By Paulina Pengelley
Special to FOX4KC.com
DALLAS, Texas — Led by point guard Angel Goodrich, the Kansas women’s basketball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Championships, which kicked off Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Behind a 16-point, 8 assist performance by Goodrich, the Jayhawks defeated the TCU Horned Frogs for the third time this season 83-61. Just three days after beating the Horned Frogs in Allen Field House in another close game, the Jayhawks picked up their defense on their route to a conference championship.
“Defensively we were so much better than we had been,” said KU Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson. “It was the first time in the three games we played that we actually jumped out on them and got the lead.”
Once the Lady Jayhawks took the lead, they did not relinquish it. With 11 minutes left to play in the game, KU held a 20-point lead over the Horned Frogs and never looked back, shooting 50 percent from the field.
TCU struggled to get going offensively, shooting only 32 percent field. But the Horned Frogs contributed their loss to a poor defensive effort.
“We struggled with out discipline defensively,” said TCU Head Coach Jeff Mittie. “We got very spread defensively, but they also had some players step up their level of play. They got a lot of production from a lot of people tonight.”
KU sophomore Chelsea Gardner recorded her fourth career double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds. Senior Carolyn Davis racked up 12 points and 9 rebounds while Junior Markisha Hawkins added 10 points in her second start at KU.
The Jayhawks will take on the No. 2 seeded Iowa State Cyclones Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the American Airlines Center.
