Jayhawks Host Birmingham-Southern Friday Night

Nov. 30, 2005

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Kansas Jayhawks vs. Birmingham-Southern Panthers
Game #4 – Fri., Dec. 2, 2005 – 6:05 p.m. – Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

Live video streaming, Gametracker and post-match results will be available on Kansas Athletics’ official website, kuathletics.com.

Radio
Jayhawk Radio Network. Nate Bukaty (play-by-play), Brenda VanLengen (color).

Television
Sunflower Broadband Channel 6. Kevin Romary (play-by-play), Steven Davis (color).

Records
Kansas is 3-0 to open the season. Birmingham-Southern enters the game 1-3, coming off a loss at Troy.

Rankings
Kansas is receiving votes in the Associated Press poll. Birmingham-Southern is not ranked.

Coaches
Bonnie Henrickson is 15-16 in her second year at Kansas and 173-78 in her ninth season overall. The Panthers are coached by Brad Hodge, who is 1-3 in his first year at BSC and 81-39 in his fifth year as a head coach overall.

Series History
Kansas and Birmingham-Southern have never met in women’s basketball.

Jayhawk Storylines
– Kansas is 3-0 after defeating Detroit, 70-65, on Sunday. Erica Hallman led the way with 18 points, while freshman Ivana Catic added 16 points and six assists.
– Senior Crystal Kemp is two rebounds shy of becoming the eighth KU player in history to reach 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds. She enters the game with 1,136 points and 598 boards.
– A Kansas win would make Bonnie Henrickson an even .500 at Kansas (16-16). Her record dipped below .500 last year on Jan. 15. Under Henrickson, Kansas is 12-7 at home.
– Kansas is leading the Big 12 in three-point percentage (42.9 percent) and assist/turnover ratio (1.44).
– KU plays New Orleans on Saturday at 1 p.m. On Sunday, BSC and UNO will face off in Allen Fieldhouse at noon.

The Matchup
Riding a three-game winning streak, the University of Kansas women’s basketball team (3-0) hosts the Birmingham-Southern Panthers (1-3) on Friday, Dec. 2, in Allen Fieldhouse. BSC, Kansas and the University of New Orleans were originally scheduled to play in the UNO Lady Privateer Classic this weekend in New Orleans. Because of Hurricane Katrina, all three games that would have made up the tournament will now be played in Lawrence.
The Jayhawks are coming off their second-straight narrow victory after defeating Northeastern 70-65 on Sunday.
Kansas struggled to keep the Huskies off the free throw line and were outscored at the charity stripe 24-7. KU fought back and took its final lead with 4:11 remaining in the second half after Crystal Kemp put back a missed shot to give the Jayhawks a 58-56 edge. Shaquina Mosley pushed the lead to 60-56 with a breakaway lay up. After a Northeastern basket with seven seconds remaining pulled the Huskies within three points, Erica Hallman stepped to the line and calmly knocked down two free throws to give KU its five point victory.
Hallman – playing in her first game of the season – scored 18 points off the bench on 6-of-14 shooting. The senior hit four three-point baskets, one shy of a career high. Despite early foul trouble, Kemp tallied 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while pulling down eight rebounds. Catic scored a career-high 16 points and dished out six assists.
Kemp (18.7 ppg), Hallman (18.0 ppg), Catic (13.3 ppg) and senior Kaylee Brown (13.0 ppg) are all averaging double figures in scoring. Kemp leads on the boards with 7.7 rebounds per game and Catic is dishing 7.3 assists per outing, while only turning the ball over a total of five times.
Birmingham-Southern is picked to finish fifth in the eight-team Big South Conference. Led by junior guard Pam Thornborrow, the only Panther to average double figures with 13.8 points per game, BSC is 1-3 overall with its one win coming over Florida Atlantic.
BSC has suffered losses to Samford, Georgia State and Troy.
The Panthers average 60.5 points and 36.0 rebounds, while giving up 60.8 points and 39.5 boards per outing. BSC is coached by Brad Hodge, in his first season with the Panthers. Kansas and Birmingham-Southern have never met in women’s basketball.

Game Promotions
Promotions for the game include KU Med Night ($2 ticket for KU Med Faculty & Staff) and a halftime show by the Jumpers On Command.

