No one walked out of Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon wanting a ticket refund.
Not after Kansas University fashioned a pulse-pounding 90-87 double-overtime women’s basketball victory over Wisconsin.
“I think this will be a big step for our program,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “It was quality basketball.”
Mostly it was, yet many in the listed crowd of 3,158 may have wondered at halftime why they hadn’t gone Christmas shopping instead. Wisconsin had bolted to a lead of as many as 18 points in the opening half, owned a 44-30 cushion at the break and appeared to have a size and depth advantage.
However, KU gradually disposed of the deficit in the second half.
“Give Kansas credit,” UW coach Lisa Stowe said. “They never quit.”
Not only didn’t the Jayhawks quit, two of them – Erica Hallman and Ivana Catic – never left the floor and another – Crystal Kemp – logged all but a minute or so.
Seniors Kemp and Hallman scored 28 and 24 points, both career highs. Catic, the Jayhawks’ freshman point guard, contributed 12 points, nine assists, four steals and, most important, only two turnovers in her 50-minute stint.
Kemp’s only sideline time occurred midway through the second half when she was forced to leave after suffering a right leg cramp.
“On a rebound, it tensed up real quick,” Kemp said. “I couldn’t walk.”
But thanks to ingesting fluids, some massage and a TV timeout, the 6-foot-2 forward missed minimal time.
Hallman, meanwhile, just keep plugging away. In fact, the longer she was on the floor, the better she seemed to shoot. Hallman had two points in the first half, three points in the first 12 minutes of the second half and 19 points during the last 18 minutes.
“You look at their two seniors,” UW’s Stowe said. “They played valiantly.”
At the same time, Kaylee Brown, the Jayhawks’ other senior, wasn’t exactly valiant lite. She scored 17 points.
Hallman’s 22-foot three-pointer with 24 ticks remaining in regulation forged a 70-70 deadlock. Then Brown appeared to have clinched a win in the first overtime when she hit two charities with :08.6 on the clock to give the Jayhawks an 81-78 lead.
However, with no time on the clock and Kemp dogging her, Wisconsin’s Jolene Anderson horsed in an off-balance 22-foot bank shot to prolong the proceedings.
“We were trying to make her take a bad shot,” Kemp said of Anderson’s prayer. “It was a bad shot, but it went in so I guess it was a good shot.”
Yet the Hail Mary shot hardly deflated the Jayhawks.
“I just thought,” Catic said, “OK, we’ve got five more minutes ’til we win.”
Catic was right, but the Jayhawks were fortunate the Badgers missed their last four shots in the second extra period because KU made only three of its eight free-throw attempts.
Perhaps by then, the KU ironwomen were gassed, although they vowed they weren’t.
“I’m in shape. We’re all in shape,” Hallman said. “We can play 50 minutes effectively.”
For that, the Jayhawks gave credit to Andrea Hudy, the team’s strength and conditioning coach who was alluded to prior to the start of the second overtime.
“Ivana started hollering ‘Hudy, Hudy’ in the huddle,” Henrickson said, “and everybody laughed.”
Smiles were plentiful because the Jayhawks improved to 7-0 by defeating a school from a major conference, even though the Badgers (4-5) have dropped five in a row.
“Oh, man, I think we let some people know something,” Kemp said. “I’m not saying we’re going all the way, but I think maybe we gave some hints.”
Final exams will begin today, so the Jayhawks won’t suit again until Sunday when they play host to Florida International.
