Atticai Margrave
Questions surrounded today’s game on who was going to step up for the Jayhawks with starter Brittany Harshaw out with a knee injury. Her shooting and rebounding were going to be missed for a Jayhawks team that struggled in their first pair of games to shoot the long ball.
While missing super senior guard Wyvette Mayberry, this team has already had players stepping up to fill her roles. So, when Harshaw was also out of the lineup, there was even more opportunity for some players to see more time to play their way into the rotation on both ends of the floor.
The last game saw Sania Copeland take the torch, upping her scoring by ten points between game one and two. However, she went scoreless in the first half of this game. Junior transfer Elle Evans poured in nine points and freshman Zoe Canfield knocked down two threes of her own to help Kansas to a 34-22 lead at the half.
The second half saw a myriad of different players contribute. Threes reigned from six different players throughout the game and all eight players that checked in for the Jayhawks scored at least six points. Coach Schneider was thrilled with the 23 bench points his team put up headlined by freshman guards Canfield and Carla Osma knocking down five long balls together.
In the absence of their starters, this team has been doing exactly what they needed to, having the next people off the bench step into larger roles. With this stretch, hopefully we see an expanded bench that Coach Schneider can use later in the season.
With this latest game the Jayhawks saw their most efficient night from three shooting 52%. They were also able to limit their turnovers, having their most secure game of the season with only 13 turnovers on the game.
Coach Schneider agreed with S’Mya Nichols, who led the way with 16 points and nine assists, saying that the defense should be better.
“We got backdoored too much,” he said. “We fouled entirely too much, we have got to have more discipline.”
This sentiment is something that the team has been saying since their first game. That being said, the defense forced more steals tonight than their first two games combined. Clearly defense is something this team has been working on, and even the new players are confident in their defensive rotations.
Everyone on the team is hopeful that their starters will return in the very near future. Yet even still, the bench looks deep enough to play at least 10 deep, maintaining the momentum they gained from this game.
The next time the Jayhawks will be in action is Sunday at 2 p.m. at home against North Alabama. The game will be broadcasted on KJHK at 90.7 FM as well as streamed on ESPN+.
Photo: Allie Brakel, KJHK Sports Photography