Wednesday, March 12, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The story for Kansas in its last five losses could be told in four minutes. That is, no matter what the halftime score was, the Jayhawks lackluster performance in the first four minutes of the second half doomed them to defeat.
Tuesday night, instead of giving up a run, Kansas dealt the blows in those crucial minutes out of the break, hitting Nebraska with an 11-4 run.
Sophomore guard Kelly Kohn and junior guard Katie Smith celebrate with the rest of the Jayhawks following their 73-67 victory over Nebraska Tuesday night at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Jayhawks advance to the second round of the Big 12 tournament. They face Oklahoma State tonight.
From there the Jayhawks opened up a 17-point lead, saw it shrink to four, then grinded out a 73-67 victory.
This is the second straight season Kansas won its first-round game of the Big 12 tournament as the No. 11 seed.
“What we did is, normally when we come out of the locker room to start the game, all the coaches are out, we knock on the door and high five them all,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “So, as strange as it sounds, we did the same thing coming out of halftime. I said, ‘Stay right here, we’re going to go outside and pound on the door and give you high fives like the start of the game.’ ”
Henrickson’s superstitious halftime routine was successful and she said she planned to use it again tonight when Kansas tips off with Oklahoma State in the second round at 8:30.
Leading the Jayhawks was forward Taylor McIntosh. McIntosh was possessed Tuesday night, and the only way to exercise her demons was to dominate the paint.
The senior shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, 3-of-3 from the free-throw line and hauled in a game high 11 rebounds.
“I just felt loose and ready to play,” McIntosh said. “I knew this might be our last conference game so just leave it out on the floor and have no regrets.”
However, McIntosh played only 26 minutes because of foul trouble, eventually fouling out with 4:25 remaining. Right before McIntosh’s exit, sophomore guard Kelly Kohn drilled a three-pointer from the corner to put Kansas up 64-52.
“I don’t know if I can tell you how great it felt,” Kohn said of the shot.
Free throws kept the Cornhuskers in the game but missed layups prevented them from getting over the hump. Nebraska was 22-for-28 from the free-throw line but missed 19 shots within three feet.
With the game on the line, sophomore guard Sade Morris did her best McIntosh impersonation, putting the team on her shoulders and carrying them to victory.
With just less than two minutes left, Morris grabbed sophomore guard Danielle McCray’s missed three-pointer and put it back to push the lead to nine. Then, as the shot clock neared zero, Morris hit a driving shot in the lane to make the lead 70-64 and effectively ice the game.
“That was a huge, monster board in the middle of the lane that she grabbed and that’s game changing,” Henrickson said. “You can probably look at three or four of her plays that were game changing and that’s why we won.”
McCray and sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs hit the final free throws to get Kansas out with a victory. The victory, Henrickson said, locked up a WNIT bid for Kansas, but right now its focus is on Oklahoma State and sophomore guard Andrea Riley.
“Riley’s been a matchup nightmare for everybody all year,” Henrickson said. “The kids are excited and they obviously respect Oklahoma State, but I think our confidence is big and we believe we can get it done.”
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
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