The Kansas State women's basketball team made a bit of history on Sunday when they took down the host team in their quadrant, No. 4 seed Kentucky. Not only did they earn a momentous overtime victory against a decorated SEC opponent, but the Kansas State Wildcats earned a berth to the Sweet 16.
While the Wildcats have frequented the NCAA Tournament under their two most recent head coaches, Jeff Mittie and Deb Patterson, the program has not been to the Regional Semifinal since the 2001-2002 season.
This means that Mittie is taking the team to their first Sweet 16 in nearly 25 years. Ahead of their matchup against the Juju Watkins and the No. 1 seeded USC Trojans, let's take a look at how the program has faired in the Regional Semifinal of March Madness in the past.
Kansas State women's basketball all-time Sweet 16 record
The Wildcats have an all-time record in the Sweet 16 of one win and three losses (1-3).
Their lone win came in the program's first Sweet 16 appearance all the way back in 1982, when they defeated Old Dominion before losing at the hands of Cheyney University in the Elite 8. Kansas State made it back to the Sweet 16 the following year under head coach Lynn Hickey but failed to take down the Texas Longhorns.
It would be until 2002 that the program was in the Sweet 16 again, and this time, they lost to Old Dominion under head coach Deb Patterson. To lose by 20 points on a team with four WNBA players was disappointing for the Wildcats, but nobody involved knew that the team would not return to this stage for another 23 years.
Now, Jeff Mittie will look to advance the program back to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1982. If Serena Sundell and Temira Poindexter can continue to play at the level they have alongside Ayoka Lee, then this team has a chance to shock the world and take down USC later this week.