December 02, 2012

No. 20 Kansas Holds Off Minnesota, 65-53

Dec. 2, 2012

No. 20 Kansas 65, Minnesota 53
Allen Fieldhouse // Lawrence, Kan.

Chelsea Gardner proved to be a powerful force off bench with 14 points against Minnesota.

	1st	2nd	Final
Minnesota	30	23	53
(20)Kansas	30	35	65

Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)

Game Coverage

Notes

Statistical Leaders
	Minnesota	Kansas
Points	Banham (19)	Davis (20)
Rebounds	Loberg (7)	Four tied (6)
Assists	Banham (3)	Goodrich (6)
Steals	Hirt (2)	Harper (5
Blocks	Loberg (5)	Gardner (2)

Stats at a Glance	UM	KU
FG Percentage	37.3	46.4
3-Point FG Percentage	40.0	21.4
FT Percentage	70.0	40.0
Offensive Rebounds	15	17
Defensive Rebounds	21	24
Total Rebounds	36	41
Turnovers	17	17
Points in the Paint	34	42
Points off Turnovers	15	18
Second Chance Points	8	12
Fast Break Points	6	6
Bench Points	19	21

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Despite foul trouble in the second half, senior forward Carolyn Davis scored 20 points and helpedKansas women’s basketball cap its two-game homestand with a 65-53 win over Big 10 opponent Minnesota on Sunday Dec. 2at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. With the victory the Jayhawks improved to 7-0 for the third consecutive season and jumped to 6-0 at home.

Kansas continued its strong defensive play holding the Golden Gophers to 53 points and only 37 percent shooting from the floor. The Jayhawks haven’t given up 60 points or more thus far in the 2012 season.

Davis shot 8-of-11 from the field and has now scored in double figures in six of Kansas’ seven regular season games. She has at least ten points in 26 of her 30 starts dating back to the beginning of last season.

Sophomore forward Chelsea Gardner added 14 points, 12 of which came while Davis sat after picking up third foul early in the second half, and pulling down six rebounds. It was Gardner’s second straight game tallying double-digit points, something she had not done the first five games this season.

Minnesota’s Rachel Banham led the Golden Gophers in scoring with 19 points while knocking down eight of her 16 shot attempts from the field. Banham was Minnesota’s only double-digit scorer and the other four starters combined for just 15 points on 7-on-22 shooting.

3-point shooting was an issue again for Kansas as the Jayhawks fired up 14 threes and only converted on three of them. Minnesota hit two-of-five. The Jayhawks compensated for their poor long range shooting by scoring 42 points in the paint to the Gophers’ 34-point effort in the lane.

Minnesota started off on the right foot with a quick 10-3 run to open the game over the first 3:57. Kansas then responded with a 10-0 run of its own, including six points in a row from junior guard Monica Engelman.

Angel Goodrich got into foul trouble early and as a result left the first half with eight minutes remaining. Engelman and Junior forward Tania Jackson filled the role playing 19 and 18 first-half minutes, respectively.

The remainder of the first half was a battle with three lead changes and seven ties including the halftime score of 30-30. Excluding the first five minutes, neither team led by more than three points in the half.

In the second half the Jayhawks stretched their lead to six with 11:58 left in the game and coasted on with little fluctuation until the 6:55 mark when KU extended its lead to ten. Kansas didn’t let its opponent closer than seven the rest of the way.

Kansas will travel to Arkansas for a midweek match-up with the Razorbacks Thursday at 7 p.m., before continuing non-conference play with Newman at Allen Fieldhouse next Sunday at 2 p.m.

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