Jayhawks Hit The Road, Travel To Illinois State For WNIT Third Round Thursday

March 23, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Game Notes in PDF Format

OPENING TIP

The Kansas women’s basketball team travels to Illinois State Thursday, March 25 for a WNIT Third Round match up with the Redbirds. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Redbird Arena. KU and ISU will be meeting for the fifth time in program history, with the Jayhawks holding a 4-0 edge in the all-time series. The two teams met in last season’s WNIT semifinal game with KU slipping past ISU, 75-72, in Lawrence in front of 8,360 fans.

FAST BREAKS

-KU has won two-straight WNIT games and six of its last seven after defeating Creighton, 71-68, on Sunday, March 21. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis recorded 25 points and 12 boards off the bench in the win, while senior guard Sade Morris added 14 points and six assists. Freshman guard Monica Engelman added six points, seven rebounds and seven assists. KU shot 55.3 percent from the field, marking the fifth time in its last seven WNIT games it has made better than 50 percent of its shots from the floor. The Jayhawks held Creighton to just 38.3 percent from the field, however, CU knocked down 9-of-19 from beyond the arc in its loss.

-Jayhawk freshman forward Carolyn Davis currently leads the Big 12 and KU in field goal percentage. Davis has connected on 105-of-145 shots this season, good for 72.4 percent. Davis has made 21-of-23 shots in her last two outings, good for 91.3 percent. Davis turned in a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds versus Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship and then recorded 25 points and 12 boards in KU’s win over Creighton. In her last two outings, Davis has averaged 28.0 points and 11.5 rebounds.

-KU freshman guard Monica Engelman has recorded double figures in nine of her last 16 games. She recorded a career-best 22 points versus Texas (2-13-10). Engelman collected seven assists and seven rebounds in KU’s win over Creighton, both career-highs. Engelman is averaging 11.9 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds since replacing injured guard-forward Danielle McCray in the starting line-up 12 games ago. She has made 29-of-31 shots from the foul line, 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 (2), Aishah Sutherland (1), Carolyn Davis (5), Monica Engelman (1) and Angel Goodrich (1) have each scored 20 or more this season for KU. Three different players for KU have posted 30 or more points in McCray (2), Davis (1) and Boogaard (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 ILLINOIS STATE

The Redbirds enter Thursday’s game with a 26-7 overall mark and concluded the season with a 16-2 ledger in Missouri Valley Conference play taking home the regular-season title. Illinois State is led by senior forward Ashleen Bracey’s 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Bracey is shooting 49.3 percent from the field and also leads ISU in steals with 38. Senior guard Maggie Krick is turning in 14.1 points and a team-leading 3.8 assists per game, while senior center Nicolle Lewis adds 12.1 tallies and 7.1 rebounds a game. Bracey and Krick were both named First Team All-MVC this season. ISU shoots an impressive 81.4 percent from the free throw line, as nine players shoot better than 70 percent from the charity stripe on the season. The Redbirds are coached by 2010 MVC Coach of the Year Robin Pingeton, who owns a 142-80 record in her eighth season at the helm of the program. Pingeton’s overall coaching record is the same.

KU-ILLINOIS STATE SERIES HISTORY

Kansas leads the all-time series between the Jayhawks and Redbirds with a 4-0 mark. Kansas is 1-0 in Normal, owning a 91-66 win over ISU on Dec. 21, 1995. KU head coach Bonnie Henrickson is 1-0 vs. the Redbirds.

A LOOK AT KANSAS

Kansas enters Thursday’s game versus Illinois State with a 17-15 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 9.6 points and a team-leading 7.2 caroms per contest. Sutherland also leads the Jayhawks in blocks (36). 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 2.8 boards, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Freshman forward Carolyn Davis has started 13 contests and is averaging 10.5 points and 5.6 boards per game on the season. Davis, who missed the regular-season finale and the WNIT opener with a concussion, has upped her production to 16.1 points and 8.6 caroms per contest, while shooting an amazing 73.2 percent from the field since being inserted in the starting line-up. Davis 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 8.9 tallies an outing. KU freshman guard Monica Engelman, who replaced McCray in the starting line-up, adds 7.3 points and 2.6 caroms per contest and has scored in double figures in nine of the last 16 games. Kansas is led by sixth-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson who owns a 96-94 mark at the helm of the Jayhawk program. Henrickson is 254-156 in her 13th season in the business.