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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30.2014
PAGE 9B
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Senior Bunny Williams started nine games and appeared in 29 contests for Kansas last season while averaging 10.9 minutes, 1.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Kansas looking for bounce back season with victory
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
After a tough 2013-14 campaign, the Kansas women's basketball team will look to start its season off with a victory against Fort Hays State on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. The Jayhawks have won each of their past 10 exhibition openers, and there is no reason to think that will change, despite the team's struggles last year.
The Jayhawks began their 2013-14 season with an 11-11 record, which included a home win against Odyssey Sims and the No.7 Baylor Bears. However, Kansas would falter down the stretch, losing eight of its last 10 games. Kansas missed out on the NCAA Tournament, snapping its streak of two consecutive appearances in the Sweet 16. Regardless, coach Bonnie Henrickson expects the Jayhawks will have a much more successful campaign in the upcoming year.
"If you look at us now and the work we did in the summer and so far this fall, I am confident that we can handle the ball better and shoot the ball better," Henrickson said at women's basketball media day. "I have really been impressed
with [the team's] ability to recognize how to get uncontested threes."
Last year, shooting was somewhat of an issue for the Jayhawks, as they failed to hit more than four 3-pointers in each of the last three games. However, the Jayhawks have added a couple of top-tier freshman point guards in Terriell Bradley and Lauren Aldridge, and Henrickson is very positive about the boost they can provide.
"The good thing about [our point guards] is that they can really shoot the ball, so you can play two of the three to
gether" Henrickson said. "I think when you look at young players, specifically young
"I have really been impressed with [the team's] ability to recognize how to get uncontested threes."
BONNIE HENRICKSON Coach
point guards, there are intangibles that point to why a kid might struggle, [but with us] I
don't see any of that."
Henrickson said she might even use a three point guard lineup at times, with the two freshmen playing alongside Johnson County Community College transfer Timeka O'Neal. While the idea of three point guards on the court at the same time might seem strange, Henrickson is hardly the first coach to employ such a strategy.
Looking forward to the matchup against Fort Hays State, the Jayhawks will have to find a way to stop the Tigers' center Kate Lehman, who averaged 16.5 points and 11.2
rebounds per game last year. Lehman's best performance came late in the season, when she got her second triple-double of the year in a game against Northeastern State. The Newton native scored 10 points, snagged 17 rebounds and blocked 10 shots as the Tigers easily won, 55-39.
Lehman even has some experience against the Jayhawks, scoring 16 points in an exhibition game versus Kansas back in 2012, which the Tigers lost 88-43.
Edited by Lyndsey Havens
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