By MATT PIKE
This winter, the downtown Civic Arena will once again play home to Division I women's college basketball, hosting the Bill Snyder Women's Basketball Classic for a fourth consecutive season.
On Saturday, December 12th the Kansas State women will return to Civic Arena to play in the classic, this year taking on the Creighton BlueJays of Omaha, Nebraska. The event, hosted by the St. Joseph Sports Commission, is currently set to tip off at 5pm. Kansas State currently holds a 3-0 record in the Bill Snyder Classic, defeating Mizzou in year one 84-56, Middle Tennessee in 2024 74-48, and a 61-60 victory over #13 Ole Miss in last year’s game.
“We have developed a great partnership with Kansas State Women’s Basketball in which we relish and embrace the opportunity to bring this level of competition to downtown St. Joseph,” Executive Director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission Brett Esely says in a news release. “In sharing the desire with K-State to find a great, high-level opponent for the game each year, we are extremely excited to welcome Creighton, a program with excellent tradition and a strong fan/alumni base in this region to this year’s matchup!”
The Kansas State women, of the Big 12 conference, entered last season with several new faces and finished the season strong with 19 wins including four postseason victories, making a run to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament, and an opening round victory in the WBIT, their fifth consecutive postseason appearance. The Wildcats are led by Head Coach Jeff Mittie who has several ties to St. Joseph, including being a Missouri Western State University alum and Hall of Fame coach for the Griffons, helping lead them to two NCAA Elite Eight appearances in the 1993-95 seasons.
Mittie is entering his 13th season at K-State and 36th season overall as a Head Coach and has now won 691 career games. The Wildcats return four starters to this year’s roster including Seniors Taryn Sides and Nastja Claessens along with Sophomores Brandie Harrod and Gina Garcia.
A member of the Big East Conference, Creighton comes off a 2025-26 campaign in which the Bluejays accomplished 16 wins and advanced to the second round of the Big East Tournament. Prior to last season, Creighton had qualified for the NCAA Tournament four consecutive seasons in amassing 96 combined wins and advancing to the Elite Eight in the 2021-22 season. The Bluejays are led by Head Coach Jim Flanery in his 25th season, leading his alma mater over that time to 469 wins with 19 postseason appearances including eight NCAA Tournament selections and four conference championships.
Creighton’s roster features seven returners from a season ago including three starters led by sophomore guard Ava Zediker who was a First Team All-Big East selection and a member of the Big East All-Freshman team along with fellow All-Freshman team selection Neleigh Gessert.
These two teams are no strangers to one another as this will be the 23rd all-time matchup. K-State leads the series 17-5, including defeating the Bluejays in Omaha last season 75-71.
The title of the game further signifies and celebrates the legend of St. Joseph native and College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill Snyder. While Snyder’s college resume speaks for itself, the connection to his hometown remains strong as well. The Bill Snyder Pavilion was named in his honor on the MoWest campus in 2017, he was inducted into the St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, and for the fifth straight year, will present the Snyder Woman of Impact Award at the enshrinement ceremonies this August.
“Heading into our fourth game, the Snyder Classic has turned into a fun annual tradition in which we are also excited about the return of the game to Saturday evening! We are grateful to K-State and Coach Mittie for the continued opportunity and confidence in us to host a key non-conference game on their schedule each year in which we look forward to putting on a great experience for the student-athletes, coaches, support staff and fans,” Esely says.
Tickets for the 4th Annual Bill Snyder Classic will go on sale in mid-July, which will include a special presale opportunity to the games previous ticket buyers. Sponsorship opportunities for the event are available by contacting the sports commission. For more information you can click HERE.
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