Des Moines, Iowa ? Kansas University junior point guard Angel Goodrich, who led the women’s basketball team to a berth in the Sweet 16, scored 20-plus points for the fourth game in a row Saturday in the Jayhawks’ 84-73 loss to Tennessee at Wells Fargo Arena.
The captain’s 23-point effort in the season finale followed a 21-point game against Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament, 20 versus Nebraska in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and 27 (one off her career high) in a second-round victory over Delaware.
Goodrich scored 20 or more points seven times this season and reached double figures in each of KU’s final 15 games.
The 5-foot-4 Tahlequah, Okla., native said the whole team wanted to finish the season strong.
“We were hungry, and we wanted to show people what we could do,” Goodrich said.
Gardner producing
Jayhawks freshman forward Chelsea Gardner again made an impact in the paint for KU in the loss. In her 10th straight start, she posted her second double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
It was Gardner’s fourth straight double-digit scoring game, and she averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament.
Sutherland swan song
In the final game of senior forward Aishah Sutherland’s Kansas career, she scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The 6-foot-2 forward scored in double figures 27 times this season. Her 130 games are fourth most in program history.
SEC strikes again
Kansas has advanced to the Sweet 16 just three times in program history — 1996, 1998 and 2012. Saturday marked the second time Tennessee sent the Jayhawks packing. The Vols beat KU, 92-71, in a 1996 regional semifinal.
In 1998, it was Arkansas that blocked KU from advancing to a regional final. The Razorbacks won that Sweet 16 meeting, 79-63.
On six separate occasions, an SEC team has knocked Kansas out of the tourney. KU’s other losses came against Georgia in 1987’s second round and Vanderbilt in both 1997 (second round) and 2000 (first round). KU has never reached the Elite Eight.
Tournament figures
Kansas qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history. The Jayhawks are 11-12 all-time in the tournament.
Bonnie Henrickson, who led KU to the NCAAs for the first time in her eight seasons as coach, has an all-time tournament record of 8-6. Henrickson is 2-1 in the Big Dance at KU. Her other wins and losses came at Virginia Tech.
