November 26, 2010

Aishah Sutherland's Third Consecutive Double-Double Leads Kansas Over North Dakota State, 61-53

Nov. 26, 2010

Postgame Videos Coach Henrickson | Sutherland |Mays

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Junior Aishah Sutherland scored a game-high 17 points and added 11 rebounds for her third-straight double-double to lead Kansas to a 61-53 victory over North Dakota State in each team’s first game of the Basketball Traveler’s, Inc., Tip-Off Classic Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

Sophomore Carolyn Davis added 14 points, while freshman Keena Mays posted 13 points, eight rebounds and a team-high seven assists in her first career start. Mays’ marks set career highs in all three categories.

Kansas improved to 4-0 with the victory, while North Dakota State fell to 2-2 with the loss.

Three Bison players had double-digit scoring nights, led by junior Katie Birkel with 17 points. Sophomores Danielle DeGagne and Janae Burich added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

After facing a double-digit deficit for much of the season half, North Dakota State used a 7-0 run in the latter stages of the game to cut Kansas’ lead to five.

However, a Monica Engelman jump shot ended KU’s five-minute scoring drought with 2:46 remaining and the Jayhawks shot 10-for-12 from the free throw line down the stretch.

The teams started the game exchanging short runs for the first 11 minutes.

Late in the first half, Kansas went on a 10-0 run to grab a seven-point lead, which it would not relinquish, despite a second-half rally by NDSU. Sutherland scored six of her 17 during the Jayhawk surge.

Kansas held NDSU to 26.5 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

The game remained close following the intermission. Kansas did not earn its first double-digit lead in the game until the 13-minute mark, when two Davis free throws gave KU a 39-29 advantage. KU’s largest lead in the contest came with 8:36 remaining when the Jayhawks led 45-33 following a Keena Mays layup.

Kansas only committed nine turnovers in the contest, its fewest since turning the ball over only five times against Northern Iowa on March 15, 2006. For the first time in 23 games, the Jayhawks failed to make a three-pointer, going 0-for-11 from distance.

North Dakota State will play in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader when it takes on Fordham at 3:30 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas will play Memphis following that game, at approximately 6 p.m.