Kansas Women's Basketball To Face West Coast All-Stars

Nov. 15, 2004

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Kansas Jayhawks (1-0 exh.) vs. West Coast All-Stars (0-6)

Exhibition Game #2 – Tues., Nov. 16, 2004 – 7:05 p.m. – Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

Radio/Television
Jayhawk Radio Network. Nate Bukaty (play-by-play) and Brenda VanLengen (color analyst) call the action.

Records
Kansas is 1-0 in exhibition play this season. The West Coast All-Stars are winless in six games against NCAA foes.

Rankings
None.

Coaches
Bonnie Henrickson is 0-0 in as she begins her first year at Kansas, and owns a career record of 158-62 in her eighth year as a head coach overall. The West Coast All-Stars are coached by Jerry Gatewood.

Jayhawk Storylines
– Kansas is 1-0 in exhibition play after defeating Fort Hays State on Nov. 9. Junior Crystal Kemp led the charge with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Kaylee Brown poured in a career-best 17 points. Freshman Jamie Boyd pulled down 11 boards.
– Three Jayhawks (freshman Jamie Boyd, junior Heather Hayes and freshman Taylor McIntosh) made their career debuts in a Jayhawk uniform against FHSU. Additionally, sophomore Alicia Rhymes was in the starting lineup for the first time in her career.
– The meeting with the West Coast All-Stars marks the second-straight year KU has faced a team composed of former college players. The Jayhawks defeated St. Louis Goldstar last season, 79-28, in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas is 3-3 all-time in exhibition play against similar teams.
– Kansas has been picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 according to preseason polls by both the league’s coaches and media.
– Tonight’s game is the second and final exhibition game for the Jayhawks. The team will open regular season action at home versus Texas-Arlington on Nov. 21.

Tonight’s Game
Kansas plays its second exhibition game of the 2004-05 season Tuesday, Nov. 16, when the Jayhawks take on the West Coast All-Stars in Allen Fieldhouse with a 7:05 p.m. tip. The game is the final exhibition contest for KU before the Jayhawks welcome Texas-Arlington to Lawrence on Sunday, Nov. 21 to open the regular season.
The Jayhawks are coming off an impressive first exhibition game, where they defeated Fort Hays State 88-49 on Nov. 9. Junior Crystal Kemp led KU with 22 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Junior Kaylee Brown pumped in a career-best 17 points and freshman Jamie Boyd added 11 rebounds in her career debut.
Kansas is entering a new era of basketball under the guidance of first year head coach Bonnie Henrickson. Henrickson was hired at Kansas on March 29, 2004, after seven successful seasons at Virginia Tech University.
The Jayhawks return seven letterwinners including three starters who accounted for 60 percent of the scoring and 41 percent of the rebounding in 2003-04. Two seniors, Blair Waltz and Aquanita Burras, return for the final seasons in a Jayhawk uniform, while Brown, Kemp, junior Erica Hallman and Alicia Rhymes also return. Newcomers Jamie Boyd, Taylor McIntosh and Heather Hayes all saw their first action in a KU uniform against Fort Hays State.
The West Coast All-Stars, coached by Jerry Gatewood, are playing the seventh game of their tour against NCAA teams.
KU has won its last 10 exhibition contests dating back to 2001.

Last Time Out
First-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson got her first taste of KU basketball with an 88-49 exhibition win over Fort Hays State in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks led the entire game and held the Tigers to just 26 percent shooting from the field.
The Jayhawks, who have won 16 of their last 17 exhibition games, had the hot hand in the first half, and shot 52 percent from the field to take a 13-point lead into the break. The Jayhawks went on to outscore FHSU 51-25 in the second half to cruise to victory.
KU junior Crystal Kemp led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Kemp also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and blocked three shots. Junior Kaylee Brown added 17, while senior Aquanita Burras rounded out the double-figure scoring with 15.
FHSU junior Crystal Harden was the Tigers’ lone double figure scorer with 10 points. Harden also recorded a team-high 11 rebounds.
“I was very happy tonight with the offense that came from our defensive pressure,” Henrickson said. “Our ability to get up and down the court like we did tonight will help us come the regular season.”

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson enters her first season at the helm of the Jayhawks as one the hottest young coaches in the nation. Henrickson comes to Kansas after seven successful seasons at Virginia Tech University where she compiled a record of 158-62 (.718). Her teams averaged 23 wins per season and advanced to postseason play all seven years including five NCAA appearances. When Henrickson took over at Virginia Tech for the 1997-98 season, she orchestrated the biggest turnaround in school history. She guided her team to a 22-10 record, the school’s first Atlantic 10 Conference title and an NCAA second-round appearance just one season after the Hokies had finished last in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 10-21 record. Overall, the Willmar, Minn., native has been a part of 11-straight postseason teams entering the 2004-05 season.

