PAGE 8
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SOFTBALL
Jayhawks have a strong finish in Louisiana
SARA KRUGER
skruger@kansan.com
The Jayhawk softball team finished 3-2 at the Southeastern Lion Classic last weekend. The team lost to Tennessee Martin and Troy in consecutive games on Friday, but
won the last three Saturday and Sunday.
The Jayhawks opened the weekend with a 6-4 loss against Tennessee-Martin after a rain delay.
Ingle
"We were
going to Louisiana thinking the weather was going to be nice" said
senior Marissa Ingle. "The other teams said we brought down the bad weather."
Ingle was the last to bat in the five-run rally, which ended in a 8-7 loss against Troy Friday night. The Jayhawks were on the board first thanks to senior Liz Kocon's ground rule double to center field with two on base in the bottom of the first. However, the Trojans pulled away with a 8-2 lead in the top of the sixth. A double play by Kansas' middle infield, Mariah Montgomery and Ashley Spencer, held Troy in the top of the seventh and set up the team for a potential comeback. The Jayhawks ended the day with two losses.
"We went into Saturday not worrying about Friday, working on getting wins for the rest of the
weekend, which is what we did."
High winds and 40-degree temperatures controlled the day two opener. After scoring seven in the forth, the five-run innning rule was applied against the tournament's host, Southeastern Louisiana. With 10 runs in the last three innings, Kansas won their first game of 2012 11-0. Freshman Alicia Pille struck out eight times and walked three in her first career victory. Kocon went 2-for-2 and had three RBIs in three straight games, surpassing former Jayhawk Shannon Stanwix for third all-time career RBIs at KU with 108. After the weekend she needs eight more to become the all-time leader.
"It would be an honor," Kocon said. "But to me it's about scoring runs and winning games and
getting that much closer to regionals."
Junior transfer Morgan Druhan lead the Jayhawks to a 5-3 win over Jackson State to finish day two of the tournament. Druhan pitched a complete game of 129 pitches. She
en, walked four and allowed only three hits. Kocon had an other multi-RBI game, bringing her two RBIs closer to the Kansas record
struck out sev-
Druhan
with 10 total RBIs in the tournament.
"To me that was the coldest game I have ever played and she handled it like a champ," freshman starter
Alicia Pille said, "She just went out there and did her job, and I think
that is why we beat them was because we handled the cold better than they did"
Pille had 13 strike outs for a shutout leading the team to a
1-0 victory against Northern Colorado.
Sunday.
Pille
"It was an absolutely outstanding performance for a freshman or any player," said Ingle. "Our at-bats weren't as strong as they could be but she saved us on the mound."
In the third start of her career, Pille broke former Jayhawk Val George's record of 12 strike outs in
Associated Press
"It's pretty exciting," she said. "I didn't know until I read an article online, and I don't know if my teammates even know yet."
2009 against Cal.
Maggie Hull had two doubles and went 2-for-2, and freshman third baseman Chanin Naudin hit a flawless 3-for-3. Naudin had a single to move Cassen Salamone into scoring position and Maggie Hull sent her home with a line drive down right field scoring the only run of the game.
After that, the Huskies merely kept the Sooners at arm's length.
The layhawks will play in the Charlotte Classic this weekend in Charlotte, N.C. Kocon said she plans on staying relaxed and doing anything she can do to get runners in scoring position.
FOOTBALL
Edited by Jeff Karr
Tevin Shaw signs on to Javhawks' 2012 roster
Charlie Weis and the Kansas football coaching staff aren't done yet. They added New Jersey running back Tevin Shaw to their 2012 recruiting class.
Hayes had two layups, stealing an outlet pass in between, to spark a string of eight straight points that restored Connecticut's lead to 45-30 after Oklahoma had pulled within striking distance down the stretch in the first half.
Shaw signed with the Jayhaws over offers from Maryland, Iowa and Penn State. With Shaw, Kansas has signed 18 players in the February recruiting period, bringing Weis' first class to 21 athletes including three transfers.
The 5'11 190-pound running back led Piscataway High School to a second straight state championship this season, running for 1,596 yards and 24 touchdowns. In his championship game, Shaw ran for 304 yards and scored three touchdowns, including the game winner.
Shaw runs his 40-yard dash in 4.42, according to rivals.com, and is a multi-purpose player and athlete, as he had 90 tackles and seven interceptions playing in the secondary on defense.
As a junior, Shaw placed second in the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship. His senior wrestling season is currently underway, and Shaw is off to an impressive 25-0 start.
