Big 12 Game of the Year? No. 9 TCU women set for showdown with No. 12 Kansas State
TCU made the most of its week off as the Horned Frogs secured a road win over Iowa State on Sunday and remained in the top-10 of the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll.
TCU remained slotted at No. 9 ahead of Wednesday’s massive showdown at No. 12 Kansas State. The Wildcats went 2-0 last week with wins over Iowa State and at Kansas, but moved down a spot in the latest AP poll.
Even though the battle between the two teams at the top of the Big 12 standings is no longer a top-10 matchup, there’s still plenty at stake.
Both teams will enter Wednesday with a 21-2 overall record and 9-1 record in the Big 12. The winner immediately takes sole possession of first place and the tiebreaker since this is the only matchup of the season.
Beyond that, there are national implications with the Horned Frogs trying to build a resume worthy of a No. 1 seed while the Wildcats are also projected to earn a top four seed in March. The victor will have one of the biggest wins of the season and for TCU, it would be the Horned Frogs second top-10 win after defeating No. 3 Notre Dame in November.
Here’s everything you need to know about the biggest game of the year in the Big 12:
Standout center missing?
The Wildcats are unlikely to be at full strength as leading scorer Ayoka Lee has been sidelined with an ankle injury since Jan. 19. Kansas State announced Lee would be out at least four weeks, so it would be a major surprise if she was able to play Wednesday. Lee led the Wildcats with 16.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 65.4% from the floor.
The Wildcats have gone 2-1 in her absence, but TCU will be the best opponent the Wildcats have faced since her injury. While injuries are always unfortunate, Lee’s absence should benefit a Horned Frogs team that struggled with Iowa State’s frontcourt on Sunday. Cyclones’ bigs Audi Crooks and Addy Brown combined for 60 points against TCU as star center Sedona Prince fouled out with zero points.
Prince should be able to have a bounce-back game against a short-handed front court.
Lead guard
The Wildcats have one of the nation’s best offenses, averaging 82.3 points per game, good for No. 10 in the nation. Lee played a big part in that, but so has senior guard Serena Sundell. The point guard leads Kansas State in assists with 7.2 and has been a reliable scorer all season averaging 13.1 points per game.
Sundell can also be a disruptive factor on defense with her ability to force turnovers. Sundell has still been productive even with Lee as she’s averaging 14.3 points and 5.3 assists in the last three games. It will be interesting to see who Sundell guards between Hailey Van Lith and Madison Conner.
Picking up the slack?
When a player like Lee goes down, it forces others to step up and one player that has done that for K-State is senior guard Jaelyn Glenn. Glenn is coming off of her best game of the season as she knocked down five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 19 points in the Wildcats’ win over rival Kansas.
Glenn is the best shooter on the team and is knocking down over 43% of her 3-point attempts. Glenn’s volume of shots have gone up slightly since Lee’s absence and she could be an X-Factor on Wednesday. Between her and Conner, two of the country’s best shooters will try to outduel each other from the 3-point line.
Another name to know for Kansas State is Temira Poindexter. Poindexter is third on the team in scoring with an average of 12.6 points per game. When Lee was healthy, she formed a nice frontcourt duo as Poindexter served as a stretch power forward for the Wildcats. Poindexter is another 40% shooter from 3 from the Wildcats and she can get hot from behind the arc as she’s hit at least three 3s in six of Kansas State’s last seven games.
As a team Kansas State ranks No. 3 in the country at 3-point percentage and the Wildcats are top-25 in makes per game with 8.7. Running K-State off the 3-point line will be essential for TCU.
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+.
