Georgia Tech (14-18, 8-10 ACC) vs. #2 Kansas State (18-17, 8-10 Big 12)
- Thursday, March 19 · 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT · Bramlage Coliseum
- Television: ESPN+ · Play-by-Play: Brian Smoller · Analyst: Missy Heidrick
- Radio: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App · Richard Musterer
- Live Stats
- Purchase Tickets
- Tournament Bracket
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Year one of the Karen Blair era rolls on Thursday as Georgia Tech women’s basketball is set for WBIT First Round action against second-seed Kansas State inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Blair becomes the first head coach in program history to earn a postseason berth in their debut season and leads Tech onto the court for the first time in two weeks after falling to six-seed Virginia Tech in the second round of the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Tech defeated 14-seed Florida State, 72-60, in the opening round.
The Yellow Jackets (14-18, 8-10 ACC) are led by All-ACC First Team selection Talayah Walker, who averages 17.1 points per game this season. Senior and ACC All-Defensive Teamer Brianna Turnage averages 10.8 rebounds per game, a mark that is second in the ACC while her 8.6 defensive boards per game lead the conference and is eighth-best in the nation.
Announced during Sunday night’s selection show, the Yellow Jackets extend their season after winning 10 games on home court including victories over 2026 NCAA Tournament participants Notre Dame (Jan. 1) and Clemson (Jan. 11). Tech is one of four ACC teams in this year’s WBIT and earned victories over two of the three (Stanford and Miami). Tech has faced five of the 32 total teams in the field.
Tech faces the Wildcats (18-17, 8-10 Big 12) who cruised to the semis of the 2026 Big 12 Tournament and earned regular season wins over No. 17/18 Texas Tech and No. 13 Ole Miss. K-State is 7-8 on its home court this season. Thursday marks the third all-time meeting between Tech and K-State, two teams that earned spots in last season’s NCAA Tournament. This marks the first WBIT berth for the Wildcats.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
POSTSEASON JACKETS
2026 brings in Tech’s second appearance in the WBIT after appearing in the inaugural event in 2024. This year marks the 12th season in the last 14 that Tech has received a berth or invite to a postseason tournament (not counting the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season). It is the 29th overall postseason appearance for the program and third-straight.
Tech is facing a Big 12 team in the WBIT/WNIT for the first time since March 27, 1992 when it played Nebraska, a member of the then-Big 8 Conference. The Jackets won that game, 73-68, en route to the 1992 WNIT crown.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
2 – Thursday marks Georgia Tech’s second invite to the WBIT after participating in 2024’s inaugural event.
3 – Thursday marks the third meeting between Georgia Tech and Kansas State, as well as the first since Nov. 17, 2002.
4 – Georgia Tech is tied for the ACC lead with four players having started at least 30 games this season, the most by Tech since 2021-22 (4).
9 – Georgia Tech is tied for second in the nation with nine players averaging at least 5.0 points per game this season.
14 – Georgia Tech is tied for second in the nation with 14 games tallying at least 30 defensive rebounds this season.
17.1 – Talayah Walker leads the Yellow Jackets with 17.1 points per game. She was named All-ACC First Team on March 3.
29 – The 2026 WBIT berth for Georgia Tech is the program’s 29th postseason appearance and 12th invitation/berth in the last 15.
2025-26 TEAM GUIDE
- The Yellow Jackets are led by first-year head coach Karen Blair, who arrived on The Flats after 26 season as an assistant coach including spending the last seven seasons at Maryland, helping the Terps to three Big Ten titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament every year the event was held.
- Georgia Tech is coming off a 2024-25 season that featured a 22-11 record (9-9 ACC) that included a 14-4 record inside McCamish Pavilion and a trip to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
- Georgia Tech returns three from the 2024-25 NCAA Tournament campaign, including Inés Noguero, D’Asia Thomas-Harris and Ariadna Termis.
- 10 newcomers make up the Jackets’ squad this season, including Savannah Samuel, Talayah Walker, Brianna Turnage, Catherine Alben, Erica Moon, La’Nya Foster, Jada Crawshaw, Deborah Mukeba and freshmen Leyre Urdiain and McKayla Taylor.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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