Thursday, February 28, 2008
Turnovers plagued Kansas the entire season, as evidenced by its Big 12 worst 19.8 turnovers per game.
The difference between wins and losses for coach Bonnie Henrickson’s team has been what the opponent does with those giveaways. Wednesday night Texas turned these free possessions into 21 points, which was enough to get past Kansas 57-53.
Junior forward Marija Zinic throws her head into her hands after the Longhorns tied the game up 53-53. The Jayhawks, despite a seven point lead going into halftime, lost 57-53 during the final moments of the game Wednesday night.
“Every mistake we made, they made us pay, but when we made them make a mistake we couldn’t make them pay. That was the difference in the game,” sophomore guard Sade Morris said.
Kansas’ last victory was on Feb. 17 against Nebraska, a game in which sophomore guard Danielle McCray drove to the rim and drew a blocking foul with 1.4 seconds left.
Wednesday night the Jayhawks were down 55-53 with 13 seconds left. They were looking for a replay of some late-game McCray heroics, but this time officials whistled her for a charge. Then, a pair of Longhorn free throws put the game away.
“When I went up I didn’t see anyone but I guess they called it as I was coming down,” McCray said of the play. “I should have pulled up because it was wide open from the free throw line.”
Henrickson said that was exactly what she told her leader in the huddle but McCray didn’t follow her instructions.
“Right now she’s not a very good decision-maker off the dribble,” Henrickson said. “She sees the rim and she doesn’t see anybody around the rim.”
McCray’s charge wasn’t the only late call to go against Kansas.
With 1:23 left, about six players from both teams chased a loose ball to the Jayhawk bench and a Longhorn appeared to knock the ball out of bounds. However, none of the referees felt confident enough to make a call and ruled it a jump ball – with the possession arrow in favor of Texas.
“It’s hard to believe three people make pretty good money and nobody could figure it out,” Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks (15-12, 4-10) failed to put themselves in a good position even before that call largely because their two stars – McCray and freshman center Krysten Boogaard – were ineffective down the stretch.
McCray had a team high 19 points and 10 rebounds. She tallied her sixth double-double of the year, but only four of those points came in the second half. Boogaard performed poorly. She barely scraped together 10 points and shot a measly 3-for-11.
“No presence, absolutely not a factor,” Henrickson said of Boogaard. “No balance, no power position, she doesn’t box out – nothing. She, right now, has got absolutely not an ounce of focus to box out.”
Guard LaChelda Jacobs played solid offensively, sprinting to the basket for eight points thanks to 4-of-4 shooting from the field. The sophomore was also one of three Jayhawks to turn the ball over at least four times.
Turnovers plus the lack of intensity in the second half cost Kansas its last three games (and even more earlier this season). This trend of costly and foolish mistakes made Henrickson as upset as she’s been all season.
“It’s the same mistakes and that’s frustrating,” Henrickson said. “It’s the definition of insanity: expect a different result but do the same thing everyday. That makes no sense to me.”
— Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
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