K-State Women's Basketball Sets Three-Point Record in Thanksgiving Comeback
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The Kansas State Wildcats delivered a Thanksgiving performance. The one that fans will be talking about for years. They lit up the Hard Rock Riviera Maya with a historic long-range display. In the Mayan Division of the 2025 Cancun Challenge, K-State stormed back from a halftime deficit to defeat Columbia 95-92. The team turned the holiday matchup into a fireworks show from beyond the arc.
Kansas State's Taryn Sides Joins Elite Company
At the center of it all was junior guard Taryn Sides, who put together one of the greatest individual shooting performances in program history. The Phillipsburg, Kansas, athlete erupted for a career-high 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
CATS WIN!!!#EMAW👌 pic.twitter.com/hIsVqh46Sd
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) November 27, 2025
It includes a blistering 8-of-12 clip from three-point range. She added six assists, three rebounds, and two steals to complete her all-around showcase. Her outing placed her alone atop the national leaderboard this season as the only player to record 30 or more points, eight or more made threes, and five or more assists in a single game.
Sides tied for the fourth-most three-pointers made in a game in K-State history. That's the most since Temira Poindexter hit eight at Kentucky in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. She also became only the fifth Big 12 player since 2009–10. And just the second Wildcat to compile a stat line of 30 points, eight or more threes, and five or more assists. The only other K-State player to achieve that was Brittany Chambers in 2013.
She entered the Cancun matchup shooting just 21.1 percent from three across her previous three games, making her resurgence even more dramatic. The win marked the first 30-point game of her career, her fourth career 20-plus performance, and her 19th game with at least five assists.
A Team-Wide Three-Point Barrage
While Sides stole the spotlight, the Wildcats as a whole produced a masterpiece from deep. Just days after a 2-for-23 outing at Green Bay, K-State responded with a school-record 17 three-pointers on 26 attempts, finishing at a blazing 65.4 percent. That efficiency stands as the highest mark in the nation this season for any team making 17 or more threes. And it also ties for the second-most threes made by any team this year.
Izela Arenas finished with 16 points and went 3-of-5 from long range, securing her eighth career double-figure game. Junior forward Nastja Claessens delivered a flawless afternoon with 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting. She drilled the record-setting 17th three-pointer with just over three minutes remaining.
Freshman Brandie Harrod added 10 points, nine rebounds, and three assists, notching her sixth game this season with at least five boards. Gina Garcia kept the offense flowing with a career-high eight assists. Meanwhile, Jordan Speiser chipped in three made threes, giving her the third multi-three-pointer game of her career.
Now sitting at 5-3, K-State rolls into its next Cancun Challenge matchup with plenty of momentum. The Wildcats face No. 12/10 North Carolina at 10 a.m. on Friday, with the game streaming live on FloCollege and airing on the K-State Sports Network.
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Shayni Maitra is a sports girl through and through writing about everything from locker room drama to game-day legends in the NFL and NBA. She’s covered the action for outlets like College Sports Network, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, NB Media, and PinkVilla, blending sharp takes with a deep love for storytelling. Whether it’s college football rivalries, Olympic gold-chasers, or the off-field chaos that keeps Twitter alive, Shayni brings the heat with heart—and just the right amount of humor.