Davis Dominates as Kansas Takes Down No. 21 Texas Tech, 62-43
Jan. 25, 2012
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Davis’ Strong Shooting Night Leads To Season High
LAWRENCE, Kan.— Junior forward Carolyn Davis scored a season-high 34 points as the Kansas women’s basketball team downed No. 21 Texas Tech, 62-43 Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. It marked the seventh time in Davis’ career that the Houston, Texas native recorded at least 30 points in a contest and was the most by a Big 12 player this season.
KU’s record becomes 16-3 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play, while the Red Raiders drop to 14-5 and 2-5 in conference play.
Senior forward Aishah Sutherland also had a career night, recording six blocks to go with her 10 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Angel Goodrich chipped in six points and nine assists, while junior guard Monica Engelman contributed eight points and seven rebounds to the Jayhawk victory.
Engelman and freshman guard Natalie Knight got the Jayhawks off to a hot start in the first half, scoring Kansas’ first six points. KU would rack up an 8-0 score before Texas Tech was able to put away its first bucket at the 16:15 mark.
Stifling defense allowed KU to go on another 8-2 run right after, stretching its lead to 16-4 and holding Texas Tech to 2-for-12 shooting during that stretch.
While the team held it down defensively, Davis took over offensively, scoring 10 of her 34 points by the 8:36 mark and giving KU a 20-15 lead. Kansas ran all offense through the junior, as Davis was the only Jayhawk to score for the remainder of the opening period.
KU went into the lockerroom holding a 30-23 advantage with Davis accounting for 20 of those 30 points. Sutherland had also amassed four of her six blocks before the break.
Kansas came out hot to start the second half with Sutherland scoring a quick fast-break layup to begin another run for the Crimson and Blue. Engelman found rhythm, scoring back-to-back jumpers before the first media timeout of the second frame and putting KU up 36-25 with 17:18 to play.
The Jayhawks again let their defense do the talking, keeping the Red Raiders from scoring for over four minutes and giving KU a 44-27 advantage with less than 13 minutes to play. During that stretch, Goodrich chipped in four points, including a pull-up jumper as the shot clock expired.
Davis put an end to a 6-0 run from Texas Tech, grabbing a smooth pass from Goodrich and banking it in to make the score 46-34 with 9:12 remaining in the contest. Sutherland quickly followed with a quick jumper to force Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry to call a timeout, trying to squash the shift in momentum.
On a night where neither team knock down a three-pointer, all offense seemed to go through Davis as she scored KU’s next eight points, giving KU a 56-39 advantage over the visiting Red Raiders. Davis’ accuracy was also evident on Wednesday evening, as she would connect on each of her final nine field goal attempts. She finished the contest shooting 17-of-24 for a blazing 70.8 percent mark from the field.
KU returns to the road this weekend as the Jayhawks travel to Waco, Texas to take on the undefeated No. 1 Baylor Bears. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
