MANHATTAN — Kansas State caps its exhibition schedule for the 2019-20 season on Friday against Fort Hays State at 6:30 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum.

• Friday’s game can be seen live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, as Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Missy Heidrick (analyst) and Anna Christianson (sideline) will have the call. 
• K-State returns nine letterwinners from last season’s 21-12 squad that reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Returning players are: seniors Jasauen Beard and Peyton Williams, juniors Rachel Ranke, Ashley Ray and Alisa Wiggins, redshirt sophomore Cymone Goodrich and sophomores Christianna Carr, Laura Macke and Savannah Simmons.
• In October, Williams and Ranke were tabbed by the league as Preseason All-Big 12 and Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention recipients, respectively. Williams was also named to the 2020 Katrina McClain Award watch list, awarded to the top power forward in the nation.
• The Wildcats will blend in four newcomers and one redshirt for the 2019-20 season: senior Angela Harris, redshirt freshman Ayoka Lee and freshmen Emma Chapman, Emilee Ebert and Jada Thorpe. Harris played for three seasons at Houston, before joining the Wildcats for her lone season in purple in 2019-20.

 

Starting 5

Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women’s basketball

1. Points on Points on Points

• K-State returns 70% of its scoring (1,496 points) from the 2018-19 season; third most returning points in the Big 12 from 2018-19 to 2019-20.

2. Mittie set for 6th season

• K-State head coach Jeff Mittie is prepared for his sixth season in Manhattan. He owns a 100-66 (.602) record and five straight postseason appearances with the Wildcats.

3. Three Ball

• K-State features three players with 50 or more career 3-point field goals made – Angela Harris (185), Rachel Ranke (160) and Christianna Carr (56).

4. Harris a Stat Sheet Stuffer

• Senior Angela Harris joins the Wildcats this season and is rare among NCAA Division I players in 2019-20. She is the only player in NCAA Division I with 1,000 or more career points, 200 or more career rebounds, 200 or more career assists, 200 or more career steals and 185 or more career 3-point field goals made.

5. The Road Mostly Traveled

• K-State will play six home games in non-conference play in 2019-20. This is the fewest home non-conference games in the Jeff Mittie era and the fewest since the 2013-14 season (5).

 

Number to Know — 62

• #KStateWBB has won 62 games over the last three seasons, which includes two seasons with 20 or more wins and two NCAA tournament appearances and a WNIT appearance.
• Over the three seasons, K-State has an overall record of 62-39 (.614).
• The 62 wins over the last three seasons are the most for the program over a three-year span since the 2006-07 to 2008-09 seasons captured 66 wins.
• K-State ranks fourth among Big 12 schools for wins in the last three seasons.

 

At a Glance: Fort Hays State

• Fort Hays State, who returns 10 letter winners, will play one exhibition game before beginning its 2019-20 season on November 8 in St. Joseph’s, Missouri, against Minnesota Duluth.
• On the sideline, Fort Hays State is led by 12th-year head coach Tony Hobson. In his time with the Tigers, Hobson has achieved a record of 237-94 (.716). In 2018-19, Hobson guided the program to a 32-2 record and led the program to the 2019 MIAA regular seaosn and tournament titles while reaching the 2019 NCAA Division II Central Regional title game.
• The Tigers were voted to win the league in both the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll and the Preseason Media Poll.
• On the floor, Fort Hays State is paced by seniors Lanie Page and Belle Barbieri.
• Page, a former Wildcat in 2016-17, is the top returning scorer for the Tigers at 11.6 points per game. At the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, Page was named to the All-MIAA Third Team.
• Barbieri is the top returning rebounder at 6.9 rebounds per game and is second in points with 10.9 per game. The product of Abilene, Kansas, was an All-MIAA honorable mention recipient in 2019.

 

Last Time Out

Kansas State 75, Washburn 59  (October 29, 2019; Manhattan)

• K-State opened its two-game exhibition schedule with a 75-59 win over Washburn.
• The Wildcats had four of its five starters in double figures against the Ichabods, led by redshirt freshman Ayoka Lee with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds.
• Senior Jasauen Beard added an all-round game with 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.
• Redshirt sophomore Cymone Goodrich saw her first game action since the 2018-19 season-opener and tallied 14 points, six rebounds and two steals.
• Senior Angela Harris finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

 

Preseason Poll Not the Final Verdict for Kansas State

• K-State has a history of exceeding the expectations of the league’s coaches.
• Entering the 2019-20 season, the Wildcats were voted fifth in the preseason poll and just two points behind fourth-place Iowa State (49-47).
• In 2018-19, Kansas State was slotted for an eighth-place finish by the Big 12 coaches but ended the 2018-19 season tied for fourth in the league.
• In its history, K-State leads the Big 12 in exceeding preseason predictions, finishing on average +1.48 positions higher than its preseason prediction in the 21 polls that have a preseason prediction and a final standing attached to it. The 1996-97 and 2017-18 seasons are not included in these calculations, as neither had a preseason poll.
• The Wildcats have finished 16 of 21 seasons above its preseason prediction and owns the largest deviation in league history from its preseason prediction and its final place with a +7 by winning the Big 12 in 2007-08.

