No. 20 Kansas Welcomes Big Ten Minnesota into Allen Fieldhouse
Nov. 30, 2012
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Game Notes in PDF Format
QUICK HITS ABOUT KANSASWBB
Sophomore Chelsea Gardner is coming off of a career-best 26 points on 11-for-13 shooting in the 101-47 win over Grambling State. She also added 10 rebounds for her second-career double-double. Kansas enters the game against Minnesota with a 48-game win streak in non-conference, regular-season home games. The last time the Jayhawks lost to a non-conference foe at Allen Fieldhouse during the regular-season was Xavier on Dec. 31, 2006. For the second-straight week, Kansas is ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 20, which is the highest KU has been ranked in the AP poll since Nov. 23, 2009. The Jayhawks have been ranked each week this season in the USA Today Coaches Top-25 Poll, and are also No. 20 in that poll. A victory against Minnesota would give Kansas a 7-0 start for the third-straight season and the fourth under head coach Bonnie Henrickson. To date, no KU opponent has reached 60 points this 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 enters the game with 1,406 career points and needs 24 more points to surpass Angie Halbleib for 11th place in program history. Sophomore Natalie Knight is on a hot-shooting streak. Over the last three games, Knight is averaging 10.3 point per game while shooting a combined 12-for-14 (85.7) from the field. Goodrich led the nation in assists per game with 7.4 last season and is currently averaging 6.5 assists 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 MINNESOTA
Minnesota is located in Minneapolis, Minn., and has an enrollment of 52,557. The Golden Gophers compete in the Big Ten Conference. The Gophers return three starters from a team which finished 19-17 last season, and went on to win the WBI Championship. Minnesota was not selected among the top-three teams in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. The league office only releases the top-three teams. Rachel Banham was named to the 2012-13 Preseason All-Big Ten Women’s Basketball Team as voted by the league’s head coaches. Minnesota senior Leah Cotton is returning to her home state, as the Kansas City, Kan., native is a product of Olathe Christian High School.
BIG TEN = BIG SUCCESS
Over the years, Kansas has had its share of success against the current members of the Big Ten Conference. The Jayhawks boast a 77-48 mark (.616) against the Big Ten and as no surprise, KU has the most history with Nebraska. Kansas owns a 50-31 record against the former Big 12 member. Minnesota is the second-most played Big Ten opponent with 16 previous meetings and KU leads, 13-3.
MO IN MOVEMBER
Over the last three seasons, Kansas has had plenty of winning momentum in the month of November. For the third-straight campaign, the Jayhawks were undefeated during the 11th month with a 6-0 mark this year. KU has won 18-straight November games and has not lost a November contest since falling to TCU, 74-69, on Nov. 28, 2009 in the Bahamas.
DECEMBER DOMINANCE
Heading into December has to feel pretty good for Kansas’ Bonnie Henrickson. The Jayhawk head coach has posted a 42-14 (.750) record during the calendar’s final month while working at Kansas.
CHELSEA LATELY
Sophomore Chelsea Gardner became the fourth player on the Kansas roster to post 20 or more points in a collegiate game, when she tossed in a career-best 26 points against Grambling State on Wednesday. Gardner also added 10 rebounds to record the second double-double of her career. After shooting a combined 6-for-20 (.300) from the field over the first four games of the season, Gardner has turned that around with a 13-for-17 (.765) effort over the last two contests.
THAT’S A CAREER NIGHT
There were a number of milestones reached during Kansas’ 101-47 non-conference victory over Grambling State Wednesday night. By combining the season- and career-bests set by the 11 Jayhawk student-athletes on the roster – there were 80 individual new milestones accomplished during that single game.
NOW THAT’S A RUN
When looking at the final score it is hard to believe that Grambling State jumped out to a 10-0 lead, the largest Kansas deficit of the season, in Wednesday night’s game. KU responded with a 101-37 run over the final 37-and-a-half minutes to claim the lopsided win.
BOARDING CALL
In the win over Grambling, Kansas had three players pull down 10 rebounds apiece. Asia Boyd, Chelsea Gardner and Bunny Williams each grabbed 10 boards, with Boyd and Williams establishing career highs. It marked the first time KU had three players post double-digit rebounding totals in the same game since Danielle McCray, Taylor McIntosh and Shaquina Mosley equalled the feat on Feb. 18, 2007, in the 82-74 win over Kansas State.
NOT IN OUR LEAGUE
The Jayhawks have compiled an impressive record outside the Big 12 Conference in regular-season play. KU owns a 321-147 (.686) record versus non-conference opponents. The Jayhawks are currently riding a 48-game win streak against non-conference foes at Allen Fieldhouse in the regular season. KU has not lost a regular-season, non-conference home game since falling, 72-63, to Xavier on Dec. 31, 2006.
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 34.4 percent shooting from the field.
SHE GIVETH and SHE TAKETH AWAY
Angel Goodrich led the Jayhawks against Grambling State with eight assists and three steals. That effort marked the 39th game in her career where she posted the team high in assists and steals in the same game.
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.
PULLING RANK
Kansas is ranked in Associated Press Top-25 Poll for the second-straight week, coming it at No. 20. KU is also ranked No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and has been ranked in the top-25 each of the four 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.
HOME SWEET HOME
Kansas is now in its 45th season playing at Allen Fieldhouse and head coach Bonnie Henrickson has built the venue into a home-court advantage for the Jayhawks. Since 2004-05, KU has posted a 104-45 record (.698) at home. Kansas owns a 392-210 (.651) all-time record on James Naismith Court at Allen Fieldhouse.
JOIN THE CLUB
Another milestone to watch for is that of Monica Engelman. The Kansas senior now has 959 career points scored and with 41 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 153 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 6.5 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 92-9 record (.911) in her eight previous seasons. When KU opponents score less than 70 points, the Jayhawks are 125-67 (.651) 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 68 times in her career with the Jayhawks and KU was victorious in 48 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.).
