Photo Gallery

KU women's basketball vs. Iowa

FINAL: KU women defeat Iowa, 76-55

LaChelda Jacobs tied her career highs in points and assists, leading the Kansas women's basketball team to a 76-55 victory over Iowa on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Jacobs finished with 18 points, six assists and just one turnover in 30 minutes.

"I thought she controlled us offensively, even in the zone defense, and made some great decisions," KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said of Jacobs.

Sade Morris added 17 points — all coming in the second half. After going 0-for-6 in the opening 20 minutes, Morris was 7-for-10 from the field after the break.

Danielle McCray posted 15 points, which included a 3-for-6 effort from three-point range.

Playing in front of 5,186 fans (about half of which were elementary school children from the area), the Jayhawks put together one of their best defensive showings of the Henrickson era. Iowa made just 17 of 45 shots (38 percent) and committed 23 turnovers. Only four Hawkeyes scored field goals, with center Megan Skouby accounting for 60 percent of the Iowa offense (33 points, 10-for-17 shooting).

"This wasn't a very good performance, but a lot of it was that Kansas played excellent defense," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "They disrupted our offense and did a super job of that."

KU (2-0) also held its own on the boards against a much taller Iowa squad. The two teams both finished with 35 rebounds, with the Jayhawks pulling down 18 offensive boards.

The Jayhawks' next game will be on the road against St. Louis on Sunday.

"I'm just excited for our kids and for our fans," Henrickson said. "It was a great environment, and there was great energy. It was clear early if we could be as good as the crowd was going to be, we had a chance to be successful."

KU's scoring totals

LaChelda Jacobs 18, Sade Morris 17, Danielle McCray 15, Nicollette Smith 8, Kelly Kohn 6, Krysten Boogaard 5, Porscha Weddington 3, Ivana Catic 2, Marija Zinic 2.

FINAL: KU women defeat Iowa, 76-55

KU empties the bench for the final two minutes, and the elementary school kids do their best to get a steady “Rock Chalk” chant going. They actually do pretty well considering some have already had to get on the buses to leave.

The Jayhawks don’t have a field goal in the final 5:33, but it doesn’t matter. KU picks up a strong non-conference victory in convincing fashion.

KU 72/Iowa 50 — 3:49 left in game

Jacobs drives to the basket for two more. That ties her career high in scoring (18).

Skouby puts in four more free throws, giving her 33 points, but her teammates haven’t done much to help her.

KU 64/Iowa 40 — 7:48 left in game

Skouby hits another shot inside, giving her 27 points. But Nicollette Smith knocks in another three for KU, and suddenly the lead is up to 60-40.

Jacobs picks up a steal and gets an easy two at the other end, and after an Iowa turnover, Jacobs gets a hoop and a foul at the other end before screaming out to the crowd.

KU 56/Iowa 38 — 9:55 left in game

Alexander hits a pair for free throws for Iowa with 11:03 left. She’s the first player to score other than Skouby this half for the Hawkeyes.

McCray shows her long-range shooting touch again, knocking in another three from the wing. She’s now 3-for-6 from the outside.

Morris follows with a three from the corner, and she gets some slaps on the back from her teammates as she runs back down the court. After going 0-for-6 in the first half, Morris is 6-for-7 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Timeout Iowa.

KU 48/Iowa 34 — 11:44 left in game

Skouby gets another basket inside, but Morris works around her defender and pulls up for a jumper.

Skouby drains another turnaround (she has 23 of her team’s 34 points), but Kohn beats the shot clock with a three from the deep corner to give the Jayhawks their biggest lead at 48-34.

KU 43/Iowa 30 — 15:45 left in game

KU’s having a real problem stopping Megan Skouby inside. After a turnaround, she has 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The good news for the Jayhawks is that they’ve stopped everyone else, as only three Hawkeyes have scored.

Sade Morris has awakened for KU, putting in consecutive baskets to bump KU’s lead to 41-30.

Alexander just picked up her fourth foul for Iowa, so we’ll see if McCray can break open a little bit more.

Morris hits another floater in the lane, and she’s on a personal 6-0 run.

KU’s scoring leaders

Danielle McCray 10, LaChelda Jacobs 10, Nicollette Smith 5, Krysten Boogaard 4, Kelly Kohn 3, Marija Zinic 2, Porscha Weddington 1.

The first-half standout for KU was guard LaChelda Jacobs. A few times, she broke down the Iowa defense one-on-one and was able to get her shot to go down inside. She was 4-for-7 from the floor with three assists and just one turnover in 17 minutes. Jacobs also was a reliable second scoring option for a team that will need all the offensive help it can get.

Another interesting statistic: KU out-rebounded Iowa, 17-15, in the first half. The Jayhawks have neutralized the Hawkeyes’ greatest strength (inside play), and that’s part of the reason KU finds itself up eight at the break.

