Kansas Erases 19-Point Deficit, Stuns Navy in Overtime, 61-54

Box Score
Photo Gallery
Coach Brandon’s Press Conference
Notes/Quotes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – In less than 24 hours, Kansas saw three programs come from behind to claim victories, including Kansas women’s basketball. The Jayhawks completed the trio of comebacks after erasing a 19-point deficit to stun Navy, 61-54, in overtime on Sunday afternoon, inside Allen Fieldhouse.
 
Sunday’s matchup marked the first overtime game of the season for the Jayhawks and the fourth come-from-behind win of the year. The win marks the first overtime victory for Kansas since defeating Kansas State in extended time on March 7, 2014. 
 
After opening the game with a quick run and gaining the lead, Kansas (5-4) fell behind early, but responded by holding Navy (5-5) to a combined nine points down the stretch, including just two made free throws in overtime.

 Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge recorded a career-high scoring marking, she finished the afternoon with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including three long-range buckets. The Marshfield, Missouri native was perfect from the charity stripe, connecting on all four attempts.
 Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen logged her second career double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while freshman guard Kylee Kopatich recorded 14 points, including some pivotal free throws late in the game.
 
Navy’s Taylor Dunham was on fire in the first half, tallying 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the three-point line. Kansas managed to hold the sophomore guard to only four points in the second half, as Dunham finished with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Sarita Condie ended the game as the only other double-digit scorer for the Mids, with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting and seven rebounds.
 
Kansas got off to a hot start, draining three of its first four attempts to take an early 6-0 lead. The two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes, with the Jayhawks maintaining their lead at 11-5 after a three-point play from junior forward Jada Brown. Navy responded with two quick long-range buckets, tying the game at 11 each with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. Navy tacked on six more points to extend the streak to 12 unanswered points before a jumper from Manning-Allen ended a three-minute scoring drought.
 
After trailing by six points early in the game, Navy established an eight-point lead over the final six minutes of the quarter with a 16-2 run. The Jayhawks committed five turnovers in the opening 10 minutes and ended the period on 1-of-5 shooting. Navy tallied 12 of 21 first-quarter points came from beyond the arc, while Kansas missed the mark on all five of its three-point attempts.
 Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen logged her
second career double-double against Navy.
Navy continued to knock down threes in the second quarter, connecting on three consecutive attempts. The Mids began the period on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 19 points, as Kansas missed its first six shots. Freshman guard Jayde Christopher ended the scoring drought at the 4:04 mark with a layup, sparking a 6-0 run that saw the Jayhawks hold Navy scoreless over nearly four minutes of game time.
 
With eight seconds remaining in the half, Aldridge hit Kansas’ first three of the afternoon, pulling her squad to within 12 points heading into the locker room at halftime. Navy’s Dunham was nearly unstoppable in the first 20 minutes of action, sinking 6-of-9 threes to tally 20 of the Mids’ 34 first-half points.
 
After Navy opened the scoring in the third quarter with its seventh three-pointer of the afternoon, the Mids went cold, missing the mark on their next four attempts. Unfortunately, the Jayhawks could not capitalize as they connected on only one of their first six shots.
 
Midway through the quarter, Kansas began to find its rhythm after getting to the free throw line and sinking 7-of-8 attempts. In the final 3:16 of the third period, the Jayhawks made 4-of-6 field goals, while Navy missed its final eight shots. Kansas’ 12-2 run to conclude the quarter cut the Navy lead to just six points heading into the fourth period of the contest.
 
The Jayhawks continued to fight their way back into the game, as Aldridge scored the first five points of the fourth quarter for Kansas. Navy saw its lead shrink to just three points, forcing a timeout at the 6:38 mark. Just over a minute later, Kopatich hit her first three of the afternoon to cut the deficit to two points, the lowest since Navy took its first lead of the game with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
 
With less than a minute left in the game, the Jayhawks finally broke through with a layup from Kopatich to tie the game at 52-52. After a jumper from Navy’s Peri Curtis missed the mark, Kansas held possession for the potential final play of the game. Manning-Allen’s layup attempt missed at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
 
Manning-Allen grabbed the first points of extra time, with a layup that moved her into double-figure scoring and the second double-double of 2015-16. The defensive pressure of the Jayhawks continued to give Navy fits, as the Mids attempted only two field goals in the first four minutes of overtime, missing on both. Navy went 0-for-3 from the field during overtime. However, the Mids shot 2-of-4 from the free throw line.
 
