Kansas Hosts Prairie View A&M In WNIT Opener Wednesday

March 16, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Game Notes in PDF Format

OPENING TIP

The Kansas women’s basketball team plays host to Prairie View A&M on Wednesday, March 17 in its Women’s NIT first round game. The postseason appearance is Kansas’ fourth under head coach Bonnie Henrickson and the 20th in school history. The Jayhawks, who went 4-1 in last season’s WNIT, collected wins over Creighton, Arkansas, New Mexico and Illinois State before falling in the title game to South Florida. Prairie View A&M enters Wednesday’s game with a 15-13 overall mark and a 12-6 mark in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

FAST BREAKS

-KU dropped its sixth-straight game with a 76-69 setback versus No. 20/21 Oklahoma State Thursday, March 11 in the Big 12 Championship opening round. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis was nearly perfect as she knocked down 12-of-13 shots on her way to a career-best 31 points. Davis knocked down 7-of-12 shots from the free throw line and also pulled down 11 boards on her way to collecting her fifth double-double of the season. Fellow post player junior Krysten Boogaard also had a strong performance, knocking down all three of her shots on her way to eight points and four rebounds in just eight minutes of action.

-Jayhawk freshman forward Carolyn Davis has recorded double figures in 11 of her last 14 games and averaged a team-best 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in Big 12 Conference play. Davis has collected five double-doubles on the season, including a 29-point, 14-rebound performance versus Texas (2-13-10) to go along with her 31-point 11-board effort in the Jayhawks’ last outing versus Oklahoma State. She leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage, shooting 71.1 percent in all games.

-KU freshman guard Monica Engelman has recorded double figures in eight of her last 14 games. She recorded a career-best 22 points versus Texas (2-13-10). Engelman is averaging 12.5 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds since replacing injured guard-forward Danielle McCray in the starting line-up 10 games ago. She has also made 29-of-31 shots from the foul line during the 10 games, good for 93.5 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. Two different player for KU have posted 30 or more points in McCray (2) and Davis (1).

-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.

A LOOK AT PRAIRIE VIEW A&M

The Lady Panthers are led by sophomore guard Latara Darrett who is averaging 15.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, all of which lead Prairie View A&M. Junior guard Dominique Smith turns in 13.6 points and 3.8 boards per game and leads PVAMU with 2.1 steals an outing. Senior guard Candice Thomas adds 14.8 points and 2.8 caroms per contest, while leading the Lady Panthers in field goal percentage at 48.4 percent. PVAMU is coached by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke who owns a 71-57 record in her fifth season at the helm of the program. Her overall coaching record is the same. Cooper-Dyke owns a gold medal from the Olympics and four WNBA titles from her illustrious playing career.

KU-PVAMU SERIES HISTORY

Wednesday’s game marks the first meeting all-time between Kansas and Prairie View A&M. KU has faced Southwestern Athletic Conference teams on 11 previous occasions, going 10-1 in those games.

A LOOK AT KANSAS

Kansas enters Wednesday’s game versus Prairie View A&M with a 15-15 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 9.7 points and a team-leading 7.2 caroms per contest. Sutherland also leads the Jayhawks in blocks (35). Senior guard Sade Morris is scoring 9.9 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 1.2 steals per game. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis has started 14 contests and is averaging 10.0 points and 5.4 boards per game on the season. Davis, who missed the regular-season finale with a concussion, has upped her production to 15.4 points and 8.4 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 7.2 points and 2.3 caroms per contest and has scored in double figures in eight of the last 14 games. Kansas is led by sixth-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson who owns a 94-94 mark at the helm of the Jayhawk program. Henrickson is 252-156 in her 13th season in the business.