4B KU 75 , ISU 72 THE UNIVERSITY HARLY KANSAN 1 KANSAS 31 44----75 HURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009 ILLINOIS STATE 25 47-72 JAYHAWK STAT LEADERS Points Danielle Mcray 31 Rebounds Krysten Boogaard 7 Assists KANSAS (22-13) Ivana Catic 6
PlayerFG-FGA3FG-3FGA RebsAPts
Krysten Boogaard6-80-07018
Nicollette Smith0-40-3617
Ivana Catic1-20-0562
Danielle McCray10-181-56131
Sade Morris4-90-1468
LaChelda Jacobs0-10-0310
Aishah Sutherland4-40-0709
Team4
Total25-461-9421575
ILLINOIS STATE (27-8) Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs A Pts Kenyatta Shelton 3-7 0-0 3 2 6 Nicolle Lewis 4-6 0-0 1 0 10 Kristi Cirone 7-24 0-6 7 4 24 Amanda Clifton 2-3 0-0 1 0 5 Maggie Krick 4-12 2-4 4 1 10 Brea Banks 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ashley Sandstead 1-3 0-1 1 1 2 Katie Broadway 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Emily Hanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ashleen Bracey 5-14 1-2 5 4 15 Team 10 Total 26-69 3-13 32 12 72 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Result/Time 11/30 vs. New Orleans W, 64-42 12/04 vs. San Jose State W, 93-49 12/07 at Marquette L, 67-57 12/10 vs. Western Illinois W, 66-43 12/13 at Creighton W. 59-58 (OT) 12/21 at UCLA L 67-64 12/23 at Pepperdine W, 82-54 12/31 vs. Houston W, 73-56 1/4 vs. New Mexico State W, 91-49 1/7 vs. Fairfield W, 80-60 1/10 at Kansas State L, 72-39 1/14 vs. Missouri W, 75-58 1/17 vs. Texas Tech L, 57-49 1/21 at Nebraska L, 67-58 1/24 vs. Kansas State L, 59-50 1/31 at Texas A&M L, 73-60 2/4 vs. Colorado W, 65-54 2/7 at Missouri L, 74-60 2/11 at Texas L, 74-66 2/14 vs. Oklahoma L, 69-54 2/18 at Colorado L, 69-62 2/22 vs. Iowa State W, 58-47 2/25 at Oklahoma State W, 67-52 2/28 vs. Nebraska W, 70-57 3/4 vs. Baylor W, 69-45 3/7 at Iowa State L, 59-49 3/12 vs. Nebraska W, 61-56 3/13 vs. Oklahoma L, 76-59 3/23 vs. Creighton W, 79-64 3/26 vs. Arkansas W, 75-59 3/30 at New Mexico W, 78-69 4/1 vs. Illinois State W, 75-72 WOMEN'S BASKIE Weston White/KANSAN Jayhawks play with confidence in victory Freshman forward Aishah Sutherland hits a shot on the basket Wednesday night. Kansas defeated Illinois State 75-22 to move onto the Women's NIT Championship game. BY CLARK GOBLE cgoble@kansan.com Freshman Aishah Sutherland was feeling so confident with her game Wednesday night that she thought about performing a feat not attempted too often in women's basketball after picking up a steal in the open floor. With less than two minutes left, the score at 63-59 and only open court in front of her. Sutherland thought about doing the unthinkable. The Jayhawks looked inside early as they have all season, and Boogaard responded. Within the first two minutes of the game, Boogaard already had two relatively easy layups from post-entry passes. Boogaard said it was definitely part of the game plan to give the post players opportunities. At times, coach Bonnie Henrickson even played the pair together, a rare sight considering Sutherland primarily plays the same center position that Boogaard does. "I didn't think anyone was behind me and I slowed down to gather myself," Sutherland said. "And I was going to dunk it." "I knew I needed to step up and be a presence inside," Boogaard said. Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard and Sutherland combined to shoot 10-for-12 from the field. They also combined for 14 rebounds and six blocked shots in a 75-72 victory over Illinois State in the semifinals of the Women's NIT. Although an Illinois State defender knocked the ball out of her hands, it was obvious that Sutherland was playing with confidence — and it wasn't just her. Sutherland said the reason they haven't played together much before was because sometimes she and Boogaard didn't communicate on the floor. "You can't play and screen as much as we do and have no chance to throw it in front of the rim!" Hendrickson said. "Krysten and Aishah give us that chance." "It creates a lot of opportunities." Boogaard said. "It's fun to play with her. She's an athletic post." Henrickson said her team needs their post players to play well for them to succeed. of the defensive attention drawn by McCray and Morris. While Illinois State focused on the perimeter, Boogaard continued to work near the basket. She scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Edited by Carly Halvorson The duo was also a huge presence on the defensive end. Both finished with three blocks each and altered many more. Illinois State star Kristi Cirone simply couldn't deal with their length inside. She finished 7-for-24 from the field, but a lot of her makes came in the final five minutes of the game. "Tonight we did that well," Sutherland said. "It's good when we can play together because it's just a good turnout." Even when one of the posts missed, which was rare, the other was there to clean up. With just more than 13 minutes to go in the game, Boogaard drove into the paint and missed her first shot of the contest. Sutherland slipped into the weakside, rebounded the miss and converted the easy putback. Henrickson said the play was huge. WOMEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 1B) "She got her confidence back," Morris said. "She knows she's unstoppable when she sits on the low block. She's just been a lot more confident." But as the game wore on it became blatantly clear that McCray wanted to put Kansas on her back. And that's exactly what she did despite logging 40 minutes after playing 39 minutes against New Mexico on Monday night. "She's an amazing player, "Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton said. "What a talented player. At times I thought she was getting a little fatigued but she got her second, third and fourth winds." Now, McCray and the Jayhawks' enter the final game of their season with the chance to finish what few thought was possible just months ago. Kansas will play South Florida for the WNIT championship at 1 p.m., Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. "We talked about not celebrating the fact that we were in the WNIT but we would celebrate when we won a championship" Henrickson said. "And we've put ourselves in a position to have that opportunity." Edited by Andrew Wiebe Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard blocks the shot of Illinois State guard Kristi Cirone. Booaaa rd blocked Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard puts up a shot Wednesday night in the Women's NIT Final second leading scoreer with 18 points while grabbing seven boards. our gam