PAGE 8B
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Team faces highs and lows without key player
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
twitter.com/kansan/whub
Baby Jav, Big Jav and the camera crews all join the team for their pre-game huddle before the start of the first half. Mascots and team alike donned pink uniforms to support the fight against breast cancer.
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
at the fight against breast cancer
Just 16 days ago, the Kansas women's basketball team was ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and received votes from the Associated Press. Kansas lost to defending national champion Texas A&M, but bounced back with a victory over Texas at home.
Then, five days later junior forward Carolyn Davis tore her ACL and dislocated her left knee. Kansas went on to lose at Kansas State, at Iowa State and at home to a previously conference winless Missouri.
Two weeks later, Kansas ended the three-game losing streak and reignited hope in a possible NCAA bid with a 69-64 victory over Texas Tech.
"You've got to be able to stay off the roller coaster," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
This latest stretch has been a complicated conglomeration of excited tweets and teary-eyed press conferences, but Tuesday night brought some relief for the Jayhawks. However, they know they cannot stop now.
"We wanted it," junior guard Angel Goodrich said. "We kind of hurt ourselves the last couple games and right now we have to want it a lot more than the other teams and we have to want it every day even in practice."
The Jayhawks have taken inspiration from Davis, who motivated the team from the sideline. Davis was the leading scorer and an All-American candidate before the injury.
"We all wanted to win for Carolyn since she can't play," sophomore guard CeCe Harper said. "We are focused on playing for her and playing for each other and getting the win."
When a team loses a player like Davis, it brings changes. The scouting changed with the loss of
height from Davis who measures at 6-foot-3 and the loss of experience she brought as an upper classman and captain.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson said they are not reinventing the wheel with her gone, but she said the focus has been on changing things
to rely on their other All-American candidate Goodrich even more. Goodrich led the Jayhawks in scoring, rebounding and assists Tuesday night and set the program's single-season assist record.
But she is not alone. Senior forward Aishah Sutherland has
scored in double figures in each of the three games since the injury. Freshman forward Chelsea Gardner stepped in for Davis and CeCe Harper took over a starting position. Seven of the nine healthy players recorded more than 14 minutes.
Kansas has three more regular
season games, and needs to win two to have a solid shot at the tournament. Goodrich said the team is playing with their hearts and that is the biggest strength.
"This is the first year where I feel like we can do something special," Goodrich said. "We are a special
team and especially with everything we have been through. This team fights and that is all we want to do is stick together and show people what we have and what we can do"
Edited by Pat Strathman
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