8B
---
SPORTS / FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
OKLAHOMA STATE 76, KANSAS 69
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND
Davis scores big, can't save Kansas
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@okansan.com
twitter.com/maxrothman
It is safe to assume that freshman forward Carolyn Davis' concussion is behind her.
The Houston, Texas, native scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but Kansas couldn't find production elsewhere.
No. 20 Oklahoma State edged Kansas 76-69 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., spurring the 15-15 Jayhawks' hopes of a con
ference tournament run.
"Thekidhassn't practiced in five days," Henrickson said. "I'm going to have a team full of kids that think they should take five days off and that's how she got 31."
Davis suffered a concussion in Fridays practice, didn't play in Saturday's 78-54 loss against Texas A&M and began tonight's game on the bench. It seemed unlikely that she would play at all, but Henrickson rolled the dice and it paid off — Davis drained 11 of 12 shots from the field. Her only miss was blocked, but she retained possession and scored directly after.
reason to shift their focus. Guards senior Sade Morris and freshman Monica Engelman and forward Aishah Sutherland combined to shoot four of 33 from the field.
"As a shooter, it starts with your feet." Henrickson said. "If your feet aren't right and your balance isn't good, you drastically reduce your chances to make a shot."
Oklahoma State senior Andrea Riley scored 37 points, a Big 12 tournament first round record, on 30 shot attempts — also a record, regardless of round.
"I didn't get to play last game — it was frustrating." Davis said. "I came into this game ready to give it my all. I knew every time I got the ball I had to score."
"I came into this game ready to give it my all. I knew every time I got the ball I had to score."
Henrickson said that by taking Davis off the bench, she felt that it eliminated any pressure that the forward could hold about producing right away.
"Her field goal percentage goes up the last three minutes of a
When Davis was occasionally muffed by a zone defense, Kansas' shooters gave the Cowgirls no
CAROLYN DAVIS Freshman forward
game," Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke said. "She's a lot like Kobe. Kobe goes out and wins games; that's Andrea Rilev."
Kansas led 49-47 with 12 minutes to play.
before a Riley three point capped off a 7-0 Cowgirls run. After trailing 69-59 with five minutes to play, the Jayhawks fought back and brought the score to within three points with one minute remaining. But Kansas couldn't close, missing all four of its three point attempts in the final minute.
Kansas has lost six consecutive games, and there is work still to be done. Henrickson said that the paperwork has been finished and the WNIT awaits.
"If you're a team that doesn't want to be in it, you're going to get beat right away," Henrickson said of the WNIT. "There's a lot of teams that really want to be in it and will look at what institution you have on your shirt and be fired up to play you."
— Edited by Kelly Gibson
Ryan Waggoner/kansKnk Freshman forward Annette Davis hangs her head in the last seconds of the Jayhawks 76-69 loss to Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Despite holding a two point lead in the second half, Kansas was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Kansas fails to rebound for tournament win
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
ataylor@kansan.com
Kansas' season-high 34 defensive rebounds did little to prevent its 76-69 loss and first round exit from the Big 12 tournament.
While that rebounding total may look nice on the stat sheet, getting there wasn't always pretty for the Jayhawks. At several instances in the first half Kansas struggled to find the toughness needed to fight for defensive rebounds.
"We don't box out, we watch her miss it, watch our teammates watch her miss it and here they come over the back half," coach Bonnie Hendrickson said.
Kansas trailed by eight at halftime after a last-second three-pointer from Oklahoma State senior guard Andrea Riley.
"She is quick and able to pop up for a shot before you know it," senior guard Sade Morris said.
Kansas managed to keep the game within reach heading into the second half despite freshman forward Carolyn Davis, Kansas' leading scorer for the game with 31 points, not taking a single attempt in the last eight-plus minutes of the first half.
Freshman forward Carolyn Davis puts up a shot against several Oklahoma State defenders. Davis scored 31 points, a Kansas school record for most points in a Big 12 tournament game.
The Jayhawks corralled nine defensive rebounds during that stretch to help keep the game close.
Rvan Waoooner/KANSAN
Kansas had plenty of chances late in that game to get defensive rebounds and any one of them may have changed the outcome of the game in Kansas' favor.
Kansas' rebounding ability improved significantly in the second half as it allowed Oklahoma State to earn just three more offensive rebounds. In addition to that the Jayhawks grabbed 17 more defensive rebounds to equal their output from the first half. Kansas finished with 47 total rebounds.
"Normally when we win the rebounding war we win," Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke said. "So it was tied tonight and it was definitely going to be a close game. We just happened to make a few more shots."
"That's where they killed us at our place," Henrickson said. "Andrea Riley goes 3-for-10 in the
"Now we were better in the second half," Henrickson said, "but you shouldn't dig yourselves such a big hole in the first place."
That second half turnaround stands in stark contrast to a Jan. 12 defeat Kansas suffered at the hands of Oklahoma State in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas' renewed presence on the defensive boards could not make up for its difficulties getting rebounds off of its own misses. On the game Kansas grabbed just 13 offensive rebounds and managed to pull in just two in the first half.
The layhawks' struggles on the offensive glass allowed the Cowgirls to get 31 defensive rebounds of their own and equal the overall rebounding total at 47.
"I just thought they got us on the offensive glass in the first half," Henrickson said. "We cleaned that up and did a much better job in the second half."
Edited by Taylor Bern
last 10 minutes and they get all seven of those misses, and we were going to need a rebound."