MANHATTAN, KANSAS – Trailing by 19 points entering the fourth quarter, K-State mounted a furious comeback, pulling to within four points, but ultimately fell to Utah 80-73 in Bramlage Coliseum on saturday evening. The Wildcats demonstrated resilience and offensive firepower,but Utah’s early lead and clutch shooting proved too much to overcome.
K-State (9-9, 2-3 Big 12) was spearheaded by a dominant performance from the trio of Tess Heal, Nastja Claessens, and Izela Arenas. Heal led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, shooting an remarkable 11-of-13 from the field. This performance places her among the elite in program history, becoming the fourth player since the 1981-82 season to achieve 25+ points with 11+ field goals at an 84.0% shooting clip or better. She is the first Wildcat to accomplish this feat since Ayoka Lee’s remarkable 36-point performance against North Florida on December 16,2023.
Claessens contributed 13 points,four rebounds,and three steals,while Arenas provided a spark off the bench with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting,also adding three steals.
utah (13-4, 4-1) was led by Reese Ross, who recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Grace Foster, who added 17 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– Trailing 62-41 after Ross scored a layup to open the fourth quarter, K-State ignited a 21-5 run, fueled by Heal’s 11 points, five from Arenas, and four from Claessens, to close the gap to just four points (67-63) with 3:07 remaining. Remarkably, K-state achieved a perfect 10-of-10 shooting performance from the field during the initial seven minutes of this quarter.
– Following a Utah timeout,the Utes responded with a three-point play by Maty Wilke and a three-pointer from Foster,extending their lead back to 10 points (73-63) with 2:09 left.
– Utah maintained a double-digit lead until the final seconds, when Heal connected on a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, finalizing the score at 80-73.
– K-State’s fourth quarter was a display of offensive efficiency, scoring a season-high 32 points on an impressive 81.3% (13-of-16) shooting. This marked the most points scored in a fourth quarter for K-State since November 9, 2021, when they recorded 34 points against Central Arkansas.
– Utah established its advantage in the first half, shooting 55.2% (16-of-29) from the field to take a 41-29 lead into halftime.
– The Wildcats began the third quarter with a 4-point burst, narrowing the deficit to eight (41-33). However, Utah responded with a dominant 17-2 run, extending their lead to 23 points (58-35) with 2:06 remaining. K-State struggled offensively during this stretch, going scoreless for over five minutes.- K-State finished the game shooting 46.9% (30-of-64) from the field and 27.6% (8-of-29) from beyond the arc.- Utah maintained consistent shooting throughout the game, shooting over 50% from the field in three of the four quarters, finishing at 50.0% (27-of-54) overall and 36.7% (11-of-30) from three-point range.
RAPID FACTS
– Utah now leads the all-time series against K-State 5-4. The Wildcats hold a 2-3 record in games played in Manhattan. Head coach Jeff mittie has a career record of 11-9 against Utah.
– Jeff Mittie boasts a career record of 681-387 (.638), including a 227-152 (.599) record at K-State.
– In its 30th season in the Big 12, K-State has a conference record of 247-250 (.497).
– K-State has a strong home-court advantage at Bramlage Coliseum, with an overall record of 417-162 (.720), including a 147-54 (.731) record under Coach Mittie.
– The Wildcats have a 266-197 (.575) record in games played during the month of January. Under Coach mittie,K-State is 46-45 (.505) in January games.
TEAM NOTES
– K-State’s starting lineup consisted of guards Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod, Taryn Sides, Jordan Speiser, and forward Nastja Claessens. This was the first time this particular lineup had started together this season. Sides and Harrod have each made 17 career starts, Garcia 16, Claessens 14, and Speiser 3.
– K-State has recorded 26 quarters this season with a shooting percentage of 50.0% or better, including the impressive 81.3% in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
– The Wildcats’ bench outscored Utah’s bench 39-27,marking the 15th game this season where K-State has had the edge in bench points (with an 8-7 record in those games).
PLAYER NOTES
- Tess Heal reached double figures for the 82nd time in her career and the eighth time this season.This was her 29th career game with 20 or more points and her first of the season. Her collegiate career point total now stands at 1,643 points. She has led K-state in scoring in four consecutive games and five times this season.- Heal is the first K-State player as Ayoka Lee (March 9 to March 24, 2024) to record consecutive games with 20 or more points.
