Kansas To Host Texas A&M, Jr. Jayhawks Take Over Fieldhouse

Jan. 13, 2006

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Kansas Jayhawks vs. Texas A&M Aggies
Game #15 – Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006 – 1:05 p.m. – Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

Radio
Jayhawk Radio Network. Nate Bukaty (play-by-play), Patti Phillips (color).

Live video streaming, Gametracker and post-game results will be available on Kansas Athletics’ official website, kuathletics.com.

Television
Sunflower Broadband channel 6. Kevin Romary (play-by-play), Steven Davis (color).

Records
Kansas is 12-2 overall, 1-2 in the Big 12 and has lost its last two. Texas A&M is 13-3 overall, 2-1 in Big 12 and has won 11 of its last 12.

Rankings
Kansas is receiving votes in both Associated Press and USA Today/WBCA/ESPN Coaches Top-25 polls. Texas A&M is not ranked.

Coaches
Bonnie Henrickson is 24-18 in her second year at Kansas and 182-80 in her ninth season overall. The
Aggies are coached by Gary Blair who is 38-37 in his fourth year at Texas A&M and 446-200 in his 21st year as a head coach overall.

Series History
Kansas leads the all-time series 7-3 although Texas A&M has won the last two. The series is tied 2-2 in games played in Lawrence.

Jayhawk Storylines
– Kansas is coming off its second loss of the season, a 74-65 defeat at Colorado. Senior Kaylee Brown tied a career-high with 19 points to lead all scorers.
– Senior Erica Hallman needs 38 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Her current average of 14.6 points per game puts her on pace to achieve the feat at Kansas State on Jan. 25. Hallman is also four 3-pointers away from second place on the all-time KU list, and six assists shy of third on that list.
– Senior Crystal Kemp has scored in double figures in every game this season and reached 20 or more points on seven occasions. She is the only player in the Big 12 to score 19 or more points, grab eight or more rebounds, shoot over 53 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line.
– Kansas is looking for its 13th win which would be its most in a season since 1999-2000.

The Matchup
The Jayhawks will look to get back in the winning column when they take on another of the Big 12’s up-and-coming teams — the Texas A&M Aggies — in Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday, Jan. 15. The game, aired on Sunflower Broadband channel 6, tips off at 1:05 p.m.
After picking up a school-record 12-straight wins to open the season, Kansas (12-2, 1-2 Big 12) dropped its next two contests on the road at Nebraska and Colorado. Texas A&M (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) has won 11 of its last 12 including its last game against Kansas State.
The last time Kansas was at home, the Jayhawks broke a 36-game drought against ranked teams by defeating No. 23/24 Texas. The win improved KU’s standing with national voters as the Jayhawks received 15 votes in the Associated Press poll and seven in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25.
KU senior Crystal Kemp has wreaked havoc on opponents this season as she averages 19.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Seniors Erica Hallman and Kaylee Brown add 14.6 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. Freshman Ivana Catic rounds out the double-figure scorers with 11.0 points to go with a team-best 6.1 assists per game.
Under the direction of third-year head coach Gary Blair, the Aggies enter the game on a roll. All three of A&M’s losses have come away from home including a pair of early defeats in Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic to then No. 17 DePaul and tournament host Hawaii. In Big 12 play, the Aggies have defeated Oklahoma State and Kansas State, while falling by one point at Texas Tech. Sophomore Morenike Atunrase — last year’s Big 12 Freshman of the Year — paces Texas A&M with 12.5 points per game. Freshman Takia Starks adds 11.4 points per outing.
The meeting is the 11th all-time between Kansas and Texas A&M, with KU holding a 7-3 advantage. Texas A&M has won the last two meetings in the series. In Lawrence, the series is knotted at two apiece. Last year in College Station, KU battled back from an 18-point deficit to tie the game at 60 with 1:05 remaining in the game, before a fadeaway jumper by A’Quonesia Franklin with 1.8 seconds remaining gave A&M the 62-60 victory.

Game Promotions
Promotions for the game include Junior Jayhawks Take Over The Fieldhouse, Youth Basketball League Day ($2 tickets for youth teams in uniform), Westar light switch giveaway and halftime entertainment by the “Alexandria Aces.”

