No. 22 Kansas Hits the Road; Travels to Creighton
Nov. 24, 2012
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Game Notes in PDF
QUICK HITS ABOUT KANSASWBB
For the first time this season, Kansas hits the road. The Jayhawks swept a four-game homestand and enter the contest against Creighton with four victories in its last six games away from Allen Fieldhouse. The 76-59 win over Alabama A&M marked the 300th victory in the head coaching career of Kansas’ Bonnie Henrickson. Kansas is No. 22 in this week’s Associated Press Top-25 Poll, which is the first time KU has been ranked by the AP since Jan. 4, 2010. The Jayhawks are also ranked No. 23 in this week’s USA Today Coaches Top-25 Poll. A victory against Creighton would give Kansas a 5-0 start for the fourth time in the last five seasons, including three straight. KU is coming off its highest-offensive output of the season (76), powered by a season-best 20 assists. Kansas outrebounded Alabama A&M, 49-23, and is averaging a +11.3 rebounding margin on the season. Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich are both on the watch lists for the Wade Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, as two of the top players in the nation. Goodrich is also one of 30 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Davis is the reigning Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week honor, after receiving the award last Monday from the league office. It was the fourth time during her career she received the honor, after averaging 24.5 points per game, while shooting a combined 21-for-29 (.724) from the field over the two-game span. Davis needs just 12 more points to score 1,400 in her career and needs 42 more points to surpass Angie Halbleib for 11th place in program history. Goodrich led the nation in assists per game with 7.4 last season and is currently averaging 5.5 assist per game this year. Goodrich was named to the preseason First Team All-Big 12 and was tabbed as a 2012 Associated Press Preseason All-America honorable mention selection.
ABOUT CREIGHTON
Creighton is located in Omaha, Neb., and has an enrollment of 7,730. The Bluejays compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays return four starters from a team which finished 20-13 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Valley Tournament. Creighton lost in the first round to St. John’s, 69-67. Creighton was picked to finish first in the Valley Preseason Poll, according to the league’s coaches, sports information directors and media members. The Bluejays received 26 of the possible 40 first-place votes. Junior guard Carli Tritz was also tabbed as the 2012 Valley Preseason Player of the Year.
HENRICKSON 300
Head coach Bonnie Henrickson posted her 300th win in her career Wednesday night in the 76-59 victory over Alabama A&M. Henrickson has amassed 142 victories at Kansas to go along with her previous 158 wins at Virginia Tech.
JUST IMAGINE
National player of the year candidate Carolyn Davis has seen controlled minutes during the early part of the season as she works her way back from her season-ending knee injury last year. As a result, Davis is averaging just 21.5 minutes per game and is nearly posting a point per minute with 19.5 points per game. By prorating her production over 40 minutes, Davis would be averaging 36.3 points per game for KU.
TURNING THE TIDE
In the first three games of the season, Kansas’ Monica Engleman, Bunny Williams, Chelsea Gardner, Asia Boyd and CeCe Harper were shooting a combined 11-for-63 (.175) from the field. However, in the win over Alabama A&M, the Jayhawks quintet shot a combined 13-for-30 (.433).
MCD FOR MS. D
Senior Carolyn Davis is only 12 points away from scoring 1,400 (MCD in roman numerals) points in her Kansas career. By doing so, Davis would become the 12th player in KU history to accomplish the feat and the first since Danielle McCray, current member of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, during the 2008-09 season.
NOT IN OUR LEAGUE
The Jayhawks have compiled an impressive record outside the Big 12 Conference in regular-season play. KU owns a 319-147 (.685) record versus non-conference opponents.
ACTION JACKSON
Junior Tania Jackson came off the bench against Southeast Missouri State and posted the third double-double of her career. Powered by a career-best 13 rebounds, Jackson added 12 points to spark the Jayhawks in the second half. Against Wake Forest, Jackson earned her first start of the season and was just one rebound shy of another double-double. Jackson currently leads the Jayhawks with 9.0 rebounds per game.
CALL IT A COMEBACK
Kansas trailed Wake Forest 27-24 at the half on Sunday, but rallied back for a six-point victory. Entering the game, KU had been 19-89 (.176) under Bonnie Henrickson when trailing at the half. On the flip side, Kansas is now 115-27 (.810) record when leading at the half.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Last season, Kansas ranked last in the Big 12 Conference for defensive field goal percentage, at 40.6 percent. Through early season interviews and media days, head coach Bonnie Henrickson and the Jayhawks talked about team defense being a point of emphasis. KU has had solid defensive efforts this season and has held its opponents to 34.3 percent shooting from the field.
