Omaha, NE. – The Omaha women's basketball team came up short on the road in Lawrence, Kansas Wednesday night, falling 81-56 against the Jayhawks.
Leaders For Omaha
The Mavericks were led in scoring by
Natalie Bartle who scored the highest point total in her Mavericks career with 18 points off the bench. She also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds including two on the offensive end.
Mariah Murdie also finished in double digits for Omaha with 11 points, her second double-digit scoring game of the season.
Leaders for Kansas
Holly Kersgieter led the Jayhawks with 16 points on an efficient five-of-seven shooting to go along with her team-high six assists. She was joined in double figures by Chandler Prater, Zakiyah Franklin and Aniya Thomas who scored 12, 11 and 11 points respectively.
Team Stats
Omaha shot a season-best 41.2% (21-of-51) to Kansas' 57.4% (31-of-54). The Mavericks outrebounded the Jayhawks 33-24, while Kansas outshot Omaha from behind the arc going 7-15 from deep to Omaha's 6-16.
Inside the First Quarter
The Mavericks got off to yet another quick start stifling the Jayhawks with their pressure defense, forcing two quick Jayhawk turnovers and taking an early 4-0 lead. Three-pointers from Keitges and Murdie pushed the Omaha advantage to 14-10 with 2:49 left in the quarter, before Kansas closed the quarter out with 6 straight points to take the 16-14 lead.
Inside the Second Quarter
Elena Pilakouta scored the first four points of the second quarter for the Mavericks, her second basket cutting the Omaha deficit to 18-21. Two
Grace Cave three-pointers and six points from Bartle kept the Mavericks close, they trailed 37-30 at the break.
Inside the Third Quarter
Kansas opened the second half with a 12-2 run to push their lead to 17, points came in every direction on the Jayhawk run with five different players chipping in baskets. Both Bartle and Pilakouta led the Mavericks in the third quarter with three points apiece.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
Kansas extended their lead in the fourth behind an 11-4 run to start the quarter, capped off by a Kersgeiter three to make the score 72-42. Keitges drained two threes in the final period to give her a career-high nine points on the night.
Next Up
The Mavericks are back in action on Sunday, November 21st at 2 p.m. in Ogden Utah as they continue their season-opening five game road trip against Weber State.
