RCW: Sport Spotlight 4.12 (Women's Basketball)

Kylee Kopatich has 19 points with 4:07 to play in the third quarter.

Her next basket sets a new career high!#KUwbb

— Kansas Women’s Bball (@KUWBball) November 12, 2017

Career afternoon and it’s still just the first half! #KUwbb

A post shared by Kansas Women’s Basketball (@kuwbball) on Nov 12, 2017 at 12:42pm PST

A new season brings all sort of excitement for coaches, student-athletes and fans to witness inside Allen Fieldhouse. For Kansas women’s basketball the excitement begins with nine-straight games at home, giving Jayhawk fans a chance to see the new talent and improvement of familiar faces. With the start of the new year, junior guard Kylee Kopatich made a statement against Campbell after draining the first bucket of the 2017-18 season – the first of five 3-pointers.

The Olathe, Kansas native began her third season in the Crimson and Blue with a list of career-best records. Known for playing a lot of minutes for KU, she led the team in minutes per game the past two seasons, Kopatich also made a name for herself from long range against the Fighting Camels. Kopatich knocked down five of her seven attempts from the 3-point line, surpassing her previous career-high mark of four. Kopatich not only connected on 71.4 percent of her attempts from the 3-point arc, but she also made 60 percent of her shots from the field overall.

Kopatich’s hot-shooting during the season opener against Campbell led to her career-best mark in the points column on the box score as she ended the first game of the 2017-18 campaign with 21 points. In the first half, Kopatich was two points shy of her career high. Additionally, Kopatich’s 17 first-half points matched the Fighting Camels point total in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Kopatich netted four more points to record her first career game with 20 or more points. Even more impressive is that Kopatich found offensive success while also being handed the top defensive assignment. For 34 minutes, one minute behind the team leader in minutes played, Kopatich led the Jayhawks on both ends of the floor.

“She not only got off to a great start offensively, but we gave her the toughest defensive assignment,” said head coach Brandon Schneider. “It’s nice to see her mentally accept that challenge and not (have it) affect her aggressiveness on offense.”

Kopatich also recorded seven boards, tying her career-high rebound mark, and five assists. In her 61st career start, Kopatich left her mark all over the box score, making a statement that she will continue to step up for her team – offensively and defensively.