Jayhawks look to end season with a bang

Friday, February 23, 2007

Even though Kansas senior guards Shaquina Mosley and Sharita Smith lost their final game at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, the two plan to end their college careers in a different way.

“I think it would be huge for this program to go out with a bang in these last two games,” Smith said, “and who knows what we could do in the Big 12 tournament.”

Riding high off of the emotional spark the seniors have provided, the Jayhawks will head to Boulder, Colo., to take on the Buffaloes on Saturday.

It was only two weeks ago that Mosley hit a game-winning shot in overtime to beat Colorado.

Including that game, Kansas has won three of its last five and Mosley has averaged 18 points and nine rebounds in those contests.

Smith has been just as valuable. Game after game, she receives the toughest assignment as far as who she guards on the perimeter. She has improved offensively as well. The last time the two teams faced, Smith scored a career-high 12 points.

“I think their energy and consistency down the stretch has been fantastic,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said, “as good as any two seniors I’ve had in a long, long time.”

The senior leadership seems to finally be rubbing off on the Jayhawk freshman class. Freshman guard Kelly Kohn has been fantastic in Kansas’ last two games at both penetrating the lane and finding open looks on the perimeter. Freshman forward Sade Morris has been aggressive off the bench. The two have combined to score 29 points in each of the last two games.

“Our kids have gotten better,” Henrickson said. “We were inconsistent early and made ourselves look worse than we were because we weren’t used to the pace and weren’t used to the tempo.”

The same inconsistency led the Jayhawks to start Big 12 conference play 0-9. But now, Kansas has a chance to get out of last place in the Big 12. At 3-10, they currently are only one game behind Kansas State.

“The Big 12 is so crazy right now,” Kohn said. “Teams are jumping all around and we have a great chance to move ourselves up in the pack.”

Being in 11th place instead of 12th may not seem like a big difference, but in the Big 12, seeding is everything going into the tournament.

Colorado, in a three-way tie for eighth place in the conference at 5-9, has the same motive.

“I know we beat them once but it wasn’t that easy,” Mosley said. “We have to go to Colorado at their house and I know they’re going to play hard.”

Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@kansan.com

— Edited by Kelly Lanigan

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