K-State Preps for Northwestern

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a successful weekend in the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic and a week-long break in action, Kansas State returns to the floor to face Northwestern on Sunday at 2 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum. This will be Northwestern’s first-ever visit to Manhattan and it will be the first regular season visit from a Big Ten opponent since Penn State came to the Little Apple on Nov. 24, 2002.

Sunday’s game will be broadcast to Cox Cable subscribers on Kansas 22, as Brian Smoller delivers to the play-by-play and former Wildcat Missy Heidrick provides the color analysis. The game can also be found on the K-State Sports Network, as Dave Riggert provides the play-by-play and former Wildcat Kristin Waller delivers the color analysis.

K-State won the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic for the 12th time in the 15-year history of the tournament, as the Wildcats defeated Missouri State in the title game on Dec. 5, 64-60. The Wildcats overcame a 19-point first half deficit and used a 15-4 run in the final six minutes to win its eighth straight game in the Wildcat Classic.

Kansas State was led by tournament MVP Ashley Sweat and All-Tournament team selection Brittany Chambers. Sweat finished the weekend averaging 26.0 points on a .559 field goal percentage, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Sweat became the second player in the history of the Wildcat Classic to earn a pair of MVP honors and the first to earn the distinction in consecutive seasons.

Chambers averaged 17.5 points on a .650 field goal percentage, pulled in 5.0 rebounds and dished 2.0 assists. For her efforts last week, Chambers earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors.

For the season, Sweat leads the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding at 19.4 and 7.9, respectively. Chambers is K-State’s second-leading scorer at 13.3 per contest, while senior guard Kari Kincaid is the third-leading scorer at 10.5 and the Wildcats’ top passer with 3.8 assists per game.

Sweat is Offensive

Ashley Sweat has opened the 2009-10 season by improving her place on the K-State career scoring list with 155 points in the first eight games (19.4 ppg). Sweat’s career total now stands at 1,446 points to rank ninth in school history. Her current 4-game stretch of 88 points (22.0 ppg) is the second-best four-game stretch of her career (90 points from Feb. 4-18, 2009; 22.5 ppg).

Sweat, a Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award candidate, ranks eighth in the Big 12 in points per game. She has scored in 107 career games, which is every game of her career, and ranks tied for second for the longest consecutive games with a point streak in school history. It also ranks as the second-longest current streak in the nation and the longest current streak in the Big 12. She has also scored in double figures in 79 career games and has four career games with 30 or more points.

Her latest 30-point effort came against Washington State, as Sweat carded a new career-high with 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting. The point total was the highest by a Wildcat since Kendra Wecker scored a school record 41 against Illinois State on Nov. 26, 2004. The 33 points rank tied for 11th in school history for a single game and is the second-highest point total by any player in the Big 12 this season.

Chambers Finds Bottom of Net

Freshman Brittany Chambers has provided a boost to the K-State offense, as she has scored in double figures in six of her first eight career games in a K-Sate uniform, including five straight. She is K-State’s second-leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and owns a field goal percentage of .581 (36-of-62). Her field goal percentage ranks sixth in the Big 12.

Chambers garnered Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors on Dec. 7 after averaging 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. She was named to the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic All-Tournament team after registering 17.5 points on a .650 field goal percentage and hauled in 5.0 rebounds in the two games.

In her second career game, the product of Belle Plaine, Minn., recorded a career-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including a career-best 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. The four connections from deep were the most by a K-State freshman since Laurie Koehn was 5-of-10 in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament against Kent State on March 15, 2002. Her four makes were the most by a Wildcat since Kari Kincaid was 4-of-10 against Colorado in the first round of the 2009 Big 12 Tournament on March 12, 2009.

The 20 points by Chambers were the highest single-game total by a freshman since Ashley Sweat tallied 31 points at Wyoming in the Postseason WNIT on March 28, 2007.

– k-statesports.com –