KU 35/Iowa 27 — Halftime

Smith out-hustles an Iowa player for an offensive rebound, and Kelly Kohn makes the Hawkeyes pay with a three-pointer. These kids are going bonkers — there are some serious, high-pitched screams bouncing off the Allen Fieldhouse walls.

Iowa’s Kristi Smith gets free for a jumper, but Smith follows with a pair of free throws to give KU an eight-point halftime lead.

KU 30/Iowa 25 — 2:33 left in 1st half

Iowa is starting to flex its muscle inside, as former K-State player JoAnn Hamlin makes a layup inside and Megan Skouby rolls in a jumper to force a KU timeout.

After two more offensive rebounds for KU, McCray knocks in a layup to tie the score at 21.

Skouby out-battles Zinic for a rebound, and she makes a jumper before a quick drive and two from Jacobs on the other end.

Skouby rattles in an 18-footer, then pumps her fist in celebration. Zinic follows with hook shot, and the scoring is starting to pick up.

McCray hits a three-pointer from the left wing in transition, making it 28-25 KU, and she screams out in jubilation.

The 5-foot-10 Jacobs follows with a mid-range jumpshot, and KU has a 7-0 run.

KU 19/Iowa 17 — 7:52 left in 1st half

Jacobs hits both free throws, and Nicollette Smith hits a three (even while wearing a bulky face guard) to build KU’s biggest lead at 17-12.

Iowa follows with a pair of baskets, but KU scraps underneath for a pair of offensive rebounds before McCray is fouled. She hits both free throws.

Marija Zinic gets another offensive rebound on the next possession, and KU has four offensive boards in the first 12 minutes against a taller Iowa team.

Iowa 12/KU 12 — 11:34 left in 1st half

So far, Kachine Alexander is doing a great job of shadowing McCray. KU’s best scoring option didn’t even attempt a shot until 5 ½ minutes in, and she’s having trouble creating any space for herself.

Boogaard puts in a shot in the lane to tie the score, but after getting three offensive rebounds, Iowa puts in a layup. The Hawkeyes’ superior size has made a difference early, as of now, they have out-rebounded the Jayhawks, 6-4.

McCray gives KU its first lead, putting in a three from the left wing to make it 9-8 Jayhawks.

KU has done a good job of forcing turnovers early, as Iowa has had six turnovers in the first seven minutes.

Jacobs gives KU a spark, hitting a jumper, then getting a steal before getting fouled on the way to the rim. She has two free throws coming after the timeout.

Iowa 6/KU 4 — 15:59 left in 1st half

Danielle McCray gets a steal on the first possession, but LaChelda Jacobs misses on the other end. Iowa’s Kristi Smith hits a baseline jumper, and KU throws away a pass on the other end for an unforced turnover.

The Jayhawks finally get on the board 2 minutes, 7 seconds in, as Boogaard grabs an offensive rebound and lays it off the glass for two.

After a Megan Skouby basket, Jacobs ties it back up with a dribble drive and six-foot shot of the glass. Skouby follows with two free throws.

10:53 a.m.

It’s quite a sight here at Allen Fieldhouse, as around 2,000 elementary school children have been ushered in to watch the game. Thus, the screams for the Jayhawks have been a noticeably higher pitch.

10:45 a.m.

Welcome to the Newell Post Live, coming to you live from Allen Fieldhouse where the KU women are getting set to take on Iowa in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

We hope you are enjoying the changes to KUSports.com that were implemented today. Also included in the Web site redesign is a new format for live game updates, so we hope you will like this change as well.

On to today’s game, which is the only women’s basketball game being shown on ESPN today during its college basketball marathon. Iowa comes in as a strong program, finishing 21-11 last year while sharing the Big Ten championship with Ohio State.

Here are a couple things to look for:

Big and tall

Iowa enters the game with a definite height advantage inside. The Hawkeyes have three starters 6 feet, 2 inches or taller (Megan Skouby, 6-foot-5; JoAnn Hamlin, 6-3; Wendy Ausdemore, 6-2) while the Jayhawks have just one (Krysten Boogaard, 6-5). The Jayhawks will have to box out well, and Boogaard will have to grab every board close to her inside. The sophomore had 11 points and four rebounds in the season-opener against Sacred Heart.

McCray all the way

Folllowing the season-ending injury to freshman point guard Angel Goodrich, there was little doubt that Danielle McCray would have to be the Jayhawks’ leader this season. In the first game, she was exactly that. McCray scored 29 points and showed more confidence than she had in the past. The junior guard made her first six shots, drained five of seven three-pointers and finished 12-for-16 from the floor. KU will need her to shoulder the scoring load today as it takes on a high-powered Iowa squad.