Despite its worst loss of the season last Saturday, a 79-50 setback to in-state rival Kansas State, Kansas University’s women’s basketball players said they saw some things worth remembering.
“We just have to take this game as a positive,” said junior guard Aquanita Burras, who led the Jayhawks with 17 points. “Like coach said, the last eight minutes were good.”
Problem was, for Kansas the first 20 minutes weren’t so great. Then 10th-ranked Kansas State dominated and built an insurmountable 52-26 halftime lead.
“I thought our second half was encouraging,” KU coach Marian Washington said. “Now we go home and get ready for Baylor.”
Tonight in Waco, Texas, the 19th-ranked Bears won’t present an easier foe.
Baylor is 14-3 overall, and while the Bears sport just a 2-2 record in the Big 12 Conference, Baylor lost by just a point — 64-63 — Saturday at then second-ranked Texas Tech.
The Bears also knocked off No. 3 Texas, 78-64, last week in Waco.
Baylor is led by sophomore forward Sophia Young, who is averaging 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds. Two other Bears are scoring in double figures.
Junior forward Steffanie Blackmon averages 13.8 points, and 6.6 rebounds, while freshman Emily Niemann comes off the bench to score 10.1 ppg.
Much like Kansas did Saturday, Baylor struggled from the field against Tech, shooting just 36.4 percent. However, the Bears held the Red Raiders to an even lower field-goal percentage: 26.2 percent. For the season, Baylor has limited opponents to 32.4-percent shooting.
While the Jayhawks (8-7, 1-3) are 3-3 against Baylor all-time, KU lost its last two games to the Bears by an average of 17.5 points.
KU should get a boost tonight from the return of starters Tamara Ransburg and Larisha Graves and reserve Kandis Bonner. The three were forced to sit out Saturday’s game against the Wildcats because they were serving a Big 12-mandated one-game suspension for their involvement in a fight following KU’s 55-52 win Jan. 10 in Missouri.
Kansas University women’s basketball coach Marian Washington knew she needed some shooters this season, and at least after one exhibition game Washington seems to have found some perimeter threats heading into in her 31st season.
The Jayhawks, who connected on only 30 percent of their three-pointers last year, made 50 percent in their opening exhibition against Sparta Praha.
The Jayhawks will try to continue their crisp shooting today in their final exhibition tune-up, against St. Louis Goldstar at 2 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We have added some really good shooters, players that know how to find the rim,” said Washington, whose squad knocked down five of 10 treys in its 92-55 victory. “We are very encouraged by their play thus far.”
While only three Jayhawks attempted three-pointers in the opener, newcomer Kaylee Brown made the most of her KU debut, knocking down three of four from outside.
“I was recruited to help step up the outside game,” said Brown, who scored the second-most points in Kansas’ first exhibition game with 15.
“I will also help to open up the inside game, which is very powerful,” Brown said of sophomores Crystal Kemp and Tamara Ransburg, who combined for 36 points in the opener. “If they try to stop the inside game, we’ll get them with the outside game.”
While Brown had the best percentage, sophomore guard Erica Hallman also knocked down two of four from outside, and Blair Waltz’s two misfires from downtown weren’t off by much.
Kansas will get one last glorified practice today against the 0-6 St. Louis squad — made up mostly of former collegiate players from the state of Missouri — before opening the regular season Friday at UMKC.
“It gives our kids a chance to play together,” Washington said of another exhibition game. “It gives us a chance as a staff to see what we’ve got to do.”
Kansas could benefit from the return of a couple of players who missed the Jayhawks’ first exhibition game due to injury.
Washington said that freshman Lauren Ervin would play despite a thumb injury that sidelined her in the opener.
“I’m hoping for sure that Lauren Ervin will,” Washington said.
The prognosis for Aquanita Burras, KU’s second-leading scorer last season, and freshman Sharita Smith wasn’t as positive, Washington said.
“Aquanita’s finger is fractured, but healing,” Washington said. “For sure she’ll play in the Oregon game, not so sure about UMKC game.”
Most years, Marian Wash-ington doesn’t get to see her Kansas University women’s basketball play until the first practice of the season, on the morning after Late Night.
Not this year.
Washington already has seen her team play. The Jayhawks took part in a preseason practice tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, last month. More importantly, she has seen the Jayhawks light it up.
“We’ve added some scoring,” Washington said. “That was good to see.”
Indeed, the added scoring punch will be a pleasant surprise to any KU women’s basketball fan who has watched the Jayhawks rely on only a few players who were capable of scoring consistently during last year’s 11-18 campaign.
The Jayhawks didn’t just put points on the board in Mexico, either. They piled them up.
KU’s lowest scoring output in any of its four games was 88. That’s five points more than the Jayhawks scored in their highest-scoring game last season. And Kansas still beat CEU-Monterrey by 37 (88-51).
Every player that played on the trip scored at least a point in every game except one, and the Jayhawks outscored their opponents by a whopping 423-173 margin.
“Everybody can score on this team,” senior guard Leila Mengüc said. “It was fun to see that whoever got the ball was going to put it in the basket. We’ve definitely got an im-proved offensive attack.”
