Kansas State Women’s Basketball Looks to Regain Momentum at UCF

The stretch run of Big 12 play is here, and the urgency is quite high! The Kansas State Wildcats sit at 14-13 overall and 7-7 in conference action. It is because they prepare to close a two-game road swing Wednesday night against the UCF Knights, who enter at 10-15 and 2-12 in the Big 12.

Kansas State Women’s Basketball Team Will Be There Chasing History

After a narrow 76-72 loss to the Iowa State Cyclones. It is a game where K-State rallied to within a single point late in the fourth quarter. A win in Orlando would do more than improve the record.

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— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) February 16, 2026

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT at Addition Financial Arena, with coverage available on ESPN+ and the K-State Sports Network. All eyes will be on junior guard Taryn Sides, one of the most dangerous shooters in the conference.

The athlete has drilled 175 career three-pointers and needs just two more to move into sole possession of 10th place on the K-State all-time list. She currently sits 11th in program history and is the 11th player in school history with at least 175 made threes.

Her efficiency is elite. Sides is shooting 41.9 percent from beyond the arc this season, going 65-of-155. That percentage ranks 12th among active Division I players in career three-point percentage and third in the Big 12 Conference.

This season, 78.0 percent of her scoring has come from three-pointers, and she has recorded 19 games with at least two makes from deep. Talking about this season, she also became the fourth player in program history to record 100 or more assists and 60 or more three-pointers in a single season.

The last to do it was Jaelyn Glenn in 2024-25. Meanwhile, Kindred Wesemann remains the only Wildcat to accomplish that feat in multiple seasons. Gina Garcia has become one of the top freshman distributors in the country. She leads all Big 12 freshmen and ranks third nationally among freshmen with 127 assists.

Jordan Speiser has been automatic at the free-throw line. She is shooting 90.2 percent, connecting on 55 of 61 attempts. That currently ranks first in program history for both single-season and career free-throw percentage with a minimum of two attempts per game.

Junior forward Nastja Claessens provides efficiency in the paint. She leads the team with a 53.7 percent field goal percentage and has six games this season shooting 60 percent or better. One of those performances came in a 7-of-10 effort against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. In each of those six high-efficiency games, she also connected on a three-pointer.

The 70-Point Benchmark Under Jeff Mittie

The Wildcats have recorded 254 steals this season, averaging 9.4 per game. Of the 433 opponent turnovers forced, 56.6 percent have come directly from a K-State steal.

That defensive pressure has intensified in Big 12 play. That's where the Wildcats average 10.4 steals per game, ranking second in the conference. They have produced 10 or more steals in 15 games this season and hold a 9-6 record in those contests. The defensive highlights include 19 steals against Omaha and 15 against Cincinnati.

On the road, K-State is 5-5 this season, including a signature win at No. 17 Texas Tech Lady Raiders on January 17. This marks the fourth time in five seasons the Wildcats have won at least five road games. Last season, they went 7-4 away from home, their highest road win total since 2019-20.

There is a clear scoring threshold for success. Under Jeff Mittie, K-State is 141-26 when scoring 70 or more points. This season, the Wildcats average 69.0 points per game and have topped 70 points in 16 contests, going 10-6 in those games.

Against South Dakota, K-State tied a 46-year-old school record by making 32 free throws in a single game, matching the mark set in 1979 against Colorado. The Wildcats shot 82.1 percent in that game, hitting 32 of 39 attempts.

For the season, they are shooting 71.6 percent from the line, converting 331 of 459 attempts. Tess Heal has made 23 straight free throws this year, Speiser has hit 20 in a row, and Garcia has connected on 19 consecutive attempts.

UCF enters Wednesday after a 93-63 loss to the Baylor Bears. The Knights are led by fourth-year head coach Sytia Messer. Leah Harmon averages 15.7 points and 2.4 assists per game, while Khyala Ngodu adds 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds, shooting 47.0 percent from the field.

Kansas State Women’s Basketball Team Will Be There Chasing History

The 70-Point Benchmark Under Jeff Mittie

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