Freshman guard Aisia Robertson made one of her two shots from the charity stripe, extending Kansas’ lead to seven points. The Mids once again failed to connect on their final attempt, and Robertson collected the rebound to give Kansas the 61-54 overtime victory. 
 POSTGAME NOTESKANSAS 61 // NAVY 54DEC. 13, 2015 – LAWRENCE, Kan.
SERIES INFO

  • Kansas took a 1-0 lead in the all-time series against Navy with the overtime victory on Sunday.
  • The Jayhawks own a 3-0 record against programs from the Patriot League.

ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
ATTENDANCE: 2, 032 (16,300)
 
TEAM NOTES

  • The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 19 points and came back to win by seven, 61-54, marking the largest deficit overcome in a victory since 23 against TCU on 2/13/13
  • Kansas didn’t allow Navy to get position inside and score in the lane, Navy’s 10 points in the paint were the lowest by an opposing team since Wisconsin registered just six points in the paint on Dec. 8, 2011.
  • Today’s victory marked Kansas’ first overtime win of the year and fourth come-from-behind victory.
  • Kansas held Navy to 30.2 (19-63) shooting percentage, which is the lowest field goal percentage by an opponent in 2015-16.
  • Kansas’ stout defense allowed Navy to only 8 assists, which is the lowest in 2015-16.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

