KU women refocused for UMKC

By Chuck Woodling     Dec 10, 2009

When last we heard from Bonnie Henrickson, Kansas University’s women’s basketball coach was hardly in the Christmas spirit.

Henrickson was peeved with the inconsistency of her players despite their 27-point victory Sunday over Northern Colorado.

“I’m not happy,” she said afterward, “and they’re not happy with me.”

Well, that was then.

After a day off Monday, the Jayhawks returned to the practice gym Tuesday, and, Henrickson said, “Arguably, it was our best practice in a month.”

Now the question is: Will the refocused Jayhawks retain that approach in tonight’s clash with UMKC?

Tipoff will be 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. Sunflower Broadband channel 6 will carry a live telecast.

On paper, No. 23-ranked Kansas will be facing a team it should defeat. That assumption is based on the Kangaroos’ 3-5 record and comparing scores of both teams’ games against Oral Roberts.

In the season opener, Kansas outraced ORU, 106-80, while the ‘Roos dropped a 99-72 decision to the free-wheeling Golden Eagles last weekend in Tulsa, Okla.

“I wouldn’t anticipate that kind of score when we play them,” Henrickson said. “Oral Roberts gets you into that type of game.”

ORU, in fact, launched an astonishing 42 three-point attempts against the ‘Roos and made 18 of them. KU shoots, on average, a dozen so threes a game.

Henrickson is quick to point out, too, that UMKC opened its season with a two-point victory over Drake, a team the ‘Roos had never defeated.

“And two years ago,” Henrickson said, “we had a big lead on them, and they came back on us.”

In that 2007 outing, KU rolled to a 25-point bulge, then had to hang on for a 64-58 victory.

Kansas (5-2) will play its fourth straight home game on Sunday afternoon against Creighton.

NOTES:

• Tonight’s ticket is $3 for persons age 55 and over and for KU faculty-staff members.

• After missing nine free throws against TCU in the Bahamas, KU’s Krysten Boogaard has made 11 in a row.

• Point guard Angel Goodrich ranks second in the Big 12 and fourth in the NCAA with 8.1 assists a game.

• Four KU starters are averaging double-figure scoring — Danielle McCray (19.4), Aishah Sutherland (13.7), Boogaard (13.4) and Sade Morris (10.7).

• Senior Chazny Morris leads UMKC in scoring at 16.0 and needs 62 points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.

• UMKC coach Candace Whitaker and her husband, Matt, are expecting their first child late this month.

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