More From The Last Game
The University of Kansas women’s basketball team fell 74-65 to the University of Colorado on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The loss dropped the Jayhawks to 1-2 in Big 12 Conference play and 12-2 overall.
The Jayhawks led early on in the first half but could not overcome a five-point halftime deficit. Senior guard Kaylee Brown led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-11 from behind the arc. She also added six assists and four rebounds. Senior Erica Hallman also hit five three pointers on her way to 17 points in a full 40 minutes of play.
KU finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field and a very solid 48 percent from behind the three-point line. The two teams connected on the same amount of field goals (27) with Kansas hitting seven more three-point attempts. The difference in the game, however, was at the free throw line, where Kansas only mustered two attempts compared to 28 for Colorado.
The Buffs were led by Jackie McFarland’s 18 points and 16 rebounds. The win improved Colorado to 1-2 in the conference and 6-9 overall.

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson, one the top young coaches in the nation, is in her second season at the helm of the Jayhawks. In her first year on the Kansas sidelines, Henrickson led KU to its best record in five seasons and highest Big 12 finish in six campaigns. Following the season, Henrickson was honored with the Carol Eckman Award — given by the WBCA to a coach who exemplifies spirit, integrity, and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. Henrickson came to KU after seven successful seasons at Virginia Tech where she compiled a record of 158-62 (.718). Her teams averaged 23 wins per season and advanced to postseason play all seven years including five NCAA appearances. Overall, the Willmar, Minn., native has been a part of postseason play in 11 of the last 12 seasons. She is 24-18 (.571) at KU and 182-80 (.695) in her career.

Jayhawk Starters
Kansas has used three different starting lineups in 14 games with sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh, senior forward Crystal Kemp, freshman point guard Ivana Catic and senior guard Kaylee Brown starting every game. Senior Erica Hallman (11 starts), junior Shaquina Mosley (2) and junior Sharita Smith (1) have all received starting nods at the third guard spot. Hallman has started the last 11 games.

Today’s Opponent – Texas A&M
The Texas A&M Aggies (13-3, 2-1) are looking for their best Big 12 start when they play Kansas on Sunday, Jan. 15. After falling to No. 17 DePaul and tournament host Hawaii in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic early in the season, the Aggies have reeled off 11 wins in 12 their last 12 outings. The lone loss was a one-point defeat at Texas Tech two games ago. Like KU, Texas A&M is undefeated at home.
Texas A&M will play KU fresh off a convincing 66-39 win over Kansas State last Wednesday. The impressive Aggie defense pressured K-State into 27 turnovers, limiting the Wildcats to just 39 shot attempts. A&M leads the Big 12 in scoring defense, steals, turnover margin and blocks.
Despite being one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 and solid RPI numbers, the Aggies have been snubbed thus far by the national voters.
Sophomore Morenike Atunrase — the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year — leads the team with 12.5 points per game, while freshman Takia Starks adds 11.4.
As a team, the Aggies average 73.9 points per game. In league games, the offensive average has dipped to 65.0. Against Big 12 opponents, A&M has just just 37.1 percent from the floor and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc. Texas A&M has protected the ball well in conference games, turning it over only 34 times compared to 68 for opponents.
Last year in College Station, A&M led Kansas by as many as 18 points before a furious comeback by the Jayhawks tied the game at 60 with just over a minute to play. The Aggies won the game 62-60 on a fadeaway jumper by A’Quonesia Franklin on the left baseline with 1.8 seconds remaining.
The Aggies are coached by Gary Blair, who is 38-37 in his third year at Texas A&M and 446-200 in his 21st year as a head coach overall.

Kansas/Texas A&M Notes
Kansas and Texas A&M are meeting for the 11th time in history. Of the 10 meetings, only one was played prior to the inception of the Big 12 Conference as KU defeated the Aggies on Dec. 29, 1987 in San Diego. Since Big 12 play began, KU leads 6-3. A&M has won the last two meetings, and three of the last four. A&M coach Gary Blair also has faced KU while the head coach at Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas. He is 5-0 after getting the best of Kansas twice at SFA, once at UA and twice at A&M.

A Kansas Win Would
Make the Jayhawks 13-2 to start the season … Give Kansas a 2-2 record in Big 12 play … Give the Jayhawks their 13th win, marking the most since 1999-2000 … Extend KU’s series lead over Texas A&M to 8-3 … Snap a two-game losing streak to the Aggies … Make the Jayhawks 13-0 at home this season … Improve head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record to 25-18 at Kansas and 183-80 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 622-416 all-time.

A Kansas Loss Would
Make the Jayhawks 12-3 to start the season … Give KU a 1-3 record in Big 12 play … Give KU a three-game losing streak … Make KU 7-4 all-time against Texas A&M … Give Texas A&M its third straight win over the Jayhawks … Make the Jayhawks 12-1 at home this season … Make head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record 24-19 at Kansas and 182-81 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 621-417 all-time.

