Kansa Women Travel To Missouri For Border Showdown Battle

Jan. 24, 2011

Game Notes in PDF Format

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

OPENING TIP

Kansas will look to snap its three-game losing skid when it travels to Border Showdown rival Missouri on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The Jayhawks are 1-1 on the road in Big 12 action with a win over Colorado and an overtime loss at Nebraska. Missouri is 1-1 at home in conference play with a win over Texas. The two teams will be meeting for the 79th time in program history with KU holding a 42-36 advantage. Game time is schedule for 7 p.m., at Mizzou Arena.

FAST BREAKS

-Kansas is 4-2 on the season in road games, including a 1-1 road mark in conference play. KU has defeated Wisconsin, SMU, Creighton and Colorado and has dropped games at Michigan and Nebraska.

-KU is one of the younger teams in the country as it sends out a starting line up with three sophomores, a junior and a senior. However, three of the four freshmen on the squad have found themsleves in the starting lineup for at least three games during the season. With only three upperclassmen on their roster, the Jayhawks are getting 80.3 percent of their scoring from players in either their first or second year in college. Led by the sophomore duo of Carolyn Davis (18.0) and Monica Engelman (12.4), the Baby Jays are scoring 59.1 of the team’s 73.6 points per game.

-Davis is shooting 64.2 percent from the field as she has knocked down 115-of-179 shots this season. She leads the Big 12 and ranks second in the NCAA in field goal percentage.

-Davis is averaging a team-best 18.0 points per game on the season overall, and is also pulling down 8.2 caroms per contest. She has recorded five double-doubles on the season, including two in her five Big 12 games. Davis ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 31st in the NCAA in scoring.

-KU ranks 10th nationally (third in Big 12) in field goal percentage at 46.3 percent. The Jayhawks are led by Davis, who has made 115-of-179 shots from the field, good for a league-leading 64.2 percent. In all, five KU players are shooting better than 45.0 percent on the season.

-Jayhawk junior forward Aishah Sutherland is first in the Big 12 and 62nd nationally in rebounding as she is pulling down 8.9 caroms per contest. Sutherland has recorded double-figure rebounding games in eight games on the season.

-Missouri leads the series with KU 17-15 in Columbia, but the Jayhawks won last year’s game.

-KU has knocked down 306-of-456 shots from the foul line. The Jayhawks’ opponents have only made 277 trips to the foul line compared to KU’s 456 attempts. Kansas is averaging 24.0 free throw attempts per game, compared to 14.6 attempts per game for its opponents. On the season, Kansas owns a 118 point advantage over its foes from the foul line.

-The Jayhawk defense has been especially stringent around the arc as KU is holding its opponents to just 27.2 percent from three-point range.

-Kansas has dished 295 assists through 19 games, good for an average of 15.5 dimes per outing. The Jayhawks rank fourth in the Big 12 and 41st nationally in assists per game. Freshman guard Keena Mays leads the way with 92 helpers on the year. Mays ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 55th nationally. Sophomore guard Angel Goodrich has 49 assists in 12 games, while Engelman has recorded 57 dimes on the season.

A LOOK AT MISSOURI

At 9-10, Missouri enters the game versus KU with a perfect 1-4 mark in Big 12 Conference play. The Tigers are 6-2 in home games on the season, including a 1-1 mark in Big 12 games. Senior guard RaeShara Brown leads the way for Mizzou with 16.6 points and 6.5 boards per game to go along with 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals an outing. Brown leads MU in three-point shooting with 29 triples on the season. Junior forward Christine Flores adds 14.6 points and a team-best 6.6 caroms per contest. Flores also leads Missouri in blocks as she has recorded 43 on the season. Senior forward Shakara Jones is turning 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Jones leads MU in field goal percentage at 47.0. The Tigers are out-rebounding their opponents by 0.8 per game and have pulled down 231 offensive rebounds on the season. The Tigers have recorded wins over ranked teams Georgetown and Texas. MU is coached by Robin Pingeton, who owns a 9-10 ledger in her first season with the Tigers. Pingeton owns an overall mark of 347-167 in her 16th year in the business.

A LOOK AT KANSAS

Kansas is 14-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12 after dropping three-straight games in conference play. Kansas is 4-2 on the road on the season. The Jayhawks are led by sophomore forward Carolyn Davis’ 18.0 points per game. Davis has posted eight 20-point games on the season, highlighted by a 29-point effort at Wisconsin. Davis is also grabbing 8.2 boards per game. Sophomore guard Monica Engelman is averaging 12.4 points per game, while also pulling down 4.3 rebounds per game. Junior forward Aishah Sutherland is next with 10.6 points per contest. Sutherland is nearly averaging a double-double as she is also pulling down 8.9 caroms per contest, which ranks first in the Big 12. Davis tops KU in blocks with 1.5 per game, while Sutherland blocks 1.3 per game. KU is shooting 46.3 percent from the field, which ranks third in the Big 12, while holding its opponents to 37.0 percent from the field. Davis leads the team in field goal percentage as she is knocking down 64.2 percent of her shots, which tops the Big 12. Senior center Krysten Boogaard is right behind her at 58.6 percent and three other Jayhawks are also shooting 45.0 percent or better. Kansas is out-rebounding its opponents by 5.4 boards per game, led by Sutherland’s 8.9 per game. Freshman guard Keena Mays is turning in 8.9 points and a team-best 4.8 assists per game. Mays leads Kansas by shooting 44.2 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Angel Goodrich leads KU with 1.7 steals per game, while also averaging 4.1 assists and 6.3 points per outing.

A KANSAS WIN WOULD…

Improve the Jayhawks to 15-5, giving KU its best season-opening record since the 1997-98 season, when KU opened the year with a 15-5 mark … Produce KU’s third-straight win over Missouri and its second-straight in Columbia … Improve the Jayhawks to 5-2 in road games … Make the Jayhawks 43-36 all-time versus MU … Make the Jayhawks 288-284 all-time versus schools from the Big 12, including a 88-143 mark since the league formed … Improve Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson to 9-5 against MU … Give Henrickson a 111-100 mark at Kansas, a 34-78 ledger against Big 12 foes and a 269-162 overall record … Make Kansas 708-498 all time.

A KANSAS LOSS WOULD…

Drop KU to 4-3 in road games … Make Kansas 14-6 to open the season for the first time since the 1998-99 season …. Move the series to 42-37 in KU’s favor … Give KU head coach Bonnie Henrickson an 8-6 record against MU … Move the Jayhawks to 287-285 all-time versus schools from the Big 12, including a 87-144 record since the league formed … Drop Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record at KU to 110-101, 33-79 versus Big 12 schools and her overall mark to 268-163 … Make Kansas 707-499 all time … Be less good than a Jayhawks’ win.

KU-MU SERIES HISTORY

The all-time series between the Jayhawks and Tigers is 42-36 in KU’s favor. KU won both meetings between the two schools last season. Prior to that, the two teams split the season series in the previous four seasons. KU is 15-17 all-time versus MU in games played in Columbia.