No. 20 Kansas Opens With 106-80 Win Over ORU

McCray's 27 Points, Dominating First Half Lead No. 20 Kansas To 106-80 Win Over Oral Roberts

(AP)  LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Danielle McCray scored 21 of her 27 points in a dominating first half and Aishah Sutherland added 24, helping No. 20 Kansas open the season with a resounding 106-80 win over Oral Roberts on Sunday.

Ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1999, Kansas (1-0) played a near-flawless first half offensively, shooting 61 percent to build a 22-point lead. Even with a slight letup in the second half, the Jayhawks cruised to their fifth straight season-opening win.

Oral Roberts (1-1) opened the season with a 33-point victory over Texas-Pan American on Friday, but was no match for Kansas inside and had trouble shooting from the perimeter. The young Golden Eagles shot 7 of 29 from 3-point range and were outscored 18-0 on second-chance points.

Janae Voelker had 29 points and nine rebounds, and freshman Kevi Luper had 24 points to follow up her 25-point performance in the opener to lead Oral Roberts.

The Golden Eagles couldn't seem to find McCray, either.

The preseason Big 12 player of the year, she wasted little time stamping her senior season, opening with a turnaround jumper and hitting two 3-pointers in the game's first 3 minutes. McCray had four 3-pointers and 21 points by halftime and shot 9 for 15 from the field overall.

It wasn't just shooting, though. McCray filled up the stat sheet, grabbing 11 rebounds, handing out seven assists, throwing in two blocked shots and a steal for good measure.

Of course, it seemed like all the Jayhawks could do no wrong.

Redshirt freshman Angel Goodrich gave Kansas the playmaking ability it missed at the point last season, whipping no-look passes through traffic, pulling up for jumpers in transition. Fully recovered from the torn ACL she suffered before last season, she had 10 points and seven assists.

Sutherland, a role player as a freshman last season, was a force at both ends, hitting a variety of short jumpers on offense, blocking and altering shots at the other end. She shot 11 of 15 from the floor and blocked three shots.

Junior center Krysten Boogaard, who bulked up in the offseason, had her way inside, using her 6-foot-5 frame to shoot over the Golden Eagles on the way to 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sade Morris had her intermidate game working, scoring 12 points on mid-range jumpers and slashes through the lane.

Most of the damage came in the first half, when the Jayhawks picked apart Oral Roberts' extended zone to get easy shots inside and out. Kansas opened the game on an 11-3 run and had 16 assists on 26 field goals to lead 64-42 - the fourth-most points in a half in school history.

Oral Roberts was able to sneak behind the Jayhawks for a few easy baskets in transition in the first half, but shot 3 of 15 from 3-point range and was plagued by defensive breakdowns to fall into an insurmountable hole.