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(13/13) K-State Women’s Basketball Rolls to Opening Win over Green Bay

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – (13/13) K-State plastered Green Bay in the opening 20 minutes of the season on Monday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum and cruised to a 92-45 win.

K-State (1-0) featured four players in double figures led by senior guard Jaelyn Glenn with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting including 4-of-9 from long range, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Senior forward Kennedy Taylor came off the bench to notch her 20th career double-double and her first at K-State with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 11 rebounds, a block and a steal. She is the third Wildcat in program history to record a double-double in their K-State debut, joining Kendra Wecker and Peyton Williams.

Senior forward and Cheryl Miller Award candidate Temira Poindexter tallied 15 points, five rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals. Poindexter is the first Wildcat to debut with a stat line that included 15 or more points, five or more rebounds, four or more blocks and two or more steals.

Senior guard Serena Sundell chipped in with 12 points and three assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State raced out to a 28-7 lead after the first quarter, as they shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the floor.
– K-State would throttle Green Bay in the second quarter, outscoring the Phoenix 21-5 in the stanza to hold a 49-12 lead at the half. The five points in the second quarter were the fewest K-State has allowed in a second quarter since December 30, 2023, when the Wildcats allowed just three points at Cincinnati.
– The 12 points allowed by K-State were the fewest the Wildcats have allowed in a first half since holding Oklahoma State to six first half points on Feb. 20, 2022.
– K-State used a 10-0 run to begin the third quarter to up its advantage to 59-12. The lead to would build to a game-high 49, 72-24, with 1:15 left in the third, as Poindexter beat the shot clock on a 3-pointer from the right wing.
– The Wildcats would capture the fourth quarter, 19-17, as Glenn led the effort with six points in the final stanza.
– K-State ended the afternoon shooting 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from the field, including 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from beyond the arc.
– Defensively, the Wildcats held the Phoenix to 30.6 percent (19-of-62) shooting including 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from long range.

QUICK FACTS
– Monday’s game was the earliest season-opener in program history.
– Kansas State is 48-9 (.842) in season openers and have won 22 of the last 24 season openers, including 14 straight.
– The Wildcats have won 30 of its last 32 home openers in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats are 48-9 (.842) all-time in home openers and 33-4 (.892) in openers in Bramlage.
– K-State is 397-156 (.718) in its 37-season history inside Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats own a 230-30 (.885) record against non-conference opponents inside Bramlage.
– K-State is 5-2 in the series against Green Bay. The Wildcats are 10-2 against current members of the Horizon League.
– K-State owns a record of 249-95 (.724) as an AP ranked team. K-State is 16-3 (.842) all-time when ranked 13th in the nation.
– The Wildcats are 161-54 (.749) in games played in the month of November, including wins in 49 of its last 60 games in the month. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 47-11 (.810) in games during the 11th month.

TEAM NOTES
– K-State’s starting five consisted of guards: Zyanna WalkerJaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell; forward Temira Poindexter and center Ayoka Lee. This was the 115th career start for Lee, the 104th career start for Sundell, the 100th career start for Jaelyn Glenn, the 88th career collegiate start and first at K-State for Poindexter and the first career start for Zyanna Walker.
– The 92 points scored by K-State marked the ninth time K-State has scored 90 or more points in a season-opener and the most since Nov. 9, 2021, when the Wildcats scored 103 against Central Arkansas.
– The Wildcats held a 49-12 lead at halftime on Monday. This was K-State’s largest halftime lead since at least the 2016-17 season. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 151-19 (.888) when leading at halftime.
– K-State shot 50.0 percent or better in a quarter twice on Monday (first and third frames. A season ago, the Wildcats had 48 quarters with a field goal percentage of 50.0 percent or better. The 48 quarters with a field goal percentage of 50.0 percent or better was the highest in program history since the start of the quarter system in 2015-16.
– The Wildcats handed out 24 assists on Monday. Over the last 17 seasons, K-State is 93-8 (.921) when handing out 20 or more assists in a game.
– K-State pulled in 56 rebounds on Monday. Over the last four seasons, K-State is 43-3 (.935) when holding the advantage on the glass. The Wildcats generated 23 second-chance points on Monday. This was K-State’s highest effort in second chance points since carding 23 against Kansas on Feb. 13, 2021.
– The Wildcats made 11 three-pointers on Monday afternoon. In the Mittie era, K-State is 33-6 (.846) when making 10 or more 3-point field goals in a game.

