KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 26. 2010 / SPORTS
7A
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Morris fills huge role in McCray's absence
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
ataylor@kansan.com
If someone traveled back in time to one year ago from last night and watched Kansas pull out a tough victory against Oklahoma State, they might notice a few similar story lines.
Just like this year, Kansas was struggling to make up ground in the Big 12 while attempting to impress the NCAA tournament committee enough to earn a tournament berth. Last year, Kansas' then-junior guard Sade Morris scored 13 points, just the third-most on the team, and that's she needed to do for the Jawhaws to earn a victory.
Junior forward Nicolelette Smith battles amongst two Iowa State players for possession of a loose ball. Kansas remains winless against ranked teams after suffering a 57-54 loss to Iowa State Thursday night.
Last night Morris upped that point total from a year ago by one to 14, once again third-most on the team. This time it wasn't enough to scrape out a victory, though, as No. 13 Iowa State snuck out of Allen Fieldhouse with a 57-54 victory.
One of the more glaring differences between the two games, aside from the Jahawk's loss this year, was the lack of Morris' proverbial Batman. Senior guard Danielle McCray fulfilled that role last year as she scored 30 points in the victory over the Cowgirls, while Morris simply had to play the part of Robin.
With McCray out with a torn ACL for the rest of this year, Morris has to perform an entirely new role. Whereas she stayed in the background and gave help wherever it was needed last year, now Morris resides squarely in the center of the spotlight.
"Ever since she went down, it's like, 'Okay, it's just another game,' Morris said. "I've just got to play
even harder. I've got to be more disciplined, take care of the ball more, take better shots, and get people open shots."
Morris is doing things she never did last year when the Jayhawks won nine of their last 12 games en route to an appearance in the WNIT championship game. For example, she's playing point guard, a spot she hasn't played regularly for quite some time.
"She gets to play the point, so that's something a little new for her," freshman guard Monica Engelman said. "She has a little bit of experience over me and I think that's going to really benefit."
Morris has executed that role well enough to earn a spot on the floor as point guard in clutch situations, a part she performed down the stretch in the loss last night.
On top of learning how to play an entirely new spot on the floor and regularly guarding the opposing team's best player, Morris has managed to increase her scoring productivity in recent games.
If one were to omit her performance in a Feb. 21 loss at Texas Tech where Morris got into early foul trouble and spent a significant
amount of time on the bench, she has averaged two more points per game in her last six contests than her previous 20.
"She has played with some toughness and confidence; she's played like a senior has," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
While that's still a far cry from the 17 points Morris averaged during the team's WNIT last year, it has been enough to keep her team in games. Engelman and fellow freshman Carolyn Davis have led the Jayhawks in scoring over the last six games.
"Well I know that Carolyn has stepped up, I've stepped up, and I feel that Day (Sade) has really stepped up." Engelman said. "We may have three or four, but we need all five to get a win in."
In the team's remaining games, Morris will continue her shift from the part of Robin to a more central role as her team moves to unify around her.
"We're not quite there yet, we getting there." Morris said. "Once we all start clicking, we'll get on that run and we'll feel good about ourselves."
Next game
Edited by Cory Bunting
The Jayhawks will play the No. 17 Baylor Bears 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb.
28, in Waco, Texas. The game will play on ESPN2.
Key to the game
Winning the post battle
Simply put, Baylor has one of the most dominant post players in the nation in freshman forward Brittney Griner. She'll be matching up with the Jayhawks' own red-hot freshman forward Carolyn Davis, who scored 17 against Iowa State last night. She'll need a similar strong performance to compete against Griner.
Keep an eye on
Monica Engelman
Freshman guard Monica Engelman has averaged almost 17 points a game since Danielle McCray went down with a torn ACL. She has also transformed into the Jayhawks' go-to player. She had the ball in her hands in the final seconds of last night's loss. Despite her missed last-second three-pointer, her continued production will be a necessity for Kansas down the home stretch of the season.
Opponent to watch
Brittney Griner
Griner has put up staggering numbers so far this season as she has led No. 17 Baylor to a 20-7 record. In her most recent game, a 65-63 victory against Texas A&M, Griner recorded 22 points and 21 rebounds to go along with four blocks. She has also recorded multiple triple-doubles this season, the most recent of which occurred in a Feb. 10 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Score prediction
Baylor 76, Kansas 63
WOMEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
Kansas shot just seven of 23 from the field, or 30 percent.
"We had been fouling a little bit and we wanted to save our legs," Fennelly said of the decision to use the zone. "They're not a team that shoots the three a ton, so we really wanted to pack it in."
The Cyclones received the majority of their production from senior guard Alison Lacey. She delivered crafty cross-court passes on her way to five assists, and mixed a pretty jump-shot with fearless drives to the hoop to record 22 points.
- Andrew Taylor
Yet despite Lacey's excellence and the suffocating 2-3 zone defense, Kansas hung around. Neither team led by more than five points the entire game.
With 3:16 left in the game, Kansas led 52-48. But a Carolyn Davis turnover soon sparked a 5-0 Iowa State run, which was colossal in a such a tight contest. The run was capped off with a floater by Iowa State senior Denae Stuckey in the thick of Kansas' defense. After missing her first six shots, Stuckey's final attempt rattled around the rim and found its way in. The Cyclones would never trail again.
"Denae picked a great time to hit maybe the biggest shot since she's been at Iowa State," Fennelly said.
The pressure now boils as Kansas will likely need to win at least two of its three remaining games to be considered for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.
"Kansas has a lot to play for," Fennelly said. "I still think they're a team that has a chance to play in the NCAA tournament."
Edited by Kate Larrabee
ROAD (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
All season long, arenas have sold out at almost every road location. Self said Kansas has played in front of a total of 300 empty seats all season. Both bothered the players.
in this year's approach while being the visitor.
"This team is kind of weird," Self said. "They'd be disappointed if it wasn't full. They got juiced from that."
Senior guard Sherron Collins said playing in a hostile atmosphere like Allen Fieldhouse and being ranked No.1 makes a player expect some noise. Plus, the satisfaction of
shutting crowds up requires a good showing of fans.
"It's more fun to win on the road," Collins said. "It's always fun to win here, but home court advantage makes it easy."
But the 2008 champs were never ranked No.1. They came into the season with a sour tournament loss to UCLA still on their mind. They faced late-season adversity, losing three out of five games at one point. They were hungry.
Self said there was inner turmoil in 2008 that needed to be settled and the losses magnified it. But as
of right now, no such problems exist and Self sees that this year's team is still motivated even after victories
"Would a loss be good for us down the road?" Self said. "I don't feel that right now."
The Jayhawks are at a stable point right now. All the controversies circulating before the season and in the early goings are settled and the team, including junior guard Tyrel Reed, wants this run to keep going.
"That was a great team." Reed said of the 2008 squad. "They went through a little lull and had a couple losses on the road, but I think
they learned from it and got better. Hopefully we can keep getting better and not have to lose to get better."
And Self was adamant about getting better. He said during the Oklahoma game, for example, there were moments when the team "got it" and there were times they needed
some serious work.
They play to the situation which is why they let bad teams come back into games, but it's also why they come out on top of the close ones. The latter is something the champs were also good at.
"Sometimes it's bad when you get a big lead early, and sometimes
it really good when you need to hunker down and make stops and execute late," Self said. "There is an element of toughness in this team that I think does exist that rivals the '08 team."
Edited by Cory Bunting