How Colorado loss affected Kansas State women’s basketball in USA Today Sports Coaches Poll

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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.

Related: How long will Ayoka Lee be out with her injury for Kansas State women’s basketball?

Related: The Kansas State women’s basketball team is taking its lofty national ranking in stride

Kansas State guard Jaelyn Glenn (3) dribbles against Colorado’s Frida Formann (3) during last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament game at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.

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…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/colorado-loss-affected-kansas-state-230109747.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-28 23:01:00

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