8B SPORTS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16,2009
Team earns season-opener victory
Jayhawks win 106-80 as opponent Oral Roberts displays shallow coverage in the post
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
No one wanted to forget about defense. But there really wasn't a choice. The regular season opener at Allen Fieldhouse swiveled heads of fans back and forth like a seesaw on loose hinges.
Kansas defeated Oral Roberts 106-80 in a contest of who could get to the hoop faster. There were 28 total points scored in the first four minutes of the game, 16 by Kansas.
"It ended up being a possession game," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "Both teams were back and forth."
janae Voelker led Oral Roberts with 29 points and 9 rebounds. Voelker's cross-court heaves opened up shots for her teammates, as the Golden Eagles finished with 29 three-point attempts. Freshman guard Kevi Luper surprised everyone but her coach, finishing with 24 points. Oral Roberts seemed to get a shot off in under five seconds on nearly every possession. Oral Roberts trailed by a 22-point halftime deficit.
"They came out and hit almost everything." Voelker said.
Rvan Waggoner/KANSAN
Defensively, Oral Roberts played in a 3-2 zone for most of the game. The formation hassled Kansas' point guards into turnovers and hesitation.
"Them being spread out kinda messed with us," freshman guard Angel Goodrich said.
But Kansas' offensive proved to be too much for Oral Roberts.
Senior guard Sade Morris flights to get past two Oral Roberts defenders as she brings the ball up court. Morris scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Jayhawks defeated Oral Roberts 106-80.
Senior guard forward Danielle McCray earned a double-double, finishing the game with 27 points,
GAME BALL:
AISHAH
SUTHERLAND
Sutherland took advantage of Oral Roberts' 3-2 zone defense by exploiting the scheme's shallow coverage in the paint. The sophomore standout finished with 24 points (11 of 15 from the field) and 8 rebounds, dominating on both sides of the ball.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"We've got to get better in a hurry."
Henrickson
Coach Bonnie Henrickson, on team defense.
STAT OF THE GAME: 27 MINUTES PLAYED BY NICOLETTE SMITH
Smith logged the third most minutes on the team despite coming off the bench. This allocation shows coach Henrickson's trust in the co-captain's leadership and ability to spread the floor with her outside versatility.
11 rebounds and 7 assists.
"Coach challenged me today for getting on the boards," McCray said. "That really helped me get going."
The shallow coverage in the post enabled sophomore forward Aishaun Sutherland and junior
center Krysten Boogaard to draw fouls and convert easy shots.
"I noticed they didn't watch me sneak in the back," Sutherland said. "I just looked for a lob."
Together Sutherland and
Boogaard finished with 43 points, 18 rebounds and 5 blocks.
"The pace was good." Sutherland said. "We ran the floor a lot."
Oral Roberts opened the sec-
inside of us to be better out of the gate," Henrickson said.
ond half on a 14-6 run and threatened a comeback by throwing Goodrich out of sync and consistently finding Voelker and Luper for buckets with extra passes in the paint.
"We've got to find something inside of us to be better out of the gate."
But after a timeout, Kansas forced a five-second violation on an attempted inbound pass and a backcourt violation.
BONNIE HENRICKSON Kansas coach
"We've got to find something
With 12 minutes to go and the lead at 21, Kevi Luper fell to the ground and was called for a travel.
After surviving their first test of the regular season, the Jayhawks will head to Iowa City, Iowa, this Wednesday to take the Hawkees in
a Big 10 vs. the Big 12 meeting.
"We expect a great challenge',
Henrickson said. "There's gonna
be a big ol' bull's eye."
Edited by Alicia Banister
NBA
Mavericks end Pistons' three-game streak, 95-80
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, and rookie Rodrigue Beaubois added 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting to help the Dallas Mavericks beat
Detroit 95-90 on Sunday night, snapping the Pistons' winning streak at three games.
Drew Gooden had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Shawn Marion also had 11 points, and Jason Kidd added 10 points and seven assists for the Mavericks.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons
with 28 points, and Will Bynum had 27, including 17 in the fourth quarter. Ben Gordon, though, went 1 for 16 and missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with 2 seconds left.
The Pistons led late in the third quarter, but a turnover let the Mavericks get back-to-back dunks at the end of the period.
Detroit tied it at 78 with 6 minutes left, but Nowitki answered with a three-point play. After Charlie Villeneau made a free throw, Nowitki made a jumper and Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to give the Maverick a 86-79 lead with 4:21 left.
Associated Press
ataylor@kansan.com
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
During a timeout with about seven minutes remaining in the first half of the Jayhawks' game against Oral Roberts, the crowd cheered a young Kansas fan in a No. 4 jersey on to victory in a dance competition.
As much as Allen Fieldhouse rocked for that young fan, it grew even louder as senior guard Danielle McCray, also No. 4, made several outstanding plays to guide Kansas to a 106-80 victory against Oral Roberts.
"It's good to know he represented it well by winning," senior guard Danielle McCray said about the fan that shared her number.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Senior guard Danielle McCray goes up for a shot against Oral Roberts during Sunday afternoon's game at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks opened their 2009-10 regular season Sunday.
In the first half Kansas scored a total of 64 points. McCray led the Jayhawks as she played nearly flawlessly throughout the half, when she lit up the scoreboard with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Those stats put her on pace for a triple-double at the end of the first half.
McCray guides team to victory
One of McCray's only miscues of the half came in the opening minutes as she threw a bad pass that led to a turnover. Aside from that, she missed only one shot, a three-point attempt following a no look pass from Goodrich, and didn't commit any fouls.
McCray saw her production drop in the second half. After
Kansas continued to put up numbers without its star guard. In the second half, sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland led all Kansas scorers with 14 points en route to a career high 24 points.
Despite the second-half dropoff in production, McCray still earned a double-double with 11 rebounds and 27 points.
"I think she got a little gassed. A lot of that stuff in the second half was flat," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
making seven shots on eight attempts in the first half, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, McCray made only two of her seven shot attempts in the second half. The chance McCray had for a triple-double also evaporated as she only tallied one assist in the second half.
Fatigue very likely played a role in the stark contrast between McCray's productions from the first half to the second half. McCray played 36 out of 40 possible minutes in the Jayhawks defeat of the Golden Eagles.
Though McCray may continue to play that many minutes in the future, she will likely get some time to rest when freshman guard Monica Engelman produces off the bench.
"I'm not counting minutes". Henrickson said. "You want a player of that caliber on the floor."
"I'm going to play my best while I'm in to give her a break and keep the team rolling," Engelman said.
Engelman went one for six from the field and committed three fouls in 13 minutes of play against the Golden Eagles, which led, in part, to the large amount of playing time for McCray.
Edited by Alicia Banister
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
No. 9 Tennessee defeats
No. 4 Baylor in 74-65 game
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Shekina Stricklen had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 8 Tennessee beat No. 7 Baylor 74-65 on Sunday in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic.
All the buzz entering the game was about Brittney Griner, the Lady Bears' celebrated recruit who dunked in an exhibition game. The 6-foot-8 Griner dunked a few times in warmups and scored 15 points, but never got close enough to the rim for a chance to dunk during the game.
The Lady Volunteers (1-0) used a combination of post players — who spent much of the game in foul trouble — to shut down Griner.
}
Associated Press