Morris Joins 1,000 Point Club as Kansas Defeats Michigan, 77-66
Nov. 22, 2009
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LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Senior Sade Morris scored a career-high 26 points and became the 21st player in Kansas women’s baskeball history to join the 1,000-point club as No. 19 Kansas battled to a 77-66 victory against Michigan in front of 4,688 fans at Allen Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon.
Seven other Jayhawks scored four or more points in the 11-point victory. The Jayhawks are now 3-0 on the season and 2-0 against teams from the Big 10 Conference after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 66-55 earlier in the week. Michigan fell to 3-1 on the season.
During the first half, Morris helped put distance between the home team and a pesky Wolverines squad with 12 first-half points, including two three-pointers. She took on even more of the offensive load in the second half and also finished with five assists as Kansas spread the offensive burden.
Close behind Morris were senior Danielle McCray and sophomore Aishah Sutherland, who finished with 11 and 12 points, respectively. Sutherland finished with a double-double, her second of the season, snatching 11 rebounds. McCray was just shy of her own double-double, grabbing nine rebounds despite having a frustrating offensive night.
Michigan’s disruptive defense and timely three-point shooting kept it within striking distance for most the game as Kansas built double-digit leads only to have the visiting team whittle them down to single digits. The Wolverines finished with nine steals and forced the Jayhawks into 17 turnovers.
Despite having trouble keeping the ball at times, Kansas shot 48 percent from the field and made six of 17 attempts from behind the three-point line. Michigan shot 43 percent from the field, making seven three-pointers on 15 attempts.
Bonnie Henrickson’s team also outrebounded the Wolverines 41-34 and scored 38 points in the paint. After going to the bench with two fouls early in the contest, junior Krysten Boogaard provided valuable post minutes down the stretch. She finished with eight points and seven rebounds in only 14 minutes.
Redshirt freshman Angel Goodrich led Kansas with seven assists and contributed seven points as well. Junior Nicollette Smith finished with nine points, burying three three-pointers.
Junior Veronica Hicks led Michigan with 20 points and chipped in three assists, three steals and four rebounds in a losing effort. Freshman Dayeesha Hollins also had 16 points for the Wolverines.
The Jayhawks are back in action on Thursday, Nov. 26 at 3:30 p.m., when they travel to Freeport, Bahamas, to take on No. 9 Xavier in the first of two games as part of the Junkanoo Jam tournament. Kansas beat the Musketeers 62-60 in Cincinnati during the 2007-08 season. The Jayhawks will meet either Minnesota or TCU in the second game on Saturday.
