Jayhawks welcome TCU for midweek matchup

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball welcomes TCU to Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., for the second meeting of the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs on the hardwood in the 2019.
 
Wednesday’s contest is KU’s Go Red game and all fans wearing red will receive $5 admission. The game will air on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN+ and the Jayhawk Radio Network.

FAST BREAKS

• A win over TCU would snap a seven-game Kansas losing streak and give the Jayhawks a win over the Horned Frogs for the second-straight season.
• The Jayhawks last victory over TCU came last season, inside Allen Fieldhouse.
• Kansas has held its opponents to shooting only 30.3 percent from the 3-point line, which is third lowest in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have limited their opponents to making just 115 3-pointers, which is the fewest in the league.
• The Jayhawks have snagged the third-most steals in the Big 12 with 8.6 per game. Seniors Kylee Kopatich  (2nd) and Christalah Lyons (14th) both rank among the top 15 in the league for steals per game, leading Kansas with 48 and 38 steals, respectively.
• The freshmen duo of Brooklyn Mitchell and Aniya Thomas continue making their mark on the Kansas program with the pair averaging 15.6 points per game over the last five games.
• Sophomore Bailey Helgren recorded her third double-digit rebounding game of the season with 10 boards against Oklahoma State (2/23).
• Kansas connected on all 10 of its attempts from the free throw line at Oklahoma State, marking the second time this season that the Jayhawks have shot 100 percent from the charity stripe.
• With one steal against OSU, Kopatich is nine steals away from passing Jaclyn Johnson and moving into 10th in the Kansas record books for steals with 192 through her career thus far.

THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Record on Feb. 27: 3-8
On Feb. 27, 1988, Kansas topped Missouri, 80-72, in the Columbia edition of the Boarder Showdown behind 58.5 percent shooting from the field. Lisa Baker led the Jayhawks with a double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
The Jayhawks enter Saturday’s matchup against TCU with a 12-14 overall record and a 2-13 mark in Big 12 Conference play. A KU win over the Horned Frogs would give the Jayhawks a victory over TCU for the second-straight season. Kansas’ offense is paced by senior guard Christalah Lyons who is dishing out 3.1 assists per game. Lyons has posted three 20-point performances in Big 12 play, averaging 11.1 points per game. Senior guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 11.5 points and is shooting 39.8 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from the 3-point line. Kansas’ defense is led by sophomore center Bailey Helgren with 5.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks, while Kopatich leads KU with 1.9 steals. Senior Austin Richardson along with Helgren each have 19 blocks on the season. Richardson serves as KU’s second-leading rebounder with 5.3 rebounds per game, while adding 10.2 points per game. Collectively, the Jayhawks limit their opponents to 65.2 points per game, while holding them to 30.3  percent from beyond the 3-point line. 

SCOUTING THE HORNED FROGS
With an 18-8 overall record and an 8-7 mark in Big 12 play, TCU and the Jayhawks meet for the second time in 2019 after the Horned Frogs topped Kansas, 58-53, earlier this year. The Horned Frogs are looking to avoid a third-straight loss with a win against Kansas. Collectively scoring 69.0 points per game, TCU is led by a senior trio of double-digit scorers on the offensive end. Jordan Moore, leads the charge with 16.1 points per game, while Amy Okonkwo and Kianna Ray are averaging 13.3 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Two Horned Frogs have over 80 assists on the season, including Ray (104) and sophomore Lauren Heard (86), who both help to pace TCU’s offense. Defensively, Moore leads TCU, averaging 8.1 rebounds which is fifth in the Big 12 and 2.4 blocks per game, tying for first in the league. Collectively, the Horned Frogs limit their opponents to 61.1 points per game and 39.2 percent shooting from the field, while forcing 18.4 turnovers per game.

OKLAHOMA STATE LEFTOVERS
A cold-shooting first half plagued Kansas at Oklahoma State as the Jayhawks fell, 72-52, to the Cowgirls. Despite outscoring the Cowgirls in the second half, Kansas couldn’t recover from its poor shooting in the first 20 minutes. Freshman Aniya Thomas was the only Jayhawk to notch a double-digit scoring performance, ending the day with 12 points.

CLIMBING UP THE RANKS
Senior Kylee Kopatich has been putting her stamp on the Kansas record books since she first stepped foot onto James Naismith Court. Kopatich is 15 triples away from surpassing fellow Olathe South High School grad Natalie Knight for the most 3-pointers by a Kansas senior. The Olathe, Kansas native has made 218 career 3-pointers and is just 20 treys away from surpassing Angie Halbleib and becoming Kansas’ all-time 3-point field goal leader. Her 218 career 3-pointers are the most by a Jayhawk since 2015, when Knight ended her career with 178 triples. Beyond the 3-point line, Kopatich is nine steals away from passing Jaclyn Johnson and moving into 10th all-time for steals with 192 through her career thus far. Additionally, Kopatich needs to play 12 minutes to pass Lynn Pride and move into sixth in the Kansas record books for minutes played with 3,778 minutes played to date. 

FRESHMEN DUO
The freshmen duo of  Brooklyn Mitchell and Aniya Thomas have made their impact felt as of late in Big 12 play. The pair is averaging 15.6 points per game over the last five games with at least one freshman notching a double-digit scoring effort in four of those five contests. Mitchell and Thomas combined for 19 points off the bench against then-No. 14 Texas with Thomas finishing with 15 points, while Mitchell chipped in four points. Thomas’ performance on the hardwood against Texas earned her the third start of her career on the road at Oklahoma. The Duncanville, Texas native then posted her second-straight double-digit scoring performance with 11 points against the Sooners. Thomas has remained in the starting lineup four the last four games and has scored in double figures in three of the last five contests. Mitchell followed Thomas and scored 12 points against the Lady Raiders for her first double-digit scoring performance since November, which marked the third-straight game a Kansas freshman scored in double figures. Thomas has 87 points on the season, while Mitchell is just one point behind with 86 career points to date.

TURNOVER CENTRAL
The Jayhawks have forced an impressive 457 turnovers on the year and have forced at least 20 turnovers on 11 occasions this season. Kansas forced a season-high 26 turnovers twice this season against Iona (11/25) and at TCU (1/27). While Kansas has been forcing a lot of turnovers, the Jayhawks have limited their own. KU has the fifth-fewest turnovers in the Big 12 with 382, averaging 14.7 per game. The Jayhawks boast the second-best turnover margin in the league (+2.9).

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