6B
SPORTS MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAN.COM
NO.17 BAYLOR 70,KANSAS 47
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND
WOMEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"There's so much physically that is impressive about her," Henrickson said. "She's disciplined enough to always go baseline against a double, which means the double is ineffective."
Defensively, Griner flaunted her shot-swatting expertise. Of her 10 blocks, Grimer sent some balls flying into the stands. Others, she merely grazed off her fingertips. In both circumstances, Kansas' shot attempts never approached the rim.
"You can try to be away from her and shoot the ball, but you've got to make sure you get iron," Morris said. "Because she's so long, she can get your shot."
Even when she didn't actually get a piece of the ball, Griner altered shots with her overwhelming presence. Often times, her blocks and shot alterations resulted in quick fast breaks for her teammates.
"We had really poor defensive transitions in the first half," Henrickson said.
Kansas shot just 36 percent and lost the rebounding battle 36 to 27. The Jayhawks now have two days of practice to improve those crucial statistics before heading to Lincoln, Neb. to take on the undefeated — and No. 3 — Cornhuskers.
"It's a grind." Henrickson said. "I said, 'for you young ones, this is the hardest thing you've ever been through. You've just got to hold on and keep your chin up'".
— Edited by Allyson Shaw
Jayhawks lack momentum in yet another conference walloping
BY ANDREW TAYLOR ataylor@kansan.com
Kansas' two leading scorers through the month of February — Monica Engelman and Carolyn Davis — couldn't gather enough momentum to guide their spiraling team to what would have been its first win over a top 25 team.
Davis managed to put up solid numbers despite battling Baylor's stand out freshman Brittney Griner, but Engelman mustered only 4 points, the first time in her last seven games she has not eclipsed the 10 point mark, as Baylor defeated Kansas 70-47.
Engelman made only one of her nine shots yesterday, which represents her worst shooting performance in a Jayhawks' uniform.
"Maybe she got down on herself when she couldn't make a couple," senior guard Sade Morris said. "That happens when you're a freshman. It's the upperclassmen's job to get her out of it."
A number of reasons could explain Engelman's struggles in addition to the one outlined by Morris. One of the prominent ones was the presence of Grimer. On more than one
occasion Griner got a hand in Engelman's face, even blocking two of Engelman's shots.
"I think she did a great job of trying to fight back," Morris said. "She kept shooting the ball."
In Engelman's stead, Davis quietly scored 15 points, her ninth double-digit output in her last 10 games, to lead the Jayhawks. Without Davis' fellow freshman, Engelman, performing well at her side, though, Davis' numbers
alone could not even come close to propelling the Jayhawks to victory.
"Carolyn and Monica got a little tentative," Henrickson said. "Carolyn did an on-ball screen and sprinted to
the rim. She started shaping up because she thought Monica keeps picking it up and she's not trying to throw it back to me."
Since the season-ending injury to senior guard Danielle McCray on Feb. 5, the Jayhawks' success and competitiveness has largely depended on Engelman and Davis both playing well on the same night.
In that time, when both Davis and Engelman scored in double figures, the Jayhawks have won two games while losing three. That stat may not seem all that convincing on its own, but consider that Kansas lost all of those games by an average of less than five points and all of those teams were ranked in the top 15 at the time.
In comparison, when either Davis or Engelman do not
"Once we get all three of us going good things happen."
SADE MORRIS Senior guard
reach double-digit point totals Kansas has lost two games while accumulating no victories. Making those defeats more devastating is the fact that the jayhawks lost by an average of
20 points.
The other occasion on which one of the freshman duo failed to score 10-plus points occurred in a 68-51 loss at Texas Tech on Feb. 21.
In that instance, Davis scored only four points on four attempts despite shooting 50 percent from the field. During that game Engelman poured in 18 points to lead the Jayhaws in the loss.
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Kansas will next match up against No. 3 Nebraska in Lincolln and if the past is any indication of the future, the duo should have a good chance to perform well together once again.
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"Once we can get all three of us going, good things happen." Morris said of getting herself, Davis and Engelman going at once.
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In the Jayhawks' 67-60 loss to the Cornhuskers on Feb.10, Engelman and Davis combined to score 30 points and both surpassed the 10-point mark. Morris also scored in the double digits.
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Davis
Freshman forward Carolyn Davis Davis put forth an admirable effort against perhaps the best defensive center in the Big 12, Baylor freshman Brittney Griner. Davis finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds and two blocks. Davis assertively attacked the hoop, rather than attempting to create a shot that is both harder for Griner to block and her to convert. As guards senior Sade Morris and freshman Monica Engelman struggled shooting the ball, Davis was the only Jayhawk with more than six points.
Davis
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Edited by Sarah Kelly
Freshman forward Carolyn Davis
Reason to hope
Davis produces against tough defense
Davis produces against defense.
Going into the game against Baylor, freshman forward Carolyn Davis had averaged 13.3 points per game since the start of Big 12 play. Teams have continually tried to find ways to slow her down and most fail to do so. Baylor is now part of that list. Despite going against a dominant defensive player in freshman Brittney Griner, who finished the game with 10 blocks, Davis still surpassed her Big 12 scoring average with 15 points.
Reason to mope
The home stretch
Poor shooting
Kansas has only two games remaining on its regular season schedule and both games are against ranked teams. With the loss to Baylor, Kansas is now 0-8 against ranked teams this season. With its hopes for an NCAA tournament berth hanging in the balance, Kansas needs to get at least one win or potentially string together a couple victories in the conference tournament to achieve its goal.
Despite going into the game in the game with the fourth ranked shooting percentage in the Big 12 at 45 percent, Kansas shot only 36.2 percent from the field against Baylor. If Davis, who shot 63.6 percent from the field, is removed from the equation, then Kansas' shooting percentage drops to 29.7 percent. Kansas also shot well below its season average in its last road loss at Texas Tech.
What to watch out for
Quote of the game
"The games that we've lost, we haven't been getting offensive rebounds or boxing out. Once again, it showed."
Senior guard Sade Morris
Stat of the night
27-9
Morris
Despite coming off the bench, junior Rhea Codio logged 27 minutes at the point guard position. Starting senior
guard LaChelda Jacobs played just nine minutes. Henrickson's allotment of minutes on Sunday showed that she holds greater trust in Codio, a player that used to be an afterthought on the bench. Will Codio continue to come off the bench, or could she be the starting point guard Wednesday at No. 3 Nebraska?
Codio
Max Rothman and Andrew Taylor
Jacobs
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