Kansas State women’s basketball coach Jeff Mittie on injured Ayoka Lee
Kansas State women’s basketball coach Jeff Mittie talks about the challenge of playing with injured star center Ayoka Lee.
K-State Athletics
MANHATTAN — One week after achieving its highest national ranking of the season, the Kansas State women’s basketball team dropped out of the top 10 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll on Tuesday following a weekend loss at Colorado.
The Wildcats (19-2, 7-1 Big 12) fell 63-53 to Colorado, ending a 14-game winning streak, in its first road game without injured star center Ayoka Lee. Lee, the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, is out indefinitely with a broken foot.
With the loss, the Wildcats fell three spots to No. 11 after peaking last week at No. 8. TCU (20-2, 8-1) is the top-ranked Big 12 team at No. 9, with West Virginia (16-4, 6-3) at No. 20 and Oklahoma State (17-3, 7-2) at No. 25.
Lee, who leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game and rebounding with a 6.3 average, hurt the foot during a Jan. 16 victory over Arizona. The Wildcats beat Arizona State at home in their next game before stumbling at Colorado.
K-State coach Jeff Mittie said the day after the injury that he anticipated Lee returning by the end of the regular season and had no update Tuesday during a news conference previewing Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. home game against Iowa State at Bramlage Coliseum.
As for adjusting to Lee’s absence, it is not uncharted territory for the Wildcats, who played eight games without her last year and three others earlier this season.
“There are things we have in our offense that we certainly ran without her, so that part’s not the biggest adjustment,” Mittie said. “The reality of it is you lose a really good player, and you have to spread the offense out a little bit more.;;
Lee, a sixth-year super-senior, already was playing fewer minutes than in previous years, in part because the Wildcats have greater depth in the post this season, plus they are outscoring opponents by an average of 29 points.
Missouri State transfer Kennedy Taylor, junior Eliza Maupin and sophomore Imani Lester will share center duties while Lee recovers. The Wildcats also will look for even more production from all-conference point guard Serena Sundell, who is averaging 13 points and 7.3 assists, and Tulsa transfer guard Temira Poindexter (12.7 points).
USA Today Sports Coaches Poll
Dropped out: No. 23 Baylor; No. 24 Minnesota; No. 25 Nebraska.
Others receiving votes: South Dakota State 34; Baylor 33; Creighton 17; Minnesota 16; Nebraska 15; Utah 8; Louisville 6; Virginia Tech 5; Michigan 5; Richmond 4; George Mason 2; FGCU 2; Norfolk State 1.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.