Section B · Page 5
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, January 18, 2000
Kansas women
Kansas center scores season high against Buffs
Kansas center Nikki White goes up a for shot against two Colorado defenders in the Jayhawks' 79-56 win against the Buffaloos Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. White scored a season-high 10 points in her third start this season. Photo by Shelby Smith/KANSAN
By Chris Fickett sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Nikki White felt relieved and fortunate after Saturday's 78-56 win against Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse.
White, a sophomore center for the Kansas women's basketball team, said she was relieved because the pain in her left knee had subsided and she no longer had to tape it. She also was pleased that she finally could contribute to this season.
White was a redshirt during the 1998-99 season after undergoing off-season cartilge replacement surgery in her knee.
"A lot of the time the knee gets into my head," White said, adding that her mental intensity was affected this season when she worried about falling on her knee. "After coming back from having the kind of surgery I had, I realize that every game is important."
But on Saturday, when White took a tumble — she hit the fieldhouse floor hard a couple of times — she bounced back. She even fought off a metaphorical dive after a three-turnover,
zero-point first-half performance.
"I think that maybe earlier in the season it would have frustrated me, and I would have been down for a little while," White sald. "I really popped up today and shook it off. I hit the floor really hard a little, but I need to get up and keep fighting."
And with No. 23 Kansas (11-4,
2-1 Big 12 Conference) coming off an 81-69 loss to Nebraska last
Tuesday night in the fieldhouse, a game in which they were outmuscled on the boards 48-33,
White and the Jawhahs did.
White followed up her five and eight-point performances in her previous two starts (Arkansas State and Saint Louis) with a season-high 10 points. Junior forward Jaclyn Johnson grabbed nine boards and scored 12 points — she had seven boards and three points against the 'Huskers.
"I think that this game is really important for us, first of all because we lost our last home game and we really needed a confidence booster." White said. "Personally, I felt like I overcame another obstacle as far as
the first half because I really struggled."
All-American candidate and senior forward Lynn Pride scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season, and, after shooting zero for seven from three-point range this season, she was two for three in Saturday's game.
Colorado, which was paced by freshman forward Sabrina Scott's 12 points and 12 rebounds, never led. The Buffaloes (5-9, 0-3 Big 12) suited only nine players and saw their starters on the floor for 81 percent of the game.
Kansas forced 22 Colorado turnovers that led to 25 Javawk points.
"It was important for us to get off to a good start on defense," Pride said. "We had to use their bench to our advantage in the second half. I noticed they didn't have the explosive edge that they did in the first half because we wore them out."
Although Kansas coach Marian Washington had started White in place of junior guard Brooke Reves, who had started all 14 of Kansas' games this season, White had missed all three of her shots before the break.
GAME SUMMARY
Colorado [5-9, 0-3]: Scott 5-12
1-2 12, Caramann 1-3 1-3 3,
Hartshorn 1-5 5-5 7, Loulier 5-13
0-0 11, Nightengale 2-9 6-7 11,
Scaletta 0-0 0-0 0.
Delepine 0-0-0-0, Spencer 2-5-0-0-4, Bohman 3-5-0-0-8.
Kansas (11-4, 2-1): Pride 7-17
2-2-18, Johnson 4-6-4-5-12,
White 3-8-4-5-10, Raymont 7-12
0-1 16, Jackson 3-10 0-1 6, B.
Reves 3-10 0-1 6, Scott 1-1 0-0 2,
Geoffry 3-7 0-0 6, Fletcher 0-1
0-0, Pruitt 0-0 0-0, May 1-2
0-0, Hannon 0-0 0-0, A.
Reves 0-0 0-0
"We knew that [Colorado center Britt] Hartshorn is just an outstanding player, and I just decided that Nikki [White] was playing very well, even if we were just going to get a few minutes from her," Washington said.
The strategy worked as White exploded for 10 points after half-time and helped limit Hartshorn, who also was scoreless at the break, to seven points for the game.
White's biggest moment of the half came at the 13:03 mark in the second half when she hit her sixth straight and pumped her fist after sinking a jump
1 2 Total
Colorado 23 33 56
Kansas 36 42 78
shot.
"I told her when she came off the floor she really gave us a spark." Washington said.
"She's the kind of post player that is very capable of finishing shots, getting to the free-throw line," Washington said. "We'll be so happy if she can ever become 100 percent for us, because she's really the kind of inside player that we got to have in the big games against the really great clubs."
Kansas will play its next two games on the road. The 'Hawks will travel Wednesday to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor at 7 p.m. A showdown with No. 16 Texas Tech will follow at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
Kansas women realize they can't let up in Big 12
Continued from page 1B
Fieldhouse and defeated the then-No. 23 Jayhawks 81-69.
"Kansas itself is a target," said senior guard Lynn Pride. "An example is Nebraska, a team that was 0-2 in the conference and came in and beat us. We try not to take anyone lightly." Junior forward Jaclyn Johnson agreed.
If Kansas wants to earn a top seed in the NCAA tournament, it has to be able to
"We just have to let everyone know we are serious," Johnson said. "It doesn't matter how they played their last game. We have to play up for everyone."
beat the Big 12's top teams.
However, the Jayhawks cannot spend so much time concentrating on the best teams that they forget to play tough against the mediocre teams.
three days later, the Jayhawks cannot overlook Baylor.
"We have to find a reason to get up for every game," Washington said. "We have to treat every team with respect. Whenever we underestimate them, they will step up. There is a lot of pressure that comes along with being a top team."
