Jayhawks travel to TCU for Sunday matchup

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball travels to Fort Worth, Texas to face off with TCU for the first time this season on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m., inside Schollmaier Arena.

The Jayhawks look to snap a three-game losing streak and earn a win over the Horned Frogs for the second-straight season. Fans can follow all of the action on Fox Sports Southwest or the Jayhawk Radio Network.

FAST BREAKS

• KU’s bench accounted for over half of the Jayhawks’ points at No. 12 Texas with four players contributing 23 points.
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting only 26.9 percent from the 3-point line, which is first in the Big 12 and ranks 26th best in the nation. The Jayhawks have limited their opponents to making just 65 total 3-pointers this season with the next closest Big 12 opponent allowing 89 treys.
• Despite making just four triples against Texas, Kansas still ranks second in the Big 12 for 3-point field goals made, averaging 7.5 per game. The Jayhawks have the second-most total number of treys with 127  on the season.
• Freshman Brooklyn Mitchell grabbed a career-best five rebounds, while dishing out a career-high two assists in 18 minutes of play off the bench against the Longhorns.
• Junior Mariane De Carvalho made three of KU’s four 3-pointers at Texas, shooting 50 percent from long range in the game and improving her overall 3-point shooting percentage to 40.5 percent.
• Senior Austin Richardson was one of two Jayhawks to notch double digits with 10 points against the Longhorns, while dishing out a team-high and career-best four assists.
• Senior Christalah Lyons is shooting a team-best 71.9 percent from the free throw line (min. 40 attempts). Lyons ranks 10th in the Big 12 from the charity stripe.

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Jan. 23: 9-3
On January 27, 1998, Kansas defeated former Big 12 foe Texas A&M, 63-58, behind the efforts of Nakia Sanford and Lynn Pride. Sanford posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Pride led the Jayhawks in scoring finishing with 16 points on the night.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
After suffering its third-straight loss, Kansas looks to bounce back at TCU and earn a win over the Horned Frogs for the second-straight season. The Jayhawks have an 11-6 overall record and a 1-5 mark in league play. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons who is dishing out 3.3 assists per game. Lyons has posted two 20-point performances in Big 12 play, averaging a team-leading 13.8 points per game against conference opponents and 11.1 points overall. Two-time 2018-19 Big 12 Player of the Week Jessica Washington leads Kansas in scoring with 15.1 points per game, while connecting on 37.7 percent of her attempts from the floor and 41.9 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.0 points and is shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from the 3-point line. Kansas’ defense is led by sophomore center Bailey Helgren with 6.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks, while Kopatich leads KU with 1.8 steals, the ninth-best in the conference. Senior Austin Richardson leads Kansas with 15 blocks on the season and serves as KU’s second-leading rebounder with 5.6 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING THE HORNED FROGS
TCU enters Sunday’s matchup against Kansas with a 13-5 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Big 12 play. Coming off of a victory against Oklahoma, a win over the Jayhawks would put the Horned Frogs at the .500 mark in league play. Collectively scoring 69.6 points per game, TCU is led by a trio of double-digit scorers on the offensive end. The Big 12’s field goal percentage leader, senior Jordan Moore, leads the charge with 16.1 points per game. Seniors Amy Okonkwo and Kianna Ray are averaging 12.0 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Two Horned Frogs have over 50 assists on the season, including Ray (79) and Lauren Heard (56), who both help to pace TCU’s offense. Defensively, Moore leads TCU, averaging 7.4 rebounds which is eighth in the Big 12 and 2.2 blocks per game for third in the league. Collectively, the Horned Frogs limit their opponents to 58.8 points per game and 37.8 percent shooting from the field, while forcing 18.4 turnovers per game.

TEXAS LEFTOVERS
An uncharacteristically cold-shooting night plagued Kansas women’s basketball, as the Jayhawks fell to No. 12 Texas, 62-43, 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.

