No. 24 Kansas Holds Off UCLA, 54-49
Dec. 3, 2009
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A Quest For Success
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas forward Danielle McCray and center Krysten Boogaard combined for 27 points, including six free throws in the final seconds to ice the 24th-ranked Jayhawks’ 54-49 victory over UCLA Thursday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU improves to 4-2 this season, including 4-0 at home, while the Bruins fall to 5-3 this season.
After dropping a pair of tight games at the Junkanoo Jam in The Bahamas last week, the Jayhawks persevered Thursday. With KU up two and 18 seconds remaining, UCLA was called for an offensive foul before the Bruins could get a shot off. UCLA was then whistled for an intentional foul, and Boogaard made two free throws to stretch the lead to four.
McCray was then fouled on the in-bounds play and sank both free throws to clinch KU’s fourth victory of the season. The senior forward scored a team-high 15 points, including seven from the charity stripe.
Kansas trailed through most of the first half, but a steal by McCray and a fast break three-point play by Sade Morris at 15:38 gave KU its first lead of the second half.
Neither team’s offense could break away in the second period as the largest lead by either team was eight by KU in the final seconds.
The Jayhawks were outrebounded and outscored in the paint, but forced 21 UCLA turnovers and outscored the Bruins at the foul line by a 15-4 margin. The Kansas defense held UCLA to 36 percent shooting from the field, including 1-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc.
McCray led KU with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals, while Boogaard chipped in 12 on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and four boards. Sophomore Aishah Sutherland had four points, but matched a season-high with three blocked shots. Freshman Monica Engelman added a season-high five points with three offensive rebounds.
Darxia Morris’ 13 points paced UCLA.
The Jayhawks will look to continue their winning ways at Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday, when they play host to Northern Colorado at 1 p.m. The game can be seen on Sunflower Cable, Channel 6 in Lawrence.
