Happy ‘Hawks

Congratulations to the Jayhawk women for engineering a gutsy and unexpected victory in the NCAA Tournament.

What a treat to see the Jayhawk women’s basketball team celebrating Tuesday’s second-round victory in the NCAA Tournament!

The Kansas University women were among the last four teams to gain entry into the post-season tournament. With a No. 11 seed, the Jayhawks beat the sixth-seeded Nebraska women Sunday night and earned the right to challenge their bracket’s No. 3 seed, Delaware, on Tuesday.

All of the pre-game hype and much of the post-game coverage focused on the formidable Elena Delle Donne, but after the game, the Delaware star had to share at least some of the spotlight with KU’s Angel Goodrich, who powered her teammates to a 70-64 victory. The KU defense swarmed and frustrated Delle Donne, who nonetheless scored 34 points. At the same time, however, the 5-foot-4 Goodrich was zipping around the court, feeding open teammates and scoring 27 points of her own on the way to an unexpected Jayhawk victory.

After the game, coach Bonnie Henricksen lifted Goodrich off the floor in an enthusiastic embrace. In a post-game interview on ESPN, Goodrich flashed her winning smile and modestly credited her teammates for the win.

How sweet to see the Jayhawk women advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998. Only two other schools, Baylor and Kentucky, have advanced both men’s and women’s teams to the round of 16 in their respective tournaments. Best of luck to the KU men on Friday and the women on Saturday as they try to advance to the coveted Final Four.