UCLA 49, KANSAS 54
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND
Junior shines from the free throw line
Junior forward Nicollette Smith and freshman guard Monica Engelman jump of the bench in excitement as Kansas further its lead in the last minute of the second half. The Jayhawks defeated the Brains at Allen Fieldhouse and extends their home wins to 4-0 for the season.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
ataylor@kansan.com
Before Kansas would earn a 54-49 victory against the UCLA Bruins, players were already circling around the free throw line.
As part of the teams pre-game preparation, each player on the team shoots one ball from the charity stripe. Player after player had their shot clang against the rim and then bounce away from the hoop, including junior center Kristen Boogaard.
That missed attempt before the game, though, would serve as Boogaard's only miss from the charity stripe all night as Kansas ended its two game skid and got back on the winning track.
On an inbound play with 17 seconds left in the game, UCLA forward Christina Nzekwe intentionally fouled Boogaard, sending her to the free throw line with a chance to seal the game for her team.
Aside from the fact that Nzekwe picked up the intentional, it was a heads up play to get Boogaard, who had been shooting horrendous free throw percentages, to the free throw line.
If Boogaard had missed both shots, without the intentional, UCLA would likely have gotten the ball back only down two points.
"The coach did a good job of making it an intentional foul, because she knew that in the TCU game Krysten didn't knock her shots down," senior guard Danielle McCrauv said.
"I told her she won the game for us," McCray said.
Boogaard, though, hit the first of her two attempts to push the jayhawks lead to three. She then knocked down her second attempt to put the game permanently out of play.
The fact that Boogaard made both of those shots was made especially surprising given her recent
struggles from the free throw line. Against TCU in the Jankanoo Jam, Boogaard was at the forefront of the Jayhawks abysmal 44.4 free throw percentage. In Boogaard's 14 attempts from the free throw line, she made just five against TCU.
"When we got back I made it a point of emphasis," Boogard said. "I got into the gym on our day off and was just shooting straight free throws for an hour."
It seems appropriate, then, that Booagda led the charge last night
as Kansas shot a season-best 75 percent from the free throw line.
"We said, 'Hey, we make free throws every day in practice, it's just practice go up to the line and knock them down," senior guard Sade Morris said.
Kansas will look to continue its improved free throw shooting in its next outing against Northern Colorado Sunday at 1 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
Edited Megan Morriss
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
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Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson exchanges a hug with UCLA head coach Nikki Caldwell prior to the start of the game.The win against UCLA gave Henrickson her first win against a Pac-10 team.
But McCray and Morris caught fire late and helped their team outscore the Bruins 35-28 in the drama filled second half.
RECAP (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"I feel certain she won't lead the country in field goal percentage after today," Henrickson said.
her normally soft touch
With under 20 seconds to go and Kansas leading 48-46, UCLA junior guard Darxia Morris hit a go-ahead three, only to be swiped away by UCLA junior forward Christina Nzekwe's simultaneous blocking foul.
"I got into the gym on our day off and I was just shooting straight free throws."
"You always have to work on free throws," Boogaard said. "You never know when you're going to shoot them."
The practice paid off when it mattered most.
Then promptly after that call, Nzekwe fouled junior center Krysten Boogaard before the ball was inbounded. The back to back fouls resulted in an unforeseen intentional foul, sending the junior who struggled so mightily from the stripe in the Bahamas back to that frightening free throw line.
Follow Max Rothman at twitter.com/maxrothman
But Boogaard calmly focused and overcared her demons of the past, nailing both free throws. The conversions gave Kansas a 50-46 lead, sealing its opposition's fate.
— Edited by Jonathan Hermes
Reason to hope
Improved Free Throw Shooting
In the Kunkanoo Jam basketball tournament, the Jayhawks shot horribly from the free throw line. Against both Xavier and TCU, successful free throws could have given the Jayhawks a victory. Last night, though, the Jayhawks hit 75 percent of its free throws, the team's highest mark on the season.
Sluggish Start
Reason to mope
Kansas dug itself a seven-point hole in the first three minutes of its game against UCLA. That sluggish start set the tone for the rest of the game as the Jayhawks shot an abysmal 37.8 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland struggled more than any Jayhawk player as she shot just two for 12 from the field after coming into the game ranked first in the nation in field goal percentage.
Freshman guard Monica Engelman had one of her best performances in a Kansas Jayhawks uniform. In her 16 minutes on the court, Engelman recorded a career high five points and crashed the boards to snare three rebounds. With Engelman starting to play better basketball, Kansas senior guards Sade Morris and Danielle McCray could end up getting a little more time to rest during games, allowing them to have fresher legs at the conclusion of games.
Engelman
Monica Engelman
Who to watch out for
Krysten Boogaard
She struggled on the glass, only snagging four rebounds in 28 minutes of play. But oh those free throws. Hitting those two from the stripe terminated UCLA's fate and gave Boogaard a much needed confidence in crucial situations moving forward.
Game ball
Quote of the day
"About the only goal we accomplished is to play poor and win."
— Coach Bonnie Henrickson said of the sloppy win
Stat of the game
That was the rebounding margin — 43 UCLA, 29 Kansas. This was the first game all year that Kansas had been out-rebounded and won. Boogaard and Sutherland will need to toughen up on the blocks before the Big 12 schedule rolls around.
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COMMENTARY (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
first time in 10 years.
"I think we played like a team that is ranked 24th, but struggled a little bit," freshman guard Monica Engelman said. "We struggled but were able to pull it out. We showed some toughness."
The layhawks were probably a little over-hydved coming into this
"I think we just need to find ourselves. We just need to find our true selves," senior guard Danielle
season. They have a long ways to go before they deserved to be ranked. Finishing second in the Big 12 as they were picked to do in the Big 12 preseason poll will be a challenge for this group.
McCrav said.
Until that happens, the Jayhawks will be scraping for wins against decent competition.
Follow Max Vosburgh att witter.com/MVsports.
Edited by Lauren Cunningham
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