 

Mittie Set for 6th season at K-State

• Jeff Mittie, one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I with over 500 career wins, is in his sixth season at the helm of the K-State program in 2019-20.
• Mittie, the ninth head women’s basketball coach in K-State history, owns an overall career record of 554-301 (.648) in 27 years as a head coach, including a 100-66 (.602) mark in his time at K-State. He has won 19 or more games in four of his first five seasons with K-State.
• With his 100 wins at Kansas State, Mittie ranks fourth for wins at the helm of the K-State program.
• Mittie registered the 550th win of his coaching career, a 75-72 decision at TCU on Feb. 23, 2019.
• In the 2016-17 season, K-State’s 23 wins were Mittie’s most at the helm of the Wildcats and the most for Mittie since registering 23 in the 2007-08 season at TCU.
• He has averaged 20.5 wins per season and experienced only one losing season in his 27 seasons.
• Mittie is the second coach in school history (Lynn Hickey, 1979-84) to guide the program to five postseason appearances in their first five seasons with the program.
• Mittie has 20 postseason appearances in his career (NCAA or WNIT Tournaments), in which he has a combined record of 20-18 (.526).

 

K-State Among Top-20 in NCAA History for Wins

• Kansas State women’s basketball is in its 52nd season of action and ranks among the top programs in NCAA history for wins.
• K-State’s all-time record stands at 953-595 (.616) and the Wildcats enters the 2019-20 season ranked 19th in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history for program wins. The Wildcats are the 19th program in NCAA Division I history to reach 950 or more wins as a program and the third among the Big 12 (Texas, Baylor). K-State is averaging 18.7 wins per season.
• The Wildcats have accumulated 25 20-win seasons and have secured 335 victories inside Bramlage Coliseum.
• K-State has 192 wins in the Big 12 Conference.
• In postseason play, the Wildcats have 13 wins in the NCAA Tournament and 16 wins in the WNIT.
• Kansas State has registered 220 victories when they were ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll and achieved 82 wins against teams ranked in the AP poll.

 

Williams Rising on K-State Career Scoring List

• Senior forward Peyton Williams became the 42nd player in program history and the second in the 2018-19 season (Kayla Goth) to reach the 1,000 point mark in her career with a jumper at TCU on February 23.
• For her career, Williams has scored 1,122 points (11.3 ppg) and is 31st in program history. She has 55 career games with 10 or more points and five or more rebounds, including 21 career double-doubles.
• Williams, a 2019 All-Big 12 First Team selection, is just the fourth player with 1,000 or more career points, 600 or more career rebounds and 80 or more career blocks.
• In the 2018-19 season, Williams averaged team-highs of 15.5 points on a .486 field goal percentage with 9.5 rebounds. Williams ranked ninth in the Big 12 in scoring and eighth for league-only games (16.2 ppg). Her field goal percentage of .486 ranked 10th in the Big 12 and 85th in the nation.
• Williams was the first Wildcat to average a double-double (16.2 ppg; 10.0 rpg) in Big 12 play since Kendra Wecker in the 2004-05 season.
• She was the third player in program history with 475 or more points and 300 or more rebounds in a season.
• Williams appeared among the Big 12 statistical leaders in 10 of the 14 categories.
• She also remains an efficient scorer, as she has 51 games in her career with a field goal percentage of .500 or better.
• Against Northern Iowa, Williams registered 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. This was the second time in her career that Williams tallied a stat line of 15 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists.

 

Ranke with Range       

• Guard Rachel Ranke made an impact to K-State’s lineup from the perimeter in her debut season in 2017-18 and continued to do so in the 2018-19 season.
• Last season, Ranke averaged 10.0 points and 3.3 rebounds. She led the team with 71 three-point field goals made. Ranke ranks fourth in program history for 3-point field goals made by a sophomore.
• She ranked fourth in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game (2.2) and 12th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.318).
• For her career, Ranke has made 160 three-point field goals and ranks 10th on the K-State career 3-point field goals made list.
• Since the 2000-01 season, Ranke has made the second-most 3-point field goals in the first two seasons of a K-State career with 160 conversions.
• Over the final 10 games, Ranke averaged 12.8 points with 3.1 three-point field goals made per game.
• Last season, Ranke set new career season-highs for assists (41; 1.2 apg), blocks (10; 0.3 bpg) and steals (38; 1.2 spg).
• Ranke holds the school record for 3-point field goals made by a player 6’0” or taller in school history with 160 connections.

 

Full Beard

• Jasauen Beard made her presence felt in the K-State lineup in her first season with the Wildcats.
• Beard averaged 7.2 points on a .393 field goal percentage, 3.3 rebounds. In Big 12 play, she is averaging 7.0 points. She has scored a career season-high of 217 points.
• She established a new career-high with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting against DePaul on November 23 in the Cancun Challenge.
• Beard reached double figures in nine games last season, a new career-high for a season, including five games of 10 or more points in Big 12 action with a high of 15 points at TCU on Feb. 23.
• Beard also carded a new career-high for rebounds, with eight against Kansas on Jan. 13.

 

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