Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoForty minutes of basketball boiled down to a scant three minutes Wednesday night.
Oklahoma outscored Kansas University, 15-0, at the end of the first half on the way to a 65-49 women’s basketball triumph in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We hit a brick wall,” KU senior guard Aquanita Burras said. “Then we try to make something up and start throwing up things.”
Kansas was leading 25-24 with 2:54 remaining before the break, then the wheels fell off. KU missed shots, and the Sooners lit up the gym, draining a trio of three-point goals that sent the Jayhawks into their locker room down by 14 (39-25) and in a funk.
“Usually when you go in at halftime like that,” Burras said, “you come out like that.”
Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoSure enough, the Jayhawks struggled through the first five minutes of the second half, falling behind by 18 points before unleashing a 9-0 burst that cut the Sooners’ lead in half (44-35) at the 11:44 mark.
But that was the Jayhawks’ last gasp.
Every KU offensive possession was, as usual, in the halfcourt and, for the most part, unproductive.
“Right now, our possessions in transition have become obsolete,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
Forced to shoot mostly from the outside, KU made only two of 14 three-point attempts. Guard Erica Hallman, the Jayhawks’ best outside shooter, missed all six of her three-point attempts and made only three of her other eight shots.
Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoOklahoma’s Dionnah Jackson did the defensive job on Hallman.
“Everybody talks about her double-digit scoring and rebounding and her assists,” OU coach Sherri Coale said of Jackson, a 5-foot-9 senior, “but what she really is is a defensive stopper. Hallman was 3-for-14 and two of her baskets came, I think, when Dionnah wasn’t in there.”
Oklahoma also put the clamps on Crystal Kemp, the Jayhawks’ leading scorer. The 6-2 junior played 35 minutes but managed only 10 points and three rebounds. Kemp was averaging 14.8 points per game and 8.9 rebounds.
“We wanted to limit Crystal Kemp’s touches, and I thought we did a good job,” Coale said. “She had only seven shots.”
Leah Rush, a 6-1 sophomore, helped shadow Kemp and contributed 15 points, all in the second half. Jackson led the Sooners (12-7 overall, 4-4 Big 12 Conference) with 19 points.
Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoOklahoma was coming off back-to-back home losses to Texas and Iowa State, and appeared vulnerable.
“We needed a win in the absolutely most desperate way,” Coale said.
Kansas (9-10, 2-6) needed a win, too, in large part because Wednesday night was the Jayhawks’ only home game during a nearly three-week stretch.
In essence, the Sooners’ depth wore the Jayhawks down. Nine OU players logged double-digit minutes while Henrickson used basically just six players.
“It’s a lot easier when you have fresh legs,” Kemp said, “but it’s no excuse.”
That fateful three-minute stretch at the end of the first half, for instance, could have been caused — at least in part — by weariness.
“I don’t think it was us being tired,” Kemp said. “We just lost our aggressiveness and our intensity.”
All in all, Henrickson wasn’t pleased by her players’ lack of consistency, yet she remained upbeat.
“This isn’t the end of the world,” Henrickson said, “but it’s disappointing. We will get better and rebound from this.”
Added Hallman: “We can’t harp on it. We’ve got Missouri on Saturday.”
The Jayhawks will meet the Tigers at 1 p.m. Saturday at the new Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.
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