Kansas State University Athletics
‘The Sky’s the Limit’ for Garcia
Nov 17, 2025 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
There were 3.4 seconds remaining in the game and nobody really knew what would happen, but Kansas State head coach knew one thing: He wanted the basketball in Gina Garcia's hands. K-State had stormed back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit at SMU. The Wildcats had outscored the Mustangs 9-1 down the stretch. That included a Garcia layup to tie it at 44-44 with under a minute left. After a SMU missed shot and K-State rebound, the Wildcats had one final chance to win it in regulation.
That's when Garcia sprang into action — again.
"All we wanted to do was make sure we had the last shot," Mittie said, "and we thought Gina could get a good one."
Garcia drove the ball down the left side and in front of the K-State bench, taking four dribbles before splitting two defenders, holding the ball tight, and then launching herself into the air along the baseline, tossing the ball up with her right hand and over the outstretched hand of a defender. The ball gently touched the glass before going through the net just before the buzzer sounded at the Moody Center in Dallas on November 8.
"It was the safest play with a tight game," Mittie said. "We thought we had an opportunity to go to overtime and had some momentum. Gina had made the play to tie it. She had a good look again going downhill."
Of all the sights and sounds of the first handful of games for the K-State women's basketball team, Garcia's heroics at SMU tops them all. Her game-winning layup came in at No. 6 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 that night.
And Garcia, a native of Barcelona, Spain, who came to K-State after stellar performances in international basketball, quickly found out that making the SportsCenter Top 10 was a big deal.
"It was really exciting," Garcia said. "I didn't realize how important it was because I'm not from here, but all the team told me it was really good. The play went through all my family, and they said congratulations to me, and some friends, too. It was really exciting to hear from them.
"My family is far away, but they're always with me. Their message was really important for me."
Ever hit a game-winner before?
"No, it was my first one," she said. "We were fighting so hard. I just tried to do my best in that situation. I had a good look."
K-State, which has a bevy of fresh faces on its roster and is off to a 3-2 start this season, is finding out how important Garcia could be this season. The 5-foot-10 freshman is always around the basketball, and usually the basketball is in her hands as the starting point guard for the Wildcats, while senior Tess Heal and junior Taryn Sides are also a part of a lineup that features mostly guards. After coming off the bench against Omaha (3 points and 5 assists in 15 minutes) and at SMU (8 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes), Garcia has started each of the past three games, playing no fewer than 29 minutes in each. She had seven points and four assists in 29 minutes against Lamar before putting together her best showing yet against South Dakota.
Against South Dakota, Garcia had a career-high 14 points and a career-high six assists and shot a perfect 12-of-12 on free throws to become just the fifth player in school history to go at least 12-of-12 in a game.
"She's a good player," Mittie said. "She's growing every day. She's going to be a great point guard of ours in the future. She's off to a good start. She's learning every day. Gina comes every day and we know what we're going to get every day from her. She gives us great effort and gets better every day."
In K-State's 77-72 loss to Texas A&M on Sunday, Garcia had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with three assists in a career-high 37 minutes. She also shot 2-of-2 from the foul line.
Garcia is tied for No. 1 in Division I in making 100% of her free throws this season.
But there's so much more to Garcia's toolbox on the basketball court.
"The sky's the limit for this one," said Heal, a native of Australia who played internationally, then played two seasons at Santa Clara and one season at Stanford before joining the Wildcats this summer. "Gina's an incredible point guard and one of the best I've played with. The fact that she's played internationally really shows just in her vision and ability to run the floor and play at point guard. She's been instrumental to this team. We're going to need her going forward.
"I can't wait to see what she does in the next couple years. She's awesome."
Garcia was a part of a four-player recruiting class that also includes Jordan Speiser, Aniya Foy and Brandie Harrod — a recruiting class that ESPN deemed the eighth-best recruiting class in Division I, also making it the highest-rated recruiting class in K-State history.
Garcia arrived in late summer after competing for Spain at a pair of FIBA Women's Basketball tournaments. She was named MVP and to the All-Star Five while helping Spain win the 2025 FIBA U20 Women's Eurobasket in Matosinhos, Portugal, and she averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals. She scored 20 points against Turkey in the quarterfinals and again against Italy in the semifinals. In the title game, she had nine points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals against Lithuania.
There's more. Garcia also earned FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket All-Star Five after helping Spain win the 2025 FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket in Las Palmas, Spain. She averaged 7.6 points, 5.6 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals in that tournament.
As one basketball expert wrote: "Garcia's leadership, composure, and experience on the global stage set her apart from the typical freshmen, making her a perfect fit for programs seeking a poised floor general with championship-level experience and a relentless work ethic."
Garcia heard from the K-State women's basketball program for the first time last year. K-State assistant coach Staci Foss called her. Then Foss and Mittie joined Garcia on a video call.
"Then I visited the university, and I really liked it," Garcia said. "When I arrived here, all the people were really nice. It was a really good experience. My first night here, I was really excited because I knew it was a new experience. I knew it was going to be hard, but if I did my best, it was going to be a really nice experience."
Count Sides among Garcia's biggest supporters.
"She's played well this whole season, really, but lately she's really shined," Sides said. "I know she'll continue to get more comfortable and confident. She's doing such a good job for a freshman coming in. She's still learning a lot, but she's a lot of fun to play with. She just sees the floor so well and has a high basketball IQ."
Prior to this season, Garcia had never made a game-winning shot. She had never made 12-of-12 free throws in a game, either. But ask her to describe her biggest strength on the court, and she doesn't hesitate.
"My biggest strength?" she said. "I try to make my teammates better."
