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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005
PAGE 1B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas seeks revenge
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
Players get focused forget about defeats
Erica Hallman, junior guard, hustles through the lane into Kendra Wecker, Kansas State senior forward, in Bramlage Coliseum Saturday night. Hallman and the Jayhawks travel to Ames, Iowa tonight to play the Cyclones for their final regular season game.
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Bad memories are tough enough to get over, but deteats are even more of an emotional burden.
The women's basketball team (12-14, 5-10 Big 12) will have to overcome both when visiting Iowa State for tonight's 7 p.m. contest.
Iurking in the past is a 70-57 home drubbing issued by the Cyclones (21-5, 11-4 Big 12) Jan. 12. Complete domination by Iowa State had Kansas on the verge of matching its lowest point total in program history, a footnote that was avoided with a basket at the end of the second half.
And then there is the Jayhawks most recent game, a 73-46 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats Saturday
Iowa State presents a threat with quick scoring. The Cyclones lead with the league lead in field goal percentage and rank second in three-point accuracy.
In both contests, Kansas received knockout runs in the early minutes and recovered neither time. Responding to the Cyclones' spurs will be essential in staying with the Big 12 Conference's highest scoring squad.
Leading the Cyclones' attack is senior guard Anne O'Neil, who scores 16.7 points per game and put up 18 in the season's first meeting. O'Neil also is the conference's top long-range assassin, making 51 percent of three-point attempts.
"If we get down, we've got to make runs," junior guard Erica Hallman said. "We've got to try to answer their runs."
Senior forward Katie Robinette and senior guard Mary Fox form the other two tips of the Cyclones' three-pointed spear. Fox currently is third in the Big 12 three-point rankings and adds nearly 11 points a contest. Robinette anchors the inside game with 15 points a game.
These three seniors will be playing their final regular season home game in Hilton Coliseum, and Senior Night is sure to be an poignant night
SEE REVENGE ON PAGE 3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Players prepare for Senior Night
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenner@kansan.com
KANSAN senior SPORTWRITER
A Final Four, a National Championship game and an Elite Eight: That's a heck of a resume for any college basketball player. Add four college degrees, which they will all receive in May, and the result is something that is practically obsolete in college athletics today.
Wayne Simien, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Mike Lee can say they've done all of that. As they suit up for their final game in Allen Fieldhouse tomorrow night, they will epitomize what's good about college basketball.
If Kansas defeats Kansas State, is will be one game away from adding an outright Big 12 championship to that list.
Kansas coach Bill Self said there was something exceptional about each guy, but collectively
They will be remembered as one of the greatest classes in Kansas history. Over the last four years, Kansas fans have seen these guys evolve from followers to leaders, overcome an emotional coaching change and still represent their school with the utmost class.
they would go down as one thing: winners. The foursome boasts a 107-25 career record.
When they give speeches after the game tomorrow night, there will be tears. But more tears are likely to come from the fans than the players. That's what puts these guys on the same level as Danny Manning, Jacque Vaughn, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison. The fans feel as if they have a special relationship with them.
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
"I think all four should be remembered by winning," Self said. "If you define a class by winning, this goes down as one of the best."
Senior guard Keith Langford slashes to the hoop past Oklahoma State defenders Ivan McFarlin and Terrance Crawford during the game Sunday in Allen Fieldhouse. Langford scored 14 points.
SEE PLAYERS ON PAGE 6B
INSIDE THE PARK
JACK WEINSTEIN
jweinstein@hansan.com
Senior Night offers Lee a starting role
Tomorrow night's Sunflower Showdown against Kansas State could not have come at a better time for Kansas coach Bill Self. He has the excuse of being able to insert senior guard Mike Lee into the starting lineup in favor of sophomore small forward J.R. Giddens, but Self won't say it's an excuse.
It's Senior Night.
Self announced at his Monday press conference that Mike Lee would indeed get the nod over J.R. Giddens, but he did not specify if this change was for Senior Night purposes or was due to Giddens' lack of production.
Kansas Senior Nights have always allowed seniors, including walk-ons and seldom-used reserves, to get into the starting lineup. Lee is neither seldom-used nor a walk-on. He doesn't warrant a courtesy start, only to be pulled off the floor seconds into the game, as senior starters have in the past.
Lee deserves this start not because it's his turn to soak up the senior limelight, but because he outplayed the increasingly less effective Giddens in Kansas' 81-79 victory against Oklahoma State Sunday.
"Mike was a serious factor in the game yesterday." Self said.
Lee played 22 minutes against the Cowboys, scored seven points on 3-for-4 shooting, grabbed one rebound, had two assists and made one steal while not turning the ball over.
