Sharpshooting Jayhawks race past Grambling State for 76-45 win

photo by: Carter Gaskins

KU senior Jessica Washington (3) makes a move past Grambling State Kendriana Washington (20) in the second quarter Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas women’s basketball team improved on a rough shooting night against Nebraska with a 76-45 sharpshooting win over Grambling State Sunday afternoon at home.

With the win, Kansas improved to 7-1.

Senior guards Christalah Lyons, Jessica Washington and Kylee Kopatich each netted double-digit scoring efforts with Lyons leading by 18 points. The trio combined for eight 3-pointers to lead Kansas to a season-high 51 percent clip from the floor. The team’s 60 percent 3-point percentage was also a season high.

At one point in the first half, Lyons was outscoring Grambling State’s entire team by a 16-15 margin.

“What I am most pleased with is she had the assignment of guarding (Shakyla) Hill,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said. “When you’re focused on doing the little things, then good things will happen on offense.”

Hill didn’t score until Schneider took Lyons out of the game.

Into the second half, Kansas’ young bench played as hard as the seniors for whom they substituted out. Mariane De Carvalho and Brittany Franklin each had 8 points.

With seven blocks as a team, which tied UMKC for a season high, De Carvalho had one halfway through the third quarter that caused a turnover where she took the ball up court and made a 3-pointer herself.

“We were all so pumped on the bench, she came out of nowhere,” Kopatich said.

In her fourth game as a Jayhawk, De Carvalho has managed a 9.6 points per-game average with at most 17 minutes on the court. Her average puts her fourth among the team, behind Kansas’ three senior guards.

“Nani (Mariane De Carvalho) is going to be a really important part of our team this year,” Schneider said. “She can guard multiple positions, she’s long, can stretch it with her ability to shoot the 3.”

On the sharpshooting day, no Jayhawk missed more than four shots. From the charity stripe, Kansas only missed five as a team to make another season high, netting 21-of-26 attempts. Brianna Osorio, Franklin, Washington and Brooklyn Mitchell were all perfect.

“Our defense made our offense work well,” Kopatich said. “We got in the passing lanes, we got a lot of steals, we got a lot of stops and that just helps our offense in so many ways, confidencewise.”

Despite the lopsided 31-point win, it didn’t take much for Schneider to voice his concerns over getting dominated on the defensive glass.

“(Allowing 25 offensive rebounds) is a bunch, and I thought we had butterfingers,” Schneider said. “A lot of those balls were just in our mitts, we’re just not tough enough and strong enough to come up with them, and that’s something that is obviously very concerning.”

In its first loss of the season to Nebraska, the rebounding woes were even more prominent. Allowing a similar 24 offensive boards to the Huskers 64, Schneider stressed that it’s something the Jayhawks will need to look back on if they want success.

“We spend a whole lot of time trying to defensive rebound in practice, whether it’s drills, live action, breakdowns. But that’s a problem for us,” Schneider said. “Tonight, I thought we had our hands on the ball, just didn’t play tough enough to come up with it.”

Kansas will play host to Vermont on Dec. 30 to wrap up its nonconference slate.

Grambling State (45)

Jasmine Forte 0-2 0-2 0, Shakyla Hill 3-15 5-8 12, Justice Coleman 0-3 5-8 0, Jazmin Boyd 1-11 0-0 3, Camryn London 0-0 0-0 0, Takerra Parsons 2-3 4-6 8, Markisha Body 1-3 0-0 3, Ariel Williams 1-6 0-0 1, Candice Parramore 0-2 0-0 0, Kendriana Washington 2-4 3-4 8, Mylashia Yancey 2-5 0-0 4, Madison Connally-Banks 1-5 0-0 2, Hannah Henderson 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 14-63 12-20 45.

Kansas (76)

Austin Richardson 0-4 0-0 0, Bailey Helgren 1-1 0-0 2, Christalah Lyons 7-9 2-2 18, Jessica Washington 5-9 3-3 16, Kylee Kopatich 4-8 0-0 11, Chelsea Lott 0-0 0-0 0, Briana Osorio 0-0 6-6 6, Mariane De Carvalho 2-3 3-4 4, Aniya Thomas 0-2 0-2 0, Niccolly Ramalho 0-1 0-0 0, Micaela Wilson 1-4 1-3 3, Brooklyn Mitchell 1-2 2-2 4, Brittany Franklin 2-2 4-4 8, Sara Boric 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 21-26 76.

Grambling 8 9 12 16 – 45

Kansas 14 25 23 14 – 76

3-point field goals: Grambling State 5-15 (Hill, Boyd, Body, Washington, Henderson); Kansas 9-15 (Washington 3, Kopatich 3, Lyons 2, De Carvalho). Rebounds: Grambling State 25-14 39, Kansas 10-29 39. Turnovers: Grambling State 19, Kansas 20.

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