8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009
No.23 IOWA STATE 32 27 - 59
20 29 — 49
KANSAS (17-12, 6-10)
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs A Pts
Danielle McCray 9-19 4-8 11 2 27
Nicollette Smith 1-5 0-3 2 0 2
Krysten Boogaard 3-9 0-0 8 0 8
LaChelda Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ivana Catic 0-2 0-1 0 3 0
Aishah Sutherland 2-2 0-0 1 0 4
Sade Morris 3-10 0-3 3 4 8
Porscha Weddington 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
Team 4
Total 18-48 4-15 31 9 49
No. 23 IOWA STATE (23-7,11-5)
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs A Pts
Heather Ezell 5-12 2-6 4 3 14
Amanda Nisleit 2-3 2-3 5 0 6
Toccara Ross 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Jocelyn Anderson 1-1 0-0 2 2 4
Nicky Wieben 9-19 0-0 9 0 20
Denae Stuckey 0-2 0-1 4 1 1
Kelsey Bottle 0-3 0-3 0 1 4
Anna Florzak 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Whitney Williams 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Claire Rockall 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Alexis Yackley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Shellie Mosman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ashley Arlen 1-1 0-0 3 0 2
Alison Lacey 1-7 0-3 2 7 6
Team 1
Total 20-51 4-16 31 14 59
GAME NOTES
KANSAS ENTERS BIG 12 TOURNAMENT AS EIGHTH SEED
After finishing the Big 12 regu lar season 6-10, the Jayhawks are slotted as the eight seed in the Big 12 tournament. Kansas will play ninth-seed Nebraska at 11 a.m. Thursday morning in Oklahoma City.
The winner will face top-seeded Oklahoma in the second round at 1 a.m. on Friday.
IOWA STATE PLAYER DOMINATES INSIDE
While coach Bonnie Henrickson said defense wasn't Kansas' biggest problem against Iowa State, the Jayhawks struggled mightily with stopping Nicky Wieben.
Wieben finished the game with 20 points and nine rebounds. She scored Iowa State's final nine points of the first half, giving the
Cyclones a 32-20 lead.
"She gets one-on-one looks because you have all the shooters spotting up outside of her," Henrickson said. "You can't come double (team) her because she's so good about kicking it out."
KANSAS STRUGGLES ON OFFENSE
The ability to execute on offense keyed Kansas' four-game winning streak. But against Iowa State, when that winning streak was snapped, that wasn't the case.
The Jayhawks made just 38 percent of their shots, including 4-of-15 three-pointers. Kansas also committed 17 turnovers.
"Tonight we had bad turnovers," junior guard Sade Morris said. "We played defense here and there but, then again, we didn't score on offense."
— Jason Jenks
Tournament hopes fade with loss
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY JASON JENKS
jienks@kansan.com
AMES, Iowa — In the belly of Hilton Coliseum, in the wake of Kansas' most meaningful game this season, senior guard Ivana Catic's eyes began to water.
Catic arrived at Kansas four years ago and has since played in two Women's National Invitation Tournaments. But never during her tenure have the Jayhawks been so close to reaching their ultimate goal of receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Check Kansan.com for more women's basketball coverage.
By losing 59-49 at Iowa State on Saturday, Kansas is now seated on the outside of NCAA tournament talks, a place usually reserved for WNIT-bound teams.
"I don't know why this happened tonight, especially with the stake we were playing for," Catic said, her voice beginning to waver. "This is not acceptable. It's just really disappointing to think about now because it's the game you never get back."
That Kansas traveled to No. 22 Iowa State and lost in front of 12,689 fans certainly stung. But what hurt the most — and what left Kansas digging into its past — were previously squandered opportunities.
In a season marred with chances now gone, the lajhawks spent the waning moments of their loss reflecting in the locker room on Saturday night. Earlier in the season, when nothing seemed to click, Kansas lost games to bottom Big 12 teams — Colorado, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Missouri.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Each loss occurred in a slightly different manner and for slightly different reasons, yet each carried a decisively strong message for coach Bonnie Henrickson and the lavhawks. We should have won.
"If we don't go to the tournament, it isn't because we didn't beat Iowa State at Iowa State", Henrickson said. "It's because we didn't take care of business."
Still, Kansas had chances to upset Iowa State.
Perhaps the most crippling moments for Kansas occurred in the game's first three minutes. Iowa State built an 8-0 lead, sparked by two three-pointers that seemed to energize the crowd.