SHE GIVETH and SHE TAKETH AWAY
Senior Angel Goodrich led the Jayhawks against Southeast Missouri State with eight assists and five steals. That effort marked the 37th game in her career where she posted the team high in assists and steals in the same game.
MY, MY MONICA
Senior Monica Engelman has been hitting the glass so far this season. Engelman is averaging 7.0 boards per game this season and has 13 offensive rebounds. She ranks second on the team with 28 total boards and also is second on the squad with 15 assists..
FIRST WADE, THEN WOODEN, NOW NAISMITH
Kansas seniors Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich are two of the 25 NCAA Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be named to the 2012-13 State Farm® Wade Trophy Watch List. The Kansas duo has also been tabbed for John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top-30 List, and are both on the 50-player list for the 2012-13 Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year presented by AT&T early season watch list.
START ME UP
With a four-game winning streak to open the campaign, Kansas finds itself off to a 4-0 start to a season for the fifth time in Bonnie Henrickson’s nine seasons, including the last three straight.
PULLING RANK
Kansas cracked the Associated Press Top-25 Poll this week, entering at No. 22. It marked the first time since Jan. 4, 2010 that the Jayhawks had been in the AP poll. KU is also ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and have been ranked in the top-25 each of the three weeks this season.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
For the third-straight season, seniors Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich will serve as team captains for the Jayhawks during the 2012-13 campaign.
MASTERS OF THEIR CRAFT
The senior writers of espnW collaborated and came up with the top-five players in the nation by position. Once again, Angel Goodrich and Carolyn Davis found themselves among the nation’s elite. Goodrich was classified as one of the country’s top-five point guards, while Davis was tabbed as one of the nation’s best five centers.
SHOWING A LOT OF CLASS
Prior to the start of the regular season, senior Angel Goodrich was named one of 30 national finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
PRESEASON HYPE
Senior Angel Goodrich ended the 2011-12 season with All-Big 12 Second Team honors, but heading into the 2012-13 campaign the league coaches pegged Goodrich as one of the top-five players in the conference. In addition to Goodrich, KU’s Carolyn Davis received honorable mention accolades.
JOIN THE CLUB
Another milestone to watch for is that of Monica Engelman. The Kansas senior now has 939 career points scored and with 61 more tallies will become the 25th player in Kansas history to join the 1,000-point club. Since the table is set, also keep an eye on Angel Goodrich, who now needs 167 points to join the club.
A NATIONAL LEADER
Senior Angel Goodrich enters this season as the reigning national champion in assists-per-game. Goodrich paced the Jayhawks with a school and Big 12 record 250 assists last season, or 7.4 per game. Goodrich currently averages 5.5 assists per game.
THAT 70’s SHOW
Kansas’ success during the Bonnie Henrickson-era has been pretty much based on 70 points. When the Jayhawks score 70 or more points, Kansas owns a 91-9 record (.910) in her eight previous seasons. When KU opponents score less than 70 points, the Jayhawks are 123-67 (.647) during that span.
TWENTY SOMETHING
When Carolyn Davis scores 20 or more points in a game, the Jayhawks usually come out on top. Davis has 29 20-point efforts in her career and KU boasts a 24-5 (.828) record in those contests.
WHAT DOES FIVE DIMES EQUAL?
In addition to being 50 cents, five dimes from Angel Goodrich in a game also equals a good chance for a Kansas victory. Goodrich has collected five or more assists 66 times in her career with the Jayhawks and KU was victorious in 46 of those games.
HOW SWEET IT IS
Kansas returned to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 1998. It marked the third time in school history that the Jayhawks advanced to the Sweet 16 and was Kansas’ 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.
PLAN FOR POSTSEASON
Faithful followers of the Kansas women’s basketball program have learned to plan for postseason play. In Bonnie Henrickson’s eight previous seasons with the Jayhawks, KU has advanced to postseason play six times, including five straight. In fact, in Henrickson’s head coaching career, she has led her team to postseason play 13 times in 15 seasons.
RELOADING
How does a top-25 program stay in the national polls? Sign a top-25 recruiting class. That’s exactly what head coach Bonnie Henrickson and her staff did during the early signing period, inking the No. 14-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, and the top among Big 12 Conference schools. The class also ranked No. 25 nationally by Blue Star Basketball. The Jayhawks signed Jada Brown (6-0, F, Las Vegas, Nev.), Dakota Gonzalez (6-0, G, Pocatello, Idaho), Dylan Gonzalez (6-0, G, Pocatello, Idaho), Caelynn Manning-Allen (6-4, F, Chicago, Ill.) and Keyla Morgan (5-8, G, Rancho Dominguez, Calif.).
