LAWRENCE, Kan. – A 57 percent second-half shooting performance from Oklahoma State stifled Kansas’ hopes of a comeback on Sunday afternoon, as the Jayhawks fell on Superhero Day, 74-46.
The Cowgirls (15-4, 5-3 Big 12) entered Sunday’s matchup coming off an overtime victory against Iowa State, where they shot 53 percent from the field, their best shooting effort in conference play this season. The hot shooting continued for the visitors, ending the contest with a 52 percent field goal percentage to earn their third consecutive Big 12 victory.
Senior guard Brittney Martin, who leads the Big 12 in both points and rebounds per game this season, logged 24 points and tied her season-high with 17 boards, both game-high marks. Senior guard Roddricka Patton, scored only two points on 1-of-4 shooting, but recorded more assists than anyone else on the court with 13 dimes. Three other Cowgirls reached double-figure scoring, with sophomore center Kaylee Jensen, sophomore forward Mandy Coleman and freshman guard Karli Wheeler tallying 15, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich led the Jayhawks (5-14, 0-8 Big 12) as the only player with double-digit points, finishing the afternoon with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting. The Olathe, Kansas native drained two triples and remained solid from the charity stripe, converting on all four of her free throw attempts. Freshman forward Tyler Johnson made the most of her third career start, putting in a career-high nine points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting performance. Kansas swiped a season-high 11 steals on Sunday, and freshman guard Aisia Robertson contributed the most for the Jayhawks with three takeaways.
Turnovers proved to be costly for the Jayhawks in the early going. Five giveaways before the five-minute mark of the first quarter put Kansas down by 13, with eight of the Cowgirls points coming off of turnovers. A quick 5-0 run from the Jayhawks with baskets on back-to-back possessions brought the lead back to single digits with 5:04 left in the opening period. Freshman guard Jayde Christopher came off the bench to put in a layup for the Jayhawks’ final points of the quarter, trailing 17-7.
Five-straight points from Kopatich in a span of just 20 seconds cut the Cowgirls’ lead to just six points at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter. A 6-0 run from OSU followed, pushing the lead to 12 points, Oklahoma State’s largest advantage to that point. Despite converting on their final six field goal attempts of the half, turnover issues manifested for the Cowgirls as well. Three giveaways in the final 3:09 of the half allowed the Jayhawks to remain within striking distance at the intermission, trailing 34-21.
After Kansas connected on its first two field goals of the third quarter, it appeared that the momentum might shift in the favor of the home team. A 1-of-9 shooting slump, unfortunately followed, allowing Oklahoma State to string together a 14-2 run to close out the third period. The Jayhawks’ deficit stretched to 23 points with a put-back shot at the buzzer from Oklahoma State’s Jensen to give the visitors the lead, 54-31.
After connecting on just 2-of-10 three-pointers in the first 30 minutes of play, the Jayhawks sank three of their last five long-range attempts, with Kopatich, Robertson and sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge all getting in on the action. Bright spots continued to appear for the Jayhawks in the waning moments of the game, as Robertson snatched away two steals and Christopher dished out two assists to bring her total on the afternoon to four. Martin and the Cowgirls had an answer for everything Kansas threw their way and Oklahoma State prevailed with the 74-46 win.
— KU Athletics —