Jayhawks Break Through Against Cowgirls for 73-66 Road Win
Feb. 23, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. –
A back-and-forth nail-biter ended with a victory on the side of the Jayhawks Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. A late push propelled Kansas women’s basketball to a 73-66 victory over Oklahoma State.
Playing to a loud crowd of friends and family in her home state, Angel Goodrich scored a season-high 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Monica Engelman added in 10 points and dished out seven helpers, finishing one shy of matching her season-best mark.
Aishah Sutherland turned out a solid all-around performance with 14 points and seven boards. Sutherland went 6-for-8 at the free throw line, earning key points in the final minute that allowed the Jayhawks to push the game out of reach of the Cowgirls.
OSU’s Toni Young led the game with 20 points and eight rebounds. Vicky McIntyre was not far behind with marks of 18 and seven.
The Jayhawks, who are now on a two-game winning streak, improved to 18-9 and 5-8 in the Big 12, while the Cowgirls fell to 15-11 and 3-10 in conference play.
For much of the game, the Cowgirls held an advantage. But Kansas battled close throughout, and with 2:26 left to play, Goodrich knocked down a decisive three for the Jayhawks. Engelman then followed suit, giving KU a lead it would never relinquish.
The Cowgirls opened up with a hot shooting streak. OSU went 4-for-4 over the first four possessions, with Young netting three of those shots.
Two threes by Tania Jackson kept the score close. Down 6-9, the Jayhawks went on to take a 10-9 lead after two free throws by Davis and a jumper by Goodrich. But OSU recovered the lead after a timeout when McIntyre came off the bench and exploded for 14 first-half points.
With just under four minutes left in the half, the two teams found themselves evenly matched for the third time in the contest. KU then tied it up for a fourth time when Engelman swiped a ball dished it off to Diara Moore under the hoop. Moore then laid it in for a fastbreak layup, evening the score at 29-29.
Keena Mays gave the Jayhawks a lead at 2:14 with a free throw, but the lead was short-lived as McIntyre hit another shot from just a foot in front of the basket, putting OSU back on top 33-32.
Tiffany Bias hit a short jumper right before the buzzer, sending the Jayhawks into the locker room down by just two, 35-33.
Second half action continued to be close. After finding themselves down by six points for the second time in the contest, Kansas closed the gap to two points and remained down by only a handful of points.
With just under six minutes left, Davis broke through a double team for a layup, bringing the Jayhawks back to within a single point, 53-52. The KU defense then made a strong stop on the other end of the court, and Davis hooked a ball over McIntyre to put Kansas up 54-53 at 6:55.
The lead then changed on the next three possessions. With Kansas trailing 59-58 at 3:01, Goodrich was called for traveling. However, she quickly made up for the misstep with an immediate steal and a game-changing three.
With the Cowgirls now down by one, Engelman hit a clutch three from the corner. Now, with only 1:18 on the clock, it was the Jayhawks who had the five-point advantage.
Bias was then whistled for pushing Moore out of bounds and the freshman went to the line for the 1-and-1. Moore made both free throws to complete an 8-0 run and KU went up 66-59.
OSU’s Young kept the final minute interesting with five points that brought the Cowgirls back to two points, 66-64. Now within striking distance, Davis was fouled and made only one free throw. But Sutherland grabbed the rebound on Davis’ miss and was fouled. She sunk both charity shots, as well as four more in the last 20 seconds.
With only five seconds to go, Lakyn Garrison buried a deep three for the Cowgirls, but it was not enough. Sutherland was sent to the line for the fourth time and went 2-for-2, capping off KU’s 73-66 victory.
The Jayhawks will look to build on their winning streak Saturday, when Nebraska visits Allen Fieldhouse for the final time as a Big 12 Conference member. Action with the Huskers is slated for 7 p.m.
