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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas puts losses behind to prepare for Texas
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
The Kansas women's basketball team is looking to end its three-game losing streak with a victory over Texas at Allen Fieldhouse. But despite their recent trouble, the Jayhawks are projected as an eight seed in the NCAA tourney by ESPN analyst Charlie Creme.
Kansas returns home after a 62-51 loss to No. 18 Texas A&M on Saturday. Before that, Kansas lost to Oklahoma 74-68 in overtime and was soundly defeated 74-46 by No. 1 Bavlar in Waco.
Junior guard Angel Goodrich said this is an important game for the Jayhawks, who fell to 16-6 and 5-5 in conference after Saturday's loss.
"With three losses we have to be hungry," Goodrich said. "We need a win and we've got to go in hungry, ready to go and focused."
Goodrich and senior forward Aishah Sutherland each led the Jayhawks with 11 points against the Aggies. Junior guard Monica Engelman joined them in double figures with 10 points.
Kansas struggled against the ball pressure of Texas A&M and finished the game with 20 turnovers.
"We're playing hard, but turnovers are affecting us right now," Sutherland said.
The Jayhawks fell behind 8-0 early, but brought the deficit to four points with less than a minute to go. But they could not pull off the victory in College Station.
"We have to come down on defense and get stops and once we get stops that gives us momentum to go score on offense," Goodrich said.
K an s as coach Bonnie Henrickson said some of the Jayhawks' problems were caused by the pressure but others were because of passive play.
"We made bad decisions on passing and then
With Goodrich in foul trouble by the end of the first half, sophomore guard CeCe Harper stepped up to contribute more on both offense and defense. She tallied five points, five rebounds and matched a season-high 24 minutes played. Harper also had three steals and three assists.
"I thought CeCe was aggressive and played confidently and defensively," Henrickson said.
Freshman forward Chelsea Gardner has also been increasing her playing time for the Jayhawks. She has played more than 10 minutes in three of the last four games.
With three losses, we have to be hungry. We need a win and we've got to go in hungry, ready to go and focused."
we've got three or four offensive fouls," Henrickson said.
ANGEL GOODRICH junior guard
She is used sparingly because she comes off the bench for junior forward Carolyn Davis and senior forward Aishah Sutherland, who both play nearly 35 minutes a game. Against Texas A&M, Gardner bit both
her shots and pulled down two rebounds in 10 minutes.
"I thought both of those brought some energy and some productivity off the bench," said Henrickson.
But now, Kansas turns its attention to Texas, a team it defeated earlier in the season, for a much needed series sweep.
"Got to beat Texas," Henrickson said. "It's a great opportunity."
Goodrich led the Jayhawks with 22 points when they defeated the No. 23 Longhorns 72-67 in Austin on Jan. 4. Engelman, Davis and Sutherland joined her in double figures to give the Jayhawks a five point victory.
Beyond the immediate impact of ending a three game losing streak, Sutherland said every game becomes more important as the Jayhawks look to land a place in the NCAA Tournament.
"This Texas game is very important," Sutherland said. "We need to win four more games. We need to win multiple games to get into the tournament."
Edited by Anna Allen
Junior guard Angel Goodrich drives the ball down the court one week ago against Oklahoma where Goodrich led the team in points, rebounds and assists.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
TENNIS
Jayhawks look forward to spring after Hawaii Invitational
CORBIN MILHELIC editor@kansan.com
After a rough outing at the Hawaii Invitational last month, the Kansas women's tennis team will look to start spring dual play strong in its match against UMKC.
"We definitely have high expectations coming into our first match," coach Amy Hall-Holt said. "[We're] just coming in and making sure we're all ready and kind of looking forward to playing somebody other than our teammates."
Junior Monica Pezzotti and sophomore Paulina Los will
highlight the match as the No. 42-ranked doubles team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason rankings. Pezzotti and Los went 10-1 in doubles play during the fall.
"I think we need to forget about Hawaii and just start thinking about this season," Pezzotti said. "We have been working on our game and our attitude and I think we are ready for tomorrow."
Sophomore Dylan Windom is also expected to keep playing at a high level after going 3-0 in Hawaii in singles play. Windom and doubles partner senior Ekaterina Morozova
had an impressive fall season. They became the first Jayhawks in more than two decades to qualify for the ITA All-American Championship main draw.
Another storyline of the match against UMKC is the debut of freshman Maria Belen Ludueña. Ludueña, a native of Curicó, Chile, said she is still getting used to several things about playing tennis in the United States, including the hard court surface.
"It's a little different because in my country we play on clay courts," Ludueña said. "Here we play on hard court and it's more fast, so
I need to play differently. I think it's different, but it's good and I prefer it."
Hall-Holt spoke highly of Ludueña and believes she will help the team's overall competitiveness.
"She's going to add a lot of competition, drive and a lot of excitement to our lineup," Hall-Holt said.
The Jayhawks take on UMKC at 4 p.m. today at the Jayhawk Tennis Center, the first of six home dual matches over the next 12 days.
Edited by Jeff Karr
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN
Claire Dreyer, a sophomore, watches her serve power over the net during the season on open Friday afternoon. Kansas went 4-7 in their singles matches on day one.
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