Kansas State women's basketball to play host to Wichita State in Thursday WNIT opener
MANHATTAN — The Kansas State women 's basketball team fell short of an NCAA Tournament bid, but got the next-best thing: a postseason home game.
The Wildcats (17-16) will play host to in-state rival Wichita State (18-14) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the 2023 Postseason WNIT at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will stream live on ESPN+.
It will be K-State's seventh all-time WNIT appearance and the first since reaching the round of 16 in 2018.
With the WNIT bid, K-State now has reached the postseason for the seventh time in the past nine years under coach Jeff Mittie. The Wildcats split a pair of game last week at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, beating Texas Tech in the first round, 79-69, and then falling to Texas last Friday in the quarterfinals, 60-42.
K-State, which finished 5-13 in the Big 12, is one of nine conference teams to receive a postseason bid, with six selected for the NCAA Tournament and the other three the 64-team WNIT.
K-State and Wichita State are in the 16-team Group 1 bracket, and the winner will move on to play the winner between Washington and San Francisco in the second round.
K-State is led by all-conference guard Gabby Gregory, who averages 18.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, while point guard Serena Sundell adds 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and a team-high 5.1 assists. Guard Jaelyn Glenn contributes 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
For Wichita State, which had a 6-10 record in the American Conference, senior forwards Jane Asinde (13.2 ppg, 10.0 rebounds) and Trajata Colbert (12.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg) leading the way. Guard DJ McCarty averages 10.8 points and 3.5 assists.
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 Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women's basketball to face Wichita State in WNIT
