Jayhawks Face Texas A&M in Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals
March 6, 2012
- Coach Henrickson
- C. Davis
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 6 seed Kansas will open the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship when it faces third-seeded Texas A&M in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. The winner will go on to play in the semifinals Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. The Jayhawks are 19-11 overall and finished Big 12 play with an 8-10 mark after picking up road win at Oklahoma in its regular-season finale to earn a top-six seed and first round bye. Defending national champion No. 14/22 TAMU is 20-9 overall, including 11-7 in the league, after dropping its last two games.
Follow the Jayhawks
Fans can watch Thursday’s game live on FSN. The Jayhawk Radio Network will broadcast the game over the air waves or fans can listen online through Jayhawk All-Access at www.KUAthletics.com.
Fast Breaks
– Kansas is playing without leading scorer Carolyn Davis (16.9 ppg), who suffered a season-ending knee injury four minutes into the team’s contest at Kansas State on Feb. 12. The Jayhawks have gone 2-5 since losing Davis in the lineup.
– Freshman Chelsea Gardner has started the last six games in place of Davis. In her last three games, she has averaged 8.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per outing.
– Junior Angel Goodrich broke the school’s 24-year-old single-season assist record and currently owns 224 dimes in 2011-12. The guard, who leads the country averaging 7.5 apg, is also just the third Jayhawk in program history to amass 500 career assists.
– Senior Aishah Sutherland scored 23 points in back-to-back games last week and added 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in two contests.
– KU had 12 turnovers at Oklahoma Sunday and is averaging 11.8 miscues in its last four games, down from its season average of 16.2 turnovers per game.
– The team’s win at Oklahoma on March 4 gave the Jayhawks their 100th all-time Big 12 Conference win.
– Kansas has eight Big 12 wins for the first time since 2000.
– After going 5-4 on the road during conference play, KU earned its most league victories on the road since 1997.
– Six of KU’s 11 losses have been by six points or less.
– Kansas is 2-4 versus ranked teams in 2011-12.
About the Jayhawks
Kansas concluded the regular-season with a win at Oklahoma to improve to 19-11 overall and 8-10 in the Big 12 Conference … The win marked KU’s first win in Norman since 1998 and gave the Jayhawks their most league wins since 2000 … Senior Aishah Sutherland ranks in the top 10 of the Big 12 in points and rebounds averaging a team-high 13.9 points and 9.1 rpg … She has back-to-back games with 23 points … Junior guard Angel Goodrich is next contributing 12.8 ppg and 4.1 rpg and also leads the nation dishing 7.5 apg … She is KU’s top threat from long-range with 40 three-pointers … Freshman Natalie Knight has started all 30 games alongside Sutherland and Goodrich and is coming off a personal-best 18 points at OU … The guard is scoring 9.8 ppg over the last four games while sophomore CeCe Harper is adding 7.8 ppg … The two have combined for 11 three’s in that span … Freshman Chelsea Gardner has played in place of injured Carolyn Davis and has stepped up with 8.0 points and 8.0 rebounds over her last three starts.
Scouting Texas A&M
Texas A&M lost its last two games to Baylor and at Texas to go 20-9 overall in regular-season play, including 11-7 in the Big … Four Aggies average double-digit scoring led by Tyra White’s 13.5 ppg … Kelsey Bone adds 12.1 ppg on a team-high 54.6 field goal percentage and also leads TAMU with 6.9 rpg … As a team, the Aggies pace the Big 12 with 16.4 offensive boards per game … Adaora Elonu and Sydney Carter contribute 11.9 and 11.0 ppg, respectively.
Series History
Kansas lost both regular-season meetings with Texas A&M this year as it trails the all-time series, 11-7. KU has lost its last 10 matchups with the Aggies; its last win came on Jan. 25, 2003 in College Station. The teams have never met at the Big 12 Championship.
Big 12 Honors Three Jayhawks on Postseason Awards List
Kansas junior forward Carolyn Davis was named All-Big 12 First Team for the second consecutive year to highlight a list of three Jayhawks placed on the league’s postseason awards list. Junior guard Angel Goodrich earned second team honors while senior forward Aishah Sutherland was an honorable mention selection. Both were recognized by the conference for the first time in their careers.
Up Next
Should Kansas defeat Texas A&M, it will advance to the semifinal round and play the winner of game 5. That game is scheduled for Friday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m.
