For the two days following their heart-stopping, second-round NCAA Tournament victory over Kentucky on Sunday, members of the Kansas State women's basketball team were flying high.

After all, by beating Kentucky 80-79 in overtime on its home floor, the Wildcats were in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002.

"I think the last few days have been crazy," senior point guard Serena Sundell said Wednesday during a news conference in Manhattan. "There's so much love in the community, a lot of things going on."

By knocking off No. 4 seed Kentucky, the fifth-seeded Wildcats advanced to the Spokane 4 regional semifinals in Spokane, Washington, where they will face No. 1 Southern California at 7 p.m. CDT at Spokane Arena.

The Wildcats arrived in Spokane on Thursday, but the days leading up to their departure were a whirlwind of activity and adulation at home. It started with a raucous crowd greeting their arrival from Lexington at Manhattan Regional Airport and seemingly followed them wherever they went.

"Our fans have been great coming back home," senior guard Jaely Glenn said. "Everyone gathered at the airport just to congratulate us and everything. I think it's really hard to come down from a game like that, when you have so much support, and I'm still seeing videos of it, so it's hard to move on.

"But I'm starting to kind of getting into the next steps, next phases, and what's coming up."

Sundell, who had 19 points and 14 assists in the Kentucky game, including the basket that forced overtime, not only heard from appreciative fans but also landed an NIL deal. She posted her endorsement for the national restaurant chain on social media, flanked by boxes of chicken wings.

"I'm going to have some after this for lunch," Sundell said. "I've got about 40 more wings sitting in my fridge, so trying to share them with my roommates.

"But no, that was cool. It's just a fun time of year with a lot of those opportunities and a lot of local appearances that we're doing. I know a lot of girls have stuff tonight, which is a lot of fun for us, just to be involved and feel the love from everyone in Manhattan."

But like Glenn, Sundell said she began shifting her focus toward USC when the team gathered Tuesday to discuss the next step in the NCAA journey.

"I was like, OK, let's refocus," Sundell said. "Still try to take it all in but also move on. We came in and had a team meeting and talked about the schedule and kind of looking forward.

"I think that's when we all kind of turned our heads to our next opponent."

While she also enjoyed the reception from fans upon the return from Kentucky, K-State graduate center Ayoka Lee also took time for some adulting, taking care of more mundane tasks before getting ready to hit the road again.

"The last couple of day have been a lot of running errands, trying to clean my house, just trying to get ready for the next game, the next trip.It's just crazy." said Lee, who scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Kentucky, just her second game since returning from a long injury layoff.

"I think every time I've left the house, at least one person said, 'God, you took 15 years off my life. You guys almost gave me a heart attack.' So, I think it's sunk in, but I still feel a little bit of like, 'Yeah, that was a crazy game.'"

When the game was over, Lee, an All-American in her sixth year at K-State after missing two full seasons and part of two others with injuries, lingered on the court in tears. That and the rest of the celebration is what touched coach Jeff Mittie the most.

"I was just so happy for (Lee) and for our entire team, but to see her kind of break down on the court after the game, it was pretty special to watch her have that kind of emotion with her teammates," Mittie said. "I think just that emotion and the happiness that we saw in the locker room, on the floor afterwards and the plane ride home, those are the moments they'll remember.

"And the opportunity to keep doing those moments, right? The opportunity to keep doing it because we've got a great opportunity in front of us. So, we're not spending much time in the rearview mirror now. It's on to that next one, and now that next opportunity."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.