December 06, 2009

McCray's 25 Points Pace No. 24 Kansas in 81-54 Victory Over Northern Colorado

Dec. 6, 2009

Postgame Video: Coach Henrickson |Morris |McCray

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Senior guard Danielle McCray scored 25 points, 15 of them coming during the first half, and junior center Krysten Boogaard added 17 points as No. 24 Kansas overpowered Northern Colorado 81-54 Sunday afternoon inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks are now 5-2 on the season and have won two in a row after dropping consecutive games to Xavier and TCU at the Junkanoo Jam. Northern Colorado moves to 3-5 on the season.

McCray was nearly unstoppable on the afternoon, making nine of the 12 field goals she attempted and also contributing two blocks and two steals on the defensive end. She is now averaging 19.4 points per game on the season.

Neither team started particularly efficient on the offensive end, but Kansas began heating up from the field halfway through the first half. Clinging to a one-point lead with just over ten minutes until halftime, the Jayhawks scored 17 of the games next 21 points to put distance between themselves and the Bears at 35-21 with three minutes remaining.

But Northern Colorado fought back to make the halftime score 40-30, and Kansas was forced to come out of the locker room on a roll to put the game out of reach in the second half. Sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, scored inside and McCray hit one of her four three-pointers to give Kansas a double-digit advantage it wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the half.

Coach Bonnie Henrickson’s team forced the Bears into 23 turnovers and held the visitors to 35 percent shooting. Kansas shot 52 percent from the field and 67 percent from behind the three-point line. It also had 19 assists, led by redshirt freshman guard Angel Goodrich with 10.

Kansas outscored Northern Colorado 40-18 in the paint and had 16 fast-break points to the Bear’s zero.

Senior guard Sade Morris scored six points for Kansas and junior forward Nicollette Smith chipped in six points off the bench. Freshman center Carolyn Davis also finished with six points.

Victoria Timm and Whitley Cox scored 18 and 14 points, respectively, for Northern Colorado.

The Jayhawks are back in action on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., when they match up with the UMKC Kangaroos at Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast locally on Sunflower Broadband (Channel 6).