- Heal made two 3-pointers, marking her 27th career game with two or more three-point field goals made.- Claessens scored in double figures for the 10th time this season and the fourth straight game.
– Sides made two 3-pointers, her 13th game this season and 44th of her career with two or more connections from three-point range. With these two connections, Sides is now tied for 13th in program history for career 3-pointers with 153.
– Sides dished out five assists, bringing her career total to 260, ranking her 22nd in program history. This was her 23rd career game with five or more assists and her eighth this season.
– Gina Garcia registered five assists, becoming the 12th freshman in program history to record 80 or more assists (currently at 89 assists this season). This was her 11th career game with five or more assists.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening Statement…
“Well, unfortunately, by the time we decided to compete, they had a pretty big lead, and we’d let them get fairly agreeable. So it was disappointing for us, as we wanted the game like it was the last maybe 12, 13,14, minutes. We didn’t play hard enough and didn’t compete well enough early to get that kind of game. So,I’m disappointed for our fans. I’m disappointed that we had another pretty solid crowd and we come out and don’t play and also I think we’re capable of.”
On if Tess heal can be the go-to scorer the rest of the season…
“Well, I wouldn’t count Tess out. She’s got that right mentality. We got to get the right match up for her. But she’s a crafty scorer. She’s done it in her career. (She) did it at Santa Clara, but wasn’t as big a score at Stanford before she came here. She knows how to play.She competes every possession and certainly she’s given us a big lift in that area.”
on if he approached Tess Heal asking her to step up the last couple games…
“No, its been more of a natural progression. Her and I talked right after the break with some things about what we needed more going forward, but it really wasn’t related to necessarily scoring. I think what we found as a staff is there’s some things that we’re probably coaching her better and getting her in better position, and, boy, she sure is delivering. One of the things that we’re trusting now with Tess is that she understands how to score down there. I think early in the year, she was maybe throwing up some wild shots trying to get fouls. Now you’re seeing a much better patience.In the last three or four games, you’ve really seen her excel.”
On why K-State switched to zone defense in the fourth quarter…
“Well, they shot 60% in the first (quarter), 50% in the second (quarter).They end up 50% in the fourth (quarter). We weren’t guarding them very well in the man-to-man early. I wanted a lot more chaos in this game. I use that word.It was one of the words on the board before the game that we wanted to create. We just didn’t do it early in this game. We weren’t playing with the effort. We weren’t playing with the urgency. I didn’t think our starting group got off to a very good start that way. I thought Aniya Foy gave us a big lift there. I thought (Izela) Arenas gave us a lift there. She ends up with three steals and that’s almost half of what she had in the entire season. I thought (Nastja) Claessens early defensively wasn’t very good. I didn’t like the way she was flying around. I didn’t like her aggressiveness. I thought she was behind plays. She picks up the two fouls mainly because I think she was behind plays. But, I thought as the game progressed, she got really good. So, we just needed to throw a diffrent look at them. Sometimes it’s not necessarily about what you’re doing well.They were really in a good rhythm against our man-to-man. I just wanted to give them a different look.”
on if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that K-State closed the gap late…
“I think that both can be true. Both can be true. I can positively say that (I’m) proud of the fight, proud of the fact that we continue to raise our level up. You saw us dive on the floor (and) play the game the right way. It’s equally as frustrating to say,’What would have happened if that would have been our start today?’ If that would have been our start. If that’s how we would have started this game,diving on the floor,creating chaos,playing better together. If that would have been our start with this game, would this game have been different? That’s where it’s disappointing and frustrating that that wasn’t our start because we don’t know the answer to that. We obviously fought hard at the end, and, for that, I hope we can build off of it.”
Utah Head Coach Gavin Petersen
Opening Statement…
“(It was a) really, really good game, exciting game for those in attendance down the stretch. Credit to Kansas State for continuing to scrap and fight. They whent with a really small lineup that we obviously had a hard time containing. Defensively, they got into a zone. (It was the) first time we’ve seen zone all season. Kind of high risk, high reward, but that’s kind of what you got to be ready for in our conference – great coaches, great players – so we’ve got to be ready for everything.But, extremely proud. I challenged our team to start every quarter off with an intensity and focus, and we did that.In the fourth quarter, I think we started to play not to lose as opposed to attack and play to win. But, like I always said, it’s always good to learn some of these lessons on how to close games out in wins as opposed to losses. So, we’ll watch the film, and we’ll learn from it and grow. (I’m) just really proud of how we closed it out. Even when they cut it to six, we’re able to get it back up to 10. Obviously the end result was up by seven. But again, credit to K-State and Coach mittie, an amazing coach and his players played hard all the way to the end.”
