10B / SPORTS / MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
OKLAHOMA 81, KANSAS 69
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND
Rvan Waooner/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland puts up a short against Oklahoma forward Amanda Thompson. Despite outsourcing the Sooners in the second half, the Jawhakers lost the game 81-69 falling to 11-7 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 Conference play.
Kansas doesn't match up in Big 12
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
NORMAN, Okla. - Shortly after burying Texas Tech 89-63 Jan. 16, Kansas coach Bill Self voiced an annoyance with the constant analyzing and overanalyzing of his team.
And maybe Self is right. Maybe we - the media and fans - pick apart wins and losses like a slab of Gates' ribs.
Self's comment certainly translates to the women's team's 81-69 loss to No. 13 Oklahoma. Realistically, the Jayhawks lost for many reasons: poor ball handling, poor defense, poor shooting. Stick 'poor' in front of a basketball term and it fits.
Yet the real problem is far more basic and far easier to put into context.
Kansas simply isn't athletically on par with a consistent presence in the Big 12, such as Oklahoma.
On a night when Kansas' best player, senior guard Danielle McCray, once again struggled with just seven points and five fouls, the Jayhawks looked outmatched for vast stretches of the game.
Sure, Kansas shot 49 percent and slimmed Oklahoma's lead to 10 points at one point in the second half. But the Sooners' noticeable advantage in athleticism - they went where they wanted when they wanted - routinely cost the Jayhawks.
"They got loose balls when we tried to go inside, and they got offensive rebounds," McCray said. "Things like that."
She's right, of course. Yet "things like that" tend to fall in favor of the more athletically skilled team.
Watch Self's squad and the point will certainly be reemphasized.
With Goodrich in the lineup, Kansas' offense appeared fluid. Without her, the Jayhawks flow as much as Potter Lake.
In recent weeks, the season-ending injury to freshman guard Angel Goodrich has received much attention. And rightfully so.
Freshman guard Monica Engelman drives past an Oklahoma defender. Engelman scored 12 points, and pulled down six rebounds in the Javakhv 81-69 loss to Oklahoma.
But that's not the point, at least not today. The point is, Kansas' team as a whole pales in athletic comparison with the Oklahoma team that took the court Saturday.
And no, the Sooners don't have Courtney or Ashley Parris anymore.
ine Jayhawks opened the game with a 10-2 run, energizing the bench and small contingent of blue-clad fans in attendance. But that run only served as an illusion.
Oklahoma answered with a 20-2 burst later in the half, blowing past and posting up Kansas' players for baskets.
After the game, coach Bonnie Henrickson stressed the need for each piece to play well at the same time. That's certainly the request of any coach, but the need for every part to click hits less talented teams harder.
Maybe Kansas simply isn't playing well at the moment. Or maybe Kansas simply isn't athletic enough in the loaded Big 12.
A season in which Kansas hoped to contend for the Big 12 Championship has drastically strayed from the course.
The layhawks have now lost four of their last five games, and they currently reside in the bottom of the Big 12.
Edited by Ashley Montgomery
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
OKLAHOMA (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"She knows the Ws of the point guard," Henrickson said. "Who you throw to, where you throw to and when you throw it."
The result was a 15-0 Oklahoma run and a booming Lloyd Noble Center.
Morris picked up two quick fouls and found her way to the bench before she could impress her native Normanites.
"It ites good to be back home," Morris said. "But I came here to play and win."
Once Morris sat down, Robinson proceeded to torch any defender that dared to step her way. She began to use her scoring ability as a decoy by penetrating inside, collapsing Kansas' defense and then finding open shooters outside.
Senior guard Nyeshia Stevenson was the primary recipient of those zooming passes. The wiry shooter was feeling it from all spots on the floor and followed Robinson as the catalyst to Oklahoma's lopsided runs, finishing with 22 points.
By way of Robinson and Stevenson's playmaking and Kansas' self-infliting offensive fouls, Oklahoma led 37-24 at halftime.
"She knows how to attack the rim," Morris said. "And if she doesn't have a bucket, she knows how to make the right pass."
McCray had already picked up her fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half and eventually fouled out with just more than four minutes to go.
"When McCray got into foul trouble, that limited her," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said.
"We were patient on offense," Robinson said. "Everybody made good decisions with the ball. We didn't try to do too much."
She finished with just seven points on 2 of 10 shooting and missed all four of her 3-point attempts.
McCray failed to score a single
point in the second half before fouling out. It would have easily been her worst performance of the season had she not played so poorly on Wednesday against Iowa State.
At points Sutherland, Davis and Jacobs also battled foul trouble.
