The Kansas State Wildcats women's basketball program is the intercollegiate basketball program of the Kansas State Wildcats. The program is classified in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

, and the team competes in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. The team has been invited to 22 NCAA and AIAW tournaments (second-most among Big 12 teams), and was crowned champion of the 2006

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournam ...

. Kansas State is in the top 20 all-time for wins among Division I programs. The team's head coach is

Jeff Mittie Jeffrey Dean Mittie (born June 24, 1966) is the current head coach of the Kansas State University women's basketball team. Career Prior to joining the Wildcats, he was the head coach of TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic te ...

. He was hired before the 2014–2015 season, after spending the prior fifteen seasons at TCU.

History

Kansas State began offering women's basketball as an organized intercollegiate sport in the 1968–1969 school year, under head coach Judy Akers. Because the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

did not sponsor women's sports until 1982, the governing bodies for women's basketball in the earliest years were the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) and the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

. The

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

likewise did not sponsor women's basketball in its earliest years, so Kansas State competed against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, and other state schools for the "Kansas State Conference" championship. Kansas State won eight straight Kansas Conference titles, from 1972 to 1979. The Big Eight Conference began offering a mid-season basketball tournament in the 1975–1976 season, and then began sponsoring a regular season competition in 1982–1983. Kansas State won the first two Big Eight tournament titles, in 1976 and 1977, and then won the first two Big Eight regular season titles, in 1983 and 1984. The longest-tenured and winningest head coach in team history is

Deb Patterson Deb Patterson (born August 30, 1957) is currently the director of player personnel and program analytics for the Washington State women's basketball team. Patterson is the former women's basketball program head coach at Kansas State. She was re ...

. Patterson spent eighteen years at Kansas State and compiled a 350–226 () record. She won two Big 12 Conference titles (2004 and 2008) and a WNIT title (2006). Before Patterson, the winningest coach at Kansas State was Judy Akers, the first coach in program history, who compiled a 206–94 () record. Akers also captured eight Kansas State Conference titles (1972-1979) and the first two titles in the Big Eight Conference after it began sponsoring women's basketball (1976 and 1977 mid-season tournaments).

Postseason history

AIAW tournament results

The Wildcats appeared in six AIAW tournaments prior to the creation of the NCAA tournament. In 1971, Kansas State also appeared in the even earlier tournament sponsored by the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW), advancing to the Elite Eight. The Wildcats had a combined record of 7–10.

NCAA tournament results

The first tournament the

sponsored was the 1982 edition. Kansas State has appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments since that time, with a record of 13–16.13-16 RECORD DOES NOT INCLUDE 2022

NCAA Tournament seeding history

WNIT results

Kansas State has appeared in the

eight times, including the first tournament held, in 1969. Kansas State won the tournament in 2006 and reached the semifinals (final four) again in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Notable Wildcat players and coaches

* Judy Akers — 2003 KSU Hall of Fame Inductee * Brittany Chambers *

Kamie Ethridge Mary Camille "Kamie" Ethridge (born April 21, 1964) is a former American basketball player and current basketball coach. She was an All-American point guard at the University of Texas at Austin and won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Sh ...

— KSU assistant coach, now head coach at Washington State *

Olga Firsova Olga Firsova (born April 23, 1976) is a former professional basketball player. College Firsova earned a degree in marketing and international business. Kansas State statistics Source Honors and awards *Two-time Academic All-Big 12 honorable ...

* Priscilla Gary-Sweeney — 1998 KSU Hall of Fame Inductee * Marlies Gipson * Lynn Hickey — 2004 KSU Hall of Fame Inductee * Lynn Holzman —

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

commissioner, 2014–present *

Laurie Koehn Laurie Koehn (born May 13, 1982) is a former professional basketball player, who is currently the associate coach for the Washington State Cougars women's basketball team. Education Born in Newton, Kansas, Koehn attended Moundridge High Schoo ...

* Shalee Lehning * Breanna Lewis *

Megan Mahoney Megan Marie Mahoney (born February 13, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. During her 14-year career, Mahoney won the Italian championship three times, in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and the Icelandic championship in 2006. In 20 ...

Nicole Ohlde Nicole Katherine Ohlde (born March 13, 1982) is a former American professional basketball player. She most recently played for the Phoenix Mercury and the Tulsa Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association. College years Born in Clay Ce ...

Shanele Stires Shanele Marie Stires (born ) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and current college basketball coach. Career She is the head coach of the Cal Poly women's basketball team since April 2022. Stires attended Cloud Count ...

Kendra Wecker Kendra Renee Wecker (born December 16, 1982 in Marysville, Kansas) is a former American professional basketball player in the WNBA. She formerly played forward for the San Antonio Silver Stars and Washington Mystics. In the off season, she playe ...

Women's Basketball – In the Pros – Kansas State University Wildcats Official Athletics Site
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Draft history

Head coaches

*Judy Akers (1968-1979) *Lynn Hickey (1979-1984) *

Matilda Mossman Matilda Mossman (; born August 7, 1956) is an American college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Associati ...

(1984-1989) *Gaye Griffin (1989-1990) *Susan Yow (1990-1993) *

Brian Agler Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American women's professional basketball coach. He previously coached the Dallas Wings from 2019 to 2020. He also had previously been head coach of the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom ...

(1993-1996) *

Jack Hartman Jack Hartman (October 7, 1925 – November 6, 1998) was an American gridiron football player and basketball coach. Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach ...

(1996; coached final seven games) *

(1996-2014) *

(2014–present)

Year by year results

*The Big Eight Conference began sponsoring a mid-season tournament in the 1975–1976 season, but no regular season competition until 1982–1983. Kansas State competed for "Kansas State Conference" regular season titles in the years before the Big Eight began offering regular season competition.

History

Postseason history

AIAW tournament results

NCAA tournament results

NCAA Tournament seeding history

WNIT results

Notable Wildcat players and coaches

Draft history

Head coaches

Year by year results

Series records

Record vs. Big 12 opponents

Record vs. former Big 12 opponents

See also

References

External links