Kansas To Get Road Test At Oklahoma
Feb. 7, 2006
Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader Kansas Jayhawks at Oklahoma Sooners
Game #21 – Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006 – 7 p.m. – Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) Radio
Jayhawk Radio Network. Nate Bukaty (play-by-play), Brian Hanni (color).
Television
None.
Records
Kansas is 14-6 overall, 3-6 in the Big 12 and is coming a win over Iowa State. Oklahoma is 19-4 overall, 9-0 in Big 12 play and has won its last seven.
Rankings
Kansas is not ranked. Oklahoma is ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll and was No. 13 in last week’s USA Today/WBCA/ESPN Coaches poll.
Coaches
Bonnie Henrickson is 26-22 in her second year at Kansas and 184-84 in her ninth season overall. The Sooners are coached by Sherri Coale who is 192-112 in her 10th year at Oklahoma and as a head coach overall.
Series History
Kansas leads the all-time series 27-21, although Oklahoma has won the last seven meetings. In Norman, OU holds a narrow 10-9 advantage.
Jayhawk Storylines
– Kansas is coming off a 65-64 win over Iowa State on Saturday with the game-winning free throw coming from Erica Hallman with 5.5 seconds on the game clock.
– Senior Crystal Kemp has scored in double-figures in her last 21 games, dating back to the final game of last season. She posted her eighth double-double of the season as she led KU with 19 points and 10 boards against ISU.
– Kansas’ regular starting lineup of McIntosh, Kemp, Catic, Brown and Hallman is playing over 80 percent of the available minutes in Big 12 games and scoring nearly 89 percent of the Jayhawks’ points.
– Ivana Catic averages 6.15 assists and 1.80 steals to lead all Big 12 freshmen.
The Matchup
The University of Kansas (14-6, 3-6 Big 12) will get its next test when it takes on the Big 12’s top team, the University of Oklahoma Sooners (19-4, 9-0 Big 12) on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in Norman, Okla. Game time from the Lloyd Noble Center is 7 p.m.
Kansas enters the contest after dropping Iowa State, 65-64, Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas jumped out to a big lead early and led by as many as 19 in the second half before ISU mounted a comeback. The Jayhawks held off the Cyclone attack and an Erica Hallman free throw with 5.5 seconds on the clock sealed the KU victory. Senior Crystal Kemp paced the KU effort with 19 points and 10 boards. Senior Kaylee Brown hit four 3-pointers and totaled 16 points. Freshman Ivana Catic had her best game since the start of conference play by scoring 15 points and dishing seven assists.
The win was Kansas’ 14th of the season which guarantees the Jayhawks their first regular season winning record since 1999-2000.
Kemp has scored in double-figures in every game and owns team-best averages of 19.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Brown has taken over the second spot on the scoring leaders list with 13.3 points per game. Senior Erica Hallman is third with 13.2 points per outing. Kansas averages 70.1 points and 36.0 rebounds while giving up 65.2 points and 35.3 boards. KU is first in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at a clip of 38.4 percent. KU trails only Oklahoma (47.3%) in overall field goal accuracy at 44.8 percent.
Oklahoma has been the most dominant team in the league this season, outscoring Big 12 opponents by an average of 16.0 points per game. Freshman all-everything Courtney Paris averages 21.3 points on 62.3 percent shooting and 14.7 rebounds per outing, and has totaled 71 blocked shots, 40 assists and 25 steals. She has 20 double-doubles in 23 games played. Second on the team in scoring is junior forward Leah Rush with 10.3 points per game.
Kansas leads the all-time series over Oklahoma 27-21, although the Sooners have won the last seven meetings. In Norman, the Sooners lead 10-9.
Oklahoma is coached by Sherri Coale, who is 192-112 in her 10th year with the Sooners and as a head coach overall.
More From The Last Game
Kansas (14-6, 3-6 Big 12) defeated Iowa State (12-8, 3-6 Big 12), 65-64, Saturday, Feb. 4 at a raucous Allen Fieldhouse. Senior guard Erica Hallman connected on a free throw with 5.5 seconds left to catapult the Jayhawks to victory.
