Big 12 Women Draw Most Fans For Tournament In 11 Years
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament had its largest session attendance since 2013 during Saturday’s quarterfinals at T-Mobile Center.
The four quarterfinal games drew 6,610 fans, the most of any session at the tournament since it was held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Baylor was the No. 1 seed and the tournament boasted three sessions of 7,000 fans or more.
Four of the eight participating teams were within driving distance of Kansas City — Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma. That certainly helped attendance and it gave all four games a March Madness feel to it.
It even converted Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, who called the departure from Municipal Auditorium after last year’s tournament “disappointing.”
“It’s a beautiful facility, obviously,” Fennelly said. “I think the uniqueness of this facility for our kids is with the fans here like they were, it’s a great atmosphere. Most of you see it when our guys come, but I loved Municipal. Some of the greatest memories in my career at Iowa State have been in this community.
Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie spent about two minutes doing Kansas City’s promotional work for it, touting the city and the support that it’s provided tournaments for years, including the NAIA Tournament at Kemper Arena, which Mittie frequented as a kid.
He hopes the city remains behind the tournament, to the point of giving kids and businesses “days off” to go to games.
“Playing at T-Mobile doesn’t do it, though,” Mittie said. “Crowds like last night do it. Just playing here and playing in an empty building doesn’t do it. We’ve done that before. We did it in Dallas and we did it in Oklahoma City. That’s why this tournament can be special in Kansas City.”
OU Figures Out Life Without Liz
Before the season Oklahoma lost forward Liz Scott to shoulder surgery. She has missed the entire season. She first suffered the injury during a 3-on-3 event in Colorado during the offseason and it never recovered.
OU coach Jennie Baranczyk was expecting big things from Scott, one of OU’s more overlooked players but one that gave the Sooners rebounding and physical play inside. Scott was also supposed to give the Sooners some continuity after losing their super seniors — Taylor Robertson, Ana Llanusa and Madi Williams.
Before Scott’s injury, Baranczyk believed it would take her new team just a few weeks to gel. But after losing Scott?
“It probably took a longer time than I would care to admit,” Baranczyk said.
She said once the Sooners got away from thinking about their inconsistency in the frontcourt and started thinking about balance, things started clicking.
Now it’s a collective group. Skylar Vann is the Sooners’ leading rebounder with more than seven per game. Guard Payton Verhulst and freshman forward Sahara Williams average more than five per game. Kiersten Johnson and Beatrice Culliton, both of which played last year, averaged more than three per game.
That balance will be tricky for Iowa State to defend on Monday.
“I think they’re harder to guard to be honest with you because of the way they can space the floor,” Fennelly said.
Texas Sees Little Difference Without Lee
Texas has played Kansas State twice this season — once with Ayoka Lee and once without Ayoka Lee.
Strangely, coach Vic Schaefer doesn’t see much of an advantage either way.
“I mean, (Eliza) Maupin went 7-for-7 at our place and she just destroyed us,” Schaefer said. “When (Maupin and Gisela Sanchez) are on the floor they’re a different team in a good way. When Lee is on the floor they’re a different team in a good way.”
Lee will play on Monday and the former All-American is used to having big games in big environments. But getting her out of the game via foul trouble doesn’t mean much these days.
“They’ve had to play without Ayoka so much they know how to play without her, so when she comes out of a game they don’t miss a beat,” Schaefer said.
Ryan Defers On Her Record
Iowa State guard Emily Ryan became Iowa State’s all-time assists leader. Turns out she was the last to know.
She had 10 assists in the Cyclones’ quarterfinal win and when someone congratulated her in the locker room Ryan thought it was about their win over Baylor.
Then that person congratulated her again, and she got the point. Not that Ryan will take much credit for it.
“It’s more a credit to the teammates that I’ve had and the talent that’s been around me and the position the coaches have put him in to be successful,” Ryan said.
She did note that she saw her head coach’s rather emotional moment on Saturday afternoon when a reporter asked Fennelly about Ryan’s record. He needed about 30 seconds to say something and choked back tears while doing so.
“He’s just a big teddy bear,” Ryan said.
K-State Needs Guards To Be Aggressive
Naturally, Ayoka Lee will be a focal point for both Kansas State and its opponent, Texas, on Monday. But coach Jeff Mittie wants to make sure his guards — specifically Serena Sundell, Gabby Gregory, Jaelyn Glenn and Brylee Glenn — remain aggressive on offense.
The Wildcats have the evolution of this season to prove how good things can be when they do that.
“The early part of the season we saw our guards not play as aggressive,” Mittie said about the early weeks when Lee returned after last year’s layoff. “I had to keep reminding them that the best version of ourselves is that you guys are really offensive weapons as well as adding Lee to the mix.”
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
