Kansas State University Athletics
Fast Start to a New Era
Nov 04, 2025 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
It had been 219 days since Kansas State turned the page on one of its best seasons in history. Monday night, for the first time since 2018, All-American Ayoka Lee wasn't on the K-State roster. All-time assist leader Serena Sundell was nowhere to be found, either.
But No. 25 K-State with junior guard Taryn Sides and its bevy of newcomers took an important first step in its new era in brilliant teamwide fashion with a 100-35 win over Omaha in the 2025-26 season opener at Bramlage Coliseum, casting aside questions whether the Wildcats' new roster gelled in practice, and whether this squad possessed talent.
The Wildcats were fantastic in their first official game together.
Izela Arenas scored a game-high 18 points, Sides had 15 points and 12 assists, and three others — Aniya Foy (13 points), Nastja Claessens (12) and Jenessa Cotton (11) — also reached double digits in scoring, as the Wildcats pulled away in a hurry.
"It was a solid performance," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "It was important that we got out on the court. It was the first time for a lot of these players. It's different at home, different emotions, different energy, different nerves that go into that. Our group really did some things that were pretty solid most of the night."
A former four-star signee, Arenas arrived at K-State in April after averaging 4.2 points per game during her freshman season at Louisville.
"She was really efficient," Mittie said. "What she's really given us, too, is an ability to score one-on-one. She's got the good step back. If she gets to that left hand, she has a nice floater and can get to the rim there."
K-State, which led 31-5 after the first quarter and 50-9 at halftime, quickly and emphatically showed itself to be disciplined and aggressive on offense and stifling on defense.
K-State outshot Omaha 55% to 26% and outrebounded Omaha 45-24 while forcing the Mavericks into 30 turnovers. Omaha shot just 2-for-22 from the floor in the first half.
"Our communication defensively, some of our switch-outs and ball-screen coverages were really pretty solid," Mittie said. "I didn't think Omaha pushed it against us, so it's difficult for me to judge transition defense. That's an area I would've liked to have been tested more tonight."
Mittie, whose 672 career wins at NCAA programs ranks ninth among active Division I head coaches, in October said this 2025-26 squad was one of the youngest teams that he had coached, adding, "We've got a lot of unknowns starting out this year."
"Through practice and through this early fall, we're starting to get some answers," Mittie said after the season opener. "When we get into these games, it's important we get these players minutes together. That's why I'm changing the lineup a lot and changing rotations a lot. Every opportunity to get them some different connections with each other on the floor is important.
"We still have a lot of things we need to answer."
K-State scored a single-season record 2,842 points last season, but only 323 points returned from that team — all from Sides.
Sides was stellar, particularly with 12 assists and zero turnovers.
"You look at her stat line, 12 assists and no turnovers, she gave a little bit of everything," Mittie said. "More importantly for her, those who've watched her grow, see her playing with a confident pace out there. You saw it last year, we've seen it continue to grow this year. It'll be interesting as we progress as a basketball team whether she's off the ball or on the ball more. That's something we're still experimenting with. But it was a really good performance by her."
The K-State roster of 12 players includes nine newcomers this season. Six players on the roster entered the season opener having combined to play in 226 career collegiate games. That includes senior guard Tess Heal (96), Sides (69), Arenas (29), sophomore center Ramiya White (15), redshirt sophomore guard Mikayla Parks (nine) and Cotton (eight).
Heal was the only player on roster to start a collegiate game with 66 starts at Santa Clara and eight at Stanford. Sides came off the bench for K-State during her freshman and sophomore seasons before earning her first start on Monday.
K-State got rid of the butterflies after a couple minutes — and then rolled to its 12th straight season-opening win under Mittie.
"When you get into a game like this, it's about can they handle success and stay playing clean basketball, and they did a pretty good job at that," Mittie said. "Then it's can they stay unselfish and can they keep sharing the basketball to the right player. I think all in all we were pretty solid most of the night."
Cotton made the first basket of the 2025-26 season off an assist from Heal with 8:51 left in the first quarter. True freshman Jordan Speiser was the first player off the bench, and she immediately scored the first points of her K-State career to make it 8-0. Then Speiser nailed her first 3-pointer to make it 14-2 with 3:52 left in the first quarter.
Sides' first basket of the season was a 3-pointer from up top with 3:28 left. Then Arenas drained her first 3-pointer as a Wildcat before Heal hit her first 3-pointer as the Wildcats took a 26-5 lead — their first 20-plus point margin of the game. Then Sides hit her third 3-pointer in the first quarter and Claessens made her first basket just before the buzzer as K-State led 31-5 heading into the second quarter.
K-State came out on fire, particularly from long range, as it shot 11-for-20 from the floor, including 7-of-12 on 3-pointers while the Wildcats were bullish on defense — Omaha went 0-for-12 from the floor in the first 10 minutes of action.
It wasn't until Sarai Estupinan made a driving lay-up with 6:40 left until halftime that Omaha made its first field-goal attempt in the game, ending a 0-for-14 start from the floor.
It had been 219 days since Kansas State turned the page on one of its best seasons in history. Monday night, for the first time since 2018, All-American Ayoka Lee wasn't on the K-State roster. All-time assist leader Serena Sundell was nowhere to be found, either.
