How Kansas State women's basketball guard Gabby Gregory found her groove at the right time
MANHATTAN — The least of Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie's concerns when he sees Gabby Gregory miss a 3-pointer is that she will hesitate to try another.
It's simply not in her DNA.
"She's one, like it or not, she thinks every shot's going in," Mittie said after watching Gregory score a season-high 22 points in the Wildcats' 78-65 first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Portland on Friday at Bramlage Coliseum. "She has that confidence, and I feel like she's got a good look to her right now.
"She was able to settle in after she missed her first early threes."
Gregory, a super-senior guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma, missed all three of her first-half 3-point attempts but came back to hit 3 of 4 after the break, including two big ones in the fourth quarter when she helped K-State fend off a late comeback by Portland. With the victory, the fourth-seeded Wildcats improved to 26-7 and advanced to the second round, where they will meet No. 5 seed Colorado (23-9) at 1 p.m. Sunday for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 in Albany, New York.
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K-State had raced to a 20-4 lead to start the game and let 40-28 at the half, but Portland cut the deficit to single digits three times after intermission. Gregory had nine points in the fourth quarter, including a dagger 3-pointer from the corner with 3:05 left to put the Wildcats up 73-61.
"Just shooting the ball, and it was going in," Gregory said with a smile. "That's really all there is to it.
"My teammates have a lot of trust in me (and) I know coach Mittie has a lot of trust in me, so I just try to be as confident as I can be, and when it's my turn just to step up and knock it down."
That was a more common occurrence last year in her first season with the Wildcats after transferring from Oklahoma. When All-America center Ayoka Lee suffered a season-ending knee injury before playing a game, Gregory became the team's No. 1 scoring option and averaged 18.5 points.
With Lee back — she had 21 points and nine rebounds against Portland — Gregory's role changed this season. While hampered by a shoulder injury, she came in shooting just 28.5% from 3-point range, but averaging a career-best 3.6 assists.
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But one thing that never wavered was her confidence.
"To start 0-for-3 is not always ideal, but just thinking about all the time and effort I put in, and just to stay confident in myself and keep shooting it," she said. "So hopefully it will continue to go in."
While her perimeter jumper was off the mark in the first half, Gregory still scored eight points by attacking the basket and also getting to the free-throw line. Overall, she was 7-for-13 from the field in the game and made 5 of 6 foul shots.
It was Gregory's first 20-point game of the season, but she now has reached double figures in three of the last four games.
"I think she's had a good look to her the last five, six games," Mittie said. "She made a lot of right plays today when we needed them.
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"We wanted to get in the middle of the floor. You go back on film, you're going to see her get to the middle of the floor. She got to the free-throw line there, or she got the ball to (Ayoka) Lee."
The timing could not have been better for Gregory to bust out.
"I love this time of year," she said. "I love playing in March, I love playing in front of crowds, and I think the crowd we played in front of today was awesome, and I hope to have a sellout Sunday."
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 Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women's basketball guard Gabby Gregory shows no fear
