Kansas Hosts Oklahoma in Annual Jayhawks for a Cure Game

Senior CeCe Harper is 18 assists away from breaking into KU’s top-10 single-season list.
Game 24: Kansas vs. Oklahoma
Time 2 p.m.
Location Lawrence, Kan.
Arena Gallagher-Iba Arena
Series Oklahoma leads, 31-29
Television Jayhawk Television Network
Nate Bukaty (play-by-play)
Jill Dorsey-Hall  (color analyst)
Radio Jayhawk Radio Network
Affiliate List
Online: Jayhawk Digital Passport
Live Stats Kansas Live Stats
Notes Kansas
Oklahoma
Big12 
Stats at a Glance KU OU
Record 11-12 14-9
Rankings NR NR
Points/GM 66.5 78.3
Points Allowed/GM 66.2 67.0
FG% 42.6 45.4
Rebounds/GM 37.3 40.5
Assists/GM 13.7 14.7
Blocks/GM 4.3 3.5
Steals/GM 7.1 8.0

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball returns to Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday, Feb. 9 to face Oklahoma in its annual Jayhawks for a Cure game. Anyone who wears pink to the contest will get $3 admission and a live auction will follow the game with all proceeds benefiting Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The Jayhawks have won two of the last four meetings versus the Sooners. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN3 and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
 
KANSAS FAST BREAKS

  • The Jayhawks are 29-31 all-time against Oklahoma and 15-13 against the Sooners in Allen Fieldhouse. It is the first meeting of the season between KU and OU. Kansas has won two of the last four games against Oklahoma. 
  • Junior Chelsea Gardner has recorded a double-double in five of the last six games. She knocked in a career-high 34 points against Texas Tech (2/1). Gardner has a Big 12 leading nine double-doubles on the season and 14 in her career.
  •  Gardner has scored in double figures in the last eight games and 20 times this season. She has a total of 40 double-digit scoring efforts in her career. Gardner has reached the 20-point mark eight times in 2013-14 and the 30-point mark twice. Kansas is 8-1 when Gardner scores 20 or more points and 2-0 when she scores 30 or more points.
  • Senior CeCe Harper has 120 assists in 2013-14 and needs just 18 more to move into the top-10 of the single-season records. Angel Goodrich holds the top two spots with 250 assists in 2012 and 245 assists in 2013.  
  • Defensively, Kansas has held four opponents under 35 percent from the field and 11 opponents under 40 percent shooting in 2013-14. KU has held Big 12 opponents under 40 percent shooting in five contests with the lowest being Texas Tech (1/11) at 29.4 percent. On average, KU’s opponents are shooting 40.2 percent from the field.

 
ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas returns to Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 9 to play Oklahoma after a two-game road swing. Sunday is KU’s Jayhawks for a Cure game where Kansas will wear pink uniforms. The Jayhawks are shooting 42.6 percent from the field, which is the sixth-best percentage in the Big 12, and making 31.6 percent of shots from beyond the arc. Kansas is averaging 66.5 points per game, while allowing 66.2 points per game for a +0.3 scoring margin. KU averages 37.3 rebounds per contest and has outrebounded 15 opponents in 2013-14. The Jayhawks’ bench is scoring 18.3 points per game and reached the 20-point mark in 10 games this year.
 
Junior Chelsea Gardner has posted nine double-doubles on the season and 14 in her career after scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 boards against Oklahoma State (2/5). Gardner scored double-digits the last eight games and is shooting 58.8 percent from the field, which is the third-best field goal percentage in the league and ninth in the nation. Gardner leads the team with 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.  Senior CeCe Harper has knocked in double figures in eight of the last 10 games and dished out seven or more assists in 10 games. She is 18 assists away from breaking into the all-time single-season records. Junior Natalie Knight reached double-digits for the seventh-straight game after scoring 12 points at Oklahoma State (2/5). She is shooting 37.6 percent from beyond the arc after making 2-of-4 attempts against the Cowgirls. She is averaging 9.5 points per game behind 41.6 percent shooting from the field. She also has the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at 2.4.
 
Newcomer Jada Brown scored a career-best 10 points at Texas (1/15) for her first double-figure scoring effort. The freshman forward has started nine games and appeared in 22, while averaging 1.7 points and 2.2 rebounds a contest on the year. Junior guard Asia Boyd is averaging double figures with 11.3 points per game and has registered double-digit scoring performances in three of the last four games. Boyd has scored double figures in 13 contests this season and recorded two double-doubles. She has appeared in every 2013-14 game, playing 27.2 minutes a contest and grabbing 5.0 boards per game, which is second-best on the squad. Senior guard Markisha Hawkins scored 10 points at Kansas State (1/25) for her third double-digit scoring effort of the year. She is averaging 4.6 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 15.4 minutes a contest.
 
