Kansas concludes 2019 series with Oklahoma State Saturday

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball heads south to complete the 2019 series with Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m., inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
 
A win in Stillwater would give the Jayhawks a victory over the Cowgirls in each of the last three seasons. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

FAST BREAKS

• A win over Oklahoma State would snap a six-game Kansas losing streak and give the Jayhawks a win over the Cowgirls for the third-straight season.
• The Jayhawks have not won in Stillwater since the 2011-12 season.
• Kansas held Baylor to just 13 first quarter points, the Lady Bears’ second-lowest scoring first period this season. 
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting only 29.4 percent from the 3-point line, which is second lowest in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have limited their opponents to making just 106 3-pointers, which is the fewest in the league.
• The Jayhawks have snagged the third-most steals in the Big 12 with 8.6 per game. Seniors Kylee Kopatich  (2nd) and Christalah Lyons (12th) both rank among the top 15 in the league for steals per game, leading Kansas with 47 and 38 steals, respectively.
• Lyons was Kansas’ only double-digit scorer at No. 1 Baylor, scoring 10 points for her 12th double-figure scoring performance of the season.
• The freshmen duo of Brooklyn Mitchell and Aniya Thomas continue making their mark on the Kansas program with the pair averaging 14.5 points per game over the last four games.
• With a career-high seven rebounds, junior Mariane De Carvalho led Kansas’ rebounding efforts against the Lady Bears.

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Feb. 23: 2-8
On Feb. 23, 2011, Angel Goodrich notched a season-high 14 points to lead the Jayhawks past Oklahoma State in a 73-66 win in Stillwater.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
The Jayhawks enter Saturday’s matchup against Oklahoma State with a 12-13 overall record and a 2-12 mark in Big 12 Conference play. A KU win over the Cowgirls would give the Jayhawks a win over Oklahoma State for the third-straight season and their first win in Stillwater since 2012. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons who is dishing out 3.2 assists per game. Lyons has posted three 20-point performances in Big 12 play, averaging 11.2 points per game. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.7 points and is shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from the 3-point line. Kansas’ defense is led by sophomore center Bailey Helgren with 5.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks, while Kopatich leads KU with 2.0 steals, which leads the Big 12 in league games. Senior Austin Richardson along with Helgren each have 18 blocks on the season. Richardson 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 65.0 points per game, while holding them to 29.4  percent from beyond the 3-point line. 

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
Oklahoma State jumped out to a 6-0 start in nonconference play before suffering a loss to ranked foe Tennessee. Since opening the season with a 9-2 start during nonconference play, the Cowgirls have gone 4-10 in Big 12 play. OSU’s offense is led by sophomores Vivian Gray and Braxtin Miller, who are averaging 19.7 and 15.4 points per game. Miller also dishes out 3.7 assists per game, while Gray helps to protect the rim with a team-leading 1.3 blocks per game. Senior LaTashia Jones leads the Cowgirls with 8.1 rebounds per game, while chipping in 5.6 points. Collectively, Oklahoma State is scoring 67.2 points per game, while shooting 38.0 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from long range. The Cowgirls limit their opponents to just 64.4 points per game, while holding their opponents to shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from beyond the arc.

BAYLOR LEFTOVERS
Despite keeping the game close in the first 10 minutes, No. 1 Baylor sparked its offense in the second quarter and topped Kansas, 80-40. Senior Christalah Lyons was the only Jayhawk to score in double figures for the Jayhawks, ending the night with 10 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 is on track to make the most 3-pointers by a senior in KU history. Kopatich is 16 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 217 career 3-pointers and is just 21 treys away from surpassing Angie Halbleib and becoming Kansas’ all-time 3-point field goal leader. Her 217 career 3-pointers are the most by a Jayhawk since 2015, when Knight ended her career with 178 triples. Beyond the 3-point line, Kopatich is 10 steals away from passing Jaclyn Johnson and moving into 10th all-time for steals with 191 through her career thus far. Additionally, Kopatich needs to play 30 minutes to pass Sade Morris and move into seventh all-time for minutes played with 3,748 minutes played to date. 

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 443 turnovers on the year and have forced at least 20 turnovers on 11 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 369, averaging 14.8 per game. The Jayhawks boast the best turnover margin in the league (+3.0).

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Senior Austin Richardson has been a key component for the Jayhawks on both ends of the floor, providing consistent scoring and rebounding for KU. Richardson has posted 16 double-digit scoring games this season, including 10 in Big 12 play and in six of the last seven games. The six-foot forward has recorded three 10-point rebounding performances, while grabbing at least eight rebounds on six occasions. Richardson is the only Jayhawk to register a double-double this season, recording two double-doubles during her senior campaign and falling just shy of her third double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds against Texas Tech (2/17).

FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Jayhawks have been making improvements from the free throw line throughout Big 12 play. Kansas shot 65.1 percent from the free throw line duing nonconference play and have improved that mark to 70.9 percent during league games. After shooting 75 percent or better from the charity stripe only twice through 11 nonconference games, Kansas has surpassed that mark, shooting 75 percent or better in five games during league play. KU shot 75 percent or better from the free throw line in six of the last nine games, shooting 75 percent (12-of-16) against Oklahoma State (1/19), 78.6 percent (11-of-14) at TCU (1/27), 94.1 percent (32-of-34) against Oklahoma (1/30), 78.6 percent (11-of-14) against K-State, 100 percent (6-of-6) at Oklahoma (2/13) and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) against Texas Tech (2/17). Kansas’ 94.1 percent shooting percentage from the charity stripe ties the eighth-best free throw percentage in a single game in KU history. Additionally, seniors Christalah Lyons and Kylee Kopatich have improved their shot from the line in Big 12 play with Lyons improving her 66.7 percent in nonconference to 79.6 percent (43-of-54) in Big 12 contests and Kopatich improving her 76.2 percent in nonconference to 89.2 percent (33-of-37) in league matchups. Kopatich has the second-best free throw percentage in Big 12 contests, while Lyons ranks 15th. Kopatich made a perfect 10-of-10 free throws against Oklahoma (1/30), tying her for first for a single-game free throw percentage.

FRESHMEN DUO
The freshmen duo of  Brooklyn Mitchell and Aniya Thomas stepped up against then-No. 14 Texas, as the pair combined for 19 points off the bench. Thomas led the way with 15 points, while Mitchell added four points. Thomas’ performance against Texas earned her the third start of her career on the road at Oklahoma. The Duncanville, Texas native posted her second-straight double-digit scoring performance with 11 points against the Sooners (2/13). Following back-to-back double-figure scoring effots, Thomas remained in the starting lineup against Texas Tech, contributing five points. Mitchell scored 12 points against the Lady Raiders for her first double-digit scoring performance since November, marking the third-straight game a Kansas freshman has scored in double figures. Over the course of the last four contests, Mitchell and Thomas are averaging 14.5 points per game.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks return to Allen Fieldhouse for a two-game homestand. Kansas hosts TCU on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., inside Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

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