WACO, Texas – K-State reached the end of an eight-day, four-game stretch on Monday night at (18/14) Baylor, as the Bears carded a 80-54 win at Foster Pavilion.
K-State (15-15, 8-9 Big 12) was led by senior Tess Heal and freshman Jordan Speiser with 12 points each while freshman Brandie Harrod added 10 points, four rebounds and tied her career-high with four steals.
Baylor (24-6, 13-4) was paced by Taliah Scott with 20 points and Bella Fontleroy with 16 points, including 12 in the third quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State trailed by six, 19-13, at the end of the first quarter. Despite shooting 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the floor, the Wildcats saddled themselves with seven turnovers in the opening quarter.
– Baylor would win the second quarter, 16-13, by holding the Wildcats to 27.8 percent (5-of-18) shooting. The Bears would secure a 35-26 lead at halftime.
– The Bears pushed its advantage to 14, 42-28, with 8:10 remaining on the strength of a 7-2 run to open the third quarter and forcing K-State to call its second timeout of the evening.
– Baylor added to its lead as Fontleroy knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to give the Bears a 51-30 lead with 4:47 left in the third quarter. The Bears went 4-of-6 from long distance in the first five minutes of the third stanza.
– K-State was forced into calling its third timeout after Scott knocked down two straight 3-pointers and her third of the quarter to increase the lead to 57-32 with 4:01 left. Baylor would lead 60-40 at the end of the third.
– The Bears would secure the fourth quarter, 20-14.
– For the night, K-State shot 33.8 percent (22-of-65), including 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from beyond the arc. Baylor shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) from the floor including 50.0 percent (13-of-26). The 13 three-pointers made were a season-high for the Bears.
QUICK FACTS
– Baylor leads the series with K-State, 45-12. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 4-27 in his career against Baylor.
– K-State head coach Jeff Mittie owns a career record of 687-393 (.636), including a mark of 233-158 (.596).
– In its 30th season of play in the Big 12, K-State owns a record of 253-256 (.497) in Big 12 action.
– K-State is 97-251 (.279) against teams ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25. The Wildcats are 2-3 this season against ranked opponents. K-State is 25-74 (.253) against AP ranked opponents under Mittie.
– The Wildcats are 305-335 (.477) in road games during its 58-season history. Under Mittie, K-State is 56-78 (.418) in road games.
– The Wildcats are 241-207 (.538) in games played in the month of February. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State is 44-48 (.478) in games during the second month.
TEAM NOTES
– K-State’s starting five consisted of guards Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Tess Heal, and Taryn Sides and forward Nastja Claessens. This was the seventh time this lineup has started together this season. This was the 29th career start for Sides. This was the 28th career start for Garcia. Heal made her 17th start this season and her 91st career start. Claessens made her 26th career start. This was the Harrod’s 26th career start.
PLAYER NOTES
– Heal reached double figures for the 90th time in her career, including her 16th time this season. Heal’s collegiate career point total now stands at 1,761 points.
– Heal tallied two connections from long range. This was her 30th career game with two or more 3-point field goals made including six this season.
– Harrod recorded 10 points. This was her sixth career game with 10 or more points.
– Harrod tied her career-high with four steals on Monday. She has seven games this season with two or more steals, including two games with four or more.
– Claessens pulled in five or more rebounds for the 10th time this season.
– Speiser carded her 15th game this season with double digits in points.
– Speiser tied her career-high with four 3-pointers. This was her 15th game this season with two or more connections from long distance, including three games with four connections.
– Garcia handed out five assists. She moved into fifth in program history for assists in a freshman season with 141. This washer 15th game this season with five or more assists.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
On the parity of the Big 12…
“The league has had some really, really good years. Obviously, I think maybe the difference in this is that the floor is raised, and so therefore there is more of a part of that the portal, you know, because I’ve coached long enough you would have years where, we’re the youngest team in Power 4. So you saw a lot of that tonight, and I think that we’re a rarity in today’s game right now, because in most cases, in the portal, you can be old every year if you choose to, because you can go get grad transfers. You can go get that. So I think that’s raised the floor, and it certainly raised the floor in our league. So yes, I do think that there is more depth to this league than there has been in the past. And I think there’s not much of a margin from the top to the middle, whereas before, I think there was a bigger margin from that.”
On forcing 18 turnovers…
“We’re not even in the game, right? You know, I think the game got sloppy, you know, part of that, I think probably the margin, and part of rotations, but we’re a tired team right now. I’m not going to sugarcoat. it This is our fourth game in eight days, third road game. So we were a tired team. So I was proud of our group for continuing to fight through what was a pretty big struggle. I thought Baylor played really well. They put us, I mean, Fontleroy shot the lights out tonight. Scott, you know, can really get it going. Both of those two, I think I heard somebody say, season-high threes. It felt like it. Give Baylor credit for that, because they really put us in some tough spots tonight.”
On the third quarter…
“Well we had shot decisions in that stretch were poor. I thought we were weak around the rim. I think we had some frustration in our players. I think the fatigue at that point a combination of those two things. We didn’t go to the next play very well. We had a lot of breakdowns, and then tonight, Baylor made you pay on every time you missed a break. You know, if you had a breakdown defensively, if you went inside on a screen, they faded it. If you trailed it, they made the right read. So I think a combination of a lot of things.”
UP NEXT
K-State ends its Big 12 schedule on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m., as the Wildcats host Iowa State. For tickets, call (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets.
The game will air on FS1 and can be heard online at kstatesports.com, on the K-State Sports app and the flagship stations of K-State women’s basketball in Manhattan, Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN.
