PAGE 4B
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Halftime buzzer beater ends in Jayhawk letdown
An Oklahoma State defender takes away a rebound from freshman guard Dakota Gonzalez. Gonzalez racked up two rebounds total in Wednesday's matchup, but Kansas fell to Oklahoma State 64-56 in Allen Fieldhouse.
sports@kansan.com
EVAN DUNBAR
With the clock winding down in the first half, CeCe Harper had the ball at the top of the key. When it reached five seconds, she drove into the lane, only to be cut off by two Oklahoma State defenders.
She passed to freshman guard Dakota Gonzalez on the wing, who took two dribbles and heaved a shot up as the buzzer sounded.
Gonzalez turned towards the Kansas bench with a look of determination on her face as her teammates jumped on her to celebrate the acrobatic shot.
Swish.
The deep jumper gave the layhawks all the momentum and a 34-28 halftime lead, and it looked as though they were primed for another upset of a top-10 opponent at home on Wednesday night.
"I just felt like if I drove and sucked someone in I could get [Dakota] open," Harper said. "That's what I did, and she knocked it down."
However, there would be no celebration in the second half or the Jayhawks.
Fading down the stretch, Kansas relinquished its lead with 9:19 left in the second half, and
"I think they did a really good job in the second half of just pressuring the ball" junior guard Natalie Knight said. "About halfway through the second half they turned their defense up a notch."
lost to No. 9 Oklahoma State 64-56.
"We just have to be better at the end to be able to pull it out."
CECE HARPER Senior guard
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson credited the Oklahoma
"Offensively we were much more aggressive in the first half than we were in the second half." Henrickson said. "We were just absolutely out of sorts after the 10 minute mark."
State defense, but was more concerned with the lack of aggressive play on offense down the stretch in the second half.
Kansas tried to maintain the momentum it gained after Gonzalez's buzzer-bater, but the shots would not fall for the Jayhawks, even when they were getting stops on the defensive
"We knew if we continued to get stops that it was okay for us to miss shots," Knight said. "We struggled a little bit too long on the offensive end and [Oklahoma State] capitalized on that."
end of the floor.
Kansas shot 7-for-30 from the field in the second half and just 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. Junior forward Chelsea Gardner, who led the Jayhawks with 28 points in their upset win over No. 7 Baylor on Sunday, could only manage 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Oklahoma State harassed Gardner all night, making her work for every shot she took.
"It kind of frustrated me at the beginning [of the game] and I knew I had to [try to] adjust to it," Gardner said.
Henrickson said she was proud of the team's maturity so far this season, and sees this game as a step in the right direction for the team.
Harper echoed her sentiments.
"Even though we lost, I think it's still given us confidence to know that we can play with those top teams," Harper said. "We just know we have to be better at the end to be able to pull it out."
Edited by Brook Barnes
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks look to improve before KSU game Saturday
Kansas junior forward Chelsea Gardner attempts to circumnavigate an Oklahoma State defender in Wednesday's game.
KYLE PAPPAS sports@kansan.com
+
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
The Jayhawks will look for more of the same in Manhattan on Sunday. Junior forward Chelsea Gardner (16.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg) has emerged as a key ingredient in Kansas' gameplan on both offense and defense. At 6-foot-3, Gardner is the Jayhawks' tallest starter and provides their most serious threat in the paint. Expect Gardner to block more than a couple Wildcat shots before this one is over.
The Kansas women's basketball team (9-9, 2-4 Big 12) will head to Manhattan on Saturday to face the Kansas State Wildcats (8-9, 2-4 Big 12) in this season's first Sunflower Showdown. The two appear to be fairly evenly-matched, with both struggling early in Big 12 play, but showing signs of life recently.
For the Jayhawks, that life came in the form of a season-defining win against Baylor earlier this week. Kansas' ironclad defense proved too much pressure for Odyssey Sims and the potent Bears' offense. It was likely the best game the Jayhawks have played this entire season and it couldn't have occurred at a better time.
Kansas was only 1-4 in the Big 12 entering their contest against Baylor, and a loss may have put the Jayhawks in too deep of a hole to dig themselves out of. Instead, the Jayhawks won handily, limiting the nation's third-highest scoring offense to a measly 60 points.
Kansas State has won its last two conference games after an 0-4 start in Big 12 competition. The Wildcats have been clicking on offense, registering over 70 points in each of these contests. Still, the Wildcats are averaging only 61.5 ppg within the Big 12, while allowing opponents to score 69.5.
The Kansas State offense has shown it's quite vulnerable thus far into the season, being dominated by an unranked UTEP squad 39-84 earlier in the year. The Wildcats are led by freshman guard Leticia
Romero, who's top 10 in the Big 12 in both points and assists. Romero has been one of the most impressive freshmen in the conference this season, leading Kansas State in points (14.6 ppg), assists (4.6 apg) and rebounds (5.9 rpg). She's started all 17 games for the Wildcats and is routinely a threat to score from anywhere on the court.
The last time these two met in Manhattan, the Jayhawks pulled of an 89-80 overtime victory behind former Jayhawk Carolyn Davis' 29 points. Kansas also defeated the Wildcats in Allen Fieldhouse earlier that season to sweep the season series, 2-0.
Edited by Julie Etzler
defense finally began to kick into gear, making life difficult for the Jayhawks, especially down low. Junior forward Chelsea Gardner began to see tighter coverage after returning from a minor ankle injury suffered late in the first half.
"They were dropping guards in from the opposite side," Gardner said. "I couldn't get the right hand shot, it kind of frustrated me at the end."
WOMEN'S FROM PAGE 1B
Oklahoma State's offense found life in the second half. Senior guard Tiffany Bias took over down the stretch, recording 10 points and two assists after the half. Bias was simply too quick for the Kansas defense, driving the length of the court to score on more than one occasion.
Junior forward Liz Donohee added a double-double (12 pts, 10 reb) and was a presence down low for the Cowgirls all night. She
during Oklahoma State's crucial second half run.
scored eight points and collected six rebounds
For Kansas, Garnder led the way once again, finishing with her second straight double (15 pts, 11 reb). She was Kansas' only presence in the post for much of the night and played extremely physically, usually drawing a foul when she couldn't convert the bucket.
Though Kansas wasn't able to secure a second consecutive upset, the Jayhawks have now played competitively against two quality teams this week. Senior guard CeCe Harper thinks there's something to be said for that.
"I think even though we lost, it's still given us confidence, because we know we can play with those top teams," Harper said. "We just know we have to be better at the end."
Edited by Blair Sheade
COLUMN FROM PAGE 1B
But if what Borzello alluded to becomes true, and Alexander is ranked as the No. 1 player in the country, let's keep the expectations and hype in a realistic place. Alexander will have to grow, become stronger and adjust to the speed of the game in a very short period of time.
Let's not piggyback off this year's unfair situation for Wiggins. Not every top-ranked player is great or even good right away. They don't always meet expectations immediately.
It takes time. So, please, let's not let this happen again.
Edited by Alec Weaver
Recycle this paper
RockChalkLiving SEARCH ▶ DONT SETTLE
+