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Instant takeaways: Kansas State hangs on versus Arizona State

On3 imageby:Derek Young•about 13 hours•

DerekYoungKSO

Jaelyn Glenn 2025
Jaelyn Glenn/Kansas State Athletics

Kansas State game-changer

I have said for months now that the difference for Kansas State this year was the presence of another scorer and playmaker on the outside in Temira Poindexter. That presented itself in spades against Arizona State on Sunday in an 81-69 win.

Again, K-State didn’t have their best stuff. But they had her, and when they haven’t had their stuff before this season, they have lost. They had nowhere else to turn if they weren’t sharp, if Ayoka Lee wasn’t carrying them and if they lacked answers on the offensive end.

They have another answer now. She made five threes. But it’s more than that. Of course they have more ways to win than just to pound it inside with Lee or to have Sundell do her thing. But the Sun Devils had to pay more attention to Poindexter, and that allowed more space for her teammates later in the contest.

Both Gisela Sanchez and Jaelyn Glenn were recipients of that. Poindexter kept the Wildcats around when they weren’t playing well, and accounting for her and allowing others to shine is what allowed them to pull away.

Without Ayoka

As alluded to above, there really was no Ayoka Lee. She played just 13 minutes before leaving the floor for the second game in a row due to injury. According to Brian Smoller – who calls the Kansas State women’s basketball games for ESPN Plus – she’s been dealing with a foot issue.

A few things need to be discussed. It’s awesome that Jeff Mittie has continued to build around Lee enough over the years to no longer be a lost cause when she goes down. That is a credit to him and his recruiting efforts and the maturity and development of the rest of his roster.

K-State can just pass the test with more than the option of Lee. Serena Sundell is a stat sheet-stuffer and one of the better point guards in America. Poindexter is a sharpshooter and someone that needs to be guarded well. Taryn Sides can hit threes as well as anyone.

The depth behind Lee is also improved, as Eliza Maupin and Kennedy Taylor can go. I’m sure Taylor wanted to be out there and contributing at a high level like usual, but credit to Mittie for sticking with the hot hand of Maupin.

With that all being said, they can knock off Arizona State without Lee. But they need her to be at 100 percent against the likes of TCU, West Virginia and Baylor later in the season and to go as deep as they want in the NCAA Tournament.

Poor start, not an ideal week

I’m not breaking any news by calling it not an ideal or sharp week for Mittie’s group. They should have won the game handily, but instead they allowed the Sun Devils to creep back into it late. And they had no answer for Jalyn Brown.

The same issues repeated themselves against Arizona State as they did versus Arizona on Thursday. The turnovers were problematic, both committing and not forcing them, the spacing wasn’t fantastic early and they allowed way too many easy buckets.

Hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come. This is about when the season got a little sideways on Kansas State a year ago.

Lineups

If I’m Jeff Mittie, and I’m not, I’d steer clear of any K-State lineup that didn’t include Sundell, Poindexter or Lee. That’s hard to do when Lee isn’t available, but I do think head coaches make substitutions sometimes and lose sight of the combinations on the floor that may or may not be conducive to really good ball.

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