More From The Last Game
Kansas improved to 3-0 on the season with a 70-65 victory over Northeastern Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse. Seniors Erica Hallman and Crystal Kemp and freshman Ivana Catic combined to pour in 49 points for the Jayhawks.
The win was Kansas’ second in a row by five points or less.
“I am disappointed that we got ourselves into a similar situation as we did the other night against Detroit,” commented Bonnie Henrickson. “But we still found a way to win and hit some free throws down the stretch.”
The Huskies shot 13-of-18 from the free throw line, including a perfect 11-of-11 in the first half. Shaleyse Shallwood led NU with 22 points and four assists. The sophomore was 12-of-12 from the charity stripe. Merriam, Kan., native Maralene Zwarich chipped in 19 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies.
Sophomore Taylor McIntosh pulled down eight rebounds as Kansas outrebounded Northeastern 45-36. The Jayhawks converted 36 points in the paint to the Huskies 16.

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson, one the top young coaches in the nation, is in her second season at the helm of the Jayhawks. In her first year on the Kansas sidelines, Henrickson led KU to its best record in five seasons and highest Big 12 finish in six campaigns. Following the season, Henrickson was honored with the Carol Eckman Award — given by the WBCA to a coach who exemplifies spirit, integrity, and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. Henrickson came to Kansas after seven successful seasons at Virginia Tech 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. Overall, the Willmar, Minn., native has been a part of postseason play in 11 of the last 12 seasons. She is 15-16 (.484) at KU and 173-78 (.689) in her career.

Today’s Opponent – Birmingham-Southern
Birmingham-Southern (1-3) will face Kansas on Friday, Dec. 2. The Panthers opened the season with losses against Samford (49-54) and versus Georgia State (55-56) before picking up a win over Florida Atlantic (74-66) in the Samford/BSC Classic. Birmingham-Southern played at Troy on Tuesday, falling 64-67.
Picked to finish fifth in the eight-team Big South Conference, the Panthers are led by junior guard Pam Thornborrow who averages 13.8 points per game to go with 3.3 rebounds and a team-best 3.5 assists per outing. She was named to the all-tournament team at the Samford/BSC Classic.
After leading the team in scoring last season (10.4 ppg), senior Stacey Anthony was named to the 2005-06 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference team. Anthony was the Big South’s leading three-point shooter last season, hitting 39.7 percent (50-126) to rank 34th in the nation in that category. This season, Anthony is averaging 7.5 points per game, and has made 4-of-20 three-pointers.
Last game against Troy, Thornborrow pumped in 22 points. Junior guard Britni Ballard and sophomore forward Reba Ross each added 13.
For the season, BSC is averaging 60.5 points per contest while shooting 38.3 percent from the field and pulling down 36.0 rebounds per game. The Panthers have given up an average of 60.8 points and 39.5 rebounds, and 39.9 percent field goal shooting to their opponents.
Birmingham-Southern is coached by Brad Hodge, who is 1-3 in his first year at BSC, and 81-39 in his fifth year as a head coach overall.

Kansas/Birmingham-Southern Notes
KU and Birmingham-Southern have never played one another. Kansas has played three teams from the Big South before, winning single games over North Carolina-Asheville, Radford and Winthrop. The most recent KU game against the Big South was a rare late season non-conference game against UNC-Asheville on Feb. 28, 1994, which KU won 112-36. BSC senior Crystal Reed played at Dodge City (Kan.) CC prior to arriving in Birmingham.

Jayhawk Starters
The Jayhawks take the court this year with six returning players, five newcomers and a walk-on. Last game against Northwestern, the fivesome of sophomore Taylor McIntosh, senior Crystal Kemp, freshman Ivana Catic, senior Kaylee Brown and junior Sharita Smith got the starting nod. In the first two regular season games, junior Shaquina Mosley started at a guard spot rather than Smith.

A Kansas Win Would
Make the Jayhawks 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2002-03 … Give the Jayhawks their first four-game winning streak since winning five-straight between the third and seventh games in 2003-04 … Make KU 1-0 all-time against Birmingham-Southern … Improve the Jayhawks all-time record against the Big South Conference to 4-0 … Make the Jayhawks 4-0 at home … Improve head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record to 16-16 at Kansas and 174-78 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 613-414 all-time.

