The Kansas State women's basketball team is turning the page after an elite group of upperclassmen will be moving on. For the graduating seniors, Kansas State has been their home, and they've had a tremendous impact on the program.
This year saw head coach Jeff Mittie have a tremendous senior class to pave the way for a Wildcats season that came with a lot of success. Naturally, losing at any point in March Madness is sad immediately following the game. Losing, however, to a talented USC team is nothing to be ashamed of.
In a strong 2024-2025 year, the Wildcats will have a lot to proudly look back on. Arguably, there hasn't been a program that has gone through more adversity over the entirety of the season than KSU. Mittie will be proud of how his players continually showed their ability to power through adversity.
They still managed to finish near the top in conference play and had a good tournament run, including an incredible win against Kentucky. The program will have a lot of big shoes to fill for next year as the current graduating seniors will be moving on.
Incredible run by Kansas State women's basketball seniors
Speaking of adversity, Ayoka Lee not only came back from a foot fracture, but she also played at a high level. Oftentimes, a player returning and still being able to impact a game are two different things. The center, however, proved able to showcase her talent and proved to be difficult for frontcourts to slow down.
Since redshirting her true freshman season, Lee has been part of the Manhattan community for the entirety of her college career. Her play has earned her numerous honors. On January 23, 2022, the center set a single-season record by scoring 61 points against Oklahoma in the win at the Bramlage Coliseum.
Serena Sundell also spent all four of her years on the KSU campus. The guard made an instant impact as a freshman and proved her abilities and leadership through the final game for the Wildcats. Always finding ways to keep her team in close games against tough competition, Sundell epitomized what Mittie is looking for from his backcourt.
Temira Poindexter spent her first three college years with Tulsa. The senior transfer, however, left a huge, lasting impression at Kansas State. Her incredible eight-three-point performance against Kentucky will always be seen as one of the great all-time performances in the royal purple and white.
Kennedy Taylor came from Colorado via Missouri State. She often came off the bench and provided just the punch that Mittie needed. A capable scorer, her effort also showed itself in her knack for securing the boards. Hustle and energy are what every program asks of its players, and Taylor lived up to what was expected of her as a student-athlete.
Gisela Sanchez is from Spain and started off at Arizona. Her all-around abilities helped Kansas State when called upon, and she proved to be an excellent glue person on a team with a lot of talent. Seeing a variety of roles asked of her, she showed a lot of adaptability and team spirit for KSU.
Finally, Jaelyn Glenn rounded out a group of senior players. While her sister Brylee redshirted this past year, the starting guard did an excellent job in her ball-handling duties and in her defensive prowess on that end of the court. She too is someone who played a lot of minutes early and will be missed in the backcourt for the Wildcats.
Although nothing is official at this moment, Brylee Glenn, Sanchez, and Taylor are all academic seniors who have a year of collegiate eligibility remaining. For the rest, their contributions to the program will always be remembered, and their #EMAW legacy is cemented forever.