Jayhawks Run The Table In Non-Conference
With a 75-72 win over La Salle on Dec. 30, Kansas did something it had never done before by starting a season 11-0 and finishing the non-conference part of the schedule undefeated. The perfect start surpassed the 1991-92 team which went 10-0 before becoming the first of nine straight Jayhawk teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

First Win Over A Top-25 Team Since 2001
Kansas knocked off No. 23/24 Texas on Jan. 3 by a score of 70-61. The win ended a 36-game drought against Top-25 competition since a 69-61 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Feb. 17, 2001. Additionally, the victory ended a six-game losing skid to the Longhorns.

Offensive Explosion
Kansas has scored 70 or more points in 11 of 14 games and averages 73.7 per outing. Last year, the Jayhawks reached 70 points only four times all season. The last time KU averaged 70 or more points for an entire season was 1999-2000 when the team averaged 70.4. KU’s high scoring game this year came when the squad scored 100 points against New Orleans on Dec. 3. It marked the first time since Dec. 21, 2000 — when KU outscored Mississippi Valley State 116-34 — that Kansas reached 100 points. KU also reached 90 points against Wisconsin — marking the first time in six seasons Kansas scored 90 twice in one season.

Taking Care Of The Ball
The Jayhawks have passed out 239 assists and made 392 field goals, or an assist for every 1.64 field goals made. KU’s 17.07 assists per game ranks third in the Big 12 behind Texas A&M (17.69) and Oklahoma State (17.50). Additionally, KU has only turned the ball over 184 times for a Big 12-leading assist/turnover ratio of 1.30. Kansas has finished a season with a positive assist/turnover ratio only once, in 1986-87, when the team sported a ratio of 1.18.

Attendance Boost
The Jayhawks have enjoyed season-highs in attendance in the last three home games. The crowd of 4,025 against La Salle ranked as the third-most in school history for a non-conference game, while the Pepperdine attendance of 3,622 ranked fourth. The record for a non-conference home game is 7,850 on Dec. 18, 1994 during a “Fill The Fieldhouse” event when admission was free. The 5,634 fans for the Big 12 opener against Texas was the most in the Bonnie Henrickson era.

No Place Like Home
Kansas plays an unprecedented 21 games in Allen Fieldhouse this season including two exhibition contests, all 11 non-conference matchups and eight Big 12 games. The game against Nebraska on Jan. 7 was the first road game for the Jayhawks this season. KU was originally scheduled to play in the UNO Lady Privateer Tournament in New Orleans on Dec. 2-3, but those games were moved to Lawrence as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Kemp Among KU’s All-Time Elite
Junior Crystal Kemp became the 18th player in KU history to reach 1,000 career points when she hit a jumper from the right wing with 18:13 on the clock in first half against Texas Tech last season. Against Birmingham-Southern this year, the Topeka, Kan., native collected her 600th career rebound. She is now the eighth player in KU history to accumulate over 1,300 points and 600 career boards. She continues to move up both career lists as she ranks among the top players to ever don the Crimson & Blue.
This & That
– KU trailed by as many as 18 points against Wisconsin. The 14-point halftime comeback for the victory tied for the third-biggest halftime comeback in program history.
– Kaylee Brown ranks fourth on the KU career free throw percentage at 78.2 percent (61-78).
– The Jayhawks have nine 20+ scoring games this year as Crystal Kemp has seven and Erica Hallman has two. Kemp has six 20+ games in the last seven outings.
– Kemp reached 500 career made field goals against Pepperdine. Her current total of 535 ranks ninth on the all-time KU list.
– With 962 career points, Hallman is 38 shy of becoming Kansas’ 19th all-time 1,000 point scorer. At her current season scoring average 14.6 points per game, she is on pace to hit the mark at Kansas State on Jan. 25.
– With 153 career treys Hallman is four 3-pointers away from second place on the KU career list. Charisse Sampson is second with 157, while Angie Halbleib is comfortably in first with 237.
– After not having a single player foul out during non-conference, the Jayhawks have had a player foul out in each of their first three Big 12 games.
– Kansas leads the Big 12 three-point shooting at a clip of 39.4 percent.
– The game against Texas A&M is Kemp’s 100th career game.
– Against Texas A&M, three of the top five in the conference in assist/turnover ratio will be on the floor including 1-A’Quonesia Franklin, 2.72; 2-Erica Hallman, 2.57; 5-Ivana Catic, 2.05.

