Originally published in the University Daily Kansan on Nov. 14, 2013
Early in the second half, Asia Boyd found herself wide open at the top of the key. She let her fourth three-pointer of the game go and watched it fall through the net, for the fourth time.
Seconds early on the previous possession, she hit a three-pointer from the corner, en route to an 18-point scoring night on 6-10 shooting, including 4-5 from beyond the arc. Boyd helped the Kansas women’s basketball team to a 72-56 victory over the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars Wednesday night.
“When you make one, you want to make another one, so that’s just what happens,” Boyd said about her shooting performance.
Chelsea Gardner led the team with 19 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 9-10 from the free-throw line.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson said that against a smaller team, which the Cougars are, the gameplan was to throw it inside to Gardner.
“I thought we were pretty opportunistic at times with throwing it in to Chelsea,” Henrickson said. “Sometimes we missed her.”
This left the perimeter players open at times, and the Cougars dared the Jayhawks to shoot the long jump shots. Kansas connected on 6-18 three-point shots.
Kansas led from the beginning, starting the game on a 16-2 run which included Boyd’s first three-pointer, two lay-ups from Gardner and a three-pointer by Natalie Knight. The Cougars’ only lead was 2-0 on the first basket of the game.
After the Jayhawks jumped out to the 16-2 lead, the Cougars went on a run of their own, scoring eight straight points to get to within six, but that was the closest they were for the rest of the game.
The Jayhawk defense hounded the Cougars, especially early. They limited the Cougars to 20 first-half points and forced two shot-clock violations from the opponent.
Against the smaller team, the Jayhawks were beaten on the glass on both ends of the floor. SIU-Edwardsville had 43 total rebounds, with 16 of them coming from the offensive glass. Kansas had 32 total rebounds.
“We’ve got to get on the glass,” Henrickson said. “We’ve got to get a guard on the glass.”
Starting point guard Lamaria Cole had a productive night with new career highs in points, steals and assists. She scored eight points, had six steals and passed out five assists to go along with three turnovers.
The fieldhouse was loudest after her lay-up with 12:32 left in the game. Cole had a steal near midcourt and raced toward the basket and laid it in.
Junior Natalie Knight struggled in her 15 minutes on the court. She was often open beyond the arc and was unafraid to shoot the ball, but only connected on 1-9 of her shots. She contributed three assists and three steals.
Henrickson said she was pleased by the team’s effort, but there are aspects to work on, including offensive rebounding.
“Our effort is where it needs to be, from an energy standpoint,” Henrickson said. “They just have to clean up pretty quick, and it’s about what’s coming.”
Stella Liang 