Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Lynn Pride shares her perspective of the Kansas women's basketball team.
Tuesday
February 16, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 3B
Big 12 Basketball
The Oklahoma State men's basketball team was the pre-season favorite to win the Big 12. With the season's end near, the team is 7-4.
SEE PAGE 4B
Men's basketball
Roy Williams and the Kansas men's basketball team worked Sunday to help Special Olympic athletes improve their basketball skills.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Road to 500 could end tonight
Cyclones set to spoil coach's historic night
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
Sophomore guard Casey Prutf crouches in a defensive stance. The women's team will try to defend its home court against Iowa State University tonight at 7:05 p.m.A win would be the 500th of coach Marian Washington's career. Photo by Graham K. Johnson
Coach Marian Washington can win her 500th career game tonight when the red-hot Jayhawks battle the Cyclones at 7:05 in a top-25 showdown at Allen Fieldhouse.
The history-making event is inevitable. The Iowa State Cyclones just hope they can delay it a little.
"To be approaching that kind of milestone is unbelievable," said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. "It's amazing, the loyalty she's shown to Kansas basketball and that the University has shown to her. You don't see many coaches anymore who have that kind of longevity at a single institution. I think it'a a credit to both, and obviously, it's a great honor. I just hope she waits one more game."
Tonight's game has as much on the line for Washington's team as it does for her. The Jayhawks are in a second-place tie in the Big 12 Conference standings with the Cyclones at 9-3, only one game behind league-leading Texas Tech. A win for either team will be a huge step toward the league title.
"I think the game will provide a great atmosphere," Fennelly said. "I think you'll see a very intense game, and hopefully, we'll come down and play well."
The No. 19 Cyclones defeated the Jayhawks 70-58 Jan. 9 in Ames, Iowa and halted an eight-game winning streak. But No. 21 Kansas is a much different team one month later.
"They're playing the best basketball in the Big 12
See WOMEN on page 3B
New coaching era begins for women's soccer
By Chris Wristen
Kansan sportswriter
After a winter that brought major coaching changes, the Kansas women's soccer team officially began the Mark Francis era last week as spring practices got underway.
ritv agreed.
"I'm glad we're going to start something new here," sophomore forward Meghann Haven said. "We definitely have a good team. We just need the right coaching staff to get us put together."
Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Gar-
"We have enough talent here to win," Garrity said. "With the right coaching, I think we can do anything."
The team is confident that they've found the right coach in Francis.
"When I found out (Francis would be the coach), I was really excited," Garrity said. "He has an awesome background, and also, some of my friends used to be coached by him. They totally loved him, so I was pumped."
Coming off a 5-13-1 season and a last-
place finish in the Big 12, the Jayhawks were expecting some changes to occur.
"With Coach Magner we had some intense practices, but apparently, we weren't working on the right stuff. Now
we are," freshman forward Natalie Hoogveld said.
"We'll be better organized," Hoogveld said. "If anything we'll have better field position."
With a week of practice under their belts, they have noticed some changes for the better.
In addition to changes in the way they play, another notable change has occurred: the attitude of the players. The players hope that a more positive attitude will assist them with their
interactions on and off the field, making the team closer.
"Everyone is really excited to get some games in and see just how much we are improving." Garrity said.
Jayhawks' poor play causes quick poll exit
Kansan sportswriter
By Kevin C. Wilson
After suffering two devastating losses last week to Texas Tech and Nebraska, the Jayhawks were deleted from both major top-25 polls for the first time in more than eight years.
The Kansas men's basketball team is now officially unranked.
Kansas, 16-8 overall and 8-4 in the Big 12, dropped out of the ESPN/USA Today top-25 poll for the first time since Jan. 28, 1991, snapping a streak of 150 consecutive weeks.
"We've really backed ourselves in the corner as far as the Big 12 is concerned, but there's still a light at the end of the tunnel," Pugh said. "I still say we're a good basketball team, but at times, we don't play that way. I think we have a lot of potential, but we have yet to reach it."
Although Kansas has slipped to fifth place in the Big 12 with four games remaining and its chances of winning a fifth-straight conference title have all but disappeared, senior T.J. Pugh remains confident.
Coach Roy Williams yells at the team during a second-half huddle after Texas Tech erased a 14-point Kansas lead. Texas Tech tied the score at 67 with 4:45 remaining and went on to win 90-84. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
The Jayhawks also slid out of The Associated Press' top 25 poll after spending only one week at No. 24.
"It's been a roller coaster," Pugh said of Kansas' up-and-down season. "Just when we think we're on the right track, we take a sten back."
After a three-game winning streak, the Jayhawks have now lost two in a row.
One reason for the dayhawks recent troubles has been the disappointing play of center Eric Chenowith.
