Conversely, the Jayhawks would have expected better than to tie for the lowest scoring output in program history.
Baylor used a balanced scoring attack and dominance on the boards to come away with a 59-35 victory over the Jayhawks in front of 6,085 fans at the Ferrell Center.
The win gave the Lady Bears a 15-1 record and, more important, a 3-0 Big 12 Conference mark for the first time in coach Kim Mulkey’s eight years.
It was a continuation of struggles for the Jayhawks, who dropped to 11-5 and 0-3.
Weddington, a sophomore forward and former Temple High School standout, played before a contingency of Temple representatives.
Weddington came off the bench and logged 16 minutes for the Jayhawks. Unfortunately, her evening was indicative of how things went for the rest the Kansas squad. Weddington went scoreless, attempting one field goal and missing two free-throw opportunities. She pulled down two rebounds.
Weddington also had the unenviable task of banging with the likes of Baylor’s Rachel Allison, Danielle Wilson and Jessika Bradley the entire evening.
Weddington wasn’t alone in terms of a low statistical output. Allison was the game’s leading scorer with 13 points, 11 of those coming from the free-throw line and the only player to score in double digits. Baylor relegated the Jayhawks’ scoring leader, Danielle McCray, to just six points on 3-of-15 shooting. Wilson and Jhasmin Player both added nine points for the Lady Bears.
Although the game wasn’t an offensive lover’s dream, it was a thing of beauty to Mulkey.
“I didn’t think it was ugly,” she said. “Every time Kansas tried to get off a shot we had a player in their face. There wasn’t a lot of hacking and dirty play, just a good defensive battle.”
Baylor took Kansas out of the game early and the outcome was never in serious doubt. The Lady Bears took a commanding 33-13 lead into halftime.
“It was a disappointing effort on our part on offense with execution,” Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We didn’t take advantage. We couldn’t back it up with a score. Typically with a young team, you can’t defend, but you can score. But when we were defending, we couldn’t score.”
The Jayhawks didn’t have one fast-break basket.
Allison led a Lady Bear brigade of rebounding with eight. The Lady Bears outrebounded Kansas 46-31 including 21 offensive boards. That helped the Lady Bears get away with shooting just 32 percent from the field. It was the type of game the scrappy junior forward could take pride in. The deliberate Jayhawk offense often runs through a series of screens before getting a shot. They weren’t getting much in the way of shots.
“We just played with a lot of heart and did a great job on the defensive end,” Allison said. “Kansas is a great defensive team. But we were clicking and communicating with each other.
“We could tell we were bothering (McCray). She was out of the flow. You could see the frustration on the whole team’s face.”
