JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Inside Sports today
The Kansas men's tennis team won its fourth straight match by defeating Ohio State on Friday.
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Nebraska
SEE PAGE 6B
KANSAS
19-6, 9-3
RANKED NO.21
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
NEBRASKA
16-9, 5-7
UNRANKED
SECTION B, PAGE 1
58
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1999
Center Nakia Sanford battles Nebraska's Monique Whitfield for the opening tip. Kansas got revenge for a previous loss by beating the Cornhuskers 63-58. Photo by Graham K.
Johnson/KANSAN
Victory leads women toward 20-win goal
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
Coach Marian Washington and her team are one win away.
The No. 21 Kansas Jayhawks moved within one victory of their preseason goal of 20 and Washington just one win short of her career 500th, with a 63-58 victory against Nebraska Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
"I'm not thinking about 499, but I am thinking about 19," Washington said. "To have 19 wins right now is really great."
The win was spearheaded by something that has been commonplace during the Jayhawks current six-game winning streak: a strong performance from the Jayhawks' short-handed frontline.
Starting forwards Brooke Reves and Jaclyn Johnson, and center Nakia Sanford, dominated their Nebraska counterparts on both ends of the court, while logging an average of 35 minutes each.
"We weren't able to extend the time with some of our support players because we had to keep our scorers on the floor," Washington said. "I think we're in really good shape, but our inside depth is limited."
The aggressive trio crashed the boards for 29 rebounds, just three short of Nebraska's team total. They also outscored the Cornhuskers' frontcourt 41-14 on the strength of Reves' 19-point outing.
"Anytime you're in a game like this as an athlete you get caught up emotionally, wanting to avenge a previous loss," Washington said. "The way they beat us up there, it was important for us to find a way to even the score."
Unlike in the 20-point loss in Lincoln, the Jayhawks effectively navigated through Nebraska's full-court pressure and held off its dangerous guard combination until late in the second half.
"This team did a nice job handling
their runs, and we certainly did a nice job on the boards," Washington said.
"The player that we worked hard on was (Nicole) Kubik and we did a fairly decent job on her, but (Brooke) Schwartz got loose down the stretch. Like any good ballclub, they're going to find somebody to help keep them in the game."
Schwartz scored 24 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting, four of which came in the second half. Schwartz, who scorched the Jayhawks for 36 points and wreaked havoc defensively in the earlier match-up, was held to just 5-of-21 shooting by Kansas' changing defenses and the individual efforts of the taller Reves and Lynn Pride. Pride added 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
Pride said wanting to play well at Allen Fieldhouse has spurred the recent winning streak.
"We really don't want to lose here at home," she said. "We don't even think about losing here, and that's the attitude we have going into games."
Kansas' current 21-game home winning streak is the third longest in the nation. Nebraska had the nation's third longest at 27 games before losing at home to Baylor last Wednesday.
The Jayhawks (19-6, 9-3) will have an opportunity to extend the streak and get Washington her milestone victory Tuesday night when they play the Iowa State Cyclones at the fieldhouse.
"It's going to be great when she gets that 500th win," Sanford said. "It fits in so perfectly with our team goals that we don't have to focus on it."
Washington continued to downplay her upcoming achievement and said she hoped the team would be more relaxed on Tuesday.
"I'm just pleased for them," she said.
"There's a lot of things that we might have been able to do a little better, but I'm pleased that we found a way to win."
Teammates step up as defenses center on Pride
By Mike Harrity
Kansan sportswriter
Reves had 19 points, nine for 18 shooting and four rebounds in 36 minutes of playing time.
As Brooke Reves perused the stat sheet after the Kansas women's basketball team's 63-58 win against Nebraska Saturday, she liked what followed her name.
But the most telling stat was not on the sheet: number of defenders drawn to Reves' teammate Lynn Pride.
"Teams know that Double-train can score at will, and they have to double-train her to keep her from scoring," Reves said. "That just opens it up for everyone else."
Pride, the preseason pick for Big 12 player-of-the-year, entered the game aver
aging 18 points a game despite recent struggles. With teams employing zone defenses designed mostly to stop Pride, she has made 20 of the 61 shots taken during the last four games, including her 11-point, ten-rebound performance Saturday.
First, there was the career-high 23 points from Reves in a win against Kansas State Jan. 31. Senior center Nakia Sanford picked up the slack in the next two games — scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against Colorado Feb. 3 and scoring 16 points against Missouri Feb. 7.
That defensive philosophy opens a door of opportunity that her teammates are happy to walk through.
Saturday, it was Reves' turn again
"Lynn makes me look good because she draws all kinds of players to her." Reves said.
Though it pains coach Marian Washington to see her top player struggle, she recognizes the positives from Pride's situation.
"This stretch may be some of the best learning experience for Lynn," said Washington, who notched her 499th win Saturday. "Everybody is trying to find a way to isolate Lynn, trying to double and triple team her. But in the process, she's helping open up a lot of opportunities for her teammates."
A large part of the win Saturday at Allen
Fieldhouse can be attributed as much to Pride's defense as to her teammates' offense. For most of the game, Pride guarded Nebraska guard Nicole Kubik, who entered averaging 19 points a game. Kubik, who scored a career-high 36 points when Nebraska beat Kansas 82-62 Jan. 16, hit five of 21 shots Saturday, finishing with 14 points.