The 7-foot sophomore had been the Jayhawks most effective offensive player for the first 19 games of the
In his last five games, Chenowith is averaging only 10.6 points, and he has made just 20 of 53 shots from the field for a 37.7 percent shooting. His free throw shooting also dropped, as he has connected on 52 percent on 13-of-25 from the line.
season, shooting 46.3 percent from the field, connecting on 74.4 percent from the free throw line and averaging a team-high 14.1 points.
"I'm not playing as well as I wish I could be right now," Chenwith said after Saturday's game in which he shot 5-of-16 from the field and grabbed five rebounds.
The Jayhawks next game is tomorrow night in Allen Fieldhouse against rival Kansas State
and senior Ryan Robertson is hoping Kansas can turn it around.
"What we need to do is get a little streak going." Robertson said. "We can't do anything about the past. If we come out and play the way this team is capable of playing, we can still accomplish some great things."
- Kansas forward Lester Earl returned to action Saturday after sitting out the last three games because of
an ankle injury. The 6-foot-8 junior, who has played in seven of the Jayhawks last 18 games, responded by scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 16 minutes of play.
"It felt good to get back out there," Earl said. "The injury feels all right, but I'm just a little out of shape. I'm just looking to do what it takes to help the ball club win, like rebounding and scoring in the paint."
Commentary
Dedication, love tears and belief pave road to win
Quick story:
I was right.
About a year ago, I shot pool with Marian Washington. I was working on a story for The University Daily Kansan commemorating her 25th season as the women's basketball coach and thought a quick game of pool would provide insight into Washington's competitive nature.
We didn't call shots, because, well, I'm not good. I fell further and further behind as each of her striped balls banked, rolled and whizzed into waiting pockets. Then, riding this wave of impending victory, the usually stoic Washington started trash-talking, in a high-class form expected from Washington.
That ended shortly after she lined up to drop the eight ball that was teetering on the lip of a corner pocket. A gentle tap of the cue ball and Washington had victory and bragging rights. She choked. The eight ball dropped, followed by the cue ball, followed by her pride. I, with at least four of my balls still on the table, had won
The other day while we were talking, Washington brought up the "Miracle on Felt," as I affectionately refer to it. A year later, she still remembered how she had lost.
Marian Washington hates to lose.
"You know, you're the first person to beat me at my house, and we will have a rematch." Washington said. She was joking, I think.
Mike Harryt
sports@kansan.com
A win by Washington's 21st-
ranked Jayhawks against No. 19.
Iowa St at 7:05 tonight at Allen Ft
Iowa St. at 7:05 tonight at Allen Fieldhouse will give her a 100ft straight-20 win season.
Publicly, Washington has played down the milestone. Privately, she has spoken of the win's importance. To understand the significance of 500 wins and where the Kansas women's basketball program is going, you must first understand where it came from — Washington's heart.
More importantly, a win would be No. 500 in Washington's career.
Washington started coaching at Kansas in 1972. Blatant racism and sexism, and lack of support from the University was the norm. In those days, Washington would post fliers about team tryouts, praying that players would show up. She didn't give her first scholarship until 1975 — a $200 check to Adrian Mitchell, who became the school's second all-time leading scorer.
The women's program now enjoys the luxuries afforded to its male counterparts. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in sports receiving federal funds. Long gone are the days when Washington's teams would have to get dressed in restrooms because they had no locker room or when she would pack her teams into state-issued vans and travel for hours and hours to play the nation's top teams, fully realizing that playing teams located near Lawrence would take her program nowhere.
One word has brought Washington's program to where it is today: Belief.
When Washington takes recruiting trips, she sells the academics and past success. But above all else, she sells family. Washington and her players have a special bond of belief. They believe in her. She believes in them. Players listen and believe her message.
Case in point: Following her freshman year in 1978, Lynette Woodard sat down with Washington in a little Los Angeles cafe shortly after being named All-American in a banquet ceremony earlier that night. Woodward couldn't be happier, clutching her award. Washington wasn't saying much. Woodard finally broke the silence. "Coach, what's the matter?"
Washington replied, "Lynette, you have 24 hours to enjoy this. Then you have to decide if you want to become better or just rest on this."
Woodard became a four-time All-American, averaging 26.3 points and 12.4 rebounds during her Kansas career.
Washington doesn't know what to expect tonight. Her players really don't have anything planned for the win. She hopes there is a big crowd, though she won't say it. After a crowd of 13,352 fans showed up at a "Fill the Fieldhouse" promotion Jan. 9, 1994, to watch Kansas beat Colorado 59-57. Washington took a microphone at the end of the game and thanked the fans, through a blur of tears.
Tonight, when Washington follows her pregame ritual of returning alone to an empty locker room during her team's warmups, she will pray for the strength and ability to guide her team to a win. And, after the victory, if it should come, she will give thanks to God. Not so much for win No. 500, but for all those seemingly endless days that made tonight's game possible.
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Harrity is a Kansas City, Kan., senior in journalism.