The University of Kansas’ women’s basketball team broke open a close game with a 14-4 run to close out the first half and went on to post a 76-49 victory over the University of Maine in the Saint Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic Tournament in Moraga, California Friday afternoon.
Kansas, now 4-0, built a 44-28 lead with that run that spanned the last 4:39 of the half.
Kansas, which went 21-10 a year ago and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, outscored UMaine 19-8 in the third quarter to expand the lead to 63-36 after three periods.
Senior guard Zakiyah Franklin reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career with a game-high 21 points for the Jayhawks including eight during that decisive late first-half spurt. She was one of five Jayhawks in double figures.
Junior guard-forward Caroline Bornemann paced the 2-3 Black Bears with 14 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward-center Abbe Laurence notched 10 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists.
Junior guard Olivia Rockwood finished with eight points while Windham freshman Sarah Talon had five points, four rebounds and three assists and Skowhegan freshman Jaycie Christopher wound up with five points. Adrianna Smith had three assists, two steals and two rebounds but was held to just two points.
UMaine spotted Kansas the game’s first nine points before using a 12-2 run to take a 12-11 lead.
Kansas responded by reeling off a 15-2 flurry to build a 26-14 lead.
UMaine answered with a 10-4 run of its own to make it 30-24 but that was as close as the Black Bears would get.
Kansas shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half (18-for-30) and 50 percent for the game (31-for-62) while UMaine struggled, shooting just 34.3 percent in the first half (12-for-35) and 35.1 percent for the game (20-for-57).
The taller Jayhawks outrebounded UMaine 40-28 and outscored the Black Bears in the paint 50-22.
They also outscored UMaine 21-1 in fast break points and 23-11 off turnovers.
UMaine, which was again without reigning America East Player of the Year and Defender of the Year Anne Simon (ankle injury), will take on 1-4 Niagara in its final game in the tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m.
