Kansas Falls to No. 15 Kansas State, 59-50
Jan. 24, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Junior Danielle McCray scored 26 points and freshman Aishah Sutherland grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Jayhawks fell to No. 15 Kansas State Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse, 59-50.
KU dropped to 12-6 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 play, while Kansas State improved to 4-1 in the conference and 17-1 overall. KSU was led by Marlies Gipson with 23 points.
Both teams got off to a slow start as Kansas State scored the only two points in the first three and a half minutes of the game. KU gained an early lead when it went up 8-2 on a three-pointer by McCray at the 15:39 mark. Kansas State tied the game at 10 with 12:48 remaining in the half and slowly built its lead to seven points before KU came back to bring it within three points, 26-23, at halftime.
Kansas came out strong in the second half, taking the lead briefly 31-30 before the Wildcats went on a nine-point run to go up 39-31 seven minutes into the period. The Jayhawks never stopped fighting, using six straight points from McCray and a pull-up jumper by junior LaChelda Jacobs to cut the lead to three points, 48-45 at the 3:16 mark.
The run proved to not be enough as Kansas State scored 11 of the last 16 points, including five of six from the free throw line, to clinch the victory.
McCray and Sutherland teamed up to score KU’s first 12 points of the game and 20 of its 23 points in the first half. McCray had 13 points at the half and Sutherland tallied seven points while leading KU with six rebounds.
McCray led the Jayhawks with 26 points while Sutherland and Jacobs each chipped in nine points and senior Ivana Catic dished out four assists.
The Jayhawks take on the Aggies of Texas A&M when they travel to College Station, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
