Cold-shooting night plagues Kansas at No. 12 Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – An uncharacteristically cold-shooting night plagued Kansas women’s basketball, as the Jayhawks fell to No. 12 Texas, 62-43, on Wednesday night inside the Frank Erwin Center.
Junior forward Mariane De Carvalho led the Jayhawks with 11 points and five rebounds, falling just one point and one rebounds high of matching her career-best marks. Senior forward Austin Richardson notched her 10th double-digit scoring effort of the season, netting 10 points as the only other Jayhawk to score in double figures.
Three Longhorns scored in double digits, led by junior guard Sug Sutton with 18 points. Junior guard Joyner Holmes and senior forward Jatarie White added 15 points and 10 points, respectively.
Kansas’ shots weren’t falling at No. 12 Texas as the Jayhawks made just six field goals in the first half of play, shooting 17.6 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play. De Carvalho was the only Jayhawk that seemed to find an offensive groove to start the game, making all three of KU’s 3-pointers in the half and shooting 50 percent from long range.
With senior guard Christalah Lyons in foul trouble in the second period, freshman guard Brooklyn Mitchell stepped up in the second quarter to facilitate Kansas’ offense, scoring a bucket and dishing out a career-best two assists to help keep the Jayhawks within striking distant, trailing 25-16, at the halftime break.
Despite poor shooting in the first half, the Jayhawks crashed the boards, outrebounding the Longhorns, 22-20, while forcing nine first-half Texas turnovers.
Texas jumped out to a 10-2 run to begin the second half and stretched its advantage, 35-18, forcing a Kansas timeout. The Jayhawks followed with an 8-2 run of their own, including six points from Richardson to pull KU within 11.
After a minute without a bucket from either side Mitchell scored the next four points to narrow the deficit to nine with three minutes remaining in the third, but UT outscored Kansas, 7-2, in the final minutes of the period to hold onto a 46-32 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Kansas couldn’t get on a scoring run in the final 10 minutes and any hopes of a comeback was halted by the Longhorns as the Jayhawks fell, 62-43.
NOTABLES
- Kansas’ 16 first half points are the fewest point in the first half this season by the Jayhawks.
- The Jayhawks were limited to just eight points in both the first and second quarter, marking just the fourth and fifth times in 2018-19 that Kansas has been limited to single digits in a single period.
- KU’s 43 points are a season low.
- Freshman guard Brooklyn Mitchell posted multiple career-bests with five rebounds, two assists in 18 minutes of play.
- Senior forward Austin Richardson dished out a team-high and career-best four assists.
QUOTES
Kansas Head Coach Brandon Schneider
“You got to make shots. I think for the most part, we got the shots that we wanted. We are statistically the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league by both makes and percentage. A couple of games ago we set the school record in three-point makes. Tonight, we didn’t make them. We went 1-for-20 with our starters in the first half. This a game where you have to make shots.”
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks continue a two-game road swing at TCU, where Kansas plays the Horned Frogs for the first time in 2019. KU and TCU tip off on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m., inside the Schollmaier Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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