K-State Opens Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 4

Kansas City, Mo.

11 a.m.

Kansas State University

Cincinnati

Jordan Speiser, Nastja Claessens and Gina Garcia vs. Iowa State

K-State Opens Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday

Mar 03, 2026 | Women's Basketball

ESPN+Listen Live Live Stats K-State notes (pdf)

Game 32 | 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament
Cincinnati Bearcats (11-19, 6-12 Big 12) vs. K-State Wildcats (15-16, 8-10 Big 12)
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 | 11 a.m. | T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, Mo.

TELEVISION
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Eric Frede
Analyst: Christy Thomaskutty

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Online: kstatesports.com
Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller
Analyst: Kristin Waller

LIVE STATS
www.kstatesports.com

SERIES HISTORY vs. Cincinnati
4-0

• K-State leads the series with Cincinnati, 4-0.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is 8-1 in his career against Cincinnati.
• First meeting between the schools in the Big 12 Tournament.

MANHATTAN, Kansas - K-State (15-16), the 12-seed, will face 13-seed Cincinnati (11-19), in the first round of the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at 11 a.m., at T-Mobile Center.

• The game will air on ESPN+, as Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Christy Thomaskutty (analyst) will have the call.

Starting 5
Five names, numbers or storylines about K-State women's basketball
1. Wildcats in the Big 12 Championships
• K-State is 24-28 in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championships and have advanced at least one round in 21 of the previous 28 championships.
2. All-Big 12 Honors
• Senior guard Tess Heal and junior guard Taryn Sides collected their first career All-Big 12 honors. Heal was an All-Big 12 Third Team recipient, while Sides was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. This is the 11th straight season K-State has had two or more players earn All-Big 12 honors.
3. Garcia with the Dish
• Gina Garcia leads all Big 12 freshmen and is fourth in the nation for assists by a freshmen with 151 assists. She is fourth in program history for assists in a freshman season.
4. Sides Dish
• Sides ranks 16th in program history for career assists with 308. She is the 17th K-State player with 300 or more assists. Sides is the fifth player in program history to reach the career marks of 300 or more assists and 175 or more 3-point field goals made.
5. Speiser Dials in From Long Distance
• With her 53 connections from long range, freshman Jordan Speiser is the 10th freshman in program history with 50 or more 3-point field goals made in a freshman season and is tied for eighth in program history for 3-point field goals made in a freshman season.

Number to Know
301

• K-State has pocketed 301 steals this season (9.7 spg). The 301 steals ranks seventh in a single season in program history.
• The Wildcats have registered the eighth season in program history with 300 or more steals. Under head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State has notched three seasons with 300 or more steals including three of the last four seasons.
• Of the 523 opponent turnovers this season, 57.6 percent have come from a K-State steal.
• The Wildcats have registered 10 or more steals in a game 18 times this season (10-8).
• In league action, the Wildcats averaged 10.7 steals per game which was second in the Big 12.

At a Glance: Cincinnati
• Cincinnati (11-19, 6-12 Big 12) enters Wednesday's game following a 118-60 loss at West Virginia to end league action.
• On the sideline, the Bearcats are led by third-year head coach Katrina Merriweather. A 2001 graduate of Cincinnati, Merriweather owns a career record of 191-121 (.612) which includes a 40-51 record at her alma mater.
• On the floor, Cincinnati is led by Mya Perry and Caliyah DeVillasee.
• Perry, a senior guard from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, paces the Bearcats with 17.7 points on a .396 field goal percentage. Perry was named to the 2026 All-Big 12 Third Team.
• DeVillasee, a freshman guard from Owings Mills, Maryland, is second on the team with 14.7 points per game and paces Cincinnati with 4.0 assists per game. DeVillasee was named to the 2026 Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Last Time Out
(rv/25) Iowa State 93, at K-State 79 (March 1, 2026; Manhattan, Kan.)
• K-State surrendered its most points this season, while suffering its eighth home loss of the season.
• The Wildcats were outscored 56-36 in the second half.
• K-State had four in double figures and were led by freshmen Jordan Speiser and Gina Garcia. Speiser tallied 17 points and three steals, while Garcia registered her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-best 10 assists.

