ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - (25/rv) Kansas State saw the duo of Gabby Gregory and Jaelyn Glenn combine for 58 points as the Wildcats scored a season-high 93 points on the way to its seventh straight win of the season, 93-80, over Northern Arizona in the Paradise Jam Reef Division.
The Wildcats will have an opportunity on Saturday to win its second straight Paradise Jam title, capturing its first in 2016-17.
K-State (7-0) has won seven straight games to begin a season for the first time since the 2016-17 season, when the Wildcats started the season with nine straight wins. This is the second time in the Jeff Mittie era in which the Wildcats have started a season with seven consecutive wins and the seventh time in program history.
Gregory notched a career-high 35 points on 9-of-24 shooting including 4-of-12 from three-point range and tied her career-high with 10 rebounds. The guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma, set a career-high from the foul line with a 13-of-16 performance. Gregory was the 10th player in program history to score 35 or more points in a game and is tied for 10th in school history for points in a single game.
Her 35 points were the most points a K-State player has scored in the Paradise Jam, besting the previous high of 24 by Kindred Wesemann against LSU on Nov. 25, 2016.
Gregory is the sixth player in program history to make 13 free throws in a game, tying for eighth on the single-game list.
Jaelyn Glenn registered a career-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. She also tallied four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sophomore Brylee Glenn reached double figures for the second straight game with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and a 6-of-10 effort from the foul line.
Sophomore Serena Sundell carded 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The 58 combined points by Gregory and Jaelyn Glenn rank sixth in school history for combined points by a pair of K-State teammates.
The 72 combined points amongst Gregory and the Glenn sisters is tied for the second-highest total among a K-State trio for a single-game, equaling the mark set by Laurie Koehn, Kendra Wecker and Megan Mahoney against Iowa on Jan. 5, 2003.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- K-State trailed 20-16 at the end of the first quarter, as Wildcat head coach Jeff Mittie was ejected with two quick technicals with 2:25 remaining in the opening frame. Northern Arizona (3-4) would make all four free throws to aid their advantage.
- The Wildcats fought back in the second quarter, using a 10-3 run to take a 27-26 lead on a Serena Sundell layup with 4:48 to play.
- Sophomore Jaelyn Glenn was the driving force in the second quarter, as she registered 10 of her 13 first half points in the second frame. Glenn made a driving layup with 2:22 to play to give K-State a 36-33 lead.
- Senior Gabby Gregory recorded K-State's final four points of the first half to stake the Wildcats to a 40-36 lead. Gregory paced the Wildcats with 15 first half points.
- K-State improved upon its halftime lead with a 24-20 third quarter and hold a 64-56 lead entering the fourth. Jaelyn Glenn notched seven points in the third, while Gregory tallied five.
- The Wildcats opened the fourth quarter by outscoring the Lumberjacks, 12-5, and forcing a Northern Arizona timeout with 7:13 to play. A three-point play from Sundell was followed by two free throws from Brylee Glenn to give the Wildcats a 69-56 lead.
- A Northern Arizona 3-pointer was answered with a Brylee Glenn layup and quickly followed by a Gregory 3-pointer to push the advantage to 74-59, with 7:46 to play. A fastbreak layup from Brylee Glenn forced the Lumberjack timeout with the Wildcats leading 76-61.
- Both teams went shot for shot beginning at the 5:43 mark of the fourth, as K-State was unable to grow its lead larger than 14 during a four-minute stretch but held an 88-75 lead with 1:05 remaining.
- Four free throws from Gregory and one from Brylee Glenn provided the final margin.
QUICK FACTS
- This is K-State's third appearance in the Paradise Jam (2001 and 2016). The Wildcats own a 7-1 record in games played in the Paradise Jam, including a current six-game winning streak which dates to the final game of the 2001 event.
- The Wildcats own a 121-63 all-time record in regular season tournaments, including an 11-6 record in the Jeff Mittie era.
- K-State leads the series with Northern Arizona, 3-0.
- The Wildcats are 17-2 all-time against current members of the Big Sky.
- K-State owns a record of 7-0 in the month of November. Over the last two seasons, K-State is 14-1 in November games.
TEAM NOTES
- Friday's starting five was Jaelyn Glenn, Serena Sundell, Brylee Glenn, Gabby Gregory and Taylor Lauterbach. This was the second time this group started a game together this season.
- K-State has opened the season with six straight games of 70 or more points for the first time in program history.
- For the game, K-State shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field. The Wildcats have made 24 or more field goals in all seven games this season.
- K-State was 9-of-23 (.391) from 3-point range.
- The Wildcats made and attempted a season-high from the foul line, 28-of-39 (.718).
- Kansas State pocketed 10 steals for the second straight game and the third time this season.
