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FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sutherland leaves her mark as a Jayhawk
Aishah Sutherland came to Lawrence on Late Night as a senior in high school in 2007 and fell in love. She chose Kansas with the goal of changing the program. She now leaves with the second most blocks in program history and a Sweet 16 appearance to go along with all the other memories.
"I felt like I left my mark here," Sutherland said. "How we finished it was a great way to finish my senior year."
Sutherland, the lone senior on the women's basketball team, was the queen of the night at the team's award banquet Wednesday night. All of her accomplishments were listed off. From when she was named an AllBig 12 Honorable Mention to when she became just the 15th Jayhawk ever to amass at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson told the crowd made up of family, friends and fans a story from after the Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee in Des Moines, Iowa that she said highlighted Sutherland's time in Kansas.
After the loss, Henrickson asked Sutherland what she was most proud of. Sutherland quickly responded that she was proud of the fact that she never gave up.
In her four years at Kansas she has seen a run to the WNIT Championship game and now a run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament; but it didn't always come easy for Sutherland.
She came to Kansas in the same
class as junior guard Angel Goodrich. Goodrich received a medical redshirt after she suffered two season-ending knee injuries.
Sutherland, a native from Perris, Calif., sees her family only a few times a year. But at Kansas, her teammates and coaches have become like a second family.
She was vocal during the season about her goal of going to the NCAA Tournament. When they were named on Selection Monday, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. They made the tournament despite losing one of their best players, junior forward Carolyn Davis, to an ACL injury in February. It was the adversity like Davis' injury that she and her teammates overcame that made their run to the Sweet 16 even sweeter for Sutherland.
"It has been a journey and we have been through a lot," Sutherland said. "I love those girls."
Assistant coach Chester Nichols said her contributions this season were necessary for the success the team achieved in the end.
"We don't win without Aishah," Nichols said. "The bigger the game, the bigger she played."
"and that is her legacy here."
Henrickson texted Sutherland before the tournament and told her that teams can go only as far as their seniors take them. Sutherland reassured her coach that she could lead this team. Since Sutherland helped carry the team in the tournament and kept her promise, she would be able to cherish that accomplishment for the rest of her life.
"It is better when she left than when she got here," Henrickson said,
Sutherland was not alone in her march to the end though. Goodrich led the team with four straight 20-point performances to end the season and valiantly lead the Jayhawks without Davis.
When the decision came around for who to be named Ms. Jayhawk, an award honoring high character and high competitive drive, the staff couldn't choose between Davis and Goodrich. Instead of leaving one of the two out, the staff awarded it to both players.
"Those two kids are as good off the court as they are on the court and that matters," Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks are back participating in individual practices and preparing for the next season. Kansas will return all of its players except Sutherland next season.
Edited by Max Lush
Ms. Jayhawk Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich
AD Honor Roll
Carolyn Davis, Natalie Knight,
Angel Goodrich, Tania Jackson
Academic All-Big 12
First Team Angel Goodrich and
Tania Jackson
Second Team Carolyn Davis
All Big-12
All Big-12
First Team Carolyn Davis
Second Team Angel Goodrich
Honorable Mention Aishah Sutherland
Junior guard Angel Goodrich, coach Bonnie Henrickson and junior forward Carolyn Davis pose for a photo Wednesday night at the Kansas Basketball End-of-the-Year Reception and Senior Celebration at the Kansas Union.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
BASEBALL
Kansas aims to keep winning streak alive
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Pitcher Colin Toalson throws to first base to stop a Saint Mary runner from stealing to second. The Jayhawks shut out St. Mary's 6-0 Thursday.
ANDREW JOSEPH
aioseph@kansan.com
After dropping eight-straight games, Kansas enters the match-up with No. 23 Texas (21-13 Big 12 record) on its best stretch since the opening week of the season. The Jayhawks defeated a pair of NAIA schools — Baker University and the University of Saint Mary — during the week, and the team will need to remain focused again the Longhorns.
