Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, March 6, 2000
Pride nets first-team Big 12 honor
By Chris Fickett
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Senior forward Lynn Pride has won an individual award, but the Kansas women's basketball team has yet to bring home team hardware this season.
Hoisting a second Big 12 championship trophy or earning a trip to the NCAA Final Four would top off the career of Pride, who was selected to the All-Big 12 Conference first team by the league's coaches Friday.
The honor was her third straight first-team selection and marked the ninth straight year a Jayhawk had been named to an all-conference first team.
"I am thrilled that Lynn was named to the Big 12 first team," coach Marian Washington said. "We are proud of her and all she has accomplished over her four years here. She is a great person and a tremendous competitor."
Although Pride has accomplished a lot during her Kansas career — she is in the school's top five all-time in scoring, rebounding, minutes and steals — her team has struggled out of the gate in its last six games, averaging only 28 points and 38 percent shooting in the first half.
Pride said re-establishing the team's half-court offense was critical, despite the consistent and stifling play of its defense.
"It a lot of work," she said. "But I feel we can always rely on our triple post. We just have to feel comfortable and just allow opportunities to come to us."
That patience will be paramount if Kansas faces Nebraska in the second round of the Big 12 tournament. The 'Huskers are 16-10 but beat the Jayhawks twice this year
Kansas, which is seeded fourth,
has a first-round bye and on
Wednesday will play the winner of
the fifth-seeded Nebraska vs. 12th-
seeded Baylor.
If the 'Huskers win, which is likely against the 7-19 Bears, the Jayhawks will have to work on defending the slashing play of Nebraska guards Nicole Kubik, an all-conference first-team selection, and Melody Peterson.
Kubik averaged 23 points per game against Kansas this season, and Peterson's quickness forced double-teams from the 'Hawks defense.
"The drive is the thing we have to constantly work on," Washington said. "On the other side of that, they should have to work on stopping us."
The Jayhawks return to practice today after spending most of Friday's practice working on their half-court offense, which Washington said she hoped would lead to better execution in the tournament.
"We got easy opportunities that we didn't knock down," she said of
Maggie Curry /KANSAN
Kansas games against Nebraska.
"So when I look at our offense against them, we found ways to score. We need to build on that."
More conference honors
Although Pride won all-conference first-team honors, the rest of
Kansas' regular starters were selected to the league's honorable mention list. Senior guard Suzi Raymant, junior guard Jennifer Jackson and junior forwards Jaclyn Johnson and Brooke Reves made the team.
Continued from page 1B
Freshmen ensure Senior Day victory
"I thought it was a hard foul, but I wasn't sure if it was intentional because I couldn't see the refs," Gooden said. "Really, I was focusing on the basket, because you can't rely on the refs all the time."
He didn't ever actually get to the basket though, because Missouri forward Jeff Hafer — the same guy who Gooden had left open to hit a three-pointer a few minutes earlier — grabbed Gooden's shoulders and was called for an intentional foul, his second of the game.
Gooden was sent to the line for two free throws. He hit both, and Kansas led 61-40 with 12.9 seconds remaining.
"That was my way of paying back the team and redeeming myself by knocking down those free throws at the end." Gooden said.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Hinrich was fouled, and he, too, hit both free throws, which gave Kansas an 83-80 lead.
"If you look down there you see the freshmen did pretty well," said Kansas coach Roy Williams. "One of them had 11 [Innrich], one of them had 14 [Collison], and one of them had 20 [Gooden]. I was pleased with the way they stepped to the free-throw line and knocked
down those shots, and I was pleased with the way they played the last couple of possessions."
The Kansas freshmen were not the only three youngsters to play big Sunday, as Missouri's freshman forward Kareem Rush also shined, scoring a team-high 20 points and dishing out four assists.
"Kareem is outstanding, he can do it all." Bradford said. "If he got to play a little longer he would probably be Big 12 freshman of the year."
Rush missed nine games in the middle of the season because of a suspension regarding possible recruiting violations. He has played in Missouri's last 10 games and has proven that he has a bright future.
"I guess you could say it was kind of the future of the league out there today." Collison said.
Regardless of how well all of the freshmen performed on Sunday, Gooden and the rest of the Jayhawks emphasized that it still was Senior Day.
Missouri game gives glance to bright future
"We really wanted to win this game for the seniors," Gooden said. Williams agreed.
"My main focus today was winning so when those guys think of Senior Day, they think about a win," Williams said.
Continued from page 1B
That's when Gooden and Hinrich both made two free throws late in the game, which sealed the win for Kansas. Gooden scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds. Hinrich ran the point the whole game because Jeff Boschee was in foul trouble, and Collison was his usual, solid self with 14 points."
"Those three were good that entire year, but the Missouri game was really their break-out performance. Now we can see what kind of players they've turned into. I almost feel sorry for Texas, especially with the way Hinrich, and DeShawn
Stevenson are shooting, Ever since Roy added the high screen to the offense, the three-point shot has been a lethal weapon for the 'Hawks."
"Gooden's and Collison's inside play is still the focal point of the offense, though. Having two All-Americans play inside makes Kansas not only the dominant Big 12 team, but the best team in America. So we'll see what kind of performance Gooden, Collision and Hinrich give on their Senior Day. I'm sure it'll be nothing short of spectacular."
Seniors' end complete with typical party atmosphere
Miller is a Cheyenne, Wyo., senior in journalism
Continued from page 1B
and Roy's Boys adorned their typically shirtless backs with the letters "N-O-O-N-E-R."No sign at the fieldhouse, however, was better than the life-size cutout of senior forward Ashante Johnson.
There was Johnson's cutout yesterday, in the third row of the student section, wearing a Jayhawk T-shirt and Kansas basketball shorts. The cutout get up and wave during timeouts, dance to the band numbers and wave to the television cameras.
The Johnson cutout also signi-
fied two things about his maker.
One, he has great creativity.
Two, he needs a friend.
Worst Sign: Funny, because right next to the ingenious Johnson cutout was the worst of the day. Someone took the time actually to find out the telephone number of Missouri coach Quin Snyder's mother and tattoo it on poster board. Clearly this was an attempt to one up the behavior of the Antlers — Missouri's notorious student fan group that often does the same with the digits of Kansas basketball players.
There's only one problem with this behavior. It's moronic.
An unwritten rule of fandom states that if the Antlers do it, don't. That's one rule that probably should be followed.
Best Cheer: The ever-deadly "Air Ball" chant directed at Jayhawk-killer Clarence Gilbert in the second half. Not only was it the loudest awry-shot chant ever at the fieldhouse, it was so powerful even the alumni were chanting it. Now that's effectiveness.
Biggest Mistake Made By a Sports Columnist: Before the game, I planned to make a sign stating: "Congratulations Jeff Hafer, 2001 CBA Sixth Man of the Year," a tribute to the notoriously terrible lack of NBA basketball skills shown by the Missouri forward. Unfortunately, the idea never got on the drawing board. I chose to nap before the game instead. After Hafer committed
two flagrant fouls and was the subject of numerous boos, I kicked myself for not making the sign. Even worse, I'm still tired.
Best Display of School Spirit, the highest award that can be bestowed among the attendees of yesterday's game: The fans that had the "Muck Fizzzow" t-shirts printed. Simple idea, strong message. The only problem was that I couldn't get my hands on one.
Can anyone say "party foul?" The party of the year, and I was underdressed. Oh well, some guys just can't fit in.
Rigg is a Greenwood Village, Colo. sophomore in broadcast journalism.
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