Kansas To Host Emporia State in Exhibition Opener

Oct. 31, 2011

Kansas Game Notes in PDF Format

Emporia State Game Notes in PDF Format

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball will host Emporia State on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. in its first exhibition game of the 2011-12 season. The Jayhawks, guided by eighth year head coach Bonnie Henrickson, are coming off their second 20-win season in the last three years going 21-13 a year ago, while advancing to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season.

Game Promotions
Children who wear their Halloween costume to the game will gain free admission. Additionally, fans that bring their ticket stub from Wednesday’s KU versus Missouri volleyball match can also get into the women’s basketball game free of charge.

Fast Breaks
– Kansas holds a 38-9 all-time record in exhibition games and has won 29 of its last 31 preseason contests. See page three for complete preseason exhibition results.

– The Jayhawks are 3-0 versus Emporia State in exhibition contests dating back to 2005. In the teams’ last meeting in 2009, KU defeated the Lady Hornets 85-48.

– KU leads the regular-season series with ESU 3-0. The Jayhawks and Emporia State have not met during regular-season play since Kansas took a 56-46 win over the Lady Hornets on Dec. 14, 1991 in Lawrence.

– Kansas returns seven letterwinners, including four starters, from its 2010-11 squad.

– Among its returners, KU brings back the Big 12’s leading field goal percentage shooter- Carolyn Davis, .660- and assists leader- Angel Goodrich, 6.3 assists per game- while Monica Engelman returns after leading the league with a 43.1 three-point percentage during conference play.

– The Jayhawks return 83.4 percent of their scoring and 81.5 percent of their rebounding from a year ago.

About the Jayhawks
The Kansas women’s basketball program has a lot to look forward to heading into the 2011-12 season. Not only is the team coming off its second 20-win campaign in the last three years, but Kansas is looking back on a season in which it got off to its best start (13-1) since 1993-94 and qualified for postseason play for the fourth-consecutive year. KU returns four starters in senior Aishah Sutherland and juniors Carolyn Davis, Monica Engelman and Angel Goodrich. Sophomores Tania Jackson, CeCe Harper and Keena Mays round out the group of returners. Davis paced the team with 19.0 points and 7.4 rebounds last season and ranked second in the nation with a 66.0 field goal percentage to lead the Big 12 for the second-straight season. Sutherland was right behind Davis last year turning in a career-best 7.2 rebounds per game, just outside the top 10 in the conference rankings, while adding 8.4 points per contest in 22 starts.

Complementing the post play of Davis and Sutherland will be the guard duo of Goodrich and Engelman. Goodrich will once again serve as floor general after pacing the Big 12 Conference with the nation’s sixth-best mark of 6.3 assists per game. With Goodrich feeding the offense, and Davis’ abilities drawing a crowd down low, Engelman is once again primed to make herself a threat along the three-point arc. Her 43.1 percent accuracy from the three during league play last season was tops in the Big 12. She joined Davis as the only other Jayhawk to average double-digit points, contributing 12.1 points per game to go along with 4.0 rebounds an outing.

Henrickson has brought in five highly-touted freshmen who all have good opportunities to contribute right away since they received valuable playing time during the team’s trip to Italy last summer. A trio of guards in Asia Boyd, Natalie Knight and Donielle Breaux will continue to make KU’s perimeter one of the deepest in the Big 12 Conference, while Chelsea Gardner and Bunny Williams will learn from KU’s contingent in the post.

Scouting Emporia State
Just one year removed from a Division II National Championship, Emporia State finished the 2010-11 season 20-9 overall and advanced to the MIAA Tournament championship game for the eighth time in school history. The Lady Hornets open the season ranked second in both the MIAA coaches and media preseason polls.

Second year coach Jory Collins brings back four starters and eight letterwin­ners, accounting for nearly 70-percent of the scoring and 63-percent of the rebounding from last year’s squad. Sophomore Kelsey Balcom and junior Rachel Hanf are the Lady Hornets’ top returning scorers. Balcom averaged 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds, while Hanf followed with 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Junior Jocelyn Cummings was the fourth member of the start­ing lineup to average double figures last year chipping in 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Up Next
Kansas will have one last test before the regular-season as it is set to host Washburn in an exhibition contest on Sunday, Nov. 6. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.