PLAYER NOTES
- Gabby Gregory tallied her 48th career game in double figures for points and her seventh at K-State. This was Gregory's 13th career game with 20 or more points and her fifth at K-State. Her 35 points marked her second career game with 30 or more points. Gregory is the 28th player in school history to reach 30 or more points in a game.
- This was Gregory's second career double-double and first at K-State.
- The guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished with four connections from long range her 34th career game with two or more connections from deep and her ninth career game with four or more made 3-pointers.
- Gregory hauled in five or more rebounds for the 28th time in her career and the fourth time at K-State. This was her second career game with 10 or more rebounds.
- Sophomore Jaelyn Glenn reached double figures for the sixth time this season and the 13th time in her career.
- Glenn made two or more 3-point field goals in a game for the 16th time in her career.
- She pocketed two or more steals in a game for the 17th time in her career.
- Sophomore Brylee Glenn reached double figures for the fourth time this season and the 14th time in her career. Glenn made two or more 3-point field goals in a game for the eighth time in her career.
- Glenn tied her career and season-highs with four steals on Friday night.
- Sophomore Serena Sundell notched her 23rd career game in double figures for points and her fourth this season.
FROM THE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
K-State Associate Head Coach Brian Ostermann
On getting the team to refocus after the ejection...
"I think the last time it happened was about 12 years ago, when we were at TCU. We had a situation at Oklahoma. That one didn't turn out so well. I think we were already down 20 and we lost big I think this one obviously, it happened real early in the game in the first quarter. And while we were down, four at the end of the first quarter, we had time to settle the players down and just get them settled back into the game plan. That was the main thing to tell them 'we're gonna stick with the same game plan. We're not gonna change anything. Let's deal with the adversity. And let's keep our focus on taking away their three point shot' which we did not do a very good job in the first quarter. I think they had 12 attempts. They only had 13 attempts the rest of the game. We were successful in defending the three-point line the last three quarters and then not putting them on the free throw line. We did a pretty good job of not letting them get to the free throw line, where they could hurt us was so obviously they they took advantage and took the twos. That was something that we were kind of willing to give up and it worked out."
On switching defenses during the game...
"I think because we struggled that first quarter, giving up so many three-point attempts. They had such good rhythm, offensively, that we had to change and do something and by mixing that up I think it allowed us to get them off-balance. I think it just gave us a changeup because they were in such a good rhythm it took them out of rhythm and made them do something different because their man offense was pretty solid in the first quarter."
On the production of Gabby Gregory and Jaelyn Glenn...
"I think Gabby's reputation is to be a a dominant scorer, scoring at three levels. I think Jaelyn has matured and grown up so much and taken on greater responsibility to score and I think she's playing free. She's shooting threes and what she's doing better than we've seen since game one to game seven is getting more pressure on the basket, getting more pressure on the rim. So she's driving the ball better and being more aggressive. They're having to deal with both of them and then you throw in Brylee (Glenn) and Serena (Sundell). I think all four are close to averaging double figures, three of them certainly are close right now. If we get three out of those four, clicking on most nights, I think we got enough firepower, offensively."
FROM THE FLOOR
K-State Senior Guard Gabby Gregory
On how comfortable she is on the floor right now...
"I'm just as free as I could possibly be. The coaches and my teammates are so supportive of me. Coach 'O' is always in my ear, telling me to shoot it. I just feel great. I'm playing like myself, so I feel great."
On what the players did after the ejection...
"I thought it was kind of funny. It was a funny situation. I didn't think they were actually going to eject him. Coach 'O' stepped up and coached us really well, and I think it was kind of one of those things like, 'okay, we gotta push now we gotta be serious.' We had to do whatever we had to do to try to win this game with or without Coach Mittie, but I think there was no panic at all. I think we were just like 'okay, this is our game like we can handle this.'"
On Jaelyn Glenn...
"I think from this summer to now, I think her game has really evolved. She's coming more into her confidence, because she's always been a great basketball player and she, I think, at times just lacks the confidence that she needs to understand she's a great basketball player, and she can help on both ends of the floor. And obviously she did that today. And yesterday. She's been killing it this season. As the season goes on, she's just going to get better and better."
On finishing November strong...
"Every game is the most important game. I think especially tomorrow. We want to leave the island with a championship. So we're just going in tomorrow. Three days in a row of playing and I know everybody's going to be a little tired, but that's fine. We're just going go in and try to play our best and try to leave here with the trophy."
UP NEXT
K-State concludes action in the Reef Division of the Paradise Jam on Saturday night, as the Wildcats face Arkansas at 7 p.m. (CT). Saturday's game will air on ESPN3 and can be heard on the K-State Sports Network.