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 307 turnovers on the year and have forced at least 20 turnovers on eight occasions this season. 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 240 turnovers on the season with 232. Baylor, who has 221 turnovers on the season is the only other team with less than 240 turnovers. KU’s 13.6 turnovers per game are the second fewest turnovers in the Big 12. The Jayhawks boast the best turnover margin in the league (+4.4) and 31st best in the nation.

RAINING THREES
After a record-breaking 3-point performance with 14 treys against then-No. 2 Baylor (1/16), Kansas’ 127 triples to date continue to inch closer to surpassing last year’s total of 173. KU is averaging 7.5 3-pointers, which is second among Big 12 teams and 75th in the nation. The Jayhawks have connected on 34.8 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc, which is fourth-best in the conference. Senior Kylee Kopatich is shooting 40.4 percent from the 3-point line, while sixth year Jessica Washington is connecting on 41.9 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc. Kopatich (36) and Washington (36) are the only two Jayhawks with 30 or more 3-pointers. While Kopatich and Washington lead the way from beyond the arc, seven other Jayhawks have made a triple this season, including three that have made at least 10. Senior Austin Richardson has made 16 treys, while junior Mariane De Carvalho and senior Christalah Lyons have made 15 and 12 triples, respectively. Sophomore Micaela Wilson (5), senior Brianna Osorio (4), and freshmen Aniya Thomas (2) and Brooklyn Mitchell (1) have all made a long range bucket for the Jayhawks. De Carvalho joins Washington and Kopatich as the only three Jayhawks shooting above 40 percent from long range, connecting on 40.5 percent of her attempts. Kansas has made 11 or more 3-pointers on five separate occasions this season, 11 against George Mason (11/21), 12 at LSU (11/29), 11 against Northwestern (12/20), 12 against Iowa State (1/5) and 14 against Baylor (1/16).

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 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. Two games later, Lyons followed up with another 20-point performance scoring 20 points in KU’s first Big 12 win of the season against K-State (1/13). Lyons has posted double-figure scoring efforts in four of KU’s six league games to date and is averaging 13.8 points in Big 12 play and 11.1 points overall. Lyons is dishing out 3.3 assists per game so far this season with a team-high 56 during her senior campaign. The Dallas native has 24 turnovers thus far and has had zero turnovers in three games this season. Lyons’ 24 turnovers are the second fewest in the Big 12 among players in the top 15 for assist to turnover ratio. With an assist to turnover ratio of 2.3, Lyons is sixth in the Big 12 and 34th in the nation. 

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 15.1 points per game, which is the 11th best in the Big 12 Conference. With 36 3-pointers to date, the 5-8 guard is tied with senior Kylee Kopatich for most treys on the Kansas team and third in the Big 12 for 3-pointers made, while her 3-point field goal percentage is the sixth best in the league. Washington has posted 12 double-figure scoring efforts, including three 20-point performances this season in the 14 games that she’s appeared in.

DYNAMIC DUO
Senior Kylee Kopatich and sixth year Jessica Washington have been lethal from beyond the 3-point line this season. The duo has been nearly identically from long range with each making 36 triples so far this season. Kopatich has attempted 89, while Washington has attempted 86. The pair lead Kansas from behind the arc with Kopatich shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc and Washington shooting 41.9 percent. Washington (2.6) and Kopatich (2.3) are third and sixth in the Big 12 for 3-point field goals made, respectively. Washington is sixth for 3-point field goal percentage, while Kopatich is in seventh.

BREAKING RECORDS
Kansas set a single-game 3-point record making 14 treys against the No. 2 Lady Bears. KU connected on 50 percent (14-of-28) of its attempts from long range with five Jayhawks notching threes in the process. Sixth year Jessica Washington and senior Kylee Kopatich combined for 11 of the 14 triples, while sophomore Micaela Wilson and seniors Christalah Lyons and Austin Richardson added one 3-pointer each. Washington (6) and Kopatich (5) each tied their season highs for 3-pointers made in a single game.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks return home to Allen Fieldhouse to face the Oklahoma Sooners for the first time this season on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on  the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

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