PLAYER NOTES
– Glenn is the seventh player in the Jeff Mittie era (2014-15-present) to tally a final line with 15 or more points, five or more rebounds, five or more assists and two or more steals.
– Glenn scored 10 or more points in a game for the 40th time in her career. She needs 128 points to reach 1,000 career points.
– Glenn made four 3-pointers on Monday. This was her sixth career game with four or more connections from long range and her first since making four at West Virginia on Feb. 25, 2023. She needs eight connections to move into 10 on the K-State career 3-point field goals made list.
– Glenn pulled in nine rebounds, her 45 career game with five or more rebounds.
– Glenn dished out six assists, her seventh career game with five or more assists. She needs 18 assists to move into 25th on the K-State career assists list.
– Glenn pocketed three steals on Monday. This was her 59th career game with two or more steals. Glenn ranks 10th on the K-State career steals list with 208 and needs two steals to pass Mariah White (2009-13; 209) for ninth and five to pass Shaelyn Martin (2014-18; 212) for eighth.
– Taylor registered her 44th career game with 10 or more points.
– Taylor recorded her 23rd career game with 10 or more rebounds.
– Poindexter tallied her 81st career game with 10 or more points. She improved her collegiate point total to 1,586. Poindexter made two or more 3-pointers for the 55th time in her career with her three connections on Monday.
– Poindexter hauled in five rebounds, upping her career total to 50 career games with five or more boards.
– Poindexter blocked four shots on Monday, which marked her 12th career game with four or more blocks.
– Sundell notched her 72nd career game with 10 or more points. Sundell owns 1,275 career points and moved into 21st on the K-State career scoring list passing Cassandra Jones (1982-86; 1,271).
– Sundell made two 3-pointers on Monday. This was her 26th career game with two or more connections from 3-point range.
– Sundell’s three assists on Monday improved her career total to 552 and ranks fourth in school history for career assists. She is the fourth player in program history with 550 or more career assists.
– Lee needs 41 points to pass Nicole Ohlde (2000-04; 2,241 points) for second in school history for career points. Lee’s career point total stands at 2,201 and trails Nicole Ohlde (2000-04; 2,241) for second on the K-State career scoring list.
– Lee hauled in four rebounds on Monday. Lee’s career total for rebounds stands at 1,122, improving upon her own school record for career rebounds. Lee remains in ninth in Big 12 history for career rebounds.
– Lee improved her career blocked shot total to 312, improving upon her school record for career blocked shots. This was Lee’s 84th career game with two or more blocked shots. Lee ranks fifth all-time in Big 12 history for career blocked shots.
– Taryn Sides made two 3-point field goals on Monday. This was her ninth career game with two or more connections.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie

Opening Statement…
“Good first game, first half there wasn’t a whole lot to be disappointed about. I thought our team played really well, thought they played together, the pace and attack was good. I think the kids being in attendance brought some energy to that building with it being an 11am game. I hope we can do this every year. Because some school districts are a little harder to allow students to come to the games, and I hope they find a way to allow that. Because I think it’s hard to argue that it’s not a positive experience for that age group to go to a game. It’s rare to be able to go to a game with your classmates. You know, they go to a game with their grandparents or their parents, and that’s a different feeling, and a different experience. But to be able to go in the middle of a school day, be able to be on a college campus and be able to do it with your classmates, that’s different. And the reality of it is, there’s probably some kids that maybe don’t have that opportunity to go to a game, that got to go to a game today, that’s our hope in doing it. And so I hope moving forward, we can do that. I appreciate our administration doing a great job with it. I appreciate my staff doing a great job with it. And then I think our players were excited to play in front of them, and I think our players put on a pretty good show today.”

On Senior Brylee Glenn possibly redshirting…
“Brylee [Glenn] came to me about three weeks ago and said there were some things that she wanted to work on, and so we kind of put it on the back burner then, but now you have to kind of make a decision. The plan right now is to red shirt her. She also knows we’ve got, I don’t want to say a thin bench right now, but if circumstances change, she’s got to still be ready but that’ll be her choice. It’s not my choice, but that’s the plan right now.”

On Senior Kennedy Taylor’s performance…
“That’s one of the reasons why we recruited Kennedy  for moments like this. And one of the reasons we wanted Imani [Lester] to take that next step. Kennedy has shown in practice that she’s got a real knack for offensive rebounding. I think that’s continued to get better as she’s got familiarized with the offense of where those opportunities lie. I like the way she got herself to the free throw line. We knew that Kennedy was a capable player and we felt like that was an improvement backing up [Ayoka] Lee, and you saw the reason why today.”

On Ayoka Lee not playing in the 2nd half…
“There was something in that ankle that kind of popped. That’s all I got right now. They told me she was available, and I said, obviously the margin was large and we got games coming forward, so we’re hopeful that it wasn’t anything that is lingering, but that’s where it sits today.”

FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Forward Temira Poindexter

On her first performance as a Wildcat…
“It felt good. I mean, this is what I came here for– for this environment and this team. I mean, I’m enjoying my time here so far, and I really love my teammates, it’s amazing.”

On being able to shut Green Bay down defensively…
“I mean, we knew who their shooters were, and Coach Mittie did a good job making sure we knew who they were and what they did the best. That’s what we have just been working on in practice, finding the shooters, and knowing who’s going to shoot it.”

On the team scoring 49 points in the first half…
“I feel like it was good. I mean, we flowed really well in this game. Everybody got (their) hands on the ball. Looking at the stat sheets, everybody got some shots up and some points. So, I feel like we did a great job.”

K-State Senior Forward Kennedy Taylor
On sporting a double-double in her career debut as a Wildcat…
“I mean, it’s amazing. I’ve been trying to make sure that I work on my game and work on different aspects to help lead me to this. I mean, none of this would have been possible without my teammates finding me and helping me get to where I am.”

On finding success offensively…
“I feel like, just from a rebounding aspect, I try to make sure I put myself in the right position. I feel like that’s probably the main thing that I try to do. Every time I watch the ball go up, I try to see, ‘Okay, is this the right position I should get in?’ or should I move a little bit to the right, or a little bit to see if I can get this rebound.”

On playing in an environment like Bramlage…
“I mean, this has been amazing. This environment is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’m truly blessed and grateful to have this opportunity to play in front of everybody here.”

UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue its five-game home stand on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., as K-State hosts Belmont. For tickets, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or call (800) 221-CATS.

Thursday’s game will air on ESPN+ and will also be available on the K-State Sports Network and the flagship stations of K-State women’s basketball in Manhattan, Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN.

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