Kersgieter shines as Kansas women rout Texas A&M to move to 6-0

By Jack Mcgarr, Special To The Journal-World     Nov 30, 2022

Photo courtesy Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
Kansas guard Holly Kersgieter fires a shot to the basket with her left hand during the Jayhawks' home game against Texas A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Senior guard Holly Kersgieter led the Kansas women’s basketball team to a 74-42 blowout win over Texas A&M on Wednesday night by turning in her best game of the season to date.

Kersgieter proved why she’s the No. 1 scoring option in the Jayhawks’ offense, scoring 23 points on a 56% shooting clip for the night. She also added nine rebounds and three assists to her season-high point total.

“I’m happy Holly got her groove,” senior center Taiyanna Jackson said after the win. “It opens up more for everybody else when Holly gets going.”

Kersgieter knocked in 9 of 16 shots overall, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range in 35 minutes of action.

“I think Holly’s played really well all year, I just think she hasn’t made 3s,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said after the victory. “Three-point shooting can be up and down, and good shooters have to just keep shooting. I do think that her defensive mindset was really good, and when you defend and rebound, I think good things happen for you on the offensive end.”

Jackson continued her early-season dominance against Texas A&M with a monster double-double. The KU center finished her night with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks to complement Kersgieter’s game-high in points.

The duo’s offensive production and effort on the glass helped Kansas outscore A&M 42-16 in the second half, turning a six-point lead at halftime into a runaway victory for the 6-0 Jayhawks.

Both teams went back and forth in the first quarter after a sloppy start to the game. The Aggies and Jayhawks combined for seven turnovers and just 11 made baskets in the opening 10 minutes of play and Kansas took a narrow 14-13 lead into the second quarter.

“I didn’t think we did a good job of reading space on the floor,” Schneider said. “We want to be aggressive in transition, but I thought we were trying to force the ball into some seams where there was traffic. The smarter play would’ve just been to hit the first open man and get the ball moving.”

Kansas gained some ground despite the slow start and separated itself from the Aggies in the second quarter. The Jayhawks played aggressive defense down low to stop easy layups from going up, keeping Texas A&M off the board during an 8-0 run that spanned 4:25 minutes play.

This stretch gave KU a six-point lead at halftime.

KU opened the third quarter with another scoring run to build on its halftime lead and the Jayhawks finally got their offense going. The Jayhawks started the second half on an 11-0 run, spanning the first 4:57 of the third quarter, giving Kansas a 17-point lead.

At that point, the Aggies finally broke their scoring drought with a midway jumper from freshman guard Sydney Bowles to get their first bucket of the half.

The Jayhawks dominated the quarter in just about every facet. Kansas outscored the Aggies 21-8 in the quarter while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc, all with the help of its star player.

Kersgieter continued her excellent shooting night in the third quarter, going on an 8-0 solo scoring run on three-straight buckets in just over a minute of play.

Kansas’ defense was stifling in the second half, holding Texas A&M to just 16 points in the entire half, as KU continued to build its lead. The Aggies simply couldn’t get any easy shots inside, scoring just six points in the paint in the half.

“I think we really stayed engaged. We talked a lot at halftime about defending the paint and then trying to go touch the paint on offense,” Schneider said.

Next up, the Jayhawks will play host to Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

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