After taking a visit to Kansas the weekend of Feb. 10, Shaw committed to the Jayhawks and became their second running back in the 2012 recruiting class.
Mike Vernon
Huskies winning streak continues in Oklahoma
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Huskies came in allowing opponents to shoot only 29.6 percent and average 44.4 points.
NORMAN, Okla. — Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points, Bria Hartley added 20 and No. 2 Connecticut beat Oklahoma 73-55 on Monday night for its 12th straight victory.
The Huskies (24-2) never trailed on their way to moving to 10-0 all-time in the series, which is becoming an annual tradition around Valentine's Day.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Stefanie Dolson contributed 10 points apiece, and Connecticut built a commanding lead in the first 7 minutes before withstanding a series of rallies by Oklahoma (16-8).
Whitney Hand scored 18 points while playing 40 minutes but she was the only one of the Sooners who could score with regularity against the nation's top defense.
Aaryn Ellenberg, once the Sooners' most dangerous scorer, continued a prolonged slump by missing eight of her first nine shots. She has shot 16 for 75 (21 percent) over the last seven games — a stretch that has included two games against top-ranked Baylor and one against an even more stingy defense.
Oklahoma cut an early 17-point deficit to five before halftime but was never closer than seven points in the second half.
Syracuse continues on journey to Big East title
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim preferred to look on the bright side despite all his team's problems.
Senior leaders Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph struggled. The Orange missed shot after shot.
Only C.J. Fair had an answer against with Louisville, which was poised for an upset.
"Our defense was getting crucial stops when we needed them," Fair said. "And, defense wins games."
Championships, too.
Fair scored 13 points and No. 2 Syracuse scored the final six points of the game to beat the 19th-ranked Cardinals 52-51 on Monday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak against Louisville in a game that reminded Boeheim of the NCAA tournament.
"You're going to get in games like this in the tournament. I don't care who you are. You've got to be ready to be able to make those plays at the end of games." Boeheim said. "If they make a play, hit one shot, the end, we lose. In the tournament, you go home and you're going to play teams like Louisville and teams just as good or better."
lead, but the Orange held the Cardinals without a point over the final $3 \frac{1}{2}$ minutes and Fair hit the go-ahead layup with 2:11 left.
Syracuse (26-1, 13-1) is on a roll toward a Big East title and hopes to play for a national championship in April. The Orange proved in this one they could grind out a possession-by-possession battle.
Louisville (20-6, 8-5) rallied with a 15-2 run to take a 51-46
"You can either give the defenses credit or say it was a bad offensive game." Boehne said. "We're going to look on the bright side and say it was a real defensive struggle tonight."
"It it was a defensive battle and they came up with the plays at the end," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I'm very, very disappointed that we lost the game."
Fab Melo scored 11 points and the best shooting team in the Big East overcame a 34.4 percent effort, including 1 of 15 from 3-point range, to win for the sixth straight time since losing at Notre Dame.
Jardine missed all eight of his shots and Joseph, Syracuse's leading scorer, struggled with foul trouble, while Cardinals forward Kyle Kircur went 1 for 8 from the field, including 1 for 6 from 3-point range.
"I don't put my head down because I know I'm reliable to make a tough basket at any given time," Jardine said. "And that's the same as the other two guards and that's what happened tonight."
The Orange came in shooting 48.1 this season, while the Cardinals' defensive field goal percentage was fourth-best in the nation at 37.2. Neither team could reach that mark against the other's zone looks.
Brandon Triche scored eight points, while Dion Waiters and Joseph added seven each for the Orange.
Triche hit a jumper — Syracuse's first field goal outside the paint in the second half and only second of the game — Melo hit two free throws and Fair added a layup to give Syracuse a 52-51 lead with 2:11 left.
Freshman Chane Behanan had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who had won six straight games.
It was a whiteout at the KFC Yum! Center with 22,738 fans wearing white and Pitino donning his cream-colored suit with a red tie, but it was far from a shootout with both sides struggling from the field.
"A game like this, going down to the last shot, it's a game that we're definitely going to use," Triche said.
Louisville guard Chris Smith finished with 10 points, while Gorgui Dieng had 10 rebounds and five turnovers, including a costly one late for the Cardinals, who shot 34.7 percent from the field and went 12 of 21 from the free-throw line.
