Kansas-West Virginia women’s basketball preview

By Evan Riggs     Feb 26, 2017

When: 6 p.m. Monday

Where: WVU Coliseum

Series: West Virginia leads, 7-4

Road woes: Kansas will look for its first Big 12 road win in its last 17 tries Monday at West Virginia. Its last conference road win was almost exactly two years ago at Oklahoma on Feb. 28, 2015. However, the Jayhawks haven’t won in Morgantown since Jan. 2013, and they’ve lost their last three road games in the series by an average of 16 points.

Turnovers: The Jayhawks will have to continue to force turnovers if they hope to upset the Mountaineers. Kansas leads the Big 12 in turnovers forced at 18.6 per game, and steals per game at 9.4. West Virginia commits 16.8 turnovers per game, which is 1.1 more turnovers per game than any other team in the Big 12. West Virginia committed 25 turnovers when it played Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season.

Streaking: Senior Caelynn Manning-Allen had her best game of the season against Kansas State on Saturday. She scored a career-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. She scored more points Saturday (21) than she had in her previous four games combined (12), and she raised her scoring average from 4.7 to 5.4 points per game.

Slumping: After scoring a career-high 36 points last week against Iowa State, junior Jessica Washington was held scoreless for the first time all season against K-State. Entering Saturday’s game, Washington had scored 10 or more points in 15 of 16 Big 12 games. But she shot 0-of-7 from the field and committed five turnovers. She still leads the Big 12 in scoring during conference play at 19.4 points per game, and she scored 24 points in KU’s first matchup against WVU.

Probable Starters:

Kansas (8-20, 2-15)

G — Jayde Christopher, 5-8, so.

G — Jessica Washington, 5-8, jr.

G — Kylee Kopatich, 5-10, so.

G — Chayla Cheadle, 6-0, jr.

F — Sydney Umeri, 6-0, sr.

West Virginia (19-10, 7-10)

G — Chania Ray, 5-8, jr.

G — Katrina Pardee, 5-9 so.

G — Tynice Martin, 5-10, so.

F — Teana Muldrow, 6-1, jr.

C — Lanay Montgomery, 6-5, sr.

Kansas-West Virginia women’s basketball preview

By Staff     Jan 2, 2016

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Allen Fieldhouse

Who: West Virginia (11-3, 0-1) at Kansas (5-7, 0-1)

Series: Tied 4-4

Television: Jayhawk Network (WOW! channels 37, 226)

Big 12 eye-opener: The Kansas women’s basketball team’s first foray into Big 12 play under new head coach Brandon Schneider served as a reminder about how difficult it can be to win conference games.

After Oklahoma handled the Jayhawks, 67-44, in Norman, Oklahoma, Schneider said KU showed its youth.

“Well, I think with this particular team, regardless of time or score, you have to coach these young guys every possession,” KU’s coach said. “Every opportunity is a chance to get better. Jayde (Christopher, a freshman point guard) sometimes can get the ball up the court really quickly, and she just needs to make sure that everyone is in their spot before she gets us into a particular set.”

Tough to score: Kansas (5-7 overall, 0-1 Big 12) hasn’t shot the ball well this season, overall. The Jayhawks have made only 38.8 percent of their field-goal attempts. Things won’t be any easier with West Virginia (11-3, 0-1) visiting Allen Fieldhouse. The Mountaineers have held opponents to 33.5 percent shooting, which ranks 17th in the nation.

Streaking: WVU senior guard Bria Holmes enters today’s matchup shooting 53.2 percent from the floor and averaging 17.1 points per game. The 6-foot-1 senior, who is on the Wooden Award Top 30 List, has scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games.

Slumping: KU has lost three straight games and five of its last six. Even the team’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge (11.9 points per game), finds herself in a shooting funk. Aldridge missed all seven of her tries at OU, shot 1-for-8 in a loss to Oral Roberts and has made just five total field goals on 28 attempts (17.9 percent) during KU’s three-game skid.

Probable starters

Kansas (5-7 overall, 0-1 Big 12)

G — Lauren Aldridge, 5-7, so.

G — Jayde Christopher, 5-8, fr.

G — Kylee Kopatich, 5-10, fr.

F — Jada Brown, 6-0, fr.

F — Caelynn Manning-Allen, 6-4, jr.

West Virginia (11-3, 0-1)

G — Chania Ray, 5-8, soph.

G — Katrina Pardee, 5-9, fr.

G — Bria Holmes, 6-1, sr.

F — Arielle Roberson, 6-1, sr.

C — Lanay Montgomery, 6-5, jr.

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