Kansas Inks Seven For `06-’07
Kansas signed seven recruits to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. Below is a quick look at those seven commitments for next season.
Player (position, height, hometown – high school)
Lindsay Ballweg (guard, 5-10, Overland Park, Kan. – St. Thomas Aquinas HS)
Rebecca Feickert (forward/center, 6-2, Goodrich, N.D. – Sheridan County HS)
LaChelda Jacobs (guard, 5-10, Mansfield, Texas – Mansfield Summit HS)
Kelly Kohn (guard, 5-9, Adrian, Mich. – Adrian HS)
Danielle McCray (forward, 6-0, Olathe, Kan. – Olathe East HS)
Sade Morris (forward, 6-0, Norman, Okla. – Norman HS)
Porscha Weddington (forward, 6-1, Temple, Texas – Temple HS)

Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
In the only official poll conducted this season, Baylor was picked by the Big 12 Conference coaches to win the Big 12 Championship again in 2005-06. The Lady Bears received six first place votes, while Texas received two first place nods and Texas Tech got four votes for first place. The coaches believe Kansas will be better this season as the Jayhawks were selected to finish sixth (after finishing eighth last season). The only Big 12 North team picked higher than KU was Nebraska, who was picked fifth.

Kemp Wins Big 12 Player of the Week, Twice
Senior Crystal Kemp has been honored twice this season with Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week by a media voting panel for games played Dec. 5-11, and Dec. 19-Jan. 2. Kemp’s first honor came after averaging 22 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins over UMKC and Wisconsin. She then was named Co-POW along with Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris for games played over the holiday period. In wins over Creighton, Pepperdine and La Salle, the Topeka, Kan., native posted 22.7 points and 8.7 rebounds while leading Kansas to a perfect 11-0 record in non-conference play for the first time in program history. Kemp joined Lynn Pride (1999), Suzi Raymant (1998) and Tamecka Dixon (1997) as the only KU players to win the award twice in a season.

Mosley Tabbed Preseason Big 12 Rookie of the Year
Junior transfer Shaquina Mosley was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year in a vote of the Big 12 women’s basketball coaches released Oct. 18 by the conference office. A 5-6 junior guard, Mosley transferred to Kansas from Central Arizona Community College. She led her team to the NJCAA national championship last year while being named the 2005 WBCA Junior College/Community College Player of the Year.

Kemp Chosen Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Senior Crystal Kemp was selected as a preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention pick by a vote of the league coaches as released on Oct. 18. Last season, Kemp was named postseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after leading the Jayhawks with 13.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

An All-Star Staff
Joining Bonnie Henrickson on the sidelines are assistant coaches Karen Lange, Kyra Elzy and Katie O’Connor. Also on staff is director of operations Trena Anderson and administrative assistant Katie Capps. Lange, O’Connor and Anderson followed Henrickson from Virginia Tech, while Elzy and Capps both joined KU from Western Kentucky. Prior to WKU, Elzy also worked as an administrative assistant for Henrickson at Virginia Tech. At an average age of less than 29 years old, Henrickson’s three assistant coaches (Lange, Elzy, O’Connor) have already been part of a combined 19 NCAA tournaments, eight Sweet 16s, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two National Championships, combined.

27 Games On TV
With 27 games on the tube, KU’s television package in 2005-06 is the finest in school history and among the very best in the nation for any men’s or women’s team. In fact, other than the Kansas men, no other Big 12 team has more games on television this season. The next closest team in the league is Texas Tech with 21, followed by Texas (16), Oklahoma (13), Baylor (11), Nebraska (10), Kansas State (9), Colorado (9), Iowa State (7), Missouri (6), Texas A&M (5) and Oklahoma State (4). The only two KU games not on TV are at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma. Overall, KU plays two games on Fox Sports Net, three games on FSN regional television and three contests on CSTV. Locally, 14 games will be produced and aired by Sunflower Broadband in Lawrence, and five contests will be produced by Metro Sports of Kansas City.

Increased Radio Coverage
The Jayhawk Radio Network has improved its coverage over the past two seasons. Stations carrying the Jayhawks include KLWN 1320-AM in Lawrence, KWIC 99.3-FM in Topeka, KFH 98.7-FM in Wichita and KXTR-1660-AM in Kansas City.

12-0 Not A Bonnie Best
Kansas’ started the season 12-0 which was not Bonnie Henrickson’s best career start. Her 1998-99 Virginia Tech team won 18 straight to open the season, and her last Hokie team in 2003-04 also rattled off 12.

Up Next For KU
Kansas will stay at home to face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 1 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be aired on Metro Sports of Kansas City. The Jayhawks own a 26-19 all-time advantage over OSU. Following that game, KU will travel to Kansas State on Jan. 25 and Baylor on Jan. 28.