Senior forward Crystal Kemp led KU with 19 points and 10 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season. She also moved into sole possession of 10th place on KU’s career list for rebounds with 743 career boards.
Senior guard Kaylee Brown chipped in 16 points and four 3-pointers, including a critical trey with less than three minutes to play in the second half. Freshman guard Ivana Catic finished with 15 points, one off a season high, and dished out seven assists. In addition to her crucial free throw, Hallman scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and distributed four assists.
The Jayhawks withstood a spirited Cyclones rally in the second half, as Iowa State cut the lead from 48-29 to 50-48 at the 12 minute media timeout. The Jayhawks held the Cyclones to 38 percent shooting from the field and limited Iowa State, the Big 12’s leading 3-point shooting team, to only 35 percent shooting from downtown.
In the first half, Kemp and Catic paced KU with 11 and 10 points, respectively, to guide the Jayhawks to a 42-29 halftime lead. Kansas led by as many as 19 during the game and connected on seven 3-pointers.
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 26-22 (.542) at KU and 184-84 (.687) in her career.
Jayhawk Starters
Kansas has used four different starting lineups in 20 games with sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh, senior forward Crystal Kemp and senior guard Kaylee Brown starting every game. Freshman Ivana Catic (19 starts), senior Erica Hallman (17), junior Shaquina Mosley (3) and junior Sharita Smith (1) have all received starting nods at a guard spot. Hallman has started the last 17 games. Catic has started every game except for the Baylor contest, when Mosley got the nod. The current, and most used, line-up of McIntosh, Kemp, Catic, Brown and Hallman are 11-5 as a unit.
Today’s Opponent – Oklahoma
Oklahoma (19-4, 9-0 Big 12) hosts Kansas on Wednesday, Feb. 8 riding a seven-game winning streak. The Sooners’ losses have come against No. 7/9 Connecticut, at Illinois, versus No. 11/13 Michigan State and at No. 10/10 Ohio State. OU has been rolling through the Big 12, winning by an average margin of 16.0 points per game. Oklahoma’s closest Big 12 game was a 73-70 win at Baylor.
OU is coming off an 88-73 win at Missouri on Saturday. Freshman phenom Courtney Paris posted 27 points, 16 rebounds and six assists to lead the Sooners. Junior Chelsi Welch added 16 points. Freshman Ashley Paris contributed 14 points and seven boards off the bench.
The Sooners average a Big 12 best 77.1 points per game with nearly half of those points coming in the paint.
In addition to scoring offense, OU ranks first in the conference in field goal percentage (47.3%), rebounding offense (43.9), rebounding defense (32.7) and rebounding margin (+11.2).
Courtney Paris leads the Sooners with averages of 21.3 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. Junior Leah Rush is second in scoring with 10.3 points per outing. Junior Chelsi Welch — the 2002-03 Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year — has been impressive in recent weeks after recovering from an injury last season. She is averaging 12.3 points per game in league contests.
The Sooners are coached by Sherri Coale who is 192-112 in her 10th year at Oklahoma and as a head coach overall.
Kansas/Oklahoma Notes
Kansas and Oklahoma are meeting for the 49th time in history dating back to 1976. OU leads KU 7-3 since the inception of the Big 12 Conference which coincides with the Oklahoma coaching career of Sherri Coale. Kansas senior Kaylee Brown is a native of Arcadia, Okla.
A Kansas Win Would
Make the Jayhawks 15-6 overall and 4-6 in Big 12 play … Give KU it’s second straight win … Snap a streak of seven losses to the Sooners … Improve KU’s record against OU to 28-21 including a 10-10 mark in games played in Norman … Make KU 2-1 against ranked teams this season … Make the Jayhawks 1-4 on the road this season … Improve head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record to 27-22 at Kansas and 185-84 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 624-420 all-time.
A Kansas Loss Would
Make the Jayhawks 14-7 overall and 3-7 in Big 12 play … Give KU its fourth loss in the last five games … Make KU 27-22 all-time against Oklahoma, including a 9-11 mark in Norman … Give Oklahoma its eighth-straight win against the Jayhawks … Make the Jayhawks 0-5 on the road this season … Make head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record 26-23 at Kansas and 184-85 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 623-421 all-time.
