Rachel Seymour

Erica Hallman, junior guard, looks over Colorado’s Yari Escalera, freshman guard, for an open pass during yesterday’s game. Hallman led the team with 18 points.

Different season. Different teams. Two different directions.

Yesterday’s victory against Colorado showcased the changing fortunes of two Big 12 Conference teams.

As frustration and impatience ate away at a struggling Colorado squad, Kansas kept its cool and rolled to an easy victory, 76-54. The 22-point margin marked the largest conference victory since March 1, 1997 when Kansas beat Oklahoma 92-69.

“What Kansas showed was more discipline in their shot selection,” Colorado coach Ceal Berry said. “They stayed with their game plan and did what they needed to do.”

The outcome also gave the Jayhawks, 11-11 (4-7 Big 12), their highest number of Big 12 Conference victories since the 2000-01 season when they notched five conference triumphs.

Before this season’s two-game sweep of Colorado, Kansas was mired in an eight-game losing streak to the Buffaloes. This season, however, Colorado, 8-14 (1-10), has fallen to last place in the league, while Kansas has risen to eighth place. Nearly one year ago Colorado finished out the conference schedule in third place while Kansas ended up 11th in the 12-team conference.

While struggling to convert offensive opportunities, Kansas allowed Colorado to stay in the game for most of the first half. The Jayhawks traded the lead three times in the first 20 minutes and did not seem ready to pull away.

Backup point guard Yari Escalera proved to be the spark off the bench for the Buffaloes and helped them stay within striking distance.

“I thought Escalera came off the bench and ran the team very well,” Berry said.

When physical fatigue set in for Colorado, its shot selection suffered and Kansas took full advantage by extending its three-point lead to nine in the final 1:30 of the half. The Jayhawks held a 37-28 lead at the break

The Jayhawks completed the sweep by using a commanding 29-7 run coming out of the locker room.

“I thought we did a good job finishing the first half,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We came out with the same aggressiveness in the second half and forced Colorado to take a timeout early.

During the spurt that spanned both halves all the shots seemed to fall for Kansas, both on the inside and outside. The Jayhawks shot 48 percent for the game while the Buffaloes converted only 33 percent of their attempts.

In addition to shooting problems, Colorado had serious problems handling the ball and consequently handed the game to Kansas.

Capitalizing on 24 Colorado turnovers, Kansas turned defense into offense for 20 points.

“That was our emphasis,” senior guard Aquanita Burras said about turnovers. “The last game we forced only 10 so that was our big emphasis in this game.”

From the outside junior guards Kaylee Brown and Erica Hallman combined for 35 points and hit eight of 15 three-point attempts.

As Brown’s 17 points and Hallman’s game-high 18 points and eight assists opened up the perimeter, junior forward Crystal Kemp took over inside.

“When Erica’s hitting and Kaylee’s hitting we play with more confidence,” Henrickson said. “I think we play a little more loosely.”

Scoring 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting, Kemp nailed her first three-point bucket of the season as the shot clock expired early in the first half.

Kemp’s performance leaves her only one point shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career. A score against Texas Tech on Wednesday would make her the 18th all-time 1,000-point-scorer at Kansas. After collecting her 500th rebound on Feb. 9 at Oklahoma State, the scoring mark would make her the 11th player to hit both milestones.

“It’s overwhelming in a way, but I am really excited about it,” Kemp said. “It’s going to be a long three days. I will probably lose a little sleep tonight, especially over missed shots that I overshot because of adrenaline and being so excited.”