Just when it seemed Kansas University’s women’s basketball team was starting to find some answers, along came a new, troubling question.
How can the Jayhawks survive without Jaclyn Johnson?
Johnson, KU’s leading scorer on the season, sprained and bruised her left ankle early in Kansas’ game with Oklahoma State, and OSU picked up its first conference victory by beating the Jayhawks on Wednesday in Stillwater, Okla.
Now Kansas (7-8 overall, 1-3 Big 12) might have to face Colorado (12-3, 3-1) without Johnson. KU and CU will meet at 8 tonight at the Coors Event Center in Boulder, Colo.
“At first they told us Jaclyn wouldn’t play,” KU coach Marian Washington said late Friday night. “Then they said there’s a possibility she’ll play. She has a bad bruise on the inside of her ankle, and a sprain on the outside. She moved around a little bit on it today, but we’ll have to see how she’s doing tomorrow.”
If Johnson, a senior forward who leads Kansas with 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, can’t start, she’d be replaced by center Nikki White, who is battling chronic lower-leg woes of her own. White would rotate with Kristin Geoffroy and Dalchon Brown.
“It affects us a great deal not having Jaclyn,” Washington said. “We’re trying to get the three seniors to stay on the floor as much as possible, but we haven’t been able to. We’ve had too many games with Jaclyn in foul trouble playing only 15, 18 minutes. When we have all three of them, we have much more stability.”
CU is considerably more consistent this season, now that its young team is growing up.
KANSAS (7-8, 1-3)F Brooke Reves, 6-0, Sr.F Jaclyn Johnson, 6-2, Sr.G KC Hilgenkamp, 5-10, Jr.G Jennifer Jackson, 5-10, Sr.G Selena Scott, 5-6, Jr. |
COLORADO (12-3, 3-1)F Eisha Bohman, 5-10, Jr.F Randie Wirt, 6-2, Fr.C Britt Hartshorn, 6-4, Jr.G Jenny Roulier, 5-9, Jr.G Mandy Nightingale, 5-6, Jr. |
| Tipoff: 8 tonight, Coors Event Center, Boulder, Colo. |
The Buffs start four juniors and a freshman.
Mandy Nightingale, a 5-foot-6 junior, leads the Buffs with 14.7 points per game, while 6-4 junior center Britt Hartshorn contributes 11.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
“We match up pretty well with them,” Washington said. “They’re a year older now. They were in the situation we’re in now a year ago, and they’re playing well. But I think we match up well. Last year was a rebuilding time for them, but they’ve really matured.”
Kansas, which has won three in a row and seven of eight against the Buffs, is 1-5 in road games this season and 0-2 in Big 12 road games this year.
“Obviously, everybody is playing good ball against us,” Washington said. “The thing that’s been real common right now is, we’re losing games at the free throw line. But our attitude is good, and we’ve been working hard.”
Kansas will play host to Oklahoma on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
