Jayhawks Set To Take On No. 20/21 Cowgirls In Big 12 Championship Opener

March 9, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Game Notes in PDF Format

OPENING TIP

The Kansas women’s basketball team travels to Kansas City, Mo., for the 2010 Big 12 Championship where it will face Oklahoma State in its first round game. The 10th-seeded Jayhawks are looking to snap a five-game losing streak when they face the seventh-seeded Cowgirls. OSU topped KU, 70-68, in the two teams’ previous meeting this season. The game will tip-off at 5 p.m., in Municipal Auditorium with the winner set to face No. 2 seed Iowa State on Friday at the same time.

FAST BREAKS

-KU dropped its fifth-straight game with a 78-54 setback versus No. 14/15 Texas A&M Saturday evening. Sophomore Aishah Sutherland paced Kansas with 13 points off of 5-of-6 shooting from the field. It marked Sutherland’s first double-digit scoring effort in four games. Senior Sade Morris was also in double figures for the Jayhawks with 12 points. Sutherland and freshman Annette Davis led KU on the boards with four caroms apiece. Junior Krysten Boogaard and senior LaChelda Jacobs each added nine points and Jacobs led KU with four assists.

-Jayhawk freshman forward Carolyn Davis has recorded double figures in 10 of her last 13 games and is averaging a team-best 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in Big 12 Conference play. Davis has collected four double-doubles during league play, including a 29-point, 14-rebound performance versus Texas (2-13-10). She leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage, shooting 68.9 percent in all games and 68.6 percent in league contests. Davis missed KU’s game versus Texas A&M with a concussion, but is currently listed as day-to-day for the Big 12 Championship.

-KU freshman guard Monica Engelman has recorded double figures in eight of her last 13 games. She recorded a career-best 22 points versus Texas (2-13-10). Engelman is averaging 13.4 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds since replacing injured guard-forward Danielle McCray in the starting line-up nine games ago. She has also made 27-of-28 shots from the foul line during the nine games, good for 96.4 percent.

-Kansas ranks second in the NCAA with seven different players having scored 20 or more points in a game this season. South Florida is the top team with eight players reaching the 20-point plateau. Danielle McCray (9), Sade Morris (2), Krysten Boogaard (1), Aishah Sutherland (1), Carolyn Davis (3), Monica Engelman (1) and Angel Goodrich (1) have each scored 20 or more this season for KU.

-The Jayhawks will dress out 12 players as freshman forward Tania Jackson is taking a redshirt this season and redshirt freshman guard Angel Goodrich and senior guard Danielle McCray will miss the remainder of the 2009-10 season with knee injuries. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis missed KU’s last game after suffering a concussion in practice on Friday, March 5. Davis is currently listed as day-to-day.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA STATE

The Cowgirls are led by senior guard Andrea Riley who is averaging a Big 12 best 25.5 points per game. The Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy candidate also leads OSU and the Big 12 in assists with 6.7 dimes per game. Senior forward Tegan Cunningham is OSU’s second-leading scorer and ranks ninth in the league at 16.4 points per game. Cunningham leads the Cowgirls in 3-point field goal percentage (40.5) and is second in 3-point field goals made (60). Junior forward Precious Robinson paces the Cowgirls on the boards with 7.5 caroms per contest. OSU is coached by Kurt Budke who owns a 91-66 record in his sixth season at the helm of the program. Budke’s overall coaching record is 444-113 in 18 seasons.

KU-OSU SERIES HISTORY

The all-time series between the Jayhawks and Cowgirls is 29-23 in KU’s favor. OSU won this year’s meeting with KU, 70-68, in Lawrence, on a shot by Toni Young with three seconds to play. Jayhawk guard Danielle McCray had knotted the score with a three with 14 seconds on the clock. KU is 2-1 all-time versus OSU in games played in Kansas City.

A LOOK AT KANSAS

Kansas enters Thursday’s game versus Oklahoma State with a 15-14 overall mark and a 5-11 record in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks spent the first nine weeks of the 2009-10 season ranked in the Associated Press poll, including the preseason poll. KU is averaging 67.6 points per game and 37.6 rebounds an outing. Senior guard-forward Danielle McCray was leading the way with 19.8 points and 7.2 boards a game prior to having her season and KU career come to end with a knee injury on Feb. 4. McCray is the second Jayhawk starter to be lost for the season as redshirt freshman guard Angel Goodrich, who was fourth in the NCAA with 7.1 assists per game, also suffered a season-ending injury on Jan. 12. Sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland is registering 9.9 points and a team-leading 7.2 caroms per contest. Sutherland also leads the Jayhawks in blocks (33). Senior guard Sade Morris is scoring 10.1 points per game and became the 21st player in Kansas history to score 1,000 career points versus Michigan (11-22-09). Morris also turns in 2.9 boards, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis has started 13 contests and is averaging 9.1 points and 5.1 boards per game on the season. Davis, who missed the regular-season finale with a concussion, has upped her production to 14.2 points and 8.2 caroms per contest since being inserted in the starting line-up and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week twice during the month of February. Junior center Krysten Boogaard is turning in 4.0 boards per game, while also contributing 7.9 tallies an outing. KU freshman guard Monica Engelman, who replaced McCray in the starting line-up, adds 7.3 points and 2.3 caroms per contest and has scored in double figures in eight of the last 13 games. Kansas is led by sixth-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson who owns a 94-93 mark at the helm of the Jayhawk program. Henrickson is 252-155 in her 13th season in the business.