Stillwater, Okla. ? Kansas University hit just 25 percent of its first-half field-goal attempts and never recovered from that cold-shooting start in a 71-49 Big 12 women’s basketball loss to No. 22 Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
Brittney Martin had 24 points on 12-of-16 shooting with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals to pace the Cowgirls (20-7 overall, 10-6 Big 12).
“Well, she’s so efficient,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said of Martin. “I don’t think there is any question in my mind that she should be MVP of this league. You look at everything she brings to this team: points, rebounds, steals, offensive rebounds. She’s really an impact player.”
Kansas (5-22, 0-16) fell behind by 20 early and trailed, 37-18, at halftime. The Jayhawks hit 46.4 percent of their shots after intermission.
“First half, I thought our shot selection was really poor,” Schneider said. “Defensively, we missed assignments on things that we specifically worked on a great deal in preparation for this game. Second half, I thought our shot selection was a lot better. We lost the second half by three points, and that’s giving up, I think, six points on out-of-bounds plays. The second half was much better, so there were some positives we could draw from that,
Lauren Aldridge had 13 points and Tyler Johnson scored 11 for the Jayhawks, who have lost 18 straight.
KU will play its home finale against Texas Tech on Saturday. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
