It was definitely a learning curve for the Pittsburg State women’s basketball team as they traveled to face No. 20 Kansas in an exhibition basketball game Sunday.
Kansas started off hot and fended off a late rally to knock off the Gorillas, 86-56 at Allen Fieldhouse.
"We were excited to play (Kansas)," Pitt State head coach Lane Lord said. "This is a great fieldhouse, great tradition and we are glad to get the chance to play one of the best team's in the nation. We have a good ball club. We have good size, kids that can shoot the ball and some good drivers. We will get better. I like our team."
Senior Nicole McCombs led the Gorillas with 11 points. Senior DePrice Taylor also scored in double figures with 10. Sophomore Larissa Richards and senior Maya Onikute shared the lead in rebounds with six a piece. Fourteen of the 16 players on Pitt State's roster saw time on the court. Ten of the 14 scored in the game.
Kansas sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland had her best game as a Jayhawk with a career-high 20 points and preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Danielle McCray scored 18 for the Jayhawks.
Behind Sutherland and McCray, Kansas got off to a quick start, scoring the game's first eight points and forcing Pittsburg State into eight early turnovers while building an 11-1 lead.
The Gorillas cut the lead to 15-9 before the Jayhawks scored 14 unanswered points, including consecutive three-pointers by McCray and six points from Sutherland, to jump to a 27-9 advantage.
The lead wouldn't last long though as Pittsburg State responded with a run of its own to cut Kansas' lead to eight before the home team tightened up on defense to go into halftime leading 47-24.
The Jayhawks held the Gorillas to 23 percent field goal shooting during the first 20 minutes and forced 15 turnovers while allowing only three assists.
Kansas didn't look back in the second half as head coach Bonnie Henrickson emptied her bench. Junior forward Nicollette Smith led Kansas' bench players with 12 points and eight rebounds and also knocked down two three-pointers.
The Jayhawks shot 47.8 percent from the field for the game and made 5-of-18 three-point attempts. Pittsburg State was held to 30.2 percent shooting, committed 24 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle 50 to 39.
Pitt State continues exhibition play at 7 p.m. tonight in Lincoln, Neb. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
No. 20 Kansas 86, Pittsburg State 56
PITTSBURG STATE (56) — Nicole McCombs 5-8 1-3 11, DePrice Taylor 3-9 4-6 10, Drew Roberts 3-8 0-0 9, Maya Onikute 2-9 3-6 7, Bailey Waugh 2-5 0-0 6, Larissa Richards 1-6 2-4 4, Whitney Conerly 2-4 0-0 4, Courtney Tate 0-3 2-4 2, Aubrey Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Laura Glenn 0-4 1-3 1, Amanda Orloske 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Marissa Poppe 0-1 0-0 0. 19-63 13-26 56.
KANSAS (86) — Aishah Sutherland 9-12 2-2 20, Danielle McCray 7-14 2-2 18, Krysten Boogaard 4-5 5-6 13, Nicollette Smith 4-8 2-2 12, Sade Morris 3-7 2-2 9, LaChilda Jacobs 2-3 1-2 5, Carolyn Davis 1-2 1-2 3, Kelly Kohn 1-3 0-0 2, Monica Engelman 1-7 0-1 2, Annette Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Tania Jackson 0-0 1-2 1, Angel Goodrich 0-2 0-0 0, Rhea Codio 0-2 0-0 0, Marisha Brown 0-1 0-0 0. 32-67 17-23 86.
Halftime — Kansas 47, Pittsburg State 24. 3-point goals — KU 5-18 (McCray 2-6, N. Smith 2-5, Morris 1-1, Engelman 0-3, Kohn 0-2, Brown 0-1), PSU 5-20 (Roberts 3-7, Waugh 2-4, Tate 0-2, Orloske 0-2, McCombs 0-1, Onikute 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Glenn 0-1, Poppe 0-1). Rebounds — KU 50 (Sutherland 10), PSU 39 (Richards, Onikute 6). Assists — KU 24 (Goodrich 10), PSU 10 (Onikute, Taylor 3). Blocks — KU 5 (Sutherland 3), PSU 4 (Richards 2). Steals — KU 11 (Boogaard, McCray 3), PSU 8 (Taylor, Glenn 2).
