kansas 40-36 and shoot nearly 40% from the field was just enough to secure them victory to improve to 16-12 on the season.
The Wildcats are now 5-10 on the season in conference play. They will head to Morgantown, West Virginia, on Saturday to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.
