Let’s give the victim the first chance to try to describe what Ayoka Lee did Sunday for Kansas State: An NCAA-record 61 points and 23 field goals, in a 94-65 steamrolling of No. 14 Oklahoma.
“Honestly, you never want to be on this side of an NCAA record,” Sooners coach Jennifer Baranczyk said when it was over in Manhattan. “Maybe I need another word. What’s another word for incredible? Outstanding, amazing, spectacular. All-American? Yes, all of those things.”
Here are 20 other things you should know about an unprecedented performance at Kansas State, and the junior center who did it:
20 things to know about Kansas State center Ayoka Lee's record-setting 61 points
1. The entire Oklahoma lineup outscored her by only four points, and had the exact same number of field goals.
2. Thirty-nine women’s college basketball teams played Sunday without scoring 61 points.
3. According to the play-by-play log, 22 of Lee’s 23 baskets came in the paint, so she outscored the Sooners in the paint by herself, 44-24.
4. Lee was 23-for-30. The rest of the Wildcats were 10-for-35.
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5. She had no turnovers, or assists.
6. She had 32 points at halftime, 17 more in the third quarter, to move to the front of porch of history. The record came on a layup with 2:53 left. “It’s crazy. Coming into this game, I wasn’t like – and I don’t think anyone is like – oh yeah, we’re just going to set a record today,” she said. “I don’t know if my mindset really ever changed. I think in my mind in the fourth quarter it was like, 'OK, keep playing low, keep getting in position.'”
7. The momentous occasion seemed lost on Lee’s coach during the game. “We wanted to keep feeding her,” Jeff Mittie said. “I was not aware of the record. I did not look at the scoreboard all day to see how many points she had.”
8. At 6-6, Lee is tied for the second-tallest player in the history of the program, and also tied for having the shortest last name.
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9. Lee began this season by scoring 43 points against Central Arkansas. She has gone for 38 twice this season. But she’s only No. 2 on the national scoring list at 25.5, slightly behind Iowa’s Caitlin Clark at 25.7. They are the only Division I players in America – male or female – currently averaging more than 25 points a game. Last season, Clark finished first in the scoring race. Lee was 41st.
10. She has taken 957 shots in her college career. None were 3-pointers.
11. She has 66 blocks this season, meaning nine percent of the shots Kansas State’s opponents have missed were swatted by Lee. “This is a complete player,” Mittie said. “We focus sometimes on the offensive end, but she was tasked with defending guards today at the 3-point line.”
12. Her season low in scoring is 10 points against UT Martin, when she took only eight shots.
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13. Lee personally drew 12 of Oklahoma’s 19 fouls Sunday. She took 17 free throws and made 15. The entire Sooners team was 12-for-15.
14. In her first active season in 2019-20, Lee was named Big 12 freshman of the week 12 times.
15. She finished her sophomore season shooting 62 percent, third in the nation and the highest individual number at Kansas State in 38 years.
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16. Besides her scoring, she’s averaging nearly 11 rebounds a game. She’s had 11 assists all season.
17. Lee is already a college graduate as a redshirt junior, and is pursuing a master’s degree in couple and family therapy.
18. Her hometown is Byron, Minn/, a small town eight miles from Rochester and the Mayo Clinic.
19. Lee didn’t come close to the men’s Division I game scoring record. Nobody probably ever will. That was Frank Selvy’s 100 points for Furman against Newberry in 1954.
20. Lee has never played in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats last made it her freshman season in 2019, but she was out with a knee injury. Kansas State is now 15-4 and tied for the Big 12 lead. Good chance March gets to see her this season.
WOW!
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB)
Ayoka Lee had an unstoppable performance today on her way to scoring an NCAA record-setting 61 points. x
