SPORTS
PAGE 1B
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17.2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 66-53
Jayhawks pillaged
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@hansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
At the 13:45 mark in the first half, junior guard Erica Hallman nailed a jump shot to close the early Texas Tech lead to five. 15-10.
Then the Lady Raiders ran away with the game.
Less than three minutes later, No. 15 Texas Tech, 18-5 (9-3 Big 12), had scored 13 points while Kansas went scoreless and let the game get out of hand. When the smoke cleared, the Jayhawks found themselves trailing by 18. Despite a second-half charge, the deficit proved too big and the layhawks fell. 66-53.
"We fought back, but it felt like we were climbing a mountain." Hallman said.
Following the brutal Lady Raider run, the Jayhawks had a chance to climb back in the game, but stalled offensively in the late minutes of the first half. During an eight minute Texas Tech scoring drought, Kansas, 11-12 (4-8), managed only four points.
"I remember looking up and seeing 28 on the board for a while, but we just couldn't make any shots," junior forward Crystal Kemp said.
For the first half, the Jayhawks shot an awful seven-for-28 from the field and found themselves down 37-16 at the break.
Despite the hefty disadvantage coming out of halftime, Kansas fought back and outscored Texas Tech by eight in the second. The Jayhawks were simply unable to dig themselves out of their early hole.
Texas Tech earned its early lead on a quick-strike led by point guard Erin Grant. The 5-foot-8 junior ran an efficient Raider break that resulted in easy scores in transition, which built the lead. Grant posted nine assists for the game.
"You're not going to beat Texas Tech making them shoot layups," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
On the defensive end, the Texas Tech guard play proved to be nearly as much of a nuisance.
Hallman and senior guard Aquanita Burras faced tough on-ball pressure and struggled to get the ball down low to Kemp, the leading scorer.
"Credit to them for preventing that," Kemp said.
When the ball did get to Kemp, the Raider frontcourt asserted its presence. Forwards LaToya Davis and Alesha Robertson and center Cisti Greenwalt combined for 36 of the team's 66 points.
"Anytime you've got someone 6-5 guarding you, that's a little intimidating." Kemp said.
Defensively, Texas Tech's 6-foot-5 senior Greenwalt primarily guarded Kemp and held the 6-foot-1 forward to only seven first-half points on three-for-nine shooting.
Aquanita Burras, senior guard, drives to the basket past Texas Tech's Erin Grant, junior guard, during the first half.
Without a potent inside game, Kemp stepped outside in the second half and had success against the Texas Tech defense with mid- and long-range jumpers. Kemp finished with 19 points, a game high, and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
Courtney Kublen/KANSAN
SEE PILLAGED ON PAGE 3B
BASEBALL
Offense stews Jackrabbits
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
An opening day victory warmed up the fans and players at Hoglund Ballpark last night, as the Kansas baseball team defeated South Dakota State. 8-2.
The Jayhawks were forced to deal with the reality of their home state's climate after their season opening series in Hawaii and California. The adjustments appeared easy to make, as the team out hit the Jackrabbits, 11-6.
"It's not too bad," Gus Milner, Kansas junior center fielder, said of the weather. "We've been kind of blessed with the nice weather in Hawaii, but it's good to be back in our hometown."
Courtney Kuhlen/KANSAN
The Jayhawks came out hot and scored two runs in the first inning. Junior shortstop Ritchie Price hit an RBI double, followed by an RBI single from senior catcher Sean Richardson.
The hits continued to fly off the bats of the Jayhawks as if they had been playing in 40-degree weather for months. The bottom of the second brought seven Kansas batters to the plate. They made the most of the two walks from South Dakota State starter Francisco Torres by adding two doubles and a single. Torres finished his outing after five innings, giving up six runs off of eight hits. He walked four and struck out three in the Jackrabbits' first game of 2005.
Milner led off the second inning with a stand-up double to left. Matt Baty, junior left fielder, joined in with an RBI single and was followed by a double off the bat of junior first baseman Jared Schweitzer.
SEE STEWS ON PAGE 3B
Erik Morrison dives back for first base to avoid being picked off by the pitcher during the sixth inning. Morrison was safe and scored three runs last night. Kansas beat South Dakota State University 8-2 at Hoglund Ballpark.
Inactive players still contribute
▼ MEN'S BASKETBALL
BY KELLIE ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Courtney Kublen/KANSAN
Jeremy Case, sophomore guard, practices yesterday afternoon with the rest of the basketball team at Horeksi Family Athletics Center.
Sophomore guard Jeremy Case, freshman forward Matt Kleinmann and sophomore guard Rodrick Stewart haven't played in a single basketball game this season.