An All-Star Staff
Joining Bonnie Henrickson on the sidelines in her first season at KU are assistant coaches Karen Lange, Kyra Elzy, Katie O’Connor. Also joining the staff is director of operations Trena Anderson and administrative assistant Katie Wulf. Lange, O’Connor and Anderson followed Henrickson from Virginia Tech, while Elzy and Wulf both join KU from Western Kentucky. Prior to WKU, Elzy also worked as an administrative assistant for Henrickson at Virginia Tech. At an average age of less than 28 years old, Henrickson’s three assistant coaches (Lange, Elzy, O’Connor) have already been a part of 19 NCAA tournaments, eight Sweet 16s, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two National Championships, combined.

Kansas Signs Three
So far, Kansas has signed three players during the early signing period for the 2005-06 season including Ivana Catic, Jennifer Orgas and Sophronia Sallard.

Kansas Signees At-a-Glance
Ivana Catic (point guard, 5-8, Wheeling, W.V. – Mt. deChantal Academy)
Jennifer Orgas (forward, 6-2, Omaha, Neb. – Skutt Catholic HS)
Sophronia Sallard (guard/forward, 5-10, Syracuse, N.Y. – Nottingham HS)

Tonight’s Opponent – West Coast All-Stars
The West Coast All-Stars, coached by Jerry Gatewood, are composed of former collegiate players based out of Los Angeles, Calif. The team has gone winless in six games against NCAA teams prior to coming to Kansas including at UNLV, Texas Tech, New Mexico, Kentucky, UCLA and Tennessee. Last game against Tennessee, the West Coast All-Stars were led by Tynecia Pam with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mauri Horton added 10 points.

Kansas In Exhibition Games
KU holds a 25-8 all-time record in exhibition games and has won it’s last 10 preseason contests. In fact, Kansas has won 16 of its last 17 exhibition games with the one loss coming at the hands of the Houston Jaguars, a team made up primarily of former college all-stars and WNBA talent. KU has never faced the West Coast All-Stars. KU owns a record of 3-3 in exhibition games against non-NCAA American teams all-time.

Up Next For KU
After the game with the West Coast All-Stars, the Jayhawks will take the court against Texas-Arlington on Sunday, Nov. 21, in Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. in the regular season opener. The game will be the first of five-straight home games for KU to open the season. The game will be broadcast live on Sunflower Broadband channel 6.

Returning For The Jayhawks
Kansas returns seven players and three starters from last year’s team that finished 9-19 overall and 2-14 in the Big 12. Leading the returners is 2003-04 team MVP junior Crystal Kemp who averaged 13.4 points and 5.8 rebounds last year. Other returners with starting experience include senior Blair Waltz, senior Aquanita Burras, junior Kaylee Brown, junior Erica Hallman and sophomore Sharita Smith. Also returning is sophomore Alicia Rhymes.

The Newcomers
Joining the team in 2004-05 are three newcomers including two freshmen and one junior. Below is a quick look at the new faces.
No. Name Pos. Ht. Cl. Notes 10 Jamie Boyd F 6-0 Fr. Winner of the 2004 Ms. Iowa Basketball award.
13 Taylor McIntosh F 5-11 Fr. Wichita Heights product scored over 1,400 points.
22 Heather Hayes G 5-8 Jr. Began her career at Oral Roberts. Spent last season as a redshirt walk-on for the Jayhawks.

Preseason Polls
Texas was picked by both the conference media and league coaches to win the Big 12 Championship in 2004-05. In the Coaches Poll, Texas received 11 first place votes and Kansas State took one first place nod. In the Media Poll, Texas received 12 first place votes while K-State received two votes. Kansas was picked to finish 11th in both preseason polls.

Home Court Advantage
Kansas fans will have plenty of opportunities to check out the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse this season. KU plays a total of 18 games this year in Lawrence including two exhibition games, eight non-conference contests and eight conference matchups. Other than conference play, KU will only take to the road three times. KU plays at No. 14 Minnesota on Dec. 5, at Creighton on Dec. 21 and at Ball State on Dec. 30.

20 Games On TV
KU’s television package in 2004-05 is the finest in school history. The Jayhawks will play four times on national television (two each on Fox Sports Net and CSTV), four times on Metro Sports out of Kansas City, nine times on Sunflower Broadband in Lawrence, once on the Jayhawk Television Network and at least two other road Big 12 games. All 16 regular season home games will be on the tube, in addition to games at Texas, Colorado, Kansas State and Iowa State.

Increased Radio Coverage
The Jayhawk Radio Network has improved its coverage of the Jayhawks in 2004-05. Stations carrying the Jayhawks included KLWN 1320-AM in Lawrence, KWIC 99.3-FM in Topeka, KFH 98.7-FM in Wichita and either KMBZ 980-AM or KXTR-1660-AM in Kansas City.