Jayhawks hit the road to face Lady Raiders

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball heads to Texas Tech for the first of a two-game road tilt, as the Jayhawks and Lady Raiders tip off on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m., inside United Spirit Arena.

KU heads to Lubbock looking to win inside United Spirit Arena for the second-straight season after topping Texas Tech, 60-47, last year. The first game of the 2018 series will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network.

QUICK HITS

• The Jayhawks have an 11-20 overall record against the Lady Raiders after going 1-1 with Texas Tech during the 2017-18 season.
• KU has been getting out to a fast start, outscoring its opponents 225-133 in the first quarter.
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting just 26.5 percent from the 3-point line. The Jayhawks are the only Big 12 team to keep their opponents to less than 50 3-pointers on the season with 48.
• Senior guard Christalah Lyons posted her first 20-point performance of the season with a career-best 24 points against Iowa State (1/5).
• For the second time this season, Kansas has made 12 long range buckets in a single game, tying for third all-time in the Kansas record book for 3-pointers made in a single game.
• Five different Jayhawks notched treys against Iowa State led by senior guard Kylee Kopatich with four. Senior forward Austin Richardson and Lyons each had three, while sixth year guard Jessica Washington and senior guard Brianna Osorio made one each.
• The Jayhawks dished out 17 assists against the Cyclones (1/5) for the most assists in a single game since KU dished out 20 against Kansas State in the 2018 Big 12 Championship (3/2/18).
• Richardson along with sophomore center Bailey Helgren each grabbed eight rebounds against the Cyclones their fourth and fifth eight-rebound performance of 2018-19, respectively.

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Jan. 9: 6-10
On January 9, 1991, Terrilyn Johnson and Misti Chennault combined for 41 points to lift Kansas over Oklahoma in a 17-point victory over the Sooners. Johnson also pulled down 14 rebounds and the Jayhawks combined for 18 steals in the win.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
Following a gritty performance in a nine-point loss to No. 25 Iowa State in their conference opener, the Jayhawks are looking to notch a win over Texas Tech for the second-straight season in United Spirit Arena. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons, who is dishing out 3.3 assists per game, ranking her 14th in the league. Lyons’ assist to turnover ratio (2.5) not only ranks among the best in the Big 12 (4th), but the Dallas native also ranks 31st in the nation, while scoring 10.8 points per game. Two-time 2018-19 Big 12 Player of the Week Jessica Washington leads Kansas in scoring with 15.5 points per game, while connecting on 39.3 percent of her attempts from the floor and 40.0 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.5 points and is shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent from the 3-point line. The Kansas defense has once again proven to be one of the best in the league and the nation, ranking among the top 35 in the country for field goal percentage defense (35.0 percent), 3-point field goal percentage defense (26.5 percent) and scoring defense (55.8 ppg). Sophomore center Bailey Helgren leads the Jayhawks with 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, while Kopatich leads KU with 1.9 steals, the sixth-best in the conference. Senior Austin Richardson and redshirt-freshman Brittany Franklin also assist the Jayhawks defensively with 12 blocks each, while Richardson serves as KU’s second-leading rebounder with 6.0 rebounds per game. The Jayhawks look to pick up their first Big 12 win of the season against the Lady Raiders and second true road win of the season on Wednesday night.

SCOUTING LADY RAIDERS
Texas Tech entered conference play with a 9-2 mark, improving from a 6-6 nonconference mark a year ago. With two Big 12 contests under their belt, the Lady Raiders have made significant strides from last season, despite opening league play 0-2. Texas Tech has three players averaging double digits in scoring, led by freshman phenom Chrislyn Carr, who has been named Big 12 Freshman of the Week twice and National Freshman of the Week once. Carr is averaging a team-best and conference leading 19.9 points per game, while adding 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Junior forward Brittany Brewer is averaging a double-double with 18.0 points and 11.2 rebounds, while sophomore guard Sydney Goodson is chipping in 10.8 points per game. Texas Tech’s offense is the third-best in the Big 12 with 76.7 points per game. Defensively, the Lady Raiders have two players notching double figures in rebounding, including Brewer and senior forward Zuri Sanders with a Big 12 leading 12.2 rebounds per game. Brewer is leading the league in blocks with 36 on the season, averaging 2.8 per game.