Though none of them have helped the Kansas men's team on the court in any of its 20 victories, they are an integral part of the Jayhawks' success behind the scenes.
"They pretty much do the same thing as everyone else," coach Bill Self said. "They are more involved in game preparations with the scout team. Once we started playing games, we got that scout team to go run the kind of stuff we're going to guard, and run our defense against it. Matt and Jeremy are on that team always."
The three players, who have taken redshirts and cannot play this year, have what might be the most difficult
task of anyone in practice.
They have to study film and mimic playing styles of opponents, then play against starters in practice. And, unlike active players, their hard work isn't rewarded with playing time.
"It's all about making the starters better and giving them something to look at in practice," Kleinmann said. "It makes every day a challenge coming out to practice. If I can help them, it's going to make them better, and it's really just a win-win situation."
Kleinmann, a recruited walk-on,
doesn't get to go to every game.
Because of a Big 12 Conference rule that allows visiting teams to bring no more than 15 players to road games, he sat in the stands when Kansas traveled to Kansas State last week.
"I don't feel out of place," he said.
"Obviously, I wish I was playing, but overall I just feel like one of the guys."
The 6-foot-10 Overland Park native said he was playing the best basketball of his life, and that playing against senior forward Wayne Simien every day is an advantage not many freshmen around the country have.
Self said he liked the way Kleinmann looked and hinted that he could make the same kind of improvement junior forward Christian Moody made.
"I see him developing into a guy that can play," Self said. "I think he's a terrific kid and he's going to be a good basketball player. He's improved immensely and whether or not he can contribute in games is totally up to him."
Another Jawhawk that hasn't seen the court this year is Stewart, a transfer from the University of Southern California. Because he transferred after the first semester, he is required to sit out the remainder of this season, and all of the fall semester.
He played guard at USC, and his duties are the same as a normal walk-on.
SEE CONTRIBUTE ON PAGE 3B
▼ WORDS TO PAPER
JONATHAN KEALING jkealing@kansan.com
Women's basketball gaining ground
Needless to say, this was not the lavhawks' best effort.
Sloppy passes, missed layups and pointless fouls characterized the Kansas women's basketball team's 66-53 loss to Texas Tech last night.
The team's future was definitely in doubt.
As ugly as last night's game was — Kansas never led and trailed by as many as 21 points — things were not as grim as they've been in years past. By this time last year, Kansas was under an interim coach, had won just two conference games and was mired in a four-game losing streak, on the way to finishing out the season losing 10 straight. Oh, and at some point in there, coach Marian Washington officially retired.
Give credit to Henrickson for changing the entire attitude of this lavhawk team.
Along came coach Bonnie Henrickson, and things turned around in a hurry. This season, the team has won four conference games — compare that to last year's two — and consistently hangs around in the games that it loses.
"It ites way better," junior guard Erica Hallman said of how last year and this year relate. "We're getting better every day, I think. We take steps in the right direction, this year, every time we step on the court."
It's been said before, and it's worth mentioning again: this team wasn't supposed to win a conference game this season. Granted, the Big 12 North is down — way down — but Kansas lost two of its top three players and was being forced to learn a whole new system.
When the dust settled after last season's departures, Henrickson sat down with her team. Every time she spoke in public, she cautioned the public not to expect too much from this team, at least in terms of victories and losses.
Every chance she got, though, she talked about how proud fans would be of this team's character and intensity. Heck, she said it so much the Athletics Department turned it into one of its radio commercials.
"It is from sunup to sundown that we handle ourselves with respect for where we are, the opportunity we have and the challenges in front of us." It's on the radio all the time.
Somewhere along the line of respecting where they are and the challenges in front of them, Henrickson's Jayhawks decided they weren't going to settle to spend another season as an also-ran in the Big 12. Henrickson noticed it in some of the team's first meetings.
"Just visiting with them, back in the spring, there was a confidence about them that they expected to be successful. At the time I thought that's a little bit alarming, considering where we are, but what's been good in recognizing that is they don't go in to a place and play scared." Henrickson said.
With four games to go, Kansas has a tenuous on eighth place in the conference. If the team can hold on to that spot, it would finish better than it has since the 1999-2000 team finished fourth.
Sure it's tough. Dates with Nebraska (receiving votes in the Associated Press poll) and No. 7 Baylor loom at home, while the team travels to No. 18 Kansas State and No. 19 Iowa State.
No, it's not going to be easy to finish out the season, but these 'Hawks play as though they expect to win. Confidence has to count for something.
- Kealing is a Chesterfield, Mo., sophomore in journalism and political science. He is the Kansan associate sports editor.
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