Women unable to secure ball, victory

Monday, January 28, 2008

Before Saturday night’s game against Texas A&M, Bonnie Henrickson talked about her team’s lack of mental toughness and resiliency during Kansas’ 59-41 loss at Colorado.

The Jayhawks’ inability to take care of the ball against the Buffaloes led to 27 crippling turnovers compared to six assists. In the wake of the loss, Henrickson said her team needed to mature considerably in order to have success during the remaining conference schedule.

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Danielle Gant is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league and she made us look awfully soft.

— Bonnie Henrickson, KU women's basketball coach

After leading the defending Big 12 Conference champion Aggies 30-29 at halftime, it appeared as though the Jayhawks had taken the message to heart. Freshman center Krysten Boogaard dominated the low block, recording 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks to lead Kansas. Sophomore guard Danielle McCray seemed to be on pace to register her third consecutive double-double with five points and six rebounds.

More importantly, Kansas turned the ball over only six times and dished out six assists against a Texas A&M team that had forced its opponents into 22 turnovers per game.

Unfortunately for Kansas, the progress shown in the first half vanished in the second as Texas A&M stepped up the defensive pressure to coast to a 58-51 victory by way of 21 offensive rebounds and 15 second half Kansas turnovers.

“We said at halftime that if we wanted to win the game that we would have to box out,” Henrickson said. “We just never had an answer.”

Specifically, Kansas never had an answer for the relentless play of Aggie’s junior forward Danielle Gant. Though slightly undersized at 5-11, Gant scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, 9 of them on the offensive glass.

“Danielle Gant is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league and she made us look awfully soft,” Henrickson said.

Gant also benefited from Texas A&M coach Gary Blair’s decision to challenge Kansas’ guards by implementing a full-court man press when the contest was tied at 41 with 12 minutes left. She finished with six steals, four in the second half, to go along with three blocks.

Henrickson said poor decisions by Kansas’ guards were the main culprit for the inability to maintain possession against the press. McCray and fellow sophomore guards Sade Morris and LaChelda Jacobs combined for 13 second half turnovers that fueled the Aggies 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

“Our turnovers didn’t really give us a chance down the stretch,” Jacobs said.

The loss drops the Jayhawks to 1-5 in Big 12 Conference play with a daunting trip to Oklahoma on Wednesday. Morris said it was frustrating to lose another game that was winnable but that Kansas must learn its lesson quickly or the frustration will continue.

“This is a game we definitely should have won,” Morris said. “All we had to do was box out and make better passes and we would have come away with the W.”

— Edited by Daniel Reyes

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