Last weekend, the Kansas baseball team (15-23, 3-9 Big 12) proved they could beat the nation's elite with Sunday's victory against No. 2 Texas A&M. But the Jayhawks face a huge challenge this weekend in Austin, Texas.
"I think the mentality is good," said junior infielder Jordan Dreiling. "We have a lot of energy heading into this weekend, and I think we all believe we can win. It's going to take competing on every pitch."
With only nine Big 12 schools fielding a baseball team, the top eight teams in the standings
qualify for the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City. The Jayhawks find themselves at a four-way tie in sixth place and have to win on the road to separate from the pack.
Kansas is 0-6 in conference road games and 3-12 on the season, while the Longhorns hold a 12-4 home mark. Texas' pitching staff has been almost unbeatable at home, posting under a 1.40 ERA in 16 games. Coach Ritch Price does not expect to see a lot of offense at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, so Kansas needs to perform on the basic levels of the game to have a chance.
"They have one of the best pitching staffs in the country," Price said of Texas. "These are going to be low-scoring games. That yard is huge — it's one of the biggest ballparks in America — we're going to have to pitch, play defense and execute our short-game assignments."
Sophomore pitcher Frank Duncan will start Friday night against Texas' ace Nathan Thornhill. Despite limiting opposing hitters to
a batting average of .204, Duncan is winless in his last seven appearances. Duncan enters Friday's start with a 3-5 record and 3.46 ERA, while Thornhill holds a 4-2 record and 3.53 ERA.
Senior third baseman Zac Elgie has been Kansas' offensive star this April. After struggling in March with a .254 batting average, Elgie has seen his batting average climb to .306 thanks to his .316 average in April. He has hit safely in 13 of Kansas' last 14 games and knocked in four runs during the current three-game winning streak. As the Jayhawks' senior leader, Elgie plans to lead by example at Texas.
"Any time you're getting some wins, it's great," Elgie said. "The biggest thing is that we have to compete.Every at bat,we have to go in with the mindset that yes we'll get some outs and strike out, but we have to string good at bats together and get clutch hits. You never know what can happen down there."
Edited by Anna Allen
PLAYING WITH A PURPOSE
Trey Greenleaf, a senior from Wichita, Mark Rogers, senior from Shawnee, Lauren Schimming, senior from Wichita and Nick Tobaben, graduate student from Topeka, join Justin Grover, Kansas alum from Derby, on Thursday night at the KU Adams Alumni Center at the crap table for Bill Self's Assists Foundation Casino Night, sponsored by the KU Business Leadership Program. Multiple Kansas themed prizes were awarded to those with the most chips at certain points during the evening.
MORGAN LAFORGE/KANSAN
Caps even series against champs
WASHINGTON — Playoff rookie Braden Holtby followed up a shaky outing with a superb one by making 44 saves Thursday night, and Alexander Semin scored the go-ahead goal, leading the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins that tied the first-round series at two games apiece.
I ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcus Johansson put the puck past Tim Thomas less than 1 1/2 minutes after the opening faceoff, but Boston's Rich Peverley tied it later in the first period. Semin put Boston ahead for good with 1:17 left in the second on a power-play goal, his second score of the series.
NHL
The best-of-seven Eastern Conference series shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Saturday. Game 6 will be in Washington on Sunday.
Washington was 25-0-1 during the regular season when leading after two periods, and Holtby continued that trend, inspiring repeated
It's been a tight series all the way, with neither team leading by more than one goal at any moment.
chants of "Holt-bee! Holt-beel!" from the red-wearing spectators. After things got rowdy in Game 3, the Capitals did it with discipline Thursday: The hosts were called for only one penalty.
Semin decided things Thursday by zipping a wrister from the left circle past Thomas, after Alex Ovechkin and Keith Aucoin set it up with assists.
That came on Washington's third power play of the game. The Bruins had zero extra-skater chances through the first two periods, as the Capitals played precisely the type of quiet hockey that their coach, Dale Hunter, said he really wanted to see
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Washington needed all of 82 seconds to take the lead, thanks to the tweaked top line of Ovechkin, Johansson and Brooks Laich.
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