Giddens, on the other hand, played just 18 minutes and scored zero points on 0-for-3 shooting that included 0-for-2 from behind the arc. He missed his best scoring opportunity from the free-throw line on a one-and-one attempt in the first half. He grabbed one rebound, made three assists and got two steals, but he also committed two turnovers.
"If Mike's playing like he played yesterday, Mike needs to be in the game regardless of how J.R.'s playing." Self said. "Mike needs to get his minutes, so that would certainly cut down on J.R.'s minutes as well."
In each of the last four games, Giddens' productivity and playing time has decreased. He has shot 10-for-38, or 26 percent, from the field and 5-for-25, or 20 percent, from three-point range, while averaging 6.25 points per game over that time period. Giddens has not reached double figures in scoring since the victory against Colorado on Feb. 12 when he scored 11.
Giddens' confidence is clearly shaken. He has only attempted nine shots, including five three-pointers, in the last two games.
"Right now he's in one of those ... slump's not the right word, but he's in kind of a drought by his standards in the last two or three weeks." Self said.
Giddens isn't playing like a guy who expects to be an NBA lottery pick after this season. His recent performances have been atrocious and Sunday's game probably didn't help his case in front of 24 NBA scouts.
All season Self has used a "what have you done for me lately?" lineup that used different players during stretches when they were most effective.
He was able to get much needed production out of freshmen Alex Galindo, C.J. Giles and
SEE WEINSTEIN ON PAGE 3B
SWIMMING
Swim team proud despite fourth-place finish
BY KELLY REYNOLDS
kreynolds@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The women's swimming and diving team returned to Kansas a little discouraged after competing in the Big 12 Championship Conference swim meet last week.
Although the team had some great performances and outstanding times, they placed fourth out of six teams, finishing behind Nebraska. Texas A&M and Texas.
Kansas coach Clark Campbell said he was OK with the team's performance, but he expressed disappointment in falling short of third-place Nebraska by only seven points.
The Jayhawks were in third place on the first day of the meet after the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. They trailed the second-place Texas A&M Aggies by only four points.
"I think we were all a little
bummed out." Campbell said. "We came up short. We really missed out on a few team goals."
"Our team goal was to get third," junior Gina Gnatziz said.
When the second day rolled around, Kansas finished with a drop to fourth place despite solid performances by senior Amy Gruber and Gnatzig. Gruber placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 22.92. Gnatzig swam the 500 freestyle and also set a Kansas season-best time at 4:51.31.
On Friday, the third day of the meet, Kansas buckled down and jumped ahead of Nebraska by 34 points. The performances that boosted the Jayhawks included Gruber's 100-yard butterfly swim. Gruber swam a time of 53.59, also considered an NCAA "A" standard time. Campbell explained that all "A" standard time qualifiers would be invited to the NCAA Championship meet March 17-19 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Gnatzig had another good day as she finished sixth overall in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1.50.11. Freshman Terri Schramka also swam the frum and finished ninth by winning the consolation heat of the 200 freestyle with a time of
200 freestyle with a time of
"We had some outstanding swims. Allie Rubino, Lindsey Urbatchka, Lauren Bonfe, Amy Gruber, Miranda Isaac, Terri Schramka," Campbell said, "and the list goes on."
1:49.66.
So if everyone was swimming great and pulling out seasonbest times, what went wrong?
Nebraska, the battling contender with Kansas for the No. 3 position for three days, came out strong on Saturday night, when Kansas needed to be at its toughest in order to defend the lead over Nebraska that it had established on Friday.
Campbell thinks that the final day of the meet is what did it.
"Nebraka came out fired up on Saturday," Campbell said. "I
"Seven points in a championship meet is like a buzzer beater in basketball," Campbell said, "it's so close."
"The NCAA meet is getting real, real fast," Campbell said.
But what Campbell and the Jayhawks aren't okay with is the seven-point deciding factor between third place Nebraska, and fourth place Kansas that is still lingering in their heads today.
Despite the dishheartening finish, the Jayhawks are satisfied with their teammates. The team had 15 NCAA qualifications, Campbell said. Some were NCAA "B" Standard, and some were NCAA "A" standard.
would give us a B. We had some pretty good things going on. I was OK with it."
He said that those who qualified with NCAA "B" standard times should be recognized even though they probably wouldn't get an invitation to participate in the NCAA Championships. Swimmers like Gnatzig, sophomore Jenny Short, freshman Terri Schramka, senior co-captain Miranda Isaac and sophomore Hannah Bakke were among swimmers who qualified with NCAA "B" standard times.
Gnatzig said she was proud of the team for hanging in and swimming well over the weekend. She didn't look at the fourth-place finish negatively, but complimented the Cornhuskers on their swimming,
SEE SWIM ON PAGE 3B