No. 21 Kansas Claims 89-69 Win Over Houston Behind McCray's 37 Points
Dec. 22, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas senior guard-forward Danielle McCray poured in a career-high 37 points to lead the 21st-ranked Jayhawks to an 89-69 win over Houston on Tuesday evening at Hofheinz Pavilion. The 37-point performance marked McCray’s second-straight game with 30 or more points.
The win moved Kansas to 9-2 on the season, while Houston dropped to 6-5.
McCray was hot from the get-go scoring 13 of KU’s first 17 points, while giving Kansas a 17-8 lead with less than five minutes gone off the clock. McCray went on to score 25 first-half tallies in guiding the Jayhawks to a 46-31 lead at the break. The Olathe, Kan., native connected on 12-of-13 shooting from the field, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Kansas made 20-of-30 shots from the floor in the first half, good for 66.7 percent. KU also finished the first half with just six turnovers, while collected seven steals on 11 Houston miscues.
McCray opened the second half with a bucket underneath followed by a three-pointer, forcing UH to call a timeout. Kansas then got baskets from sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, junior center Krysten Boogaard and senior guard Sade Morris to push the lead out to 22 points just three and half minutes into the second half.
The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the second half with Kansas taking its largest lead at 23 on a three-point play by junior guard Rhea Codio with just under a minute to play in the game.
McCray finished the game making 17-of-22 shots from the field, including going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. She pulled down 11 boards for her second double-double of the season. She also tallied four assists and four steals.
Sutherland was the only other Jayhawk in double figures as she turned in 11 points and five boards. Boogaard and freshman guard Monica Engelman each finished with seven points, while Morris added six as did freshman forward Carolyn Davis.
Redshirt freshman guard Angel Goodrich tied her career high with 11 assists, many of which led to McCray scores. Goodrich also had three steals in the win.
Brittney Scott led Houston with 22 points.
KU will break for the holidays before returning to the court on Wednesday, Dec. 30 when they play host to Pepperdine. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m., in Allen Fieldhouse.
