SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15. 1995
SECTION E
Jayhawks break Devaney curse
91-68 pasting ends three-year drought
Kansan sportswriter
By Christoph Fuhrmans
Kansas sportswriter
LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks 91-68 victory against Nebraska last night made Kansas coach Roy Williams happy for two reasons.
First, the victory gave the Jayhawks a one-game lead over Missouri for first place in the Big Eight Conference. Second, Kansas won at the Devaney Center for the first time in three years.
"Now I don't have to answer any stupid question about why we don't play well up here and why we don't win," Williams said. "The reason we haven't won in the past is because Nebraska outplayed us, and tonight we played better."
Kansas improved to 19-3 overall and 8-2 in the conference while Nebraska fell to 16-8 and 3-6.
Both the Jayhawks and Cornhuskers played an outside game in the first half, shooting 25 three-pointers and making 13, collectively. Williams said Kansas' three-point barrage was not planned.
"I think it just happened," he said. "We want the basketball to go inside, and it's not a mystery why because we've got that size advantage."
But the Jayhawks did not use that advantage much during the first half. Kansas' three big men did score 18 points in the first half, but most of those points came from 10 to 15-foot jump shots, not inside the lane.
Despite the lack of an inside game during the first half, the Jayhawks had a 47-45 halftime lead. Kansas did begin the second half by going to its strength and getting the ball inside on layups from sophomore guard Jerod Haase and freshman forward Raef LaFrentz.
Haase scored another layup with 16:16 left in the first half that ended with him getting kicked on the side of the face. He was left with a cut on the inside of his mouth. Haase drove the lane, tripped and made the shot while falling down.
Plays of the game
Time KU-NU
First half
3:38 Nebraska's Boone makes two free throws to give Huskers their first lead 39-37
:38 Kansas' Haase hits a three-pointer, ending the first half scoring 47-45
Second half
16:16 Kansas' Haase drives through the lane and is knocked to the ground by Nebraska's Salee. Haase made layup but had to leave the game momentarily. 56-49
3:15 Kansas' LaFrentz hits a jump shot 81-65
Nebraska junior center Chris Sallee fell on Haase and accidentally kicked Haese.
"It was yellow there for a little bit," Haase said of his vision.
But Haase returned from his injury after two minutes in the locker room, with trainer Mark Cairns following. When Haase came to the bench, Williams asked him of Cairn's prognosis.
"I said, What did he say?" and he said, 'I'm OK,' And I said, 'What did he say?' Williams said. "Because Jerod would go out and play if he could walk out at all."
After allowing Nebraska to stay close in the first half, the Jayhawks turned up the defensive intensity to pull away in the second half.
Kansas went on a 10-0 run toward the end of the game. Meanwhile, the Huskers made only two field goals during the last 10 minutes of the game.
After the Jayhawks pushed the lead to 85-65 with two minutes remaining, Kansas senior center Greg Ostertag and senior forward Greg Gurley began to celebrate.
"It was really nice to get a blow-out," Gurley said. "In the years past, the games we've lost, it's been down to the wire. Greg and I didn't want to be known as not winning a game in Lincoln."
Kansas 91,
Nebraska 68
KANSAS (19-3,8-2)
**player** tfg/m 1/ftm 0/ftm tp
Pearson 2-10 0-1 6
LaPrentz 8-16 0-1 16
Ottertag 3-7 1-2 7
Vaughn 4-7 0-1 9
Haase 5-13 0-1 12
Novosel 0-0 0-0 0
Thomas 3-7 0-1 14
Williams 0-1 0-0 0
Williams 2-5 0-0 4
McGrath 1-1 0-0 2
Pollard 2-3 5-6 9
Gurley 4-7 0-0 12
Branstrom 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 34-77 12-16 91
NERRASKA (18.8 3.6)
Badgett 4-6 2-2 10
Brooks 3-5 2-4 8
Moore 5-8 0-0 10
Strickland 5-16 3-4 17
Boone 4-13 9-10 20
Surles 0-3 0-0 0
Wald 0-7 3-4 3
Sallee 0-0 0-1 0
Totals 21-60 19-25 68
(3,80)
Halftime Kansas 47, Nebraska 45, 3-point goals Kansas 11-27
Gurley 4-6, Thomas 2, Pearson 2-7, Hasee 2-7, Yvaughn 1-2).
Nebraska 7-4 (Strikleid 4-10,
Boone 3-8, Badgett 0-2, Wald 0-2,
Moore 1, Suries 0-1) Robbieans
Kansas 53 (Osterogt 10), Nebraska
37 (Badgett 9) Anastasia Kansas
19 (Vaughn 9), Krauss 17 (Wald
7) Turnover Kansas 10, Nebraska
14 Attendance 14,552
Comments — Kansas ended the game with a 2+1-4 run.
Nebraska junior guard Erick Strickland strips the ball from Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn as he drives to the basket. With three steals in last night's game, Strickland became the all-time leader in steals for the Cornhuskers.
Paul Kotz / KANMAN
Kathy Driscoll / KANSAN
Softball team's future looks bright despite darkness
Kansas softball coach Kalum Haack conducts an afternoon practice on the cramped quarters of the Allen Field House floor. The softball team has been forced to practice in the field house since last Friday's power outage in Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
Anschutz power outage hurts practice schedule
By Robert Moczydlowsky Kansan sportswriter
Kansas softball is starting its spring season in the dark.
In the team's first year without four-year starter and All-American pitcher Stephani Williams, the Jayhawks have some tough questions to answer. The most pressing question, however, doesn't involve their pitching staff.
"We need to find a place to practice." Kansas coach Kalum Haack said. "We'll probably have to go outside, though fortunately we've been able to use the Field House. I don't know what happens next week."