Still, Pride misses the days of facing only one defender, when she could slash to the basket or pull up for a jumper without being swarmed.
"It gets a little frustrating," Pride said.
"The fact that I'm not nailing down my shot is more frustrating than being double-teamed.
"But as long as we get the victory off, that's a loss on them."
Young, Red Raiders rip into defense, defeat men
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
LUBBOCK, Texas — Can you say deja vu? A recurring theme that has plagued the Kansas men's basketball team all season rebounded Saturday as the Jayhawks squandered yet another seemingly insumountable lead and lost 90-84 to Texas Tech.
Kansas held a 62-48 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining when Texas Tech guard Rayford Young took control. The 5-11 junior poured in of 32 his career-high 41 points in the final nine minutes as Texas Claim its first victory against the
Jayhawks in 10 tries.
"We were up 14 points with about 10 minutes to go and we gave it to them," Kansas forward Nick Bradford said. "We can't put anyone away right now. When you've got somebody by the throat you've got to put them down and we're not doing that right now."
And they haven't done it all season.
Boschee: Hit three straight three-point shots at game's end
Last Wednesday, the
Jayhawks lost to Nebraska 64-59 after blowing an 11-point lead with eight minutes left in the game. Kansas also squandered 17-point leads in both games against Colorado before eking out last-minute victories and frittered away a double-digit second-half lead to Iowa, losing 85-81.
"I don't know what it is, but we're doing something wrong." Bradford said of the Jayhawks' inability to hold on to a lead. "Maybe we're getting too lackadaisical when we're up by that many points. Maybe we're getting a little tentative and waiting for the clock to run out instead of playing. Whatever it is, it needs to change."
Young certainly changed his game around in the second half of Saturday's game after scoring only six points on 2-of-8 shooting before intermission.
The ejection of a Texas Tech yell leader ignited the hometown fans and helped the Red Raiders go on a 17-4 run, which tied the game at 67-67 with 4:45 remaining. Young, who connected on 18 of 18 free throws and canned five second-half three-pointers, scored 15 straight points in the surge.
"I've been watching Kansas play on TV a lot this year and I've seen them give up some leads," Young said. "We didn't get our heads down at all. Coach Dickey said that we're still in this game, they're vulnerable, we can get on a roll and make this close."
With Texas Tech holding on to a 77-75 lead with less than two minutes left, Kansas guard Joff Boschie was charged with an intentional foul on Young.
"Boschee really didn't do anything but grab my jersey and that happens all the
Men's swimming team dunks Iowa in last home meet of season
See YOUNG on page 3B
By Emily Hughey
Kansan sportswriter
It is said that the third time is a pharm. But for the Kansas men's swimming and diving team, victory came the fifth time around.
The team defeated the Iowa men Saturday at Robinson Natorium 142-101, its first victory of the five previous Kansas-Iowa match-ups. And they won with distance swimmer Tyler Painter cheering from the deck rather than swimming in the pool.
Three days before the meet,
senior Trent Hartl said he
expected a challenge from Iowa
whether or not Painter swam.
- But the Kansas men raced harder and coach Gary Kempf was pleased.
"I think they're going to come in and race us hard," Hartl said Wednesday.
"It's a real confidence builder. We swam well enough to win." Kempf said. "I'm real pleased with how we raced."
Peoples attributed the team's success to its togetherness. He said the team was more motivated this week compared to last week's loss to Iowa State.
Seniors Blundell, Harti and Brant Peoples said they wanted their last home meet to be something they would remember.
"Last week we didn't have as much cheering," Peoples said. "This week we got behind each other and came together as a team."
"We talked about it and we wanted to go out fast," Blundell said of Saturday's victory. "It means a lot after swimming for four years."
Outstanding performances came from freshman Mark Daily, who placed first in the 500-yard free-style, and junior Brandon Chestnut, who won the 200-yard breast-stroke. The 400-yard freestyle relay, made up of Peoples, sophomore Jason Carr, junior Andy Kyser and Hartl also took first. Daily, freshman Nathan Rice, sophomore Will Bernhardt and junior Drew Dischinger placed second in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Junior Brian Klapper shows his form in the 200-meter butterfly. Klapper placed third in the event with a time of 1:56.27. Photo by Dan Flavsky/Kansas
Kempf said the meet was a breakthrough for Hartl, who had been sick, and Peoples, who had been frustrated with his performances this year.
"I knew they had the ability," Kempf said. "I did not know whether they were going to step up. And they did."
Harlwon the 200-yard freestyle with his best time of the season and Peoples won both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles despite their respective quandaries. Both men agreed that, instead of nostalgia, the reigning emotion at the close of the meet was amusement.
"In my last meet here I just wanted to go out and have some
fun," Hartl said. "It's always fun to have meets like this."
March 4-6 in Austin, Texas approaches, Kempf said he was going to focus more on increasing
As the Big 12 conference meet.
5
rest and speed work. The women's Big 12 conference meet will be Feb. 18-20 in Austin, Texas.