IOWA STATE LEFTOVERS
A late run in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough for Kansas women’s basketball to earn its first Big 12 win of the season, falling 82-73 to No. 25 Iowa State. The Jayhawks were led by four seniors, including guard Christalah Lyons, who notched a career-high 24 points and dished out six assists. Kylee Kopatich and Austin Richardson added 14 points each, while Richardson grabbed eight rebounds. Sixth year Jessica Washington scored 12 points and tied her career-high of six assists to round out KU’s four double-digit scorers.

COMEBACK KID
Sixth year Jessica Washington has had no problem finding her groove again after coming off a season-ending injury in 2017-18. The 2017 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year has garnered Big 12 Player of the Week honors twice already this season, most recently in week seven after being named Desert Division MVP at the Duel in the Desert Tournament. Washington has been named Big 12 Player of the Week three times in her career. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native leads the Jayhawks with 15.5 points per game, which is the 10th best in the Big 12 Conference. With 24 3-pointers to date, the 5-8 guard is second on Kansas and fourth in the Big 12 for 3-pointers made, while her 3-point field goal percentage is second on the Kansas team and the 10th best in the league.

THE FLOOR GENERAL
Coming off of an impressive junior campaign where she garnered All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors, senior Christalah Lyons has settled into a groove leading the Kansas offense this season. The 5-5 guard posted a career-best 24 points against Iowa State (1/5) for her first 20-point performance of the year to begin Big 12 Conference play. Lyons is averaging 10.8 points, while dishing out 3.3 assists per game so far this season. The Dallas native has just 16 turnovers thus far, which is the fewest in the Big 12 among players in the top 15 for assist to turnover ratio. Lyons has dished out a team-leading 40 assists this season, which places her 14th in the league. With an assist to turnover ratio of 2.5, Lyons is fourth in the Big 12 and 31st in the nation.

LIGHTS OUT FROM LONG RANGE
The Jayhawks have already surpassed the halfway mark for 3-pointers made last season in just the first 12 games of 2018-19. Kansas made 173 total treys last year, while the Jayhawks have already notched 93 this season. KU is averaging 7.8 3-pointers, which is second among Big 12 teams and 62nd in the nation, while connecting on 37.2 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc, which is third-best in the conference and 28th-best in the nation. Two Jayhawks are shooting 40 percent or better from long range. Senior Kylee Kopatich is shooting a team-best 44.1 percent, while sixth year Jessica Washington is connecting on 40.0 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc. Junior Mariane De Carvalho follows closely behind, shooting 37.9 percent. Kopatich’s 44.1 percent is fourth in the league and 39th in the nation, while Washington’s percentage places her eighth in the Big 12. Kopatich (26) and Washington (24) are the only two Jayhawks with 20 or more 3-pointers. The Jayhawks connected on 12 of their 21 attempts at LSU (11/29), for the second-most triples made in a single game in Kansas program history, falling just one 3-pointer shy of tying the program record (13). KU then matched that record again in its Big 12 debut against Iowa State (1/5), making 12 treys for the second time in the 2018-19 campaign. Kansas has made 11 or more 3-pointers on four separate occasions this season, 11 against George Mason (11/21), 12 at LSU (11/29), 11 against Northwestern (12/20) and 12 against Iowa State (1/5).

D-D-D-DEFENSE
Kansas has put on stifling defensive performances game in and game out thus far in the 2018-19 season. The Jayhawks rank among the top five in the Big 12 in scoring defense (fourth), field goal percentage defense (fifth) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (second). Kansas has held its opponents to 55.8 points per game, while limiting opponent shooting percentages to 35.0 percent (FG) and 26.5 percent (3 FG). The Jayhawks are snagging the third-most steals per game in the Big 12 with 9.5 led by seniors Kylee Kopatich (sixth) and Christalah Lyons (eighth) who are averaging 1.9 and 1.8 steals per game, respectively.

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 222 turnovers this season, including a season-high 22 forced turnovers at LSU (11/29). While Kansas has been forcing a lot of turnovers, the Jayhawks have limited their own. KU is the only team in the Big 12 with less than 170 turnovers on the season with 168, which is the fewest number of total turnovers by a Big 12 team. KU’s 14.1 turnovers per game are the 46th fewest in the nation, while Kansas is second in the Big 12.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks complete a two-game road tilt at Kansas State and the first edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. Kansas and the Wildcats tip off on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. inside Bramlage Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Network or can be listened to on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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