Thursday, February 19, 2009
Before boarding a plane headed for Colorado, junior forward Danielle McCray plainly — and accurately — laid out the key to success in the Big 12.
“Right about now, in our league, it’s about whoever shows up,” McCray said on Tuesday. “It’s all about who shows up.”
All season, the Jayhawks (13-11, 2-9) have tried to bury their knack for inconsistent play during critical stretches of games. In Kansas’ 69-62 loss at Colorado (11-12, 3-8) last night, that nagging trend reappeared at the most inopportune of times.
For 38 minutes, shooting allowed Kansas to compete — and even hold leads — against Colorado.
But in those final two minutes, with the game tied and Kansas attempting to grab its first road victory since Feb. 18, 2006, Kansas’ strength quickly turned into a glaring weakness.
The Jayhawks missed their final five shots and committed two costly turnovers down the stretch as the Buffaloes pulled away for the victory.
“It’s frustrating that these games keep slipping away from us in the last four minutes,” sophomore forward Nicollette Smith said. “And that’s the most frustrating part. Coach asked us ‘Can we beat Colorado in a three-minute game with us up by two?’ And we all said yes. But…”
Making those late-game shooting struggles more frustrating is the Jayhawks’ precision shooting earlier in the game.
For much of the second half, Kansas’ shooting percentage hovered around 70 percent. But the Jayhawks never seemed capable of consistently generating defensive stops, and the Buffaloes made 55 percent of their shots in the second half.
“We needed to get stops on the defensive end,” Smith said, “and we didn’t get them.”
Kansas and Colorado traded baskets throughout the second half as neither team held more than a five-point lead until the final minutes.
But down the stretch, Colorado found ways to score, while Kansas simply missed shots.
Midway through the first half, Colorado pieced together a 10-2 run to take a 20-9 lead. During that stretch, the Jayhawks committed five turnovers that helped spark Colorado’s run.
“We were knocking down shots, and we were getting people open shots and everything,” Smith said. “But it came down to turnovers, and that’s what killed us.”
Kansas answered Colorado’s run later in the half, rattling off a 9-0 run to cut the home team’s lead.
Still, the Jayhawks trailed 31-28 at halftime despite making 48 percent of their shots.
Neither team handled the ball with extreme care. The Jayhawks committed 22 turnovers, and Colorado had 20 miscues.
Smith led Kansas with 15 points, while three other Jayhawks scored in double-figures — the type of balance coach Bonnie Henrickson has been searching for all season.
For the Jayhawks, though, the real story revolved around turnovers.
“Turnovers are what always kills us,” Smith said. “Whether it’s a tight game or whether we lose by 10, we always look at turnovers and say ‘If we had those possessions back, it wouldn’t have been a close game.’”
— — Edited by Andrew Wiebe
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