Jayhawks Ready for Rematch with No. 4 Baylor

Game 23: Kansas at Baylor
Date Saturday, Feb. 6
Time 2 p.m. (CT)
Location Waco, Texas
Arena    Ferrell Center (10,284)   
Series  Baylor leads 24-8
Television Fox Sports Southwest
Radio  Jayhawk Radio Network               

Online: KUAthletics.com  

Notes   Kansas    
Baylor      
 

Stats at a Glance KU BU
Record 5-17 22-1
Points/GM 53.2 78.7
Field Goal % 35.6 48.9
3-Point Field Goal % 30.2 37.4
Free Throw %         67.2 65.0
Rebounds/GM        33.5 46.1
Assists/GM            9.8 22.3
Blocks/GM       3.8 5.8
Steals/GM            7.3 9.4

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Jayhawks head to Waco for their third-straight road game in the Lone Star State on Saturday, Feb. 6. The matchup with No. 4 Baylor is set to tip off at 2 p.m. and fans can follow the action on the Jayhawk Radio Network.

Following the Jayhawks
Kansas’ match-up with Baylor will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest and the Jayhawk Radio Network, along with audio streaming via KUAthletics.com. For the most up-to-date information, follow Kansas women’s basketball on Twitter (@KUwbball).

Kansas FastBreaks

  • Baylor leads the all-time series against the Jayhawks, 24-8. KU owns a 2-11 mark against the Lady Bears in Waco.
  • The Jayhawks’ last win over Baylor came on Jan. 19 of 2014, a 76-60 upset over No. 7 Baylor inside Allen Fieldhouse.
  • KU owns a 119-204 all-time record against Big 12 Conference foes. 
  • Kansas has a record of 364-408 away from Allen Fieldhouse.
  • KU put forth a solid defensive effort in its last matchup with the Lady Bears on Jan. 6. Baylor tallied just eight points in the fourth quarter, marking only the third time this season being held to single digits in one period. The Jayhawks swiped a season-high 10 steals and held Baylor to 58 points, its second-lowest offensive effort of the season. Baylor’s only scoring output lower than 58 points came in its only loss of the season, 52-45 at Oklahoma State. 
  • When Brandon Schneider-coached teams are leading with less than five minutes to play, his overall record is 351-12, and 5-0 at Kansas.
  • During her career, sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge has hit 35.4 percent of her attempts from behind the arc, which is closing in on Kansas’ all-time three-point field percentage top-10. 
  • Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 33.0 minutes per game during her rookie season. Her minutes per game rank sixth in the Big 12 and are the highest among freshmen in the league. 
  • Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen has swatted away a team-high 33 blocks this season, averaging 1.5 per game, for 75 blocks in her career. She needs 20 more to crack Kansas’ top-10 season list and 10 to etch her name into the junior record. 
  • Freshman guard Jayde Christopher has dished out three or more assists on seven occasions, including a career-high mark of six against Northern Illinois (11/27).  She is second on the team in assists with 43 on the year. Aldridge leads the squad with 47 and tallied six against Texas Tech (1/30), for her second five-assist effort this season.

About the Jayhawks
The Jayhawks (5-17, 0-11 Big 12) head south to Waco, Texas for their third-straight road game in the Lone Star State. The matchup with No. 4 Baylor comes after conceding a 10-point halftime lead to Iowa State, falling 63-53 on Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. Streaks of pinpoint shooting helped the Jayhawks grab the early lead, but the Cyclones matched the effort over the last 20 minutes, outscoring Kansas by 20 points on 52 percent shooting. Turnovers again became an issue for the Jayhawks, tallying 24 giveaways that directly led to 20 points for the Cyclones. While the starters struggled from the field all game, the Kansas subs showed up with 26 points to outscore their Iowa State counterparts by 19. 

Junior forward Jada Brown was head coach Brandon Schneider’s first choice off the bench against Iowa State, and ended the night with a career-high 14 points to lead Kansas in scoring. For the second-consecutive game and the third time this season, a Kansas bench player led the squad on offense. Brown shot 6-of-7 from the field, her best performance of the season, and matched sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle with a team-best four rebounds.

Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich played 38 minutes against the Cyclones, more than any other Jayhawk. The Olathe, Kansas native has logged at least 30 minutes in 18 games this season and leads the Big 12 in minutes among freshmen. Kopatich shot 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, bringing her total to 49 made free throws on the season. Her .817 average from the free throw line and total free throws made are both team-high marks.

The Jayhawks now look to end a 12-game losing streak and earn their first Big 12 victory of the season against the Lady Bears. The two teams sit at opposite ends of the conference standings, and Baylor is especially tough to beat inside the Ferrell Center. The Lady Bears have racked up 35-consecutive wins at home, with the last loss coming on March 2, 2014, to West Virginia (71-69).  
 Scouting the Lady BearsFollowing the Lady Bears’ only loss of the season in their Big 12 opener to Oklahoma State, 52-45, No. 4 Baylor (22-1, 9-1 Big 12) has cruised through its conference slate.  Head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad is on a nine-game winning streak, besting opponents by an average of 16.8 points. Baylor holds a 24-8 all-time record against the Jayhawks, but struggled offensively in its 58-40 victory over Kansas on Jan. 6. The Lady Bears’ 58 point performance marked their lowest scoring output in the last nine games, and second-lowest of the season.   

The Lady Bears finished first in the Big 12 in 2014-15 with a 16-2 record, and are once again picked to claim the conference title this year by the coaches’ preseason poll. After winning the regular-season title, Baylor went on to win its fifth-consecutive Big 12 tournament championship and earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bears advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame. Eight players return from last year’s squad, including Big 12 Player of the Year Nina Davis. With Wednesday evening’s 87-52 blowout over Kansas State, Baylor moved back to the top of the Big 12, owning the tie-breaker over Texas, also sitting at 9-1. 

Davis, a junior forward, is ranked fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game to lead Baylor. Her mark of 54.5 percent shooting ranks 10th in the Big 12. Davis is now second in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 18.3 points per game. The Memphis, Tennessee native also averages 6.0 rebounds per contest, but had a quiet night against Kansas State, collecting nine points and two boards.

Senior guard Niya Johnson runs the show for the Lady Bears offense, leading her team and the nation in assists. Her 207 assists on the season are more than any other women’s Division I player, and her average of 9.4 dimes per game is 1.5 more than Zakiya Johnson of Albany, who clocks in at second on the national rankings. Johnson has also swiped 42 steals, the third-most of any Big 12 player, and averages 32.82 minutes per game, more than any other Lady Bear.

Through 23 games, Baylor sits atop the Big 12 in scoring offense as well as scoring defense, allowing only 53.2 points per game. The Lady Bears hold a plus-25.6 scoring margin and shoot a conference-best 48.9 percent from the field. Baylor also leads the Big 12 in assists per game (22.3), and is second in blocks per game (5.86) and steals per game (9.39).  
This Day in KU Women’s Basketball HistoryRecord on Feb. 6: 7-5Kansas women’s basketball will play on the sixth day of February for the 13th time in program history. The last meeting on Feb. 6 came in 2013 and resulted in a 86-45 loss to No. 1 Baylor in Waco. The Jayhawks’ first-ever contest on Feb. 6 came against Kansas State, with Kansas prevailing in Allen Fieldhouse by a score of 49-45.
Tough and Together First-year head coach Brandon Schneider has brought a “tough and together” culture to Allen Fieldhouse and Kansas women’s basketball. The Jayhawks begin end every practice with t and t, which is short for tough and together. Schneider has vowed that his squads will compete and play together every day. Whether the Jayhawks are hitting the floor, flying over the scorers’ table or passing to a teammate, they will play tough and together. 
 One – Two – Three!On the season, Kansas is connecting on 30.2 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Both redshirt junior guard Timeka O’Neal and sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge are shooting above average, making 38.8 and 36.0 percent of their long-range shots, respectively. Both Jayhawks rank among the top 11 in the Big 12 and Aldridge’s career mark of 35.4 nears the all-time KU three-point field goal percentage, where the No. 10 spot is 35.9 percent held by Monica Engelman. Up NextThe Jayhawks head to Manhattan for the season’s second installment of the Sunflower Showdown. Kansas will wrap up the 2016 series with the Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., inside Bramlage Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Cox Cable, the Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, ESPN3 and the Jayhawk Radio Network. 

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