All Kansas University’s women’s basketball team needs to do to find out what to expect from San Diego’s post players is watch the KU men’s team play.
Specifically, keep a close eye on freshman forward David Padgett.
Padgett’s sister, Melissa Padgett, is the starting power forward for San Diego’s women’s hoops squad, which the Jayhawks will face at 2 p.m. today in Allen Fieldhouse.
Melissa, a 6-foot-1 senior, has a repertoire of moves identical to that of her little brother, and KU coach Marian Washington was quick to point that out.
“Padgett can face up and create for herself,” Washington said. “Defensively, we’re going to have to be very watchful of who we match up with her.”
Scoring isn’t her forte — she’s fourth on the team with fewer than eight points per game — but she’s San Diego’s best rebounder with nearly eight boards per game.
Padgett isn’t the only Torrero the Jayhawks are concerned about, however. Forward Marta Menuez, a 6-foot-1 senior, has been hard for anybody to contain this season while averaging 16 points and seven rebounds per game.
The Torreros (5-7) have won three of their last four games; the lone loss was a 95-47 blowout against No. 2-ranked Texas Tech.
Kansas sophomore Crystal Kemp says KU needs a victory today for momentum and confidence heading into the Big 12 Conference opener Jan. 7 against No. 3-ranked Texas.
“We need some extra momentum going into the Texas game, because that’s a tough opening game for us,” she said. “So we’ve got to come out there (against San Diego) focused and ready to play. It’s definitely a big game for us.”
The Jayhawks (6-4) certainly could use a big victory to open 2004. While boasting its best offensive stats since the 1999-2000 season, Kansas has struggled defensively at times. That was the case in two games at the Dartmouth Tournament earlier in the week. Washington said her team spent the last two days focusing on defensive fundamentals to correct those flaws, which included perimeter defense and denying passes into the post.
“We need to keep showing good progress, that’s for sure,” Washington said. “It’s important that we play well, and we want to end the pre-conference schedule with a win. We’re very focused on working on the things that we know will help us get to where we want to be.
“Are we where we want to be? No, I wouldn’t say that we are, but we definitely feel like we’ve gotten better in a lot of ways.”