Halftime Lead = K-State 'W'
• Since the 2001-02 season, K-State is 412-56 (.880) when leading at the break, including a 9-2 record this season.
• K-State is 185-23 (.889) when leading at the break under head coach Jeff Mittie.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, K-State is 320-19 (.944) when leading with five minutes to play including a 204-8 (.962) record under Mittie.

Wildcats in Nail-Biters
• Kansas State owns an all-time record in overtime games of 32-30 (.516), including a 28-25 (.528) record in single overtime games and a 3-6 (.333) record in double overtime games.
• The Wildcats were 2-0 last season in overtime games with wins over Iowa State (1/30/25) and at Kentucky (3/23/25).
• Over the last 12 seasons, K-State is 54-38 (.587) in games decided by five points or less including a 5-5 mark this season. The 10 games decided by five points or less this season are the most for a single-season since the 2011-12 season (12; 9-3).
• With its comeback win at SMU on Nov. 8, it was K-State's first win when trailing entering 4th quarter since a 73-64 (ot) win on Feb. 21, 2024, against West Virginia, ending a seven-game losing streak when trailing entering the final frame.
• Since the start of the quarter-system in 2015-16, K-State is 179-15 (.923) when entering the fourth quarter with the lead and is 30-125 (.194) when trailing entering the fourth quarter.

Magic Number is 70 Points
• Since head coach Jeff Mittie's first season in 2014-15, K-State is 142-27 (.840) when scoring 70 or more points in a game.
• The Wildcats opened the 2025-26 season with 100 points, the second time in five seasons K-State has reached 100 or more points in the season opener.
• In its history, K-State has scored 100 or more points in a game 31 times (31-0) including eight times under Mittie.
• With its 95 points against Columbia on Nov. 27 in the Cancun Challenge, K-State registered its highest point total in a game played at a neutral site since at least the 1999-00 season. K-State's previous high was 93 against Georgia State on Dec. 29, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, and against Northern Arizona on Nov. 25, 2022, in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
• The combined score of 187 points were the most in a regulation game for Kansas State since at least 1999-00.
• Under Mittie, K-State has scored 90 or more points 29 times, including 22 times in the last five seasons.
• This season, the Wildcats are averaging 69.6 points per game and have surpassed the 70-point mark in 18 games (11-7).

Charity Stripe
• K-State equaled a 46-year old school record in its game against South Dakota on Nov. 13.
• The Wildcats tied the school record for free throws made in a game, equaling the mark set on Dec. 6, 1979, against Colorado (32). The 32 made free throws were the most in the Jeff Mittie era (2014-15-present).
• K-State's 45.1 percent of its single-game point total (71) from the free throw line against the Coyotes was the third highest in the nation this season. It was the highest percentage by a Big 12 team (min. 30 free throws made) since TCU tallied a 46.4 percent effort (32 made free throws) on Jan. 1, 2023, against Texas.
• K-State recorded a free throw percentage of .821 (32-of-39).
• It was the highest free throw percentage in an NCAA Division I women's game on a minimum of 39 free throw attempts in the nation since March 13, 2025, when Merrimack tallied an .821 effort against Siena.
• Against Ole Miss on Dec. 7, K-State shot 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the foul line including a perfect 12-of-12 in the second half.
• This was the highest free throw percentage on 20 or more attempts by K-State since Dec. 7, 2022, against Kansas City (.909; 20-22) and the ninth highest for the program on 20 or more attempts since the 2000-01 season.
• At Kansas on Jan. 25, the Wildcats registered its season-high for free throw percentage at 91.7 (11-of-12). This was the highest free throw percentage on 10 or more attempts since going a perfect 13-of-13 from the line against Texas on Jan. 13, 2024.
• For the season, K-State is shooting 72.1 percent (374-of-519) from the foul line. K-State's 374 free throws made are the most since the Wildcats set the school record with 579 in the 2022-23 season.
• Three different Wildcats have registered a consecutive free throws made streak of 15 or more this season - Tess Heal (23 straight; 12/7/25-1/7/26), Jordan Speiser (20; 1/25/26-2/15/26)and Gina Garcia (19; 11/3/25-12/7/25).