A Kansas Loss Would
Make the Jayhawks 3-1 for the second straight season … Snap KU’s three-game winning streak … Make KU 0-1 all-time against Birmingham-Southern … Make the Jayhawks all-time record against the Big South Conference 3-1 … Make the Jayhawks 3-1 at home … Make head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s record 15-17 at Kansas and 173-79 in her career … Make the Jayhawks 612-415 all-time.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
In the only official poll conducted this season, Baylor was picked by the Big 12 Conference coaches to win the Big 12 Championship again in 2005-06. The Lady Bears received six first place votes, while Texas received two first place nods and Texas Tech got four votes for first place. The coaches believe Kansas will be better this season as the Jayhawks were selected to finish sixth (after finishing eighth last season). The only Big 12 North team picked higher than KU was Nebraska, who was picked fifth.

No Place Like Home
Kansas plays an unprecedented 21 games in Allen Fieldhouse this season including two exhibition contests, all 11 non-conference matchups and eight Big 12 games. The Jayhawks will not play away from Lawrence until after the new year when KU plays at Nebraska on Jan. 7. KU was originally scheduled to play in the UNO Lady Privateer Tournament in New Orleans on Dec. 2-3, but those games were moved to Lawrence as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Kemp Among KU’s All-Time Elite
Junior Crystal Kemp became the 18th player in KU history to reach 1,000 career points when she hit a jumper from the right wing with 18:13 on the clock in first half against Texas Tech last season. Two games before against Oklahoma State, the Topeka, Kan., native collected her 500th career rebound. She was just the 11th player in KU history to accumulate over 1,000 career points and 500 career boards. She continues to move up both lists as she ranks among the top players to ever don the Crimson & Blue. She needs two more rebounds for 600, which would make her just the eighth KU player to score over 1,000 points and grab 600 boards.

An All-Star Staff
Joining Bonnie Henrickson on the sidelines are assistant coaches Karen Lange, Kyra Elzy and Katie O’Connor. Also on staff is director of operations Trena Anderson and administrative assistant Katie Capps. Lange, O’Connor and Anderson followed Henrickson from Virginia Tech, while Elzy and Capps both joined 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 29 years old, Henrickson’s three assistant coaches (Lange, Elzy, O’Connor) have already been part of a combined 19 NCAA tournaments, eight Sweet 16s, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two National Championships, combined.

Mosley Tabbed Preseason Big 12 Rookie of the Year
Junior transfer Shaquina Mosley was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year in a vote of the Big 12 women’s basketball coaches released Oct. 18 by the conference office. A 5-6 junior guard, Mosley transferred to Kansas from Central Arizona Community College. She led her team to the NJCAA national championship last year while being named the 2005 WBCA Junior College/Community College Player of the Year.

Kemp Chosen Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Senior Crystal Kemp was selected as a preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention pick by a vote of the league coaches as released on Oct. 18. Last season, Kemp was named postseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after leading the Jayhawks with 13.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She is just the 11th player in KU history to have amassed over 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.

27 Games On TV
With 27 games on the tube, KU’s television package in 2005-06 is the finest in school history and among the very best in the nation for any men’s or women’s team. In fact, other than the Kansas men, no other Big 12 team will play more games on television this season. The next closest team in the league is Texas Tech with 21, followed by Texas (16), Oklahoma (13), Baylor (11), Nebraska (10), Kansas State (9), Colorado (9), Iowa State (7), Missouri (6), Texas A&M (5) and Oklahoma State (4). The only two KU games not on TV are at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma. Overall, KU plays two games on Fox Sports Net, three games on FSN regional television and three contests on CSTV. Locally, 14 games will be produced and aired by Sunflower Broadband in Lawrence, and five contests will be produced by Metro Sports of Kansas City.

Increased Radio Coverage
The Jayhawk Radio Network has improved its coverage over the past two seasons. Stations carrying the Jayhawks include KLWN 1320-AM in Lawrence, KWIC 99.3-FM in Topeka, KFH 98.7-FM in Wichita and KXTR-1660-AM in Kansas City.

Up Next For KU
Kansas will play on back-to-back nights as it plays New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 3. Kansas, Birmingham-Southern and UNO were originally scheduled to play the Lady Privateer Classic in New Orleans Dec. 2-3 before Hurricane Katrina. Tip time against UNO on Saturday is at 1 p.m. Additionally, Birmingham-Southern and New Orleans will play each other at noon on Sunday, Dec. 4, in Allen Fieldhouse.