Most Wins Since 1999-2000
When Kansas defeated Oklahoma State on Jan. 22, it recorded its lucky 13th win of the season to mark the most victories in a season for the Jayhawks since the 1999-2000 season when KU went 20-10 overall, 11-5 in the Big 12 and played in the NCAA Tournament. That team, led by senior Lynn Pride, was the most recent KU team to post a winning record. KU now has 14 victories.
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.
Reaching 70
Kansas has scored 70 or more points in 12 games and averages 70.1 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. KU has scored less than 70 points in seven of the last eight games.
Taking Care Of The Ball
The Jayhawks have passed out 336 assists and made 538 field goals, or an assist for every 1.60 field goals made. KU’s 16.80 assists per game ranks second in the Big 12 behind Kansas State (16.95). Additionally, KU only turns the ball over 14.2 times per game for a Big 12 leading assist/turnover ratio of 1.19. KU 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 increased home attendance by an average of over 600 fans per game from last season’s average. 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 5,634 fans for the Big 12 opener against Texas was the most in the Bonnie Henrickson era.
Hallman Reaches 1,000
Senior Erica Hallman cemented her name in the KU record books when she hit a jumper from the right elbow with 19:07 in the first half at Baylor for her 1,000th career point. The Covington, Ky., native is the 19th player in KU history to reach the scoring plateau. Currently at 1,025 points, she is in 18th place on the all-time scoring list, and needs 19 points to catch Shebra Legrant for 17th place.
Kemp Among KU’s All-Time Elite
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 as a junior last season. Against Birmingham-Southern this year, the Topeka, Kan., native collected her 600th career rebound. Twelve games later against Oklahoma State, she surpassed 700 career boards. At Kansas State, she scored her 1,400th point, making her the seventh Jayhawk in history to reach both 1,400 points and 700 rebounds. 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 third on the KU career free throw percentage at 78.7 percent (74-94).
– KU players have recorded 20+ point scoring games 14 times as Crystal Kemp has 10, Erica Hallman has two and Kaylee Brown has two. Kemp has nine 20+ games in the last 12 outings.
– Kemp ranks in the all-time KU top-10 in points (9th-1,462), rebounds (10th-743), field goals made (8th-583), field goals attempted (10th-1,145), field goal percentage (10th-50.9), free throws made (T10th-290), free throw percentage (T8th-73.1) and minutes (10th-3,236).
– Kemp is one blocked shot away from entering the KU top-10. She is sitting on 84 career blocks, and her next swat will tie her with Lynn Page and Tracy Claxton for ninth place.
– Hallman ranks second on the all-time KU 3-pointers list with 163 made.
– Brown has attempted 293 career 3-pointers to rank sixth on the KU all-time list. Fifth place is occupied by Suzi Raymant who attempted 328 between 1996-2000.
– Hallman ranks third on the all-time assist list with 414 dimes.
– Freshman Ivana Catic’s 123 assists this season rank 10th on the KU single season list.
– KU’s 50-point loss at Baylor was the largest margin of defeat in school history.
– Kansas wore red uniforms for the first time at Kansas State on Jan. 25.
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.
Serbian Sensations
Kansas welcomes the addition of two international players in 2005-06 with the addition of freshmen Ivana Catic and Marija Zinic — both natives of Serbia & Montenegro. The duo has extensive experience playing together on various teams in their home country. The pair bring Kansas’ all-time list of international players to eight. Other international players to suit up for KU include Bente Dahl (Oslo, Norway – 1985), Sandra de Bruin (Beetgum, Holland – 1990), Suzi Raymant (Melbourne, Australia – 1996-2000), Fernanda Bosi (Americana, Brazil – 2000-01), Leila Mengüç (Stockholm, Sweden – 2000-04) and Valerie Migicovsky (North Bay, Ontario – 2001-03).
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 as the 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.
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.
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.
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.
Up Next For KU
Kansas stays on the road for its first contest of the season against Border Showdown rival Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 11 in Columbia, Mo. Game time from the Mizzou Sports Arena is 3 p.m. and the game will be televised by the Mizzou Sports Network available on Metro Sports in Kansas City. After Mizzou, KU returns home for a rematch with Nebraska on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.