Kansas trailed for the game's entirety, never able to fully overcome the sluggish start.
"That set the tone and then they were just comfortable," junior guard Sade Morris said. "There were times we made them feel uncomfortable but they were up. It's a lot easier when you're up."
Sophomore center Krysten Booagard struggles to propel a shot past a Nebraska defender during the Jayhawks' Feb. 28 game in Allen Fieldhouse. The women's winning streak came to an end on Saturday with 59-49 loss at Iowa State.
Yet Kansas' most glaring shortcoming happened on the offensive end where junior forward Danielle McCray was the only player to score in double digits.
After struggling early, McCray finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. But the problem against Iowa State — and a problem in many losses this season — was the lack of production from Kansas' other players.
Morris scored just two points in the second half, while sophomore center Krysten Boogaard played only 24 minutes because of foul trouble.
"We didn't really play well together," Catic said. "We just didn't have the same compose and the same sense of urgency that we had in previous games where we won."
In the second half, Kansas cut Iowa State's lead to seven with 9:51 left in the game. But the Jayhawks had a two part problem that kept the Cyclones in control; Kansas couldn't score consistently on offense and couldn't shut down Iowa State on defense.
as 17 points late in the game as Kansas faded down the stretch.
Now, the pressure for Kansas shifts to the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Henrickson said the Jayhawks must win at least two games to re-enter the NCAA tournament picture.
"We could never get three or four stops in a row," Catic said. "That's really difficult, especially when you play against Iowa State because they have such good shooters. That puts pressure on you."
But after Iowa State snapped
Kansas' four-game winning streak, the Jayhawks' past seemed to rise to the forefront as much as their future.
"We basically killed ourselves to the season," McCray said. "If we would have played with that same sense of urgency, if everyone would have been consistent individually ... those last four games, if we would have played like that in the beginning of the season, we wouldn't even have these problems."
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Edited by Jesse Trimble
Offensive shortfalls result in loss to ISU
cgoble@kansan.com
AMES, Iowa — Efficiency on the offensive end was one reason the jayhawks went on a four-game winning streak.
BY CLARK GOBLE
cgoble@kansan.com
A lack of offensive efficiency was the main reason that same streak ended Saturday night on the road against Iowa State. Kansas lost to Iowa State 59-49.
In Iowa State's loss in Lawrence two weeks ago, Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly didn't think the Jayhawks' defense really affected them too much. He thought that it was more about his team's inability to run efficient offense.
It was the same story Saturday night, but this time, it was Kansas' offense that sputtered. The Jayhawks' 49-point scoring output was its lowest since they scored the same number against Texas Tech at home.
"We just didn't do what we were supposed to do on the offensive end," senior Ivana Catic said.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
At times, the only shots Kansas could get came off of isolation plays for junior forward Danielle McCray with the shot clock running down. And even the shots she made were often not too pretty. By unofficial count, she banked in three of her four three-pointers.
"They were just all over me, face-guarding me." McCray said "When I drove inside, there were five people in there waiting for me."
Junior forward Danielle McCray releases a two-point attempt during the Jayhawks' March 4 game against Baylor in Allen Fieldhouse. The women's team brought its four-game winning streak to an end on Saturday with a 59-49 loss at Iowa State.
McCray said another factor in the lack of offensive efficiency was Iowa State's changing defenses. The Cyclones started the game in a 2-3 zone, but switched to a diamond-and-one and a sagging man-to-man for the rest of the game.
Catic said they knew what Iowa State was going to do on the defensive end but were unable to execute. They missed open shots and easy layups time and time again.
"We didn't have the same composure and the same sense of urgency as we did in the previous four games." Catic said.
Coming off four games where the Jayhawks shot the ball fewer times than their opponents in each game but still made more field goals, Iowa State's ability to slow down Kansas was a bit unexpected.
may notice the Cyclones' success in stifling other Kansas scorers and use a similar strategy to guard the lavhawks the rest of the season.
"Overall, everyone has to produce more," McCray said.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson echoed that sentiment.
"In this league, kids got to show up and play," she said.
But, as many of the Jayhawks realized after the game, it isn't hard to recognize why the team wasn't efficient on the offensive end.
"Eventually, it comes down to making a play." Catic said.
that, saying she needs to "step up." Morris was 3-for-10 from the field and had five turnovers in 40 minutes of play.
McCray realized other teams
Edited by Realle Roth
She said junior Sade Morris needed to pick up some of the scoring slack. Morris agreed with
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