Jayhawks face Oklahoma in midweek tilt

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball travels to Norman, Oklahoma for the second matchup of the season with the Sooners on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

The 2019 series finale will be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

FAST BREAKS

• In the last meeting with Oklahoma, three Jayhawks registered 20-point performances for the first time since 1995. The senior trio of Christalah Lyons (23), Kylee Kopatich (20) and Austin Richardson (20) led the comeback effort for Kansas with 20 of Lyons’ 23 points coming in the second half.
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting only 28.2 percent from the 3-point line, which is second lowest in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have limited their opponents to making just 87 3-pointers this season with the next closest Big 12 opponent allowing 100 treys.
• The Jayhawks have snagged the third-most steals in the Big 12 with 8.9 per game and have four players that have at least 20 on the season. Kopatich and Lyons lead the way with 44 and 37 steals, respectively. Richardson (20) and senior Brianna Osorio (25) have also snagged at least 20 steals on the season.
• Freshman Aniya Thomas recorded her second double-digit scoring effort of the season and first since November against No. 14 Texas with 15 points.
• Kansas has four different players shooting above 80 percent from the free throw line during conference play, including seniors Chelsea Lott (87.5 percent), Kopatich (86.2 percent) and Lyons (82.0 percent) and junior Mariane De Carvalho (81.8 percent).

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Feb. 13: 8-6
On Feb. 9, 1999, the Jayhawks defeated Nebraska, 63-58, behind two double-double efforts. Nakia Sanford finished the with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Lynn Pride poured in 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
The Jayhawks enter Wednesday’s matchup with a 12-10 overall record and a 2-9 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons who is dishing out 3.5 assists per game. Lyons has posted three 20-point performances in Big 12 play, averaging a team-leading 13.8 points per game against conference opponents and 11.6 points overall. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.7 points and is shooting 40.9 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from the 3-point line. Kansas’ defense is led by sophomore center Bailey Helgren with 5.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks, while Kopatich leads KU with 2.1 steals, the second-best in the conference. Senior Austin Richardson leads Kansas with 18 blocks on the season and serves as KU’s second-leading rebounder with 5.3 rebounds per game, while adding 10.3 points per game. Collectively, the Jayhawks limit their opponents to 63.2 points per game, while holding them to 28.2  percent from beyond the 3-point line. 

SCOUTING THE SOONERS
Oklahoma comes into the 2019 series finale with a 5-17 record and a 1-10 mark in league action. After beating Texas Tech in their Big 12 opener, the Sooners have suffered a 10-game losing streak. OU’s offense is led by freshman Taylor Robertson, who leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made (73), 3-point field goals per game (3.3) and free throw percentage (90.9 percent), while owning the second-best 3-point field goal percentage in the Big 12 (44.5 percent).Robertson is averaging 14.6 points and shooting 45.6 percent from the field. Sophomore Ana Llanusa (14.6), sophomore Shaina Pellington (14.1) and freshman Madi Williams (12.1) assist Robertson offensively as the three other Sooners averaging double-digit scoring. Williams leads Oklahoma with 8.1 rebounds, while averaging 0.6 blocks per game. Two Sooners have dished out over 60 assists, including Pellington (63) and freshman Tatum Veitenheimer (71). 

TEXAS LEFTOVERS
In the second meeting of the season, a slow start was too much for Kansas to overcome as No. 14 Texas downed the Jayhawks, 91-73. Texas jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter and the Jayhawks were never able to close the gap, despite nearly matching the Longhorns in the final 20 minutes of action. KU was led by senior Kylee Kopatich, who netted a team-high 18 points, while freshman Aniya Thomas added 15 points.

CLIMBING UP THE RANKS
Senior Kylee Kopatich has been putting her stamp on the Kansas record books since she first stepped foot onto James Naismith Court. The Olathe, Kansas native has ranked among the top five for 3-point field goals made by a freshman with 45 (4th), sophomore with 53 (3rd), junior with 69 (2nd) and is on track to make the most 3-pointers by a senior in KU history. Kopatich is 20 triples away from surpassing fellow Olathe South High School grad Natalie Knight for the most 3-pointers by a Kansas senior. The 5-10 guard has made 213 career 3-pointers and is just 25 treys away from surpassing Angie Halbleib and becoming Kansas’ all-time 3-point field goal leader. Her 213 career 3-pointers are the most by a Jayhawk since 2015, when Knight ended her career with 178 triples. With 647 3-point field goal attempts, Kopatich is second all-time for 3-point attempts and is just 12 attempts away from surpassing Halbleib and becoming the all-time 3-point field goal attempts leader in Kansas history. Beyond the 3-point line, Kopatich is 13 steals away from passing Jaclyn Johnson and moving into 10th all-time for steals with 188 through her career thus far. Additionally, Kopatich needs to play just six minutes to pass Lynette Woodard and move into ninth all-time for minutes played with 3,646 minutes played to date. 

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 401 turnovers on the year and have forced at least 20 turnovers on 10 occasions this season. Kansas forced a season-high 26 turnovers twice this season against Iona (11/25) and at TCU (1/27). While Kansas has been forcing a lot of turnovers, the Jayhawks have limited their own. KU has the fourth-fewest turnovers in the Big 12 with 318, averaging 14.5 per game. The Jayhawks boast the best turnover margin in the league (+3.8) and 36th best in the nation.

FRESHMEN FILLING THEIR ROLE
KU’s three freshman stepped up against then-No. 14 Texas, as the trio combined for 26 points off the bench. Aniya Thomas led the way with 15 points, while redshirt-freshman Brittany Franklin and Brooklyn Mitchell added seven points and four points, respectively. Franklin also pulled down four rebounds, while Thomas dished out two assists. Mitchell had one steal and one assist.

OKLAHOMA CONNECTIONS
Sixth year Jessica Washington, a Tulsa native, is the only Jayhawk from the state of Oklahoma, while Oklahoma freshman Taylor Robertson hails from McPherson, Kansas.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks return home to take on Texas Tech for the Jayhawks for a Cure game on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m., inside Allen Fieldhouse. Fans who wear pink to the game will receive $5 admission. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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