  •  Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge scored 19 points, surpassing her previous career-high mark of 18 points.
  • Aldridge has now posted double-figure scoring in 8-of-9 games.
  •  Freshman guard Asia Robertson swiped a career-high three steals.
  • Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich played a career-high 45 minutes.
  •  Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen recorded her second double-double on the season and her career, with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Her first           was against NIU (11/27).
  •  Freshmen Jayde Christopher and Tyler Johnson notched their first career starts in today’s victory.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Kansas head coach Brandon SchneiderOpening statement:“Well I thought Navy played extremely well, particularly in the first quarter but obviously the first half.  Dunham made every shot and made all the right reads regardless of what kind of plays she was making and we struggled defensively. They really guarded us hard and did a good job keeping us out of the paint.  We weren’t as patient as we should have been.  We talked a lot about that offensively at half time and made some defensive adjustments to do a better job defending the arc. I think they only made two threes in the second half.  To be down 19 and show that kind of resolve to come back and win the game is something that I’m really proud of our team for. “
On the preparation and change in starting lineups:“I think Tyler (Johnson) has been playing well.  I wanted to give Caelynn (Manning-Allen) a chance to come off the bench and give us a spark.  I like our tempo when Jayde (Christopher) is in the game and wanted to make an adjustment there.  Also it had a little bit to do with Aisia Robertson being hurt. She hasn’t practiced the last couple days.  I really didn’t know how much she would be available today.  I thought we got off to a good start offensively, just struggled to defend the arc in the first quarter.”
On junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen’s production off the bench:“Well you know a double-double. Caelynn is a junior but we have to remember she is a very young player.  One, she hasn’t been playing basketball that long and two, she hasn’t played in her time here until this year.  So when she plays 32 minutes she hasn’t been in those situations where she has to play that long.  She’s still learning that when she starts to get a little tired that it’s okay to feel uncomfortable.  You’re not going to die. You can push through it and you probably have a little bit left in the tank. I thought she had a really big deflection late in the game and did a nice job, when we started switching all the ball screens, of staying down in a stance and keeping the ball in front of her.”
On the difficulty to come back after two previous losses:“I think the thing that made it even harder was how we lost on Thursday.  I think as the coach I can speak for the players, and our pride was hurt and we were embarrassed. It’s hard to pull yourself out of that in a couple of days.  We just kind of moved on and tried to get ready for Navy on a short prep.  I think we had some carry-over from that game, especially in the first half.  We’re fortunate that we could come out and win and move past that.”
On adjustments made at half to cut down on turnovers:“We talked about moving the ball more. We only had 10 paint touches in the first half and we were 100 percent with positive possessions when the ball touched the paint. We re-emphasized getting paint touches in the second half and we talked about getting multiple paint touches each possession. I thought we showed a little more patience when we drove into the gaps and we made better decisions. We played better defense in the second half and when you do that, it always helps your offense. I thought that was really important for us.”
On guards Lauren Aldridge and Jayde Christopher being on the court together:“I think it is important to understand that we ask Lauren (Aldridge) to do a lot. She played 44 minutes today and it is hard to play at the pace that we want to play at. She guarded one of the top-two girls the entire game. When Jayde (Christopher) plays, it allows Lauren to change her mindset a little bit and it allows her to play off of the ball, which puts her in more of a shooting role, which we are really going to need in certain situations.”
On the Kansas’ defensive energy in the second half:“We went into the game really concerned about how well Navy drove the ball and we wanted to keep them out of the lane. I thought we played way too soft. We needed to get up the line more and be more active and give more help when they put the ball on the floor early in the game. When we did that, you saw Asia Robertson get a few deflections and I thought Kylie (Kopatich) was really active all day long. She played really hard and for her to not come out of the game, especially for a young player, I thought was really impressive.”
Kansas sophomore guard Lauren AldridgeOn having Kylee Kopatich as a shooter beside her:“It is always fun to play with someone else who shoots the ball extremely well. Right now, Timeka O’Neal is leading the Big 12 Conference in three-point shooting percentage. When you have three shooters on the floor, it really helps to open the lane. Defenders will start hugging the three-point line and that will allow players like Jayde (Christopher) more driving opportunities and she does a tremendous job of getting into the paint and either finding her post players or her shooters. Being able to play alongside two others who shoot the ball extremely well is helpful for our team.”
On her performance late in the game:“I mean overtime is what everybody plays for. Well everybody plays for the fourth quarter. – everybody plays to win. But when you’re given an overtime, everybody goes out and wants to perform well and we did a great job staying on offense and getting open shots and people stepped up, which was good for us.”
On the importance of the win:“A win is a win, always.  Winning feels a lot better than losing.  I think the way we won was really good for us, especially after two losses.  I think that it reestablishes the ‘tough and together’.  For anybody, it’s more exciting to win in overtime instead of regulation. So yeah, it was good for us and hopefully we can use it to keep us rolling.”
Kansas freshman guard Jayde ChristopherOn taking advantage of her first start today:“I like coming off of the bench in games, but I felt like this start gave me a lot more confidence.”
On the freshman on the team becoming more comfortable playing:“The more we play together, the better our chemistry builds.”
Navy Head Coach Stefanie PemperOpening statement:“It was a tough loss for us. I thought we handled their pressure pretty well. We had some untimely turnovers late in the game and just didn’t shoot it great, not good enough to win on the road. They did a nice job of capitalizing on their free throw opportunities and obviously no. 33 (Kylee Kopatich) and no. 3 (Lauren Aldridge) hit a couple big shots late. It was a disappointing loss for us, for sure.”
On Kansas overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit:“They turned up their defensive effort a little bit. Taylor Dunham, our number one, obviously was such a hot shooter during a portion of that first half and she wasn’t able to sustain that. They were a little taller than us, a little more athletic and with that being said, we had that shot right in the middle of the lane and the end of regulation to go up two. We were right there in regulation and just couldn’t finish it.”
On playing a young Kansas team:“I think that we felt like we could have come out of here with a double-digit win, for sure. We obviously had to make a change in our starting line up to try to get people’s attention and it didn’t really work at first. It wasn’t until we got that first big lead that they decided to increase their effort a little bit. It was one that we feel we let get away.”
NEXT UP
Kansas continues its six-game homestand to close out the 2015-16 non-conference slate. The Jayhawks face Washington State on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., inside Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN3 and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
 
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