Dieng committed a turnover instead of trying a 15-foot jumper, throwing it away and Smith missed a reverse layup with 57 seconds left.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"Plays like Gorgui not shooting that shot, that bothers me because we work on that every single day for 45 minutes. I don't care if our guys miss shots," Pitino said. "When they're open, they've got to shoot the ball. That kind of thing irks the hell out of me."
Waiters missed a layup with 30 seconds left, giving Louisville a chance at the last shot, but Dieng couldn't handle a pass from Peyton Siva in the paint and Waiters stole it after it bounced off Triche.
Waiters missed a free throw after being fouled and Louisville had 1.1 seconds left and the length of the court to go, but freshman Angel Nunez couldn't handle a pass from Behanan as time expired.
"I just made the wrong decision," Siva said. "I didn't see Kyle open in the corner. I won't make that mistake again."
Louisville trailed 44-36 with
Syracuse's Fab Melo, right, attempts to block the shot of Louisville's Chane Behaana during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 in Louisville, Ky.
7:31 to play before Behanan sparked a 15-2 run.
On one sequence, he grabbed an offensive rebound for an easy dunk off Kuric's missed 3-point attempt, stole a pass into the low post from Fair and fed Dieng for an assist on a three-point play that made it 46-all.
Joseph, who picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, re-entered the game and missed a 3-point attempt. Smith
NBA
hit one beyond the arc in the right corner for Louisville, and Behanan's putback of another miss by Smith gave Louisville a 51-46 lead with 3:39 left.
Those would be Louisville's final points.
"We know we can only beat ourselves," Jardine said. "We've got to continue to play Syracuse basketball and try and gut out wins."
Mavericks pull off close victory against Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro, right, talks with DeAndre Jordan (6) after Jordan received a technical foul during the second half of the Clippers' 111-86 win over the Charlotte Bobcats in an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jason Terry, Vince Carter and Brendan Haywood all contributed 10 points for the Mavs, who've won 10 in a row at home against the Clippers and extended their overall winning streak to four games.
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points, 11 in the final 6-plus minutes, Shawn Marion added 16, and the Dallas Mavericks held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 96-92 on Monday night.
Caron Butler of the Clippers scored a season-high 23 points against his former team, and Blake Griffin added 20 points.
Chris Paul had 16 points and nine assists for the Clippers, but Griffin's problems from the foul line cost his team as he missed seven of nine free throws.
The Clippers, who completed a 4-2 road trip, haven't beaten the defending NBA champs in Dallas since April 19, 2006.
Griffin had a chance to get the Clippers closer, but missed five straight free throws until connecting with 2:15 to play to pull his
team within two points at 86-84.
Dallas took control with a 7-0 fourth-quarter run capped by Marion's layup with 4:48 remaining for an 86-83 edge.
Jason Kidd set up Terry for a layup with 2:02 left, and Nowitzki intercepted Griffin's pass with 1:47 showing, and drained two free throws to extend Dallas' edge to 90-84.
Griffin's three-point play with 1:24 remaining and Kenyon Martin's layup with 1 minute left narrowed the Mavericks' lead to 90-89.
Butler, who received a championship ring from the Mavs
Nowitzk drained a 19-footer from the right wing and, after Marion stole the ball from Martin, converted two free throws with 21.2 seconds left for a 94-89 advantage. Paul's 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds got the Clippers within two points, and Butler missed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left.
The Clippers carried a 76-74 advantage into the final quarter.
Dallas was in front at halftime 55-47 behind 22-for-38 field-goal accuracy (58 percent).
in pregame ceremonies, got rolling early when he connected on his first three 3-point attempts in the first quarter.
Delonte West made two free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Haywood worked inside for 10 of Dallas' first 22 points and the Mavs carried a 27-19 lead into the second quarter.
The Clippers ended a 10-game overall losing streak against the Mavs on Jan. 18 with a 91-89 win in Los Angeles, Chauncey Billups hit the winning 3-pointer with 1 second left. Billups is out for the season with a torn left Achilles' tendon sustained in a game on Feb. 6.
Paul sat out the season's first meeting with Dallas due to a strained left hamstring.
Notes: Butler was a member of the Mavericks' title-winning team last season but missed the final 53 games of the regular season plus the playoffs with a rupture right patellar tendon. Butler, signed by the Clippers in December as a free agent, made a spirited effort to get his knee healthy enough to contribute for Dallas in the playoffs and Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said before the game that Butler "was very close to being active for the finals. That's how hard he worked."
... Martin, who grew up in Dallas, played his fourth game for the Clippers since signing as a free agent on Feb 3. ... Before the game, Carlisle called Paul "the best playmaker in basketball."