KU women fall to Alabama in OT

By J-W Staff Reports     Dec 4, 2016

? Alabama tied the game with a three-pointer at the end of regulation and defeated Kansas, 71-65 in overtime, in women’s basketball Sunday in Coleman Coliseum.

Sophomore guard McKenzie Calvert led KU with 15 points. Junior forward Chayla Cheadle added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and senior forward Jada Brown added 11 points. Junior guard Jessica Washington totaled eight points and 10 rebounds.

Alabama’s Hannah Cook sank a three-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game, and Alabama went on to outscore Kansas by six in overtime. Alabama is now 7-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season, while the loss drops Kansas to 3-4.

“This was a good experience for us, one that was much needed,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “We really had some things that we didn’t do well there in the first half and got in some foul trouble. We came back out the second half and just kind of stayed the course. We didn’t shoot the ball well and, on a day when you don’t shoot the ball well, you just keep shooting it. We kept telling them we had a lot of confidence in them, and the free throws and threes we missed earlier in the game, I guess you can say we made them when they counted the most, so that’s what’s important.”

Junior Quanetria Bolton led Alabama with 18 points and nine rebounds, and juniors Meoshonti Knight and Cook added 17 points and 10 points, respectively.

KU led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter. With 10 seconds to go, and the Tide down by one, Meoshonti Knight fouled Calvert to stop the clock, so time would remain should Alabama get the ball back. Calvert hit both of her free throws, giving the Jayhawks a three-point lead. With three seconds to go, Cook took a straight-on shot from beyond the arc that tied the game at 56.

In overtime, Alabama scored 13 of the final 18 points.

“I loved the poise,” Curry said. “You could tell that our kids never believed that they wouldn’t win, and I thought that their maturity down the stretch and some of the things we work on daily for special situations really paid off today.”

Alabama shot 30.7 percent (23-75), and Kansas hit 31.1 percent (23-74) from the floor.

KU will return to Allen Fieldhouse to face Harvard at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

PREV POST

Svi for 3: KU junior filling key role for Jayhawks' offense

NEXT POST

100925KU women fall to Alabama in OT