Sports
Mustang's Zanotti plays well in homecoming against OU
Brendan Hoover
NORMAN--It was a tough assignment, one that Kansas State sophomore Danielle Zanotti spent four years as a Lady Bronco to prepare for.
The 2005 Mustang High School graduate and second-year Wildcat spent most of her 31 minutes in K-State’s Jan. 3 Big 12 Conference opener against the Oklahoma Sooners defending or being defended by national college basketball standouts Ashley and Courtney Paris.
“We defended them as well as anyone else can,” she said after the game.
Zanotti made the most of her time on the floor that night, scoring six points on 2-3 three-point shooting and holding All-American Courtney Paris to a below average 18 points and 9-21 field goal shooting in the Sooners’ 78-56 victory.
Zanotti, a 2005 6A first-team all-state selection and Wendy’s High School Heisman National Finalist, said her former coaches helped her raise her game to the collegiate level.
“They really had me prepared for college. We run a lot of the same stuff defensively that we did at Mustang. Coach (Nichole) Copeland prepared me well,” she said.
Zanotti has started 10 games so far for the Wildcat’s this season after getting 10 starts in her freshman campaign, helping Kansas State to a Women’s National Invitational Tournament championship in 2006. She averages 20.1 minutes and 3.6 points per game. She scored a career-high 11 points on Dec. 15 against Santa Clara in Manhattan, and logged 12 minutes in K-State’s 48-45 upset of 17th ranked Texas A&M on Jan. 6.
The Wildcats, 13-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play, received 60 points in the latest AP women’s college basketball poll and are close to cracking the top 25.
Zanotti said she has learned to respect the college game and that her skills have improved to fit.
“It’s a lot faster, more aggressive and physical. You can get exposed if you aren’t prepared at every position. You have to be more rounded. I’ve gained a lot of confidence. I look for an open shot now. I have a good basketball IQ, and I’ve improved at setting screens and on defense,” she said.
Many of Zanotti’s family and friends showed up to the Lloyd Noble Center for the OU game wearing Wildcat purple, and some of her old teammates were there to cheer her on.
Although maybe the one award Zanotti did not get as a Lady Bronco was a state championship gold ball, she said she was thrilled when they won in 2006.
“I felt like a proud mom,” she said.
And even though K-State did not pick up the victory against the Sooners, a top-ten ranked team and national title contender, Zanotti said she was excited that she could point out her hometown to her college teammates as they flew into Oklahoma City before the game.
“I kept pointing out the window, 'There's Mustang!'" she said.
Mustang's Zanotti plays well in homecoming against OU
Brendan Hoover
NORMAN--It was a tough assignment, one that Kansas State sophomore Danielle Zanotti spent four years as a Lady Bronco to prepare for.
The 2005 Mustang High School graduate and second-year Wildcat spent most of her 31 minutes in K-State’s Jan. 3 Big 12 Conference opener against the Oklahoma Sooners defending or being defended by national college basketball standouts Ashley and Courtney Paris.
“We defended them as well as anyone else can,” she said after the game.
Zanotti made the most of her time on the floor that night, scoring six points on 2-3 three-point shooting and holding All-American Courtney Paris to a below average 18 points and 9-21 field goal shooting in the Sooners’ 78-56 victory.
Zanotti, a 2005 6A first-team all-state selection and Wendy’s High School Heisman National Finalist, said her former coaches helped her raise her game to the collegiate level.
“They really had me prepared for college. We run a lot of the same stuff defensively that we did at Mustang. Coach (Nichole) Copeland prepared me well,” she said.
Zanotti has started 10 games so far for the Wildcat’s this season after getting 10 starts in her freshman campaign, helping Kansas State to a Women’s National Invitational Tournament championship in 2006. She averages 20.1 minutes and 3.6 points per game. She scored a career-high 11 points on Dec. 15 against Santa Clara in Manhattan, and logged 12 minutes in K-State’s 48-45 upset of 17th ranked Texas A&M on Jan. 6.
The Wildcats, 13-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play, received 60 points in the latest AP women’s college basketball poll and are close to cracking the top 25.
Zanotti said she has learned to respect the college game and that her skills have improved to fit.
“It’s a lot faster, more aggressive and physical. You can get exposed if you aren’t prepared at every position. You have to be more rounded. I’ve gained a lot of confidence. I look for an open shot now. I have a good basketball IQ, and I’ve improved at setting screens and on defense,” she said.
Many of Zanotti’s family and friends showed up to the Lloyd Noble Center for the OU game wearing Wildcat purple, and some of her old teammates were there to cheer her on.
Although maybe the one award Zanotti did not get as a Lady Bronco was a state championship gold ball, she said she was thrilled when they won in 2006.
“I felt like a proud mom,” she said.
And even though K-State did not pick up the victory against the Sooners, a top-ten ranked team and national title contender, Zanotti said she was excited that she could point out her hometown to her college teammates as they flew into Oklahoma City before the game.
“I kept pointing out the window, 'There's Mustang!'" she said.
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