MANHATTAN, Kansas – Kansas State women's basketball has announced its complete schedule for the 2020-21 season on Monday. The Wildcats' non-conference slate features seven total games including six home games and a road game in mid-December. The start date of the schedule is the latest since the 1994-95 season.
K-State will open its 18-game Big 12 schedule on Friday, December 18, as the Wildcats travel to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State. This is the earliest start to a league season for K-State in program history.
The Wildcats will host a five-game home stand to begin its regular season non-conference schedule. The home stretch starts on Sunday, November 29, against Southern. This is K-State's first home-opener against a team from the SWAC since the 2010-11 season.
Southern finished the 2019-20 season with a 16-14 overall record and were 13-5 in the SWAC for a third-place regular season finish. K-State has won the only two meetings in the series, including a 59-47 win over the Jaguars on November 25, 2015, in Manhattan.
K-State continues the home stand on Thursday, December 3, as the Wildcats host Kentucky as part of the 2020 SEC/Big 12 Challenge. This will be the first meeting in the series between the two schools.
Kentucky completed the 2019-20 season with a 22-8 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the SEC. The Wildcats of the SEC are led on the floor by 2020 All-American selection Rhyne Howard, who averaged 23.4 points per game last season.
The third game of the home stand will be on Sunday, December 6, at 12 p.m., as the Wildcats host UT Arlington. The Mavericks tallied a 21-11 overall record and a 14-4 mark and a third-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference.
K-State leads the all-time series, 5-1, with the Mavericks capturing a 57-53 decision last season. UT Arlington will be led by first-year head coach Shereka Wright.
The fourth game of the home stretch will be a midweek afternoon special, as the Wildcats host Idaho State on Tuesday, December 8, at 1 p.m. This will be the third meeting between the schools and the first since November 9, 2012, when K-State downed the Bengals with a 62-54 decision.
Idaho State ended the 2019-20 season with an overall record of 18-13 and a 13-7 mark and third place finish in the Big Sky Conference.
K-State will conclude its non-conference schedule with three straight games against Summit League opponents.
The Wildcats cap its home stand on Thursday, December 10, against South Dakota State, at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats lead the series with the Jackrabbits, 5-0, and last faced South Dakota State on December 10, 2011, in Brookings, South Dakota, and pocketed a 63-46 victory.
South Dakota State finished the 2019-20 season with a 23-10 overall record and a 13-3 mark and in second-place in the Summit League.
The Wildcats will then make its only road trip during its non-conference slate, as they travel to Omaha, Nebraska, to face Omaha on Saturday, December 12, at 2 p.m. K-State is 6-0 in the series against Omaha, including a 73-48 win in the 2019-20 season-opener. Omaha finished the 2019-20 season with an overall record of 7-23 and will be guided by first-year head coach Carrie Banks.
The Wildcats will end its 2020-21 non-conference regular season schedule in Bramlage, as K-State will host Kansas City on Monday, December 14, at 6:30 p.m. This will be the third meeting in the series since former K-State assistant coach Jacie Hoyt became the head coach of the Kangaroos and former All-Big 12 selection Kindred Wesemann became an assistant coach with the program.
Kansas State won the 2019 meeting between the schools, 74-67, on December 14, in Kansas City. K-State owns a 10-3 lead in the series.
Kansas City finished the third season under Hoyt's direction with a 21-10 overall record, including a 13-3 mark and the 2019-20 regular season title in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The 2020-21 season will mark Kansas City's return to the Summit League after playing in the WAC for the last seven seasons.
The Wildcats and Cyclones will meet in K-State's league opener for the fourth time in the last six years, as the teams opened the 2014-15 and 2018-19 Big 12 seasons in Ames and the 2015-16 season in Manhattan. This is the third earliest meeting in the series between the schools and the earliest since Nov. 27, 1980, in a game played in Manhattan.
Before a break for the holidays, K-State will host Texas on Monday, December 21. This will be the earliest meeting in the series between the schools as members of the Big 12 Conference and the earliest since a game between the programs on December 15, 1984, in Austin, Texas.
Following the holidays, K-State will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to face Oklahoma on Saturday, January 2. After facing the Sooners, K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum to begin a stretch of three home games in the next four contests. The Wildcats will face West Virginia on Tuesday, January 5, then make a trip to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor on Sunday, January 10.
After the road trip, K-State hosts TCU on Thursday, January 14 and Oklahoma State on Sunday, January 17.
K-State will play consecutive road games for the first time in 2021 on Wednesday, January 20, and Saturday, January 23, as the Wildcats visit West Virginia and Kansas, respectively.
The Wildcats end the month of January with its second two-game home stand, as K-State hosts Iowa State on Wednesday, January 27, and Oklahoma on Sunday, January 31.
To begin the month of February, K-State faces Texas Tech for the first time in 2021 with the matchup in Lubbock, Texas, on Wednesday, February 3. K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum on Sunday, February 7, to host Baylor.
The Wildcats will then play three of its next four games on the road, starting the stretch at TCU on Wednesday, February 10. K-State then hosts Kansas for the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday, February 13. Kansas State returns to the road for consecutive games on Wednesday, February 17, at Oklahoma State and Sunday, February 21, at Texas.
To cap the schedule, K-State hosts Texas Tech on Wednesday, February 24.
Due to possible rescheduling of postponed games, the Big 12 has left three dates open at the end of the schedules for eight of the 10 teams – Saturday, February, 27, Wednesday, March 3, and Saturday, March 6. The 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship will be contested at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri, March 11-14, 2021.
K-State was selected for a fourth-place finish in the 2020-21 Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Wildcats will be led into the season by unanimous Preseason All-Big 12 selection and 2021 All-America candidate Ayoka Lee and Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection Rachel Ranke.
Kansas State returns nine letter winners for the 2020-21 season. K-State also welcomes in graduate transfer Sydney Goodson, junior Makayla Pippin, redshirt freshman Jada Thorpe from injury and freshmen Taylor Lauterbach and Jada Moore.
Story via K-State Athletics