A victory for Kansas University’s women’s basketball team tonight could be both a relief and a good sign.
After all, a victory would be KU’s sixth this year — one more than it got all of last season.
Then again, sophomore Blair Waltz said, six victories doesn’t mean much to her.
“Last year was last year, and this year is this year,” Waltz said. “Two totally different teams.”
Waltz is averaging 7.8 points per game for Kansas (5-4), which will play host to Hampton at 7 tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.
In Saturday’s 83-61 victory over Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis, Waltz recorded her first collegiate double-double — 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“I just went out there and had some fun,” Waltz said.
It was a contrast to Waltz’s previous game, a 74-62 loss to Missouri-Kansas City prior to Christmas. Waltz lost her starting job for the day, scored just one point and committed five turnovers.
“There was a nice long break and it gave me a lot of time to recuperate,” Waltz said. “It was good for me.”
Hampton (3-5), a member of the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference, currently holds bragging rights over the Jayhawks. The Pirates defeated KU, 67-63, last season in Puerto Rico during the first-round of the San Juan Shootout. Waltz scored just two points in limited action in that contest
But, as Waltz stressed, that was last year.
| When: 7 tonight.Where: Allen Fieldhouse.Television: None.Records: Jayhawks (5-4); Pirates (3-5). |
“It’s about us right now,” KU coach Marian Washington said. “If we can come out and play hard and be patient on our offense, I don’t think we have to focus so much on these teams. We have to take advantage of what we can do.”
KU forward Tamara Ransburg almost recorded her third double-double of the season on Saturday, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The effort came with stress fractures lingering in her lower left leg. The 6-foot-4 freshman played 24 minutes on Saturday, even with her leg wrapped in bandage up to the knee.
“She’s hung in there,” Washington said. “She didn’t complain and that was good. We’ve been trying to be very careful.”
