Minneapolis ? Janel McCarville may be licking her chops with struggling Kansas University on tap.
McCarville is a 6-foot-2 senior basketball player at Minnesota, a returning All-American who led the Golden Gophers into last season’s NCAA Final Four and whose nickname is “Shaq.”
“She’s a big girl who is ridiculously athletic,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We’ll have our hands full.”
Tipoff will be at 2:05 p.m. today at Minnesota’s Williams Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network, including 1320 KLWN. There is no television.
McCarville and Co. don’t appear to be what the doctor ordered for the Jayhawks, who badly need a dose of confidence after blowing an 18-point lead and losing to Washburn, an NCAA Division Two school, Thursday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We have to put this game behind us,” KU senior Aquanita Burras said after Thursday’s 62-59 defeat. “We have to go up there and be aggressive.”
Kansas played Jekyll and Hyde against Washburn. The Jayhawks made six of 10 three-point goals in the first half on the way to a 35-19 bulge at the break, but missed all eight shots from beyond the arc in the second half and were outscored, 43-24.
During one 11-minute stretch, KU managed only five points while surrendering 33.
“We’ll have to be a whole lot better (at Minnesota), especially defensively,” Henrickson said. “We’ve got to defend better and we’ve got to find some offense.”
Minnesota is on a roll since McCarville returned to the lineup after missing the first two games because of a broken bone in her left hand. She led the Gophers with 19 points and nine rebounds in Thursday’s 86-34 pounding of Detroit U. at Williams Arena.
The 52-point margin was the largest in modern-day Minnesota history.
The 18th-ranked Gophers have lost just once in six starts. That was a 72-67 decision to Washington in Seattle with McCarville sidelined.
Kansas will be back home Wednesday to play host to Western Illinois. After that, the Jayhawks will have a nine-day break for final exams before entertaining Dartmouth on Dec. 18.