Tomorrow Kansas plays Baylor, a team that sits in the conference basement without a Big 12 win. Though Kansas will take on No. 15 Texas Tech only
Perhaps Baylor has plans to play its best game of the year and destroy the Jayhawks. Or maybe the Bears are just more concerned with keeping their heads above water.
"We are a little team that is trying to get up for everybody we play," Baylor coach Sonja Hogg said. "We need to beat somebody, even if it is kindergarteners. The rank has nothing to do with it. We just need to win in the worst way."
Sometimes those teams are the most dangerous kind.
Jayhawk reserves perform well
Continued from page 1B
encouraged me to keep shooting," White said. "Coach came to me at half-time and explained to me what my turnovers were and what I needed to do to stop them, and I think I did that."
Besides White's break-out performance, sophomore center Kristin Geoffroy grabbed five rebounds and scored six points in 11 minutes. Geoffroy helped the
Jayhawks regain their dominance on the boards as they out rebounded the Buffs 48-33.
Also, sophomore guard Selena Scott had two steals, two assists and three rebounds in providing the Jayhawks with defensive intensity off the bench, and Reves had a career-high four steals in her first bench stint of the year. Fletcher, a senior center, played 18 minutes, as did RayManty, whose time was limited
because of her four fouls.
"I thought we played a lot better, and definitely it was good to see our bench perform for us," Washington said. "I think in terms of the way of scoring it might have been the best offensive performance from our bench."
Even seldom-used players Kristen May, Katie Hannon and Amanda Reves, Brooke's sister, also would play in the game's final minutes as Kansas played 13 of its 15 eligible players.
Jayhawks sporadic during break
By Chris Fickett and Melinda Weaver
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriters
No. 14 Kansas at Creighton on Dec. 7.
Though senior forward Lynn Pride scored a season-high 25 points and 16 rebounds, the Kansas women's basketball team could not hold onto the victory and lost by a point in the game's final minutes.
The Bluejays handed the Jayhawks their first loss of the season when guard Angela Timmons hit a fire throw with five seconds remaining.
No. 14 Kansas vs. Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 11 in Allen Fieldhouse
Junior guard Brooke Reves decided to shake the Jayhawks out of their shooting slump, scoring 20 points in 11-of-12 shooting, the fifth-best field goal percentage in Jayhawk history, as Kansas blew out Mississippi Valley State 97-53.
Reves wasn't the only Jayhawk to join the shooting party. Senior guard Suzi Raymant also scored 20 points and shot 9 for 17.
No. 23 Kansas vs. No. 18 Illinois on Dec. 18 at the United Center in Chicago
With the game tied 59-59 with 13.2 seconds remaining, junior point guard Jennifer Jackson, just back from ankle surgery, was asked to stop Illinois freshman guard Kristi Faulkner, who had scored 17 points for the illini.
But the play Illinois designed for Faulkner broke down, she improvised and hit the game-winning shot.
The Illini's reserves outscored the Jayhawks' 24-2. Kansas coach Marian Washington was counting on more production from her bench, because Lynn Pride and Suzi Raymant had the flu.
No. 23 Kansas vs. No. 14 Arizona on Dec. 21 in Allen Fieldhouse
The flu bug didn't leave the Jayhawks until the second half of their 71-68 win against Arizona. Kansas trailed the Wildcats by as many as 16 points in the first half, and Arizona led 36-26 at the break.
But Brooke Reves scored six consecutive points and helped cut Arizona's lead
to six points with 16:24 left in the game.
Lynn Pride gave the Jayhawks their first lead of the game with a reverse layup with 6:53 left that Arizona coach Joan Bonivicini called a circus shot.
No. 20 Kansas vs. Arkansas State on Dec. 28 in Allen Fieldhouse
Without three-point threat Suzi Rayman, who missed the game with a groin injury, the Jayhawk offense could not hold its lead.
Kansas led 70-65 with two minutes remaining in the game, but costly turnovers and bad decisions allowed Arkansas State to pull off the 72-70 upset.
Julie Hagood, who scored a game-high 26 points, was the difference as she handed her team the lead on two free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
No. 20 Kansas vs. Saint Louis on Dec.
30 at Kemer Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
The Jayhawk offense continued to be stagnant with Raymant, although they did together a 50-45 victory against the Billikens.
Saint Louis led 34-26 in the second half before Kansas made its comeback. Pride scored seven of her game-high 18 points and gave Kansas the one-point lead, but the two teams would exchange leads for seven more minutes before the Jayhawks took the lead for good.
No. 20 Kansas vs. Arizona State on Jan. 2 in Allen Fidhouse
When Suzi Raymant returned to the lineup, Kansas regained not only its outside shooting game but the confidence for an offensive surge as the Jayhawks defeated the Sun Devils 81-65.
Kansas had five players scoring in double digits, led by a 28-point performance by Lunn Pride.
No. 23 Kansas at Kansas State on Jan. 8 Kansas opened its Big 12 season in style as it defeated state rival Kansas State 70-54 in front of 8,587 fans, the second largest crowd in Kansas State history.
Pride led the team with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Kansas outscored the Wildcats 41-25 in the final 20 minutes, including a 20-5 run
Kansas women's center Kristin Geoffroy grabs an offensive rebound over two Colorado defenders in the Jayhawks' win Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Geoffroy had five rebounds and six points in the game. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
No. 23 Kansas vs. Nebraska on Jan.
11 in Allen Fieldhouse
ending with 6:36 remaining.
Nebraska muscled its way to an 81-69 win against Kansas.
Nebraska center Casey Leonhardt scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and forward/center Charlie Rogers scored 10 points and collected 11 boards.
The Jayhawks were limited to 42.9 percent shooting for the game and shot only 38.3 percent in the second half.
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