The Kansas State women’s basketball team is once again on pace to open the NCAA Tournament on its home court.
The Wildcats (24-3) were projected as a No. 3 seed Sunday in the first of two in-season top 16 reveals by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The top 16 — four in each regional — serve as hosts for the first two rounds.
K-State was ranked No. 12 overall by the committee and assigned to one of the Spokane, Washington, regionals along with No. 1 seed Notre Dame, No. 2 Southern California and No. 4 Kentucky. Notre Dame is the fourth and final No. 1 seed.
The committee ranked UCLA No. 1 overall, followed by South Carolina and Texas. UCLA heads the other Spokane regional lineup, with South Carolina and Texas claiming the top spots in the Birmingham, Alabama, regionals.
Should K-State remain in the top 16, Bramlage Coliseum would serve as host site for the second straight year. Last year the Wildcats were a No. 4 seed and beat Portland in the first round but then were eliminated by Colorado in the second.
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K-State currently is tied for the Big 12 lead with No. 9 overall seed TCU (24-3) and Baylor (22-5), all at 12-2. TCU is the No. 3 seed in the second Birmingham regional.
K-State is coming off back-to-back blowout victories at Cincinnati (90-53) on Wednesday and Central Florida (97-67) at home Saturday. The Wildcats have a quick turnaround before heading to West Virginia for a 2 p.m. Monday game against the No. 18-ranked Mountaineers.
K-State has been without star center Ayoka Lee with a broken foot for the past seven games, but she is expected back later this month and should provide a spark for the stretch run. Lee leads the Wildcats with 16 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while all-conference point guard Serena Sundell averages 13.7 points and 7.1 assists, and guard Temira Poindexter 12.5 points.
The selection committee’s next top 16 reveal is scheduled for Feb. 27.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women’s basketball in line for NCAA Tournament home games
