THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25. 2012
PAGE 7
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior guard Monica Engelman drives past Texas A&M's freshman guard Alexia Standish during the second half of last week's loss at Allen Fieldhouse. Engelman is recovering from her early season slump. She grabbed six rebounds and scored 14 points.
KANSAS SEASON STATISTICS
Player PPG FG% FT% RPG MINS
C. Davis 18.1 .626 .709 6.1 18.1
A. Sutherland 13.6 .517 .667 9.5 13.6
A. Goodrich 11.8 .461 .646 3.8 11.8
M. Engelman 10.1 .412 .872 3.3 10.1
T. Jackson 5.1 .471 .650 3.1 5.1
N. Knight 5.4 .431 .680 2.9 5.4
C. Gardner 2.8 .640 .200 1.5 2.8
A. Boyd 2.6 .350 .750 1.3 2.6
B. Williams 2.5 .450 .625 2.5 2.5
C. Harper 2.1 .280 .750 1.8 2.1
D. Breaux 0.7 .231 .500 1.0 0.7
Women's basketball develops frontcourt
RYAN MCCARTHY rmccarthy@kansan.com
There's more on the line for the Kansas women's basketball team than another Big 12 game.
After losing to Texas A&M on Saturday 76-65, Kansas must make sure that one loss does not turn into two against Texas Tech tonight at 7 in Allen Fieldhouse.
This could be a difficult task since the Jayhawk doesn't defeated Texas Tech since Brandy was topping the music charts.
The last win was on Jan. 23, 1999, before Bonnie Henrickson became the women's basketball coach. In fact, Henrickson has yet to experience a win against the Red Raiders, but she says she isn't focused on Texas Tech's credentials.
"We just want to win. I don't care if we've beat them every game we've ever played against them," Henrickson said. "The most important thing is finding a way to win tomorrow."
Junior guard Monica Engelman added with a smile,"Bonnie always says the next game is the biggest game of the year. We have goals for where we want to end up, and getting this next one will help us get closer."
Even during the loss to the Aggies, Engelman showed determination in the game. She grabbed down six rebounds and accumulated 14 points.
"It is comfortable for me and it's allowing me to do what I'm supposed to be doing." Engelman said. "Now that I got where I used to be, I can build on top of that and continue to push further."
The Red Raiders come into this game riding a four-game losing streak after winning their first 14 games of the year. However, the Jayhawks know that Texas A&M's losing streak does not lower the level of competition.
"Our kids aren't caught in everybody tell them 'Oh, they lost four in a row', Henrickson said. "They've played some tough games in the Big 12. That what they're done."
Engelman echoed a similar sentiment.
"A team that's been losing like that is more difficult to play against because they're more desperate to get a win. They're going to come at you hungry," Engelman said.
The Jayhawks will also have to deal with several solid players, including junior guard Monique Smalls. She currently leads the NCAAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.77 per game.
There were several candidates in the past week for this position, but freshman forward Chelsea Gardner separated herself from the pack of young Kansas players.
Senior forward Kierra Mallard could be difficult for the frontcourt to handle. In the last 18 games, she has averaged 13.7 points and 9.1 rebounds.
In order for the Jayhawks to pull out a win, they will also need to rely on the continued development of their frontcourt.
"I've been working hard at practice. Changing things that I wasn't doing at the beginning, but now I see that well," Gardner said.
Edited by Caroline Kraft
"No matter who you're playing in this league, there's just really small room for error and we just had a gaping hole the other night," Henrickson said.
Coach Henrickson said that the way Gardner continues to improve reminds her of another player who's made impressive accomplishments for the Jayhawks.
"She reminds me a lot of Carolyn (Davis) her freshman year," Henrickson said. "She keeps getting better and better. She wants to get it right. She asks really good questions. She doesn't waste days."
Along with the expected contributions from the starters, the Jayhawks must buckle down and make sure this one-game losing bump doesn't turn into two.
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN FII F PHOTO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Junior guard Monica Engelman goes for the basket during the second half of last December's game at Allen Fieldhouse against Oral Roberts, where Engelman scored 16 points in the 85-68 Kansas victory.
Boston Bruins' Brad Marchand (63) shoots the puck off Washington Capitals goalie Tomas Vokoun (29), of the Czech Republic, before scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game Jan. 24 in Washington. The Capitals won by two
NHL
WASHINGTON — Mathieu Perreault got his first career hit trick, including the tie-breaking goal in the third period, to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
Capitals beat Bruins by 2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Perreault's third goal of the game came 7:18 into the third period when he put in a rebound off Roman Hamrik's shot to give Washington the lead.
Cody Eakin also scored for the Capitals, who won for the second time in five games. Dennis Wideman added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left.
Rich Peverley, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand scored for Boston in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.
The Capitals were without captain Alex Ovechkin, who was serving the first game of a three-game suspension for a hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek in Washington's loss Sunday. Ovechkin also announced Tuesday he would skip the NHL All-Star game, saying,
"My heart is not there."
Washington was already missing another key offensive player: center Nicklas Backstrom, who missed his 10th straight game after being elbowed in the head.
"You're not going to replace Alex, but as a committee we're going to have to get the goals," Washington coach Dale Hunter said before the game. "We need people to step up."
Offensive chances for both teams were relatively sparse in the first period, but the goals came fast and furious in the second.
Washington opened the period with a pair of goals 41 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead. Eakin sneaked a shot past Boston goalie Tnukka Rask at the 2:14 mark, and Perreault followed with his first goal of the game on a nice pass from Alexander Semin.
The teams then traded scores off turnovers. Seguin picked off a pass from Capitals defenseman John Carlson in Washington's zone and scored at 12:21 in the second.
off a possible Semin shot.
Perrault brought the puck down the center of the ice, passed to Semin on the right side, and Semin sent it back to Perrault, who was between the circles. Perrault flipped the puck past Rusk after he had moved to cut
Perreault put the Capitals ahead again about 2 minutes later, stealing a pass in the middle of the ice and converting on a breakaway for his second of the game.
Perreault was whistled for a hooking penalty with about three minutes to play in the second period, and Boston took advantage as Marchand banged in a rebound at the 17:42 mark to tie the game at 3.
Peverley got a lucky bounce to score the game's first goal with 2:14 to go in the opening period. Deep in the left corner, Peverley tried a centering pass to Milan Lucic in front of the net. Washington defenseman Karl Alzner, sprawled on the ice to block a possible shot, got his stick on the puck and redirected it into the Capitals' net.