She paused.
"I always try to help the team."
There were 3.4 seconds remaining in the game and nobody really knew what would happen, but Kansas State head coach knew one thing: He wanted the basketball in Gina Garcia's hands. K-State had stormed back from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit at SMU. The Wildcats had outscored the Mustangs 9-1 down the stretch. That included a Garcia layup to tie it at 44-44 with under a minute left. After a SMU missed shot and K-State rebound, the Wildcats had one final chance to win it in regulation.
That's when Garcia sprang into action — again.
"All we wanted to do was make sure we had the last shot," Mittie said, "and we thought Gina could get a good one."
Garcia drove the ball down the left side and in front of the K-State bench, taking four dribbles before splitting two defenders, holding the ball tight, and then launching herself into the air along the baseline, tossing the ball up with her right hand and over the outstretched hand of a defender. The ball gently touched the glass before going through the net just before the buzzer sounded at the Moody Center in Dallas on November 8.
"It was the safest play with a tight game," Mittie said. "We thought we had an opportunity to go to overtime and had some momentum. Gina had made the play to tie it. She had a good look again going downhill."
Of all the sights and sounds of the first handful of games for the K-State women's basketball team, Garcia's heroics at SMU tops them all. Her game-winning layup came in at No. 6 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 that night.
And Garcia, a native of Barcelona, Spain, who came to K-State after stellar performances in international basketball, quickly found out that making the SportsCenter Top 10 was a big deal.
"It was really exciting," Garcia said. "I didn't realize how important it was because I'm not from here, but all the team told me it was really good. The play went through all my family, and they said congratulations to me, and some friends, too. It was really exciting to hear from them.
"My family is far away, but they're always with me. Their message was really important for me."
Ever hit a game-winner before?
"No, it was my first one," she said. "We were fighting so hard. I just tried to do my best in that situation. I had a good look."
K-State, which has a bevy of fresh faces on its roster and is off to a 3-2 start this season, is finding out how important Garcia could be this season. The 5-foot-10 freshman is always around the basketball, and usually the basketball is in her hands as the starting point guard for the Wildcats, while senior Tess Heal and junior Taryn Sides are also a part of a lineup that features mostly guards. After coming off the bench against Omaha (3 points and 5 assists in 15 minutes) and at SMU (8 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes), Garcia has started each of the past three games, playing no fewer than 29 minutes in each. She had seven points and four assists in 29 minutes against Lamar before putting together her best showing yet against South Dakota.
Against South Dakota, Garcia had a career-high 14 points and a career-high six assists and shot a perfect 12-of-12 on free throws to become just the fifth player in school history to go at least 12-of-12 in a game.
"She's a good player," Mittie said. "She's growing every day. She's going to be a great point guard of ours in the future. She's off to a good start. She's learning every day. Gina comes every day and we know what we're going to get every day from her. She gives us great effort and gets better every day."
In K-State's 77-72 loss to Texas A&M on Sunday, Garcia had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with three assists in a career-high 37 minutes. She also shot 2-of-2 from the foul line.
Garcia is tied for No. 1 in Division I in making 100% of her free throws this season.
But there's so much more to Garcia's toolbox on the basketball court.
"The sky's the limit for this one," said Heal, a native of Australia who played internationally, then played two seasons at Santa Clara and one season at Stanford before joining the Wildcats this summer. "Gina's an incredible point guard and one of the best I've played with. The fact that she's played internationally really shows just in her vision and ability to run the floor and play at point guard. She's been instrumental to this team. We're going to need her going forward.
"I can't wait to see what she does in the next couple years. She's awesome."
Garcia was a part of a four-player recruiting class that also includes Jordan Speiser, Aniya Foy and Brandie Harrod — a recruiting class that ESPN deemed the eighth-best recruiting class in Division I, also making it the highest-rated recruiting class in K-State history.
Garcia arrived in late summer after competing for Spain at a pair of FIBA Women's Basketball tournaments. She was named MVP and to the All-Star Five while helping Spain win the 2025 FIBA U20 Women's Eurobasket in Matosinhos, Portugal, and she averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals. She scored 20 points against Turkey in the quarterfinals and again against Italy in the semifinals. In the title game, she had nine points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals against Lithuania.
There's more. Garcia also earned FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket All-Star Five after helping Spain win the 2025 FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket in Las Palmas, Spain. She averaged 7.6 points, 5.6 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals in that tournament.
As one basketball expert wrote: "Garcia's leadership, composure, and experience on the global stage set her apart from the typical freshmen, making her a perfect fit for programs seeking a poised floor general with championship-level experience and a relentless work ethic."
Garcia heard from the K-State women's basketball program for the first time last year. K-State assistant coach Staci Foss called her. Then Foss and Mittie joined Garcia on a video call.
"Then I visited the university, and I really liked it," Garcia said. "When I arrived here, all the people were really nice. It was a really good experience. My first night here, I was really excited because I knew it was a new experience. I knew it was going to be hard, but if I did my best, it was going to be a really nice experience."
Count Sides among Garcia's biggest supporters.
"She's played well this whole season, really, but lately she's really shined," Sides said. "I know she'll continue to get more comfortable and confident. She's doing such a good job for a freshman coming in. She's still learning a lot, but she's a lot of fun to play with. She just sees the floor so well and has a high basketball IQ."
Prior to this season, Garcia had never made a game-winning shot. She had never made 12-of-12 free throws in a game, either. But ask her to describe her biggest strength on the court, and she doesn't hesitate.
"My biggest strength?" she said. "I try to make my teammates better."
She paused.
"I always try to help the team."
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