Three is not a Crowd, It's a Benefit
• Since 2011-12, when three or more players reach double figures in scoring in the same game, K-State is 212-97 (.686) with a 12-10 mark in 2025-26.
• The Wildcats had a season-high five players reach double figures against Omaha on Nov. 3.
• K-State saw the freshmen trio of Brandie Harrod, Gina Garcia and Jordan Speiser each tally 12 points against Texas A&M on Nov. 16. This was the first time three K-State freshmen scored 12 or more points in the same game since Feb. 5, 2022, against Texas Tech (Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn and Jaelyn Glenn).

20-Pt Quarters for the Wildcats
• Since the inception of the quarter system in the 2015-16 season, K-State owns an overall record of 173-75 (.698) when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• The Cats are 13-10 this season when scoring 20 or more points in any quarter in a game.
• This season, K-State has registered 41 quarters with 20 or more points scored in quarters including a high of 32 points in the fourth quarter against Utah on Jan. 10. The 32 points were the most in a fourth quarter for K-State since scoring a fourth quarter school record 34 points against Central Arkansas on Nov. 9, 2021.
• Since the 2015-16 season, K-State has registered 421 quarters with 20 or more points with a program record of 68 in the 2024-25 season.

Wildcats Solid From the Arc
• K-State continues to attack from deep in the 2025-26 season.
• K-State is shooting 34.3 percent (227-of-661) from 3-point range. The Wildcats have received 31.6 percent of its points from 3-point field goals made and have buried five or more in a game 23 times, including eight games with 10 or more.
• This is the fourth consecutive season and the 15th season in program history with 200 or more made 3-pointers.
• The quintet of Taryn Sides (67), Jordan Speiser (53), Nastja Claessens (33), Tess Heal (24) and Izela Arenas (22) marks the sixth season in program history including the fourth straight with five or more Wildcats making 20 or more 3-point field goals in a season.
• The Wildcats set the school record for 3-point field goals made in a game with 17 against Columbia on Nov. 27.
• K-State shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from beyond the arc against the Lions, which was the highest 3-point percentage on 20 or more attempts since carding a 70.0 percent effort (14-of-20) against UCF on February 15, 2025.
• K-State's 3-point percentage of 65.4 percent is the highest by any team this season that has made 15 or more 3-point field goals in a game.
• In the three games of the 2025 Cancun Challenge, K-State shot 53.2 percent (33-of-62) from the 3-point line which included eight quarters of 50.0 percent or better and a 76.9 percent (10-of-13) effort in the second against Columbia.
• In the 12 seasons under Mittie, K-State has buried 2,495 three-pointers which is 6.38 per game.
• In the Mittie era, the Wildcats have made five or more 3-pointers in a game 283 times in 391 total games including 58 games with 10 or more connections (w-l: 50-8) from deep.

High Efficiency Claessens
• Junior forward Nastja Claessens registered a 70.0 percent (7-of-10) effort from the field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 10.
• She leads K-State in field goal percentage at 51.4 percent (126-of-245) (min. 5 attempts per game).
• Claessens has seven games this season with a field goal percentage of 60.0 percent or better, which includes a 3-point field goal made.

Garcia with Helpers
• Guard Gina Garcia has been an adept passer to begin her K-State career.
• For the season, Garcia is averaging 4.87 assists per game (151 assists). She ranks tied for second among all NCAA Division I freshmen for total assists, including leading the freshmen in the Big 12. Overall, she ranks eighth in the Big 12 in assists per game. She has led K-State in assists in 19 games this season.
• With her 151 assists, Garcia is the fourth freshman at K-State since 1981-82 to hand out 150 or more assists in their debut season and first since Serena Sundell in the 2021-22 season (176). Garcia set the school record for assists in a season by an international player.
• Against Iowa State on March 1, Garcia handed out a career-high 10 assists. She has 16 games this season with five or more assists.
• Garcia holds the school record for career assist-turnover ratio (2.01).

Sides on Brink of 400/100/100
• Taryn Sides is approaching a rare single-season milestone in K-State history.
• This season, Sides has achieved 379 points, 109 rebounds and 118 assists. She has established new career single-season highs for points and assists.
• With 21 points for the remainder of the season, Sides would become the ninth player in program history with 400 or more points, 100 or more rebounds and 100 or more assists in a season.
• At her height of 5'6", Sides would be the shortest player in program history to join the 400/100/100 club.

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Women's Basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.