On what he feels where his team was excelling the most…
“I think it was a mentality like we’re going to execute, we’re going to get our post some touches, play inside out if you have an open shot, then let it fly. That’s Utah basketball. We always pass up a good shot for a great shot. Keep the ball moving. It wasn’t until I think the crowd got into it, the full court pressure might have got us to kind of be on our heels. That’s probably why we got off that run. But, when we were hitting our shots, hitting our passes, we’re playing a little differently mentally, with an edge and confidence about us. But again, credit to them, and we just got to get back to the drawing board in terms of learning how to close things out with that type of mentality.”
On the scoring threat of Reece Ross…
“She’s finding her rhythm within our offense. We do call some plays for her, but other than that, when she’s just having to read and take what the defense gives us, I think her experience having been with us for three years, I’m starting to see a confidence in her and understanding where those moments are. So, really good.When our posts, our fours and our fives, are able to do that and put pressure on the rim, defenses are going to have to figure out how they want to stop us. That opens up open looks for our good shooters.”
On Brooke walker playing two games in her home state…
“Brooke having gone through some games where she missed and then getting her rhythm back back into the starting lineup, I still think she doesn’t think it’s very long, but four weeks out is a long time in the middle of the season to take a break, right? So, I think she’s getting her game experience back.With her at full go, it just makes us a better team.So, (I’m) really happy for her. She got to come back home. you know,mom and dad went to KU and then,obviously,I’m sure they might dislike the color purple a little bit,but you know that it’s cool that she gets to bring her team here and walk out of here in the state of Kansas with two victories. Pretty cool.”
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Guard Tess Heal
On what the biggest change was that K-State made during the fourth quarter…
“I think we just wanted it more.I think the realization hit that, ‘damn, we’re down, whatever we were down, 12, 15, seven, whatever it was, I don’t know, but we’re down.We wanted to win that fourth quarter, which wasn’t emblematic of the entire game.”
On her performance in recent fourth quarters…
“I think it’s the sense of urgency of the clock. Like, yeah, we only have five minutes to get this done, or 10 minutes to get this done. I got to be better. I can’t keep just showing up in the fourth quarter. That’s not fair to this team.I need to be better.”
On why she was the one to drive to the basket in the second half…
“I think just the way they were playing it allowed me to go one on one a lot. They were staying out on our shooters.I felt in the first half,they really crashed down on a lot of things,and when I would drive,they would cram paint. So, there wasn’t really much space to maneuver. But, in the second half, I felt like they stayed out on everybody. So, it was a one-on-one matchup, which I can take advantage of. But, like I said, I need to be better. I need to be able to do what I did in the second in the first. I think we need more contributors, and we just need to be more consistent.”
On taking her leadership to a different level the past few games…
“I think it’s a mentality thing.I’ve definitely been more aggressive. The first couple games or the first half of the season that I’ve come to K-State, I was a bit more passive than I have been. I looked in the mirror, and I thought, ’No, I need to go back to how I was at Santa Clara.’ At Santa Clara, I was a point guard, a leader and scorer. I went away from that role at Stanford. It was just a different team, different circumstances. So,I assumed a different role where I just sort of played a shooter and stood in the corner. I think the recognition of, ‘No, this team needs me to score and needs me to create and needs what I can do offensively,’ that was really big for me when I reflected on it. That’s what I’ve tried to embody in the past few games.”
K-State Junior Forward nastja Claessens
On the biggest challenge that Utah presented to K-State’s defense…
“It is a great shooting team. We knew that from the start. We should be able to know the scout and stop their shooters as they had a lot of 3s, and those really hurt us.”
On if she feels she picked it up offensively in the second half…
“You can always do better, I feel like. I made more points in the second half, but I need to be more present and more aggressive on offense. Sometimes I tend to not include myself in the offense and tend to watch it. So I need to be more aggressive and be more into plays so I can help my teammates and help the offense.”
UP NEXT
Following a midweek break, K-state will make its fourth trip to the state of Texas this season, as the wildcats visit (17/20) Texas Tech at 1 p.m.
the game can be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard online at kstatesports.com, on the K-State Sports app and the flagship stations of K-State women’s basketball in Manhattan, Sunny 102.5 and 1350 KMAN.
