Cyclones Top Jayhawks, 65-49
AMES, Iowa – Kansas women’s basketball got off to a hot start on the road and trailed by a possession at the halftime break, but cold shooting in the second half led to a 65-49 loss at the hands of the Cyclones on Saturday night, inside the Hilton Coliseum.
At halftime, the Jayhawks trailed by only three points, their smallest deficit after two quarters in Big 12 Conference play this season. However, they could not duplicate their 41.7 percent first half shooting, connecting on only 28.6 percent of their attempts in the second half.
Five different Cyclones recorded double-digit scoring efforts, led by Redshirt sophomore guard Jadda Buckley, who ended the night with 12 points. Buckley, third in the Big 12 in assists, recorded a game-high five dimes. Senior guard Kidd Blaskowsky and the Big 12’s leading freshman scorer, Bridget Carleton, each tallied 11 points. Junior guard Seanna Johnson continues to lead the conference in double-doubles, with a 10 point and 10 rebound performance.
Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge was the only Jayhawk to score in double figures, with 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen and sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle each concluded the road contest with eight points. Manning-Allen also grabbed six rebounds and swatted three blocks. Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich led the squad on the glass with seven boards.
Kansas got out to an early 4-0 lead after holding the Cyclones to 0-of-5 from the field and scoreless until the 6:34 mark. A couple quick baskets from Iowa State and a Jayhawk free throw knotted the score, 5-5.
With 4:34 remaining in the first quarter, the Cyclones took their first lead with their second three-pointer of the game. Kansas reclaimed the advantage a minute later, 9-8, but the Iowa State finished the period on a 6-2 run to lead, 14-11, after ten minutes of action.
The second quarter began with a 5-0 scoring streak from ISU to push the lead to eight points, but the Jayhawks answered right back with a 4-0 run of their own. Kansas battled back over the remainder of the half with tough defense and improved shooting. Converting on five of their last seven field goal attempts, the Jayhawks managed to cut the Cyclone lead to just three points by the halftime buzzer.
Halfway through the third quarter, Iowa State still led by a three-point margin after both teams put in two field goals each. Four-straight made shots followed for the Cyclones, leading to another 6-0 run and their largest lead of the game to that point, 43-32.
Kansas made up little ground before the end of the period, which ended with Iowa State leading, 44-34. The Cyclones outscoring the Jayhawks by seven points in the third quarter was largely due to shooting performances with ISU shooting 54.5 percent, while Kansas shot just 26.7 percent.
The Jayhawks were not going to back down in the final 10 minutes of play, and a five-point swing at the beginning of the quarter quickly cut ISU’s lead to five. The Cyclones responded and returned the lead to double-digits, 54-44, with 4:43 left in the game. The rest of the quarter would belong to Iowa State, scoring 11 more points to the Jayhawks’ five, claiming the victory, 65-49.
POSTGAME NOTES
Iowa State 65, Kansas 49
Jan. 9, 2016 – Ames, Iowa
Hilton Coliseum
Attendance: 7,471 (Capacity: 14,384)
SERIES INFORMATION
- Despite the road loss, Kansas leads the all-time series against Iowa State, 47-32.
- KU is 16- 22 when playing inside Hilton Coliseum.
- The Jayhawks are 119-197 all-time against Big 12 Conference foes.
- Kansas is 364-405 all-time away from Allen Fieldhouse.
TEAM NOTES
- Kansas connected on 45.5 percent of its shots from beyond arc, marking the fifth time this year KU has shot 40 percent or better from the three-point line.
- The Jayhawks’ three-point field goal percentage at Iowa State (1/9/126) is the best shooting percentage from long range since Kansas made 42.1 percent of its shots from beyond the arc against St. John’s (12/6/15).
- KU concluded the game against the Cyclones sinking 72.7 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe, marking its best free throw percentage against a Big 12 opponent.
INDIVIDUAL
- Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen swatted away three blocks against the Cyclones, marking the sixth occasion this season where the Chicago, Illinois native has recorded three or more blocks in a game.
- Manning-Allen has logged a team-high 26 blocks this season, averaging 1.7 per game. She is on pace to rank among the top-5 blocks for juniors and KU’s top-10 season records. She needs 27 more to crack Kansas’ top-10 season list and 16 to etch her name into the junior record.
- Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge netted a team-high 12 points at Iowa State, her eighth game in 2015-16 finishing the contest as KU’s leading scorer.
- Aldridge has posted a double-figure scoring effort in 11 games this year, the most of any Jayhawks.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider
On the fourth quarter comeback falling short:
“Well, we cut it to five and then Aisia Robertson picked up her fourth foul. We had to bring Jayde (Christopher) in and we made a couple mistakes, and they got it back to 10. In the third quarter, I thought they did a much better job at the free throw line than we did. It was in that quarter where the foul disparity was significantly different. Then in the fourth quarter, we weren’t keeping it out of the post. They were getting too deep on post-ups. We were trying to go inside and it seemed like we would punch it inside and just couldn’t get anything in terms of positive possessions. We missed a couple, got a couple shots blocked, and that’s the difference in the game in a place where they haven’t been beat here this year. This is a terrific environment and give a lot of credit to their fans and how they’ve supported this team.”
On preventing three-point shooting:
“Well, we held them to 10 fewer three-point attempts than what they average. We held them to only two three-point makes in the second half, but like I said, it turned into a paint game and they end up with 30 points in the paint. They got to the free throw line in the second half, I think 18 times. So, we have to do a better job of staying up the floor and keeping it out of the post. I thought we had some moments when we did that. I don’t know if it’s fatigue or lack of concentration or what it is, but in this league you can’t have possessions with four or five guys out there aren’t doing their job. We’ve had stretches every ball game where that has happened and it’s gotten away from us real quick.
On if there has been improvement in handling the road environment:
“Oh no question. I didn’t think that – other than us listening to their band and their shot clock countdown; I thought that was the biggest thing that affected us.”
NEXT UP
Kansas returns home to Allen Fieldhouse to host its third nationally-ranked foe in the last five games, when the Jayhawks welcome No. 4 Texas on Wednesday, Jan. 13, to Lawrence. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., on the Jayhawk Television Network and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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