How Zyanna Walker's defense helped propel K-State to Sweet 16

With three seconds left, Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore had a chance at destiny.

As she inbounded the ball to Kentucky center Clara Strack and cut towards the rim – a quick audible from a dribble handoff – nothing but fate stood between her and a chance to send Kentucky to the Sweet 16.

On Sunday, the basketball gods preferred lavender.

Quickly after Amoore released the ball on her floater, the ball bounced off the rim twice and fell into the hands of a helpless Kentucky player as time expired. From wonder to ecstasy, K-State found its breakthrough, beating Kentucky 79-78 to advance to the Sweet 16.

“I think everybody just witnessed one of the great games in the tournament right now,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “It's hard to even go over all the big shots both teams made. … Really proud of our group to be down five and to need to really dig deep defensively and make plays but also very little margin for error at the other end.”

If Amoore takes that same shot ten times, she probably makes it nine times. Amoore will be an early WNBA Draft pick for a reason, and it’s not because she misses too many floaters. In some ways, it felt like Amoore’s miss, as unlikely as it was, was the perfect reward for K-State’s defensive performance.

Heading into Sunday’s matchup, K-State knew stopping Amoore would be challenging.

In the first round, Amoore scored 34 points on eight three-pointers and dished eight assists to lead Kentucky over Liberty. This season, the Virginia Tech transfer averaged 19.6 points and 6.9 assists per game as the catalyst for Kentucky’s offense.

Truthfully, K-State’s priority wasn’t stopping Amoore; it was containing her for as long as possible.

“You're certainly not going to stop her. I think you've got to find your places to pick to contain her,” said Mittie. “You've got to, within your defensive system, play to your strength as best of you can.”

Enter guard Zyanna Walker.

Walker has been a defensive menace for K-State, drawing difficult defensive matchups against top guards night after night. Last season, she helped the Wildcats hold Iowa icon Caitlin Clark to 24 points on 9-of-32 shooting. This season, she drew the responsibility of trying to contain TCU guard and Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith.

On Sunday, she drew the Amoore matchup, as K-State hoped to find ways to make life difficult for her and Kentucky’s offense.

Early on, K-State found success in making Amoore look pedestrian. At halftime, Amoore scored just five points on nine shots. She also had two assists and two turnovers.

A large part of that success was Walker’s defensive mentality. While her offensive ability takes a step back, her ferocity on the defensive side of the ball shines. She’s frustrated guards by picking them up at halfcourt and not leaving their hip until the possession ends.

That defensive effort is primarily why he’s in the starting lineup over other offensive-minded options.

“I'm proud of Zy Walker for taking on the task because one of the things that having a Zy Walker does,” Mittie said. “It allows Serena [Sundell] to not have that defensive stress. It allows [Jaelyn Glenn] to not have that defensive stress. And Zy loves it. Zy loves the challenge.”

As Walker later explained, the mindset when playing guards like Amoore is different. Playing against a gifted scorer is a battle of attrition, and Walker knew it was only a matter of time before Amoore found some offensive spark, so she knew she had to remain confident.

“She's a great player. I know she's gonna shoot a lot of shots, so I'm not gonna be able to hold her to zero points,” Walker said. “So just don't get frustrated when something goes in. Just contain her and keep her taking contested shots.”

Unsurprisingly, Amoore found her scoring touch in the fourth quarter and overtime, scoring ten points in the final 15 minutes. That included a pull-up three with 30 seconds in the fourth quarter to give Kentucky a two-point lead.

Even during that stretch, Walker made life difficult for the shifty guard. She might’ve scored ten points, but Amoore still attempted 11 shots in that time. A few of those moments could be tossed up to divine intervention, but others were because Walker and Jaelyn Glenn made life difficult for her.

“If she keeps shooting like she was, some of them are gonna fall,” said Walker. “You have to be willing to live with them and live with the contest.”

Glenn’s shining moment on Amoore came in overtime. Following a Temira Poindexter three-pointer to give K-State a one-point lead, Glenn got in the face of Amoore and stripped the ball to give K-State another possession with 55 seconds remaining.

While K-State didn’t score on the possession, it wasted valuable time in a game decided by mere seconds. If Glenn doesn’t create the turnover there, it’s hard to know what the next few possessions look like, as Kentucky had found ways to produce big shots down the stretch.

“Definitely a gamble, I would say,” Glenn said about the play. “We did have the fouls to give, [and] we knew we wanted to deny her the ball, so that’s just what I was trying to do. Then she caught it, and I just saw my opportunity, and I took it.”

In the end, Amoore finished with 18 points (7-23 FG, 3-9 3PT), six assists, and four turnovers. And K-State finished with a trip to the Sweet 16.

***

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