Kansas Closes Out Regular Season at TCU

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball concludes the 2016 regular season on the road for second time in the last three years. The Jayhawks end their 2016 Big 12 slate at TCU on Monday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m., inside Schollmaier Arena. KU looks to even the 2016 series and the all-time series with a victory over the Horned Frogs.
 
Following the Jayhawks
Kansas’ match-up with TCU will be broadcast on FSN and the Jayhawk Radio Network, along with audio streaming via KUAthletics.com. Live stats are available through TCU’s website, gofrogs.com. For the most up-to-date information, follow Kansas women’s basketball on Twitter (@KUwbball).
 
Kansas FastBreaks

• TCU took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series over Kansas after posting a 70-44 victory in the first meeting of 2016.  KU is 1-2 when playing the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. 
• Kansas has a record of 364-410 away from Allen Fieldhouse.
• When Brandon Schneider-coached teams are leading with less than five minutes to play, his overall record is 351-12, and 5-0 at Kansas.
• Against Texas Tech, the Jayhawks shot 42.9 percent from beyond the arc in the first half for 33 points, marking the highest halftime average since shooting 50 percent at Texas on Jan. 27 and the most points scored in the first half since dropping 41 against Oral Roberts on Dec. 22.
• Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge leads the Jayhawks in scoring with 10.7 points per game and has netted 18 double-figure scoring efforts in 2015-16.
• Aldridge netted a career-best 20 points against Oklahoma (2/20), the most points by a Jayhawk in a single game this season. She has logged double-digit scoring performances in four of the last six games. 
• During her career, Aldridge has hit 35.9 percent of her attempts from behind the arc, which is tied for ninth all-time in Kansas history with Monica Engleman (2010-13).
• Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich is averaging 32.6 minutes per game during her rookie season. Her minutes per game rank seventh in the Big 12 and second among freshmen in the league.
• Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen has swatted away a team-high 36 blocks this season, averaging 1.3 per game, and 78 blocks in her career. She needs 17 more to crack Kansas’ top-10 season list and seven to etch her name into the junior record.
• Freshman guard Aisia Robertson notched a career-high for points with 14 against the Lady Raiders. She has posted three double-digit scoring performances this season.

 
About the Jayhawks
The Jayhawks (5-23, 0-17 Big 12) head into their final regular-season game of the 2015-16 campaign in search of their first Big 12 win. After the Horned Frogs claimed victory in the first matchup of this season, a 70-44 win in Allen Fieldhouse, TCU now leads the all-time series 5-4. Kansas will look to draw the series even and win its first road game of the season in Fort Worth.
 
A career-night from freshman guard Aisia Robertson could not lift the Jayhawks past Texas Tech in Saturday’s 69-58 loss to the Lady Raiders. The San Francisco, California native notched a new career-high in points (14) and blocks (3), and led Kansas in rebounds with seven. Robertson is averaging nine points per game over her last six contests, the third-best mark for the Jayhawks.
 
For the 14th time this season, sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge led the Jayhawks in scoring against the Lady Raiders, finishing the night with 16 points. Aldridge also dished out four assists, her fifth game of the year notching four or more dimes. As a team, Kansas tallied 10 assists, its sixth-straight game reaching double digits.
 
On Saturday, Kansas earned 17 trips to the free throw line, their most in Big 12 play this season. The Jayhawks hit the mark on 13 of those attempts to finish the night shooting 76.5 percent from the line. Kansas ranks fifth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.680), but earns trips to the charity stripe far less often than its opposition. Kansas’ 344 free throw attempts are the least among conference opponents, and 97 fewer than Texas Tech (441), the team ranked ninth in free throws attempted. The Horned Frogs own the second-best average in the Big 12, sinking 73.6 percent of their free throws.
 
Four of the last five contests between the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs have ended in favor of TCU. A Kansas win would be its first since the 19-point comeback, overtime victory over Navy on Dec. 13. Kansas’ magic number for Saturday might be 65; when allowing more than 65 points from opponents this season, the Jayhawks are 0-14. In Kansas’ five wins this season, the Jayhawks netted 65 or more in four of them.
 
Scouting the Horned Frogs
TCU is 15-13 on the season, and 7-10 in the Big 12 after falling to the No. 7 Texas Longhorns on Saturday night, 71-58. The Horned Frogs’ victory over the Jayhawks on February 29 was the second of a three-game winning streak, but TCU enters Monday’s contest after back-to-back road losses to West Virginia and Texas. The Horned Frogs own an 11-5 home record this season, but are 4-4 in conference games inside Schollmaier Arena. TCU will look to conclude the regular season and end conference play with a winning record at home on Senior Night. Five Horned Frogs will play their last home game on Saturday, including All-America candidate Zahna Medley.
 
The Horned Frogs were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 by the coaches’ preseason poll, after tying with Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas for the third-best conference record (9-9) a season ago. In her first season at the helm, head coach Raegan Pebley helped the Horned Frogs earn a bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), and win their first postseason game since 2008. Nine letterwinners and three starters return from last year’s squad, including Medley, who was named to the preseason All-Big 12 First Team for the second-consecutive season, and senior guard Veja Hamilton, who was named a preseason Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection.
 
Last season, Medley led the Horned Frogs in points per game (15.6), assists (129), free-throws (102), free-throw percentage (.879), three-pointers (72), and three-point percentage (.381). Medley currently leads the team in each of those categories again, and is three points shy of breaking TCU’s record for all-time leading scorer. Among the Big 12, Medley ranks fifth in points per game (16.2), seventh in assists (3.68), fourth in free throws made (85), first in free throw percentage (86.7), first in three-point percentage (.429) and second in three-pointers made (75).
 
Hamilton currently averages 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Shooting just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc on the season, Hamilton is the only starting guard for TCU that isn’t a threat from three-point range. Redshirt sophomore guard AJ Alix shoots 42.1 percent from long distance, just a fraction lower than Medley’s average, and ranks fourth in the Big 12, while Thompson’s mark of .408 is seventh in the conference.
 
TCU ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing opponents to average 66.9 points per game. However, the Horned Frogs shoot a conference-best 39.6 percent from beyond the arc, which may be problematic for the Jayhawks, who own the worst three-point defense in the Big 12 (.344). TCU and Kansas rank ninth and 10th, respectively, in rebounding margin. Kansas will look to improve its effort on the glass, after being outrebounded 32-19 in the season’s prior matchup.
 
This Day in KU Women’s Basketball History 
Record on Feb. 29: 2-2
Kansas women’s basketball will play on the 29th day of February for the fifth time in program history. In 1992, Kansas stole a 70-57 victory over Missouri inside Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks swiped 19 steals in the home win compared to the Tigers’ four steals. Stacy Truitt contributed 20 points and eight rebounds, while Angela Aycock recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Kansas in the Spotlight
Kansas is among one of the most televised women’s basketball programs in the country. The Jayhawks have two games featured on FOX Sports Network, while every home game aired on the new Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN3. KU is scheduled to play 28 contests in 2015-16 on television, that’s three more than a year ago.
 
Up Next
Following the regular-season finale at TCU, the Jayhawks head to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the 2016 Big 12 Championship March 4-7. Every game of the conference championship will air on FSN and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
 
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