When the entire starting line-up must be forced — not chosen
In that game she scored just six points after being saddled with foul trouble.
"I've just been struggling," McCray said. "I've got to get things going right."
— to ride the bench, the results are rarely pretty.
- Edited by Ashley Montgomery
"You've got to adjust to how the referees are calling the game," Morris said. "You've got to adjust instead of react."
Kansas dropped its 13th straight game against Oklahoma and fell to 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. Still, Henrickson said that there is still much to take away from a tough road loss.
"We got all those kids in double figure scoring," Henrickson said. "If we get Danielle to be who she needs to be in our program, we've got a chance to win some games."
String of road woes continues for Kansas
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
kansan.com/ataylor
NORMAN, Okla. — After a strong start against No. 13 Oklahoma Saturday, Kansas once again hit a wall as the Jayhawks lost 81-69 to continue a string of road woes.
Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, the struggles on the road are not an unfamiliar trend. In eight games away from Allen Fieldhouse this season, Kansas has won only twice.
Perhaps the most disturbing trend of all is that many of the same problems have plagued the Jayhawks throughout each of those losses.
For example, lengthy stretches without field goals have played important roles in nearly every
road loss, especially since the start of conference play.
For 20 minutes in the loss to Kansas State Jan. 9, Kansas failed to record a field goal. Then,
"I've got to get it better and get things going right."
in a 52-43 loss at Iowa State Wednesday, the Jayhawks had a seven-minute scoreless streak.
The Jahawks did nothing to remedy that disastrous tendency against the Sooners.
DANIELLE MCCRAY Senior guard
After taking a 16-6 lead, Kansas allowed Oklahoma to go on 31-6 run over the course of 10 minutes. Similar to past road losses, the Jayhawks suffered through a four minute scoring drought in that span.
Kansas' road woes stem from more than just one factor, though, as several key Jayhawks often find themselves in foul trouble on the road. Nowhere is this fact more evident than in the Jayhawks last two games.
"We need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game," senior guard Sade Morris said. "Like today they were calling it tight and we need to adjust to that instead of reacting to it."
"Our bench was great," coach Bonnie Hendrickson, said. "The
It's no coincidence, then, that senior guard Danielle McCray's worst two games of the season
1
"I've just been struggling," McCray said. "I wasn't making my shots throughout the game and I got into foul trouble early. I've got to get it better and get things going right."
have also occurred in the lavhawks most recent contests.
Fortunately for the Jayhawks, they revealed that they are not entirely without hope for the rest of the season as the Kansas bench oozed energy throughout most of the loss to Oklahoma.
After averaging 20 points per game in her first 16 starts, McCray has averaged just 6.5 points in her last two. In both games McCray got into foul trouble early and never recovered.
officials were yelling at them the whole time and telling them to get off the court and I love it."
Kansas' bench failed to energize the team in losses at K-State and
Iowa State, and the Jayhawks suffered because of that. On Saturday, though, the Jayhawks rode the bench's energy to an early lead.
That early lead also illustrates another important dimension that Kansas needs to maintain if it hopes to improve its miserable road performances. When the Jayhawks opened the game with that run, the Oklahoma fans were about as quiet as 8,831 people can be.
"Out of the gate I thought we were as good as we've been," Henrickson said.
With the crowd momentarily silenced, Kansas had the opportunity to relax and control the pace of the basketball game. That didn't happen and the Jayhawks fell for the fourth time in five games.
Edited by Kelly Gibson
Reason to hope
Monica Engelman
For the second straight game freshman guard Monica Engelman scored a career high and helped pick up the slack of a struggling Danielle McCray. Engelman went five of eight from the field and put up 12 points. She still has quite a bit of room for improvement on the defensive end, though, as she got burned numerous times by Oklahoma's speedy guards.
Engelman
Reason to mope
Foul trouble
With Kansas still holding a lead over Oklahoma, senior guard Sade Morris picked up two quick fouls that sent her to the bench for a little while. The Sooners took advantage of the absence of the Jayhawks best defender and stole the lead away. Morris' fellow senior guard Danielle McCray also picked up some fouls, which in turn limited her effectiveness on both ends of the ball. McCray would eventually foul out of the game with only 7 points.
What to watch out for
Morris at point guard
Despite starting, senior guard LaChelda Jacobs played just 18 minutes. In that short time she turned the ball over three times compared with only two assists. With Jacobs immediate back up, junior guard Rhea Codio, playing limited minutes as well, Morris ran the point guard for most of the game. Coach Bonnie Henrickson initially referred to the possibility of Morris playing point guard as plan C, but with the ascension of Engelman and the way Morris runs the offense it could become plan A very soon.
Morris