Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but I really thought things would be different this year, really believed this Kansas University women’s basketball team would end the drought and make the NCAA Tournament field.
And then the Big 12 portion of the schedule came along, and, so far at least, the Jayhawks have reverted to form. It’s becoming more difficult to believe.
Fifteenth-year Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale has had better teams than the 14th-ranked one that visited Allen Fieldhouse for a Sunday afternoon game that drew 3,111 spectators in from the cold.
Still, these Sooners were plenty good enough to defeat Kansas, 75-57. It dropped the Jayhawks to 14-5 overall, 1-4 in Big 12 play.
The fire and passion of an underdog burning to upset a big-name opponent to spark a listless season was nowhere in sight. Oklahoma cruised to a 43-26 halftime lead and didn’t look the least bit rattled when Kansas cut the deficit to 10 points.
For stretches in the first half, as so often seems to be the case, the Jayhawks didn’t look like athletes playing basketball. Instead, they looked more like they were performing in a basketball play scripted by director Bonnie Henrickson. They looked as if they were remembering their lines instead of feeling their way through the challenge. That can make it tougher to play with unbridled aggression and confidence. Too much thinking and not enough playing can make for a joyless team.
Fox Sports Network carried the game, and it wasn’t as easy as you might think to resist the urge to holler at the coaches and players, “Smile, you’re on national TV!”
Kansas had its moments, many supplied by entertaining sophomore point guard Angel Goodrich. The more distance she puts on her most recent knee surgery, the more daring she becomes as a penetrator and scorer. Her talent translates well to any level of competition, as she showed by scoring a season-high 13 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and a steal against the talented Sooners guards.
On a day when all but 26 minutes were used by the five starters, things didn’t go as well for center Carolyn Davis. Normally a reliable shooter from down low and the free-throw line, Davis made four of 10 field goals and eight of 15 free throws.
A 7-9 regular-season conference record, which would be the best in the Big 12 for Henrickson in her seventh season, could be enough to get an NCAA Tourney bid, especially with a victory or two in the conference tournament. But without sweeping this week’s road games against the school’s top two rivals, Missouri and Kansas State, it’s tough to find seven conference victories on the schedule.
Is the disparity of opponents between the nonconference and conference seasons so great that it’s tough for Henrickson to gauge how good a team she has until Big 12 play?
“The speed and length and athleticism in this league is unparalleled in any other league,” Henrickson said. “What you don’t want to do is play that in your nonconference if you’re trying to grow, especially as young as we are.”
The team is young, but the lights-out nonconference performances followed by losing Big 12 records is getting old.