Putting up back-to-back 30-point performances — like sophomores Crystal Kemp and Tamara Ransburg did on the trip — might not be as plausible when the competition heats up in the competitive Big 12 Conference, but Washington said her team’s offense was im-proved.
“We’ve added some size, and more importantly, depth,” Washington said of an incoming class that features six newcomers that took the place of six departed players.
Washington said that while the competition might have been inferior in Mexico, the trip was more about getting her new team training together early.
“We got a lot out of a very short period of time,” said Washington, whose team was also allowed 10 practice days to prepare for the Labor Day weekend tournament. The NCAA allows teams to take part in such tourneys once ev-ery four years.
“For us it gave a chance to work with them, a chance to begin coaching them,” Wash-ington said of an incoming class that features two freshmen, a sophomore and three juniors.
Highly touted freshman Lau-ren Ervin, a 6-foot-3 forward from Inglewood, Calif., made her debut, averaging 9.5 points during the preseason trip. She also led the team with 11 rebounds a contest.
Two other newcomers stood out. Kandis Bonner, a junior transfer from Wabash Valley College, averaged 13 ppg, while Kaylee Brown, a sophomore transfer from Northern Okla-homa-Enid, averaged 8.3 ppg.
In addition, Sharita Smith, a 5-8 freshman guard from Dallas; LaRisha Graves, a 5-8 junior guard-forward from Jackson, Miss.; and Syretta Coleman, a 5-9 junior guard from Chandler, Ariz., make up a strong nucleus of newcomers, Washington said.
Those six will take the place of departed players Keila Beachem, Stacey Becker, Ebony Haliburton, Sereeta Jones, Brandi McGinest and Valerie Migicovsky, all of whom left the team for various reasons. Those six averaged fewer than 10 points a game and seven rebounds combined.
Washington said she was expecting big things out of Kemp and Ransburg, who tied for the team lead in points per game last year with 10.9 and combined for more than 13 rebounds a game as freshmen.
Juniors Aquanita Burras (10.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Blair Waltz (7.5 ppg) are additional scoring threats, while sophomore Erica Hallman averaged 7.8 ppg and 3.3 assist per game as a freshman point guard.
Sophomore Nichelle Roberts and red-shirt freshman Alicia Rhymes round out KU’s re-turnees.
The lone senior, Mengüc, said she was excited to see how improved the Jayhawks will be during her final season.
“We’ve already got the head start with having seen each other in play in Mexico,” she said. “That really helped us all get on the same page.
“I’m excited to get going. It’s my senior year. How could I not be?”
Enough with the so-close-yet-so-far stuff.
Kansas University women’s basketball coach Marian Washington wants a Big 12 Conference victory — sooner, rather than later.
“It’s so frustrating. We’re that close,” Washington said, holding her fingers about an inch apart.
After two road losses by a total of just six points, Washington is hoping today’s clash with Colorado will be Kansas’ Big 12 slump-buster.
Tipoff will be at 1:05 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
KU has lost 19 consecutive Big 12 regular-season games and 21 in a row to conference teams if you count league postseason tournaments.
Lately, the most glaring statistic working against the Jayhawks has been turnovers. Wednesday night at Oklahoma State, KU gave the ball away 26 times while bowing 60-56.
“We’ve just got to make better decisions,” Washington said. “We’ve made too many turnovers, and some of those were unforced, so it’s tough.”
Yet perhaps a flaw to be expected from a team with eight newcomers on a 13-player roster. Another problem has been a tendency to fall behind early, then battle back.
Against a veteran Iowa State squad last Saturday, KU (7-7 overall, 0-3 in the Big 12) erased a 10-point, second-half deficit to tie the game with 26 seconds remaining before falling 72-70.
| When: 1:05 p.m. today.Where: Allen Fieldhouse.Television: None.Radio: Jayhawk Network, including KLWN (1320 AM).Records: KU 7-7 overall, 0-3 Big 12; Colorado 12-2, 2-1.Series: KU leads 25-24.Streaks: CU has won the last four meetings.Last Meeting: CU won 80-41 on Jan. 29, 2002. |
On Wednesday, the Jayhawks erased an even larger deficit — 20 points — before falling to Oklahoma State.
The Jayhawks nearly pulled off road victories despite an off-night by freshman Crystal Kemp in Ames, and by sophomore Aquanita Burras in Stillwater.
Burras and Kemp are both among team leaders in points and rebounds.
“It’s really a positive,” Washington said, “to still be in ball games and not necessarily playing our best yet.”
Colorado (12-2, 2-1) comes to Lawrence fresh off a 74-54 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday. The Buffalos are led by Tera Bjorklund, a 6-foot-5 center being marketed as an All-American candidate this season. She’s averaging 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest.
Nevertheless, Washington is more concerned about her team than she is about Colorado.
“When dealing with a young club, I don’t like to get too caught up in the opponent,” Washington said. “We’ve just got to do what we do best. We should be in the ball game. We really should.”
