Kansas Women's Basketball Nearly Pulls Off Upset Of #24 Oklahoma State

Jan. 9, 2008

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes |

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sade Morris did her best to keep the Kansas women’s basketball team in the game against 24^th-ranked OklahomaState, but it wasn’t enough, as the Cowgirls escaped Allen Fieldhouse with a narrow 59-54 win against Kansas here Wednesday night.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

The loss dropped Kansas to 11-3 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 Conference play, while the win gave OklahomaState a 13-1 overall ledger and a 1-0 start in league action.

Morris scored 10 of her team-high 17 points in the final 11 minutes of the second half as the Jayhawks battled back from a deficit. Taylor McIntosh added 14 points and seven rebounds for KU. OklahomaState was led by Andrea Riley, who hit 11 of 18 field goal attempts en route to 26 points.

The Jayhawks scored the first 11 points of the game before OSU hit a basket at the 15:14 mark to get on the board. KU increased its margin to 12 points leading 20-8 with 7:20 remaining in the first half.

Oklahoma State then responded with a 10-0 run to cut it to 23-18. Danielle Green hit a three-pointer at the 2:40 mark to give the visitors their first lead of the game at 24-23. OSU never trailed after that.

Oklahoma State opened the second half strong and pushed its lead to 34-29 before the Jayhawks started a comeback. Kansas tied the game at 36 on a shot by Ivana Catic, but OSU responded with back-to-back three-pointers and a field goal to lead 44-38.

KU did not go away and cut the lead to 47-46 at the 2:27 mark. OSU never relinquished its lead as the Jayhawks could get no closer than one point the rest of the way. KU trailed 51-50, 53-52 and then 55-54 before OSU’s Riley hit two free throws with 16 seconds left to make it 57-54.

Riley was involved in eight of OSU’s final 12 points as she scored six points and assisted on another basket in the final two minutes.

Kansas had one last attempt in the final seconds, but a Danielle McCray three-point attempt missed the mark and OSU hit two more free throws for the final score.

Kansas shot 41.5 percent from the field compared to 44.0 percent by OSU, but the Cowgirls made 60 percent of their second half attempts en route to the victory.

The Jayhawks were looking for their first upset of a ranked team in 10 tries since beating #24 Texas on Jan. 3, 2006.

The Jayhawks will return to the court traveling to Nebraska on Saturday for an 11:30 a.m. game, which will be televised on FSN.