Mosley shines alone in loss

By Chuck Woodling     Jan 21, 2007

The real Shaquina Mosley showed up. Now if she just had some help from her Kansas University teammates.

Mosley’s career night went to waste as Iowa State crushed Kansas, 75-48, in women’s basketball Saturday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

Two seasons ago, the 5-foot-6 Mosley came to KU on a bed of roses after being named national junior-college player of the year. But those roses soon turned into thorns.

In the last two games, however, Mosley seems to have arrived. She had 10 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday’s win over Sacramento State. Against ISU, she counted career highs in points (16), three-point goals (four) and minutes played (36).

“It’s a loss,” said Mosley after her yeoman performance, “so I don’t consider it my biggest game.”

With the bulk of her first-year players – particularly Kelly Kohn – hitting the mythical freshman wall, Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson has hung the robe on Mosley.

“She’s playing aggressive and confident,” the KU coach said. “We’ve put things in to get her shots. She might prefer to come off the bench, but we can’t afford that now.”

Henrickson can’t afford it because she has no post presence, either offensively or defensively.

Iowa State, a team that usually relies on three-point goals, punished the Jayhawks with 38 points in the paint. Toccara Ross, a 5-11 juco transfer, had 16 points and 15 boards, and 6-4 Nicky Wieben added 17 points.

“They just hammered it inside,” Henrickson said. “We didn’t move our feet. We looked like we were Velcroed to the back of their shorts.”

Meanwhile, the Jayhawks’ offense was even worse. KU shot a piddling 28 percent (17 of 61), its worst shooting night of the season.

“We got good looks,” Henrickson said. “About 60 percent were uncontested. Our footwork isn’t good, and we just didn’t hit shots.”

Kohn, the only KU player averaging double-figure scoring, suffered through her second miserable outing in a row.

The 5-9 freshman missed nine of 10 shots against Sac State and eight of nine against the Cyclones. Her only basket Saturday was a late breakaway layup. Kohn also clanked three of her four free-throw attempts.

Asked if Kohn had hit a wall, Henrickson replied: “Her focus hasn’t been good lately. She’s maybe in a rut, in a lull.”

Meanwhile, the Jayhawks remain in a losing rut. Saturday’s loss was KU’s 11th in its last 13 games and dropped the Jayhawks deeper into the conference basement with an 0-5 record.

“We will get it right,” Henrickson said. “We’ll bounce back.”

Unfortunately, the near future looks grim. The Jayhawks must go to Kansas State on Wednesday, then to Nebraska on Saturday.

KU has dropped its last 11 games against K-State, dating back to 2002, and won only one of its last seven meetings with the Cornhuskers.

Iowa State climbed to 15-4 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12.

“Mosley really hurt us,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said, “but other than that, I thought we defended well.”

Notes: An announced crowd of 4,295 showed up on a snowy night to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. : ISU won the rebound battle, 42-28. Curiously, 17 of KU’s boards were on offense. : Kansas was credited with only five assists. : ISU overcame its 18 turnovers with 56.3 percent shooting (27 of 48).

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