Freshman forward Caelynn Manning-Allen recorded two blocked shots against No. 8 Oklahoma State (1/22) and has the second-most on the team with 15. Manning-Allen scored a career-high six points against Texas (1/15) and grabbed a career-best 10 boards against Texas Tech (1/11). Freshman guard Dakota Gonzalez recorded 10 points in the first meeting against the ranked Cowgirls for her second double-figure scoring effort of the season. On the year, she is shooting 39.1 percent from the three-point line and averaging 4.0 points a contest. Freshman Keyla Morgan has two double-digit scoring efforts in her initial season with KU, the first against then-No. 2 Duke. She is averaging 5.2 points per game and shooting 47.1 percent (8-17) from behind the three-point line. Sophomore guard Lamaria Cole is averaging 3.1 points and 1.4 assists per game. Junior forward Bunny Williams is grabbing 2.0 boards per game, while shooting 69.2 (9-13) percent from the field. Freshman guard Dylan Gonzalez is averaging 1.1 points behind 55.6 (5-9) percent from the field.
 
SCOUTING THE Sooners
Oklahoma is currently fifth in the Big 12 standings with a 5-5 league mark and is 14-9 on the season. OU recently defeated rival Oklahoma State 81-74 (2/1) but dropped a contest at home 81-67 to Baylor (2/3). The Sooners average 78.3 points per game behind 45.4 percent shooting from the field, while allowing 67 points and opponents to shoot 36.8 percent from the field. Aaryn Ellenberg leads the team and is third in the Big 12 with 18.4 points per game and also has a team-high 38 steals in 2013-14. Morgan Hook has 115 assists on the season and is shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Sharane Campbell and Nicole Griffin are grabbing a team-best 5.5 boards per contest. Griffin also leads the team in blocked shots with 39.  
 
KANSAS VS. Oklahoma: THE SERIES
Kansas and Oklahoma meet for the 61st time in program history on Sunday afternoon. The Sooners have a 31-29 advantage over KU. The Jayhawks have won two of the last four contests and are 15-13 against OU when playing inside Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas enjoyed an 11-game winning streak from 1990-94.
 
CHELSEA LATELY
Junior forward Chelsea Gardner has stepped up to the challenge of filling the scoring void left by graduating three 1,000 point scorers at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season. Gardner has scored in double figures in 20-of-23 games this season and is averaging 17.3 points per game. On the season, she is shooting 58.8 percent from the field, which is the third-best field goal percentage in the Big 12. She scored a career-high 34 points at Texas Tech on Feb. 1. Gardner has recorded nine double-doubles this year and 14 in her career. She has 832 career points and is on pace to reach 1,000 points by the end of her Jayhawk career. After grabbing 10 boards against K-State (1/25), Gardner became the 26th Jayhawk in program history to record 500 or more rebounds. She has 528 in her career.
 
A Knight’s Tale
Junior Natalie Knight made her return to the hardwood on Oct. 30 in an exhibition contest against Pittsburg State after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2012-13. The Olathe, Kan., native picked up where she left by being the most consistent Jayhawk on the court. The guard has the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at 2.4. Knight is averaging a team-high 33.7 minutes per game and has turned the ball over just 29 times in 23 appearances. Knight is scoring 9.5 points per game and recorded double-digit points in 15 games. She scored a season-high 20 points behind a career-best six three-pointers on the road against TCU on Jan. 8.
 
Cece and the Assist Factory
In 2013-14, the Jayhawks’ offense runs through senior guard CeCe Harper and her assists per game average continues to rise with each game. It only took 13 games this season for Harper to surpass her 2012-13  mark of 62 assists. She has recorded 120 this season, is averaging 5.2 assists per game and is 18 assists away from breaking into the top-10 KU single-season record. She dished out a career-high 13 against Tulsa on Dec. 22. Prior to 2013-14, she averaged 1.4 assists per game and totaled 115 assists in three years. Harper has recorded two double-digit assist efforts this season and seven or more assists in 12 contests.
 
Gardner’s Block Party
Junior forward Chelsea Gardner leads the Jayhawks with 41 blocks on the season and has 106 in her career. With three blocks against Oklahoma State, Gardner moved into eighth all-time on Kansas’ block list. Gardner needs eight blocked shots to move into seventh place. Lisa Tate is the all-time block leader with 269 from 1991-94. Gardner is averaging 1.7 blocks per game which is fourth in the Big 12. 
 
THIS DAY IN KANSAS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY
Kansas is 6-5 when playing on Feb. 9 and 3-1 under head coach Bonnie Henrickson on the ninth day of February.
Feb. 9, 1996:  With 11 seconds on the clock, Iowa State’s Tara Gunderson missed the front-end of a one-and-one. Kansas’ Suzie Raymant grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled as time expired on the clock. Raymant made the free throw to lift the Jayhawks to a 59-58 victory over the Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse.
 
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