But No. 25 K-State with junior guard Taryn Sides and its bevy of newcomers took an important first step in its new era in brilliant teamwide fashion with a 100-35 win over Omaha in the 2025-26 season opener at Bramlage Coliseum, casting aside questions whether the Wildcats' new roster gelled in practice, and whether this squad possessed talent.
The Wildcats were fantastic in their first official game together.
Izela Arenas scored a game-high 18 points, Sides had 15 points and 12 assists, and three others — Aniya Foy (13 points), Nastja Claessens (12) and Jenessa Cotton (11) — also reached double digits in scoring, as the Wildcats pulled away in a hurry.
"It was a solid performance," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "It was important that we got out on the court. It was the first time for a lot of these players. It's different at home, different emotions, different energy, different nerves that go into that. Our group really did some things that were pretty solid most of the night."
A former four-star signee, Arenas arrived at K-State in April after averaging 4.2 points per game during her freshman season at Louisville.
"She was really efficient," Mittie said. "What she's really given us, too, is an ability to score one-on-one. She's got the good step back. If she gets to that left hand, she has a nice floater and can get to the rim there."
K-State, which led 31-5 after the first quarter and 50-9 at halftime, quickly and emphatically showed itself to be disciplined and aggressive on offense and stifling on defense.
K-State outshot Omaha 55% to 26% and outrebounded Omaha 45-24 while forcing the Mavericks into 30 turnovers. Omaha shot just 2-for-22 from the floor in the first half.
"Our communication defensively, some of our switch-outs and ball-screen coverages were really pretty solid," Mittie said. "I didn't think Omaha pushed it against us, so it's difficult for me to judge transition defense. That's an area I would've liked to have been tested more tonight."
Mittie, whose 672 career wins at NCAA programs ranks ninth among active Division I head coaches, in October said this 2025-26 squad was one of the youngest teams that he had coached, adding, "We've got a lot of unknowns starting out this year."
"Through practice and through this early fall, we're starting to get some answers," Mittie said after the season opener. "When we get into these games, it's important we get these players minutes together. That's why I'm changing the lineup a lot and changing rotations a lot. Every opportunity to get them some different connections with each other on the floor is important.
"We still have a lot of things we need to answer."
K-State scored a single-season record 2,842 points last season, but only 323 points returned from that team — all from Sides.
Sides was stellar, particularly with 12 assists and zero turnovers.
"You look at her stat line, 12 assists and no turnovers, she gave a little bit of everything," Mittie said. "More importantly for her, those who've watched her grow, see her playing with a confident pace out there. You saw it last year, we've seen it continue to grow this year. It'll be interesting as we progress as a basketball team whether she's off the ball or on the ball more. That's something we're still experimenting with. But it was a really good performance by her."
The K-State roster of 12 players includes nine newcomers this season. Six players on the roster entered the season opener having combined to play in 226 career collegiate games. That includes senior guard Tess Heal (96), Sides (69), Arenas (29), sophomore center Ramiya White (15), redshirt sophomore guard Mikayla Parks (nine) and Cotton (eight).
Heal was the only player on roster to start a collegiate game with 66 starts at Santa Clara and eight at Stanford. Sides came off the bench for K-State during her freshman and sophomore seasons before earning her first start on Monday.
K-State got rid of the butterflies after a couple minutes — and then rolled to its 12th straight season-opening win under Mittie.
"When you get into a game like this, it's about can they handle success and stay playing clean basketball, and they did a pretty good job at that," Mittie said. "Then it's can they stay unselfish and can they keep sharing the basketball to the right player. I think all in all we were pretty solid most of the night."
Cotton made the first basket of the 2025-26 season off an assist from Heal with 8:51 left in the first quarter. True freshman Jordan Speiser was the first player off the bench, and she immediately scored the first points of her K-State career to make it 8-0. Then Speiser nailed her first 3-pointer to make it 14-2 with 3:52 left in the first quarter.
Sides' first basket of the season was a 3-pointer from up top with 3:28 left. Then Arenas drained her first 3-pointer as a Wildcat before Heal hit her first 3-pointer as the Wildcats took a 26-5 lead — their first 20-plus point margin of the game. Then Sides hit her third 3-pointer in the first quarter and Claessens made her first basket just before the buzzer as K-State led 31-5 heading into the second quarter.
K-State came out on fire, particularly from long range, as it shot 11-for-20 from the floor, including 7-of-12 on 3-pointers while the Wildcats were bullish on defense — Omaha went 0-for-12 from the floor in the first 10 minutes of action.
It wasn't until Sarai Estupinan made a driving lay-up with 6:40 left until halftime that Omaha made its first field-goal attempt in the game, ending a 0-for-14 start from the floor.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballK-State Men's Basketball | Raining Threes vs UNCG
Thursday, November 06
K-State Men's Basketball | Players Press Conference - November 4, 2025
Wednesday, November 05
K-State Men's Basketball | Head Coach Jerome Tang Press Conference - November 4, 2025
Wednesday, November 05
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Highlights vs UNC Greensboro
Wednesday, November 05