On Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse, the Kansas women’s basketball team managed to have two completely different\u00a0quarters from each other in the first half.<\/p>\n
After the first period, the score sat at a mere 7-6, with the Jayhawks coming out on the short end of the stick versus Rhode Island.<\/p>\n
The 2nd quarter, however, told a completely different story.<\/p>\n
Kansas (4-5) put together one of their best offensive stretches of the entire season, scoring 30 points in ten minutes and turning a one point deficit into a 19 point advantage by halftime, eventually leading to a 72-36 victory for the Jayhawks.<\/p>\n
The charge was lead by junior guard Jessica Washington, who returned to the starting lineup on Sunday, and sophomore guard Kylee Kopatich.<\/p>\n
Washington actually scored all 6 points for the Jayhawks in the first quarter, and followed that up with six more in the 2nd, including a bail out three midway through the period to push the lead to double digits for the first and last time. Washington finished with 17 points on 4-10 shooting, adding 4 rebounds and 3 assists in one of her better games of the season.<\/p>\n
Kopatich was lethal in the 2nd period from downtown, knocking down three 3 pointers and adding a few shorter jumpers as well. She accounted for 13 of KU’s 30 points in the period, and finished the game with 19 points on 8-17 shooting while also grabbing 9 rebounds and recording an impressive 5 steals.<\/p>\n
For Rhode Island (4-7), it was a struggle in every facet of the game. The difficulties offensively were best evidenced by the poor play of their best player, junior guard Charise Wilson.<\/p>\n
Wilson averages 17.5 points per game for URI, but only managed 12 on Sunday while shooting a putrid 5-20 from the field. After junior guard Taylor Raysor’s 8 point performance, no other Rhode Island player scored more than 4 points.<\/p>\n
Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n Sophomore guard McKenzie Calvert did not play on Sunday. Calvert is KU’s leading scorer on the season (13.9 per game), but has been shooting less than 30% from the field. Despite her absence, the Jayhawk offense hummed along smoothly, en route to 72 points.<\/p>\n For the 2nd straight game, the Jayhawks shot pretty well from the three point line. It is likely no coincidence that, in those two games, senior guard Timeka O’Neal has been inserted into the starting lineup. O’Neal is easily KU’s best three point shooter, and has made 7 threes combined in her two starts.<\/p>\n Next Game Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Jayhawks (4-5) will welcome the Arizona Wildcats (6-1) into Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, December 17th at noon.<\/p>\n Follow us on Twitter:<\/strong><\/p>\n KJHK \u2013 @kjhk<\/a><\/p>\n KJHK Sports \u2013 @KJHKsports<\/a><\/p>\n Nick Lewis \u2013 @LewisNicholas<\/a><\/p>\n