Jayhawks to face Wildcats in Dillions Sunflower Showdown

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball faces in-state rival Kansas State in the Manhattan edition of the Dillions Sunflower Showdown on Sunday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m., inside Bramlage Coliseum.
 
The Jayhawks are looking to pick up their first Big 12 win of the 2018-19 season and first win against K-State since 2014. The rivalry game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Network and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

QUICK HITS

• The Jayhawks own an overall record of 46-73 against the Wildcats after going 0-3 with Kansas State during the 2017-18 season.
• KU has been getting out to a fast start, outscoring its opponents 235-152 in the first quarter.
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting only 26.6 percent from the 3-point line, leading the Big 12. The Jayhawks have limited their opponents to making just 51 total 3-pointers this season with the next closest Big 12 opponent allowing 70 treys.
• Kansas forced 20 Texas Tech (1/9) turnovers, the seventh time this season that the Jayhawks have forced at least 20 turnovers.
• Sophomore center Bailey Helgren grabbed a career- best 11 rebounds against Texas Tech (1/9) for her second double-figure rebounding game of her career.
• With two 3-pointers against Texas Tech (1/9), senior guard Kylee Kopatich has made a trey in nine of the 12 games that she’s appeared in this season.
• Sixth year Jessica Washington continues to lead the Jayhawks offensively boasting the eighth-best scoring average in the Big 12 with 16.1 points per game.
• The Jayhawks have four players averaging double figures through two Big 12 matchups with Washington (17.0) leading the way. Seniors Christalah Lyons, Kopatich and Austin Richardson are averaging 16.5, 13.5 and 10.0 in league play, respectively.

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Jan. 13: 3-7
On January 13, 1998, Kansas defeated Texas 76-71 with four players notching double-digit scoring efforts. Lynn Pride led the way with 19 points, followed by Suzi Raymant with 15 points, Jaclyn Johnson with 14 points and Nakia Sanford with 11 points.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas enters the Manhattan edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown 0-2 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks have posted solid performances against both then-No. 25 Iowa State and Texas Tech, but came up short in each comeback effort. The Jayhawks are looking for their first win in league play and first win against their in-state rival Kansas State since 2014. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons who is dishing out 3.4 assists per game, ranking her 13th in the league through KU’s 13 games. Lyons’ assist to turnover ratio (2.4) not only ranks among the best in the Big 12 (4th), but the Dallas native also ranks 33rd in the nation, while scoring 10.6 points per game. Two-time 2018-19 Big 12 Player of the Week Jessica Washington leads Kansas in scoring with 16.1 points per game, while connecting on 39.4 percent of her attempts from the floor and 40.6 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.6 points and is shooting 44.8 percent from the floor and a team-leading 43.1 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 40 in the country for field goal percentage defense (35.6 percent), 3-point field goal percentage defense (26.6 percent) and scoring defense (56.8 ppg). Sophomore center Bailey Helgren leads the Jayhawks with 6.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, while Lyons leads KU with 1.8 steals, the eighth-best in the conference. Senior Austin Richardson and redshirt-freshman Brittany Franklin also assist the Jayhawks defensively with 13 and 12 blocks, respectively. Richardson serves as KU’s second-leading rebounder with 5.7 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kansas State entered Big 12 play with a 9-3 nonconference record and has posted a 1-2 record in league play so far in 2018- 19. Junior Peyton Williams is K-State’s leading scorer and rebounder, falling just shy of averaging a double-double with 14.6 points and 9.9 rebounds. Senior Kayla Goth paces the Wildcats offense with a Big 12 leading 6.0 assists per game, while adding 12.0 points per game. Sophomore Rachel Ranke completes KSU’s trio of double-digit scorers with 10.3 points per game. Collectively, Kansas State is scoring 64.5 points per game and shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 30.9 percent from long range, while limiting their opponents to 60.6 points per game. K-State is looking to even its Big 12 record with a win over the Jayhawks.

TEXAS TECH LEFTOVERS
Kansas women’s basketball couldn’t stop Texas Tech’s Zuri Sanders as the Jayhawks fell, 69-66, to the Lady Raiders inside United Supermarkets Arena. The Jayhawks were led by sixth year guard Jessica Washington’s 22 points and three assists. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native’s 22 points mark her third 20-point performance of the season and 15th of her career. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich added 13 points with all but three coming in the third quarter.

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 16.1 points per game, which is the eighth best in the Big 12 Conference. With 28 3-pointers to date, the 5-8 guard is tied for the most 3-pointers made on the team and third 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. Washington posted her third 20-point performance of the season at Texas Tech (1/9) with a game-high 22 points.

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 10.6 points, while dishing out 3.4 assists per game so far this season. The Dallas native has just 18 turnovers thus far, which is the second fewest in the Big 12 among players in the top 15 for assist to turnover ratio. Lyons has dished out a team-leading 44 assists this season, which places her 13th in the league. With an assist to turnover ratio of 2.4, Lyons is fourth in the Big 12 and 33rd in the nation.

LIGHTS OUT FROM LONG RANGE
The Jayhawks enter Sunday’s matchup with K-State, one 3-pointer shy of 100 treys on the season inching closer to surpassing last year’s total of 173. KU is averaging 7.6 3-pointers, which is second among Big 12 teams and 94th in the nation, while connecting on 36.8 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc, which is third-best in the conference and 31st-best in the nation. Two Jayhawks are shooting 40 percent or better from long range. Senior Kylee Kopatich is shooting a team-best 43.1 percent, while sixth year Jessica Washington is connecting on 40.6 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc. Kopatich’s 43.1 percent is sixth in the league and 44th in the nation, while Washington’s percentage places her eighth in the Big 12. Kopatich (28) and Washington (28) 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 (first). Kansas has held its opponents to 56.8 points per game, while limiting opponent shooting percentages to 35.6 percent (FG) and 26.6 percent (3 FG). The Jayhawks are snagging the third-most steals per game in the Big 12 with 9.2 led by senior Christalah Lyons (eighth) with 1.8 steals per game. Three Jayhawks rank among the top-15 in the Big 12 for blocked shots led by sophomore Bailey Helgren (10th) with 1.1 per game. Redshirt freshman Brittany Franklin (T-12th) and senior Austin Richardson (T-12th) are each averaging 1 block per game.

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 242 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 one of two teams in the Big 12 with less than 190 turnovers on the season with 183. Baylor, who also has 183 turnovers on the season, is the only other team with less than 190 turnovers. KU’s 14.2 turnovers per game are the 49th fewest in the nation, while Kansas is fourth in the Big 12. The Jayhawks boast the second-best turnover margin in the league (+4.5) and 37th best in the nation.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks return home for a two-game homestand with No. 4/4 Baylor and Oklahoma State. Kansas and the Lady Bears tip off on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

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