The softball team has been practicing in Allen Field House since last Friday because of a generator explosion that initially left the entire sports complex without electricity. Power was restored to the field house and the Parrott Athletic Center, but Anschutz Sports Pavilion remains in the dark.
"We've been pretty inconvenienced," Haack said. "Right now we're knocking the crap out of that pitching machine, but we really need an opportunity to get a look at some live pitching."
That opportunity comes this weekend, when the Jayhawks travel to Arlington, Texas, for the Texas Arlington Invitational Tournament.
"The main thing about this tournament is the competition," Haack said. "It'll be good competition but not overwhelming. I'm assuming that we'll do very well. This will be a chance for our pitchers to grow up and realize what it takes to get the job done. If our pitching comes around, we'll be swapping places with Oklahoma State for the Big Eight lead."
Pitching will be Kansas' main concern this spring with the loss of Williams. Haack said that the Jayhawks will balance their pitching with an improved offensive and defensive lineup.
"We brought in six new players" he said. "All of them are strong players. We've also made some lineup moves that have really tightened up our defense. We need our pitchers to get us the fly balls and easy ground balls, and then we need to score
some runs."
The Jayhawk defense will be anchored by sophomore standout Heather Richins, whose impressive play at second base was a surprise for the Jayhawks.
"Our best ballplayer is probably Heather Richins at second," Haack said. "She is really a tough competitor."
Richins said that the loss of Williams wouldn't be as devastating as was expected.
"Overall we're a lot stronger," Richins said. "Our freshman are very strong. We might even be better than last year."
The Jayhawks will have two freshman starters, Michelle Huber in left and Kristina Johnson behind the plate.
"The intensity level is tremendous," she said. "In high school, you just went out and had fun playing. Here, everything is more intense and more important. I think we're all excited to play."
Kansas leaves for Arlington today, and it is scheduled to face Sam Houston State tomorrow. The tournament will run through Sunday.
BRIEF
Volleyball recruits commit to Kansas
Kansan staff report
The Kansas volleyball team has added three new players to next season's roster which completed the recruiting period for next fall.
The first player to sign a letter of intent was Anne Kreimer, a senior at St. Mary's High School in Independence, Mo. Kreimer was an all-state, all-regional, all-metro, all-district, all-area and all-conference choice this year.
Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said she thought Kroger had incredible potential.
Schoenweise signed two other players for next fall, including Moira Donovan, a senior at Rolling Meadows High School in Illinois, and Laura Rohde, a senior at Gull Lake High School in Galesburg, Mich.
"With regards to raw ability, she could be the best recruit we had," Schonewise said.
"Moira is an excellent athlete," Schonewise said. "She's very versatile and has played every position on the court. Moira will provide our team with great flexibility."
Schonewise also said Rhode, a three-time all-conference choice and two-time all-state choice, was capable of making an immediate impact for Kansas.
Traveling penalizes players off the court, too
Women's basketball trips take time from studies
The team left Lawrence at 10:30 a.m. that day to play weekend games against Colorado in Boulder, Colo., and Kansas State in Manhattan. From then until Sunday evening, the Jayhawks logged over 1,470 miles in the air and on the ground.
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Most Kansas students were hurrying off to class Thursday morning. But not the women's basketball team.
Kansas women's basketball assistant coach Pam DeCosta handles the travel arrangements for the team. She must organize departure times, transportation, overnight accommodations, meals and practice times.
DeCosta, who is in her second year at Kansas, said that last year was difficult, and she spent a lot of time making travel arrangements.
"This year I started back in September," DeCosta said.
Even though the team's travels were
arranged in September, difficulties arose last weekend.
DeCosta said that the Jahayhaws flew by commercial airline Thursday to Denver's Stapleton International Airport and drove to Boulder. After checking into a hotel, the Jahayhaws were scheduled to practice that evening, but their practice time was rearranged. The change forced the team to readjust its schedule, a job that belonged to DeCosta.
"For those that don't understand the challenge of being a student athlete, they just need to travel with
"The worst thing
that ever happens is when teams change our practice times on us," DeCosta said.
The team hit the road again Sunday when it traveled to Manhattan. The Jayhawks' schedule was similar to Friday's but was adjusted for a 2 p.m. game instead of a 7 p.m. game.
Once practice was finished, the Jayhawks returned to their hotel, ate supper, rested and went to bed by 10:30 p.m. Kansas' schedule on Friday consisted of a 10 a.m. wake-up call, breakfast, a team
After they were defeated 84-73 by the Buffaloes Friday night, the Jayhawks returned to Lawrence Saturday afternoon. However, the team had to contend with Mother Nature when its flight was delayed for over an hour because of snow in Denver.
"For those that don't understand and appreciate the challenge of being a student-athlete, they just need to travel with us," Kansas women's basketball coach
meeting and a one-hour shoot around. The afternoon was spent relaxing and preparing for the game.
Marian Washington said.
With Big 12 Conference play starting for the 1996-97 season, the format of playing conference games on Fridays and Sundays might change.
DeCosta said she favored playing games on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Without a charter flight, a mid-week game would mean missed class time, which Washington tries to avoid.
The team members must find time to study during a road trip in addition to the time spent in preparation, playing games and traveling.
1
Kansas sophomore forward Jennifer Trapp said she studied in her hotel room, on the plane and in the bus. When midterms or finals are near, an academic tutor travels with the team. But studying becomes particularly difficult when a team member has a paper due.
"You have to come home Sunday night and type it, and you just don't feel like it," Trapp said.
All aspects of a road trip make traveling brutal, Washington said.
"All of our athletes here, they really have a lot to contend with as they try to go out and represent us," she said.