Volume 124 Issue 102
kansan.com
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
COMMENTARY
Missouri hype has to wait
Hundreds of students camped in Allen Fieldhouse on Monday for Saturday's much-hyped Missouri game, and Thomas Robinson claimed to have overlooked them all.
Robinson stood in the lower concourse of Allen Fieldhouse, fenced in by voice recorders and television cameras, talking to the press before practice.
When Robinson was asked if seeing the students lined up for Saturday would be a distraction for the Jayhawks come Wednesday when they play at Texas A&M, Robinson gave a simple answer with a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh, no." Robinson said with a smirk. "I didn't even notice them."
Bill Self said the word "Missouri" will not be mentioned until the Jayhawks take care of Wednesday's game against Texas A&M, and, so far, the team seems to be taking this week in stride. Robinson wouldn't acknowledge the hype that surrounded him.
Though Self's teams have fared well in spite of the hype before big games, the anticipation for Saturday's game is unlike anything Self has handled before.
"The primary reason why we've won games is because we have good players," Self said. "And when good players are somewhat focused, that's a hard combination to beat."
While the talent is normally there for Self and Kansas, this year is different. Outside of the starting five, the Jayhawks have struggled to find consistent production, which has become a problem on the road for Kansas.
When the energy level dropped at Iowa State, it cost the Jayhawks, and if the energy level drops in College Station, Texas, it will cost them even more, just like it cost Missouri in its 78-68 loss to Kansas State Tuesday night.
Texas A&M fans are loyal, loud and rowdy. In the past, they have come out in herds to cheer their Aggies on against the Jayhawks, and this game will be no different.
During the last match up, coach Bill Kennedy's Texas A&M team scrapped at the Jayhawks for 40 minutes in Lawrence, as the Aggies took a two-point lead into half-time at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas recovered and won by nine, but the Jayhawks will not be so fortunate if they repeat their lackluster performance.
Memories of that game should keep the Jayhawks on their toes this week. If they return from College Station without a win, the big game against Missouri on Saturday will lose some of its excitement.
When it was senior guard Tyshawn Taylor's turn to speak to the cameras and recorders, he spoke candidly about the dangers of focusing on Saturday's game instead of Wednesday's game against Texas A&M.
"I'm thinking about it, too," Taylor said. "But I can't look past A&M at all, because they're a good team that could definitely beat us."
Edited by Caroline Kraft
KANSAS 69. TEXAS TECH 64
REDEMPTION IN TEXAS
Junior guard Angel Goodrich's record night propels Jayhawks to victory past Aggies
kgier@kansan.com
The Jayhawks needed a victory. They needed to prove they could win without Carolyn Davis and that other players would step up in her absence. They needed to build confidence and their record.
Despite foul trouble and 10 lead changes, Kansas notched a 69-64 victory in Lubbock, Texas, to take the season sweep against Texas Tech and improve their record to 18-9 (7-8).
"You can tell the difference in the locker room," sophomore guard CeCe Harper said. "Everyone is excited and energetic. It is a great feeling."
Kansas succeeded in all those goals behind a record night from junior guard Angel Goodrich, who dished eight assists to break the single-season program assist record with 208.
Goodrich led Kansas in all categories with 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Late
last week, she was announced as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the top female point guard in the country.
Goodrich didn't even realize what the award was, but with a reminder, she fell silent.
"One of the things we wanted to focus on was playing together and staying together no matter what."
ANGEL GOODRICH
Juinor guard
"Wow," Goodrich said. "It's an honor."
Goodrich will deny the importance of numbers, but she is scoring more than 40 percent of the team's points this season and has led the team through
the last 10 days of injury and losses valiantly. Coach Bonnie Henrickson talked about how she is everywhere for the team, and Harper agreed.
"Angel is having a great season: from getting everybody open shots to knocking down open shots when she can and keeping us in offenses," Harper said. "She plays for everyone else and she is very good to play with."
When freshman forward Chelsea Gardner picked up her second foul less than two minutes into the game, Kansas turned to sophomore forward Tania Jackson, who played 17 minutes and hit a huge three pointer with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left in the game to extend the lead to six points.
Freshman guard Natalie Knight and senior forward Aishah Sutherland also struggled with fouls in the game, which led to opportunities for
SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 8
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
lunior guard Angel Goodrich puts up two points during the second half of the Jan. 25 game against Texas Tech, Goodrich's performance last night helped secura another victory.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior Brittany Rospierski surges through the water during the women's 100-yard breaststroke event at Saturday's dual with Nebraska at the Robinson Natatorium. Rospierski finished in second place with a time of 1.0536.
Swimmers prepare for Big 12 battle
ALEC TILSON
alectilson@kansan.com
Six months of ups and downs and hours spent training in the pool culminate this week for the Kansas swimming and diving team when it competes in the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo.
Kansas' disappointing early February loss to Iowa State in its last competition has hingered for three weeks, but the team is now focused on its biggest meet of the season.
"We moved forward," said senior Stephanie Payne. "You work towards this meet the entire
The meet is a three-and-a-half day team championship battle in Mizzou Aquatics Center against Iowa State, Missouri and national powerhouses Texas and Texas A&M.
season. Everything we do from the day we start the season until today is preparing us for now."
Still, much of the attention will be on individual competition, as each swimmer aims to secure an invitation to the NCAA Championships next month.
"We'll focus on our individual performances first and let the team stuff take care of itself," said coach Clark Campbell. "It's something you simply can not control."
Throughout the past two weeks, the team started tapering — lowering volume and intensity of training — in preparation for the meet. Tapering is designed to consolidate months of training into just a couple of races.
"When you taper and peak towards the end, you just feel like a new athlete," Campbell said. "All that training you do bubbles up and you're able to perform at a high level."
"You feel like a completely different swimmer," said junior Brittany Rospierski. "Your body position is different, much higher in the water which is what you want."
To catalyze that power and speed, swimmers will wear knee suits for just the second time this season. The slit, skin-tight suits compress the swimmer's body and provide a more hydrodynamic
For those who do not qualify for the NCAA Championships, this will be the final meet of the season and the last opportunity to achieve personal career-best times. Campbell said that as a team, the goal is to achieve 70 percent individual lifetime bests.
movement in the water. The suits only come out a couple of times a year and the swimmers said they love the change in wardrobe.
Perennial powers Texas and
Kansas looks to outperform Missouri and Iowa State. Missouri outscoed Kansas at the Mizzou Invite in December, the last time the fast suits were worn. Still, it's the Iowa State loss that looms in the team's mind.
Texas A&M will likely battle for the top two spots in the team competition. The two schools have finished in the top two for the past 12 years.
"Mostly we just want individual bests," Payne said. "And to beat Iowa State."
Edited by Ian Cummings
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