TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Greene
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3) Leadership is not a strength
Usually, Duke is the model of consistency for four-year players who become leaders. A few are listed above, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Blue Devils rely on senior swingman Dahnty Jones as an emotional rock. Jones leads the team in scoring and is
second in rebounding, but is not nearly as vocal as past Duke leaders. The same goes for junior guard Chris Duhon, who was made out to be the next Jason Williams before the season began. For a pointguard, Duhon's numbers are solid; especially his 6.6 assists per game.
Duhon avoids turning the ball over, but needs to step up as an experienced leader with national championship experience.
Kansas' senior leaders are not necessarily known as vocal leaders either, but the Jayhawks have the edge in leadership, as its underclassmen are playing with more confidence.
4) Ewing is the ultimate x-factor
Ewing is in and out of the Duke starting lineup, but consistently has an impact on the game's outcome. Ewing is third on the team in scoring, and is a good complement to Rediek
from three-point range, shooting 40 percent from downtown. The biggest problem is matching up on him. Ewing, at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds, can play multiple positions, and his quickness on the offensive end mixed with advanced ball-handling skills could cause Roy's boys some fits. Duke is 19-3 this season when Ewing scores in double figures.
5) Don't buy into the hype The hype surrounding Duke is
that this is a down year for the prestigious program. The biggest hurdle for Kansas to clear in order to win is not looking past the Blue Devils. Duke has all of the raw talent in store to be one of college basketball's most feared squads in the next two years. The thing is that young teams build confidence in early postseason tests. Right now, Duke is a snowball collecting size and speed as it heads down the hill, so expect a
young group of hungry players to show up Thursday with nothing to lose. Duke will leave everything on the floor.
This Duke team may not be what we are accustomed to seeing, but just because they are not a title-favorite this season, just remember that this is still Duke we're dealing with.
Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill., junior in journalism
Bowling
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two teams," Boehm said. "We are really more like a big family than a team.
D'Errico agreed that it helped that the team was close.
"Iam from Rochester, N.Y., and when you are that far away from home, it is important to have a team that is more like a family." D'Errico said. "It helps both on the lanes and off the lanes."
The team now has nearly a month to prepare for nationals. The team has plenty of work to
do before nationals, Fine said.
"I figured I would give them a day off and then it is back to the practice schedule." Fine said.
After getting yesterday off, the team will spend the next month re-examining equipment and skills set. The team will practice every day between now and the tournament for about two hours per day.
"We've prepared and practiced and now we just have to be ready when the time comes," D'Errico said.
—Edited by Jason Elliott
Swinging away
Dan Nelson/Kansan
Dallas freshman Melaney Torres swingsl at the Kansas-Oklahoma softball game on Sunday. Kansas lost to Oklahoma 10-0.
Notre Dame to battle Kansas State in quest for second-straight upset
The Associated Press
MANHATTAN — The opponent will be better and the setting more hostile when Notre Dame seeks its second straight upset in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
And then there's all that purple.
At No. 11, Notre Dame is the lowest-seeded team left in a tournament that went almost strictly to form in the first round. The Irish will try to take the next step Tuesday night in a second-round East Regional game at third-seeded Kansas State (29-4), which will have the home court and 10,000-plus purple-clad fans on its side.
"I like purple," said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, who quickly added, "Green would be number one."
Blue would describe how Notre Dame (20-10) left sixth-seeded Arizona feeling in the first round Sunday night. The Irish overcame shooting just 19 percent in the first half with sticky defense and beat the Wildcats 59-47 on Kansas State's court.
They'll need a similar effort on the defensive end to contain a Kansas State team that has the Big 12's player of the year, 6-foot-4 Nicole Ohide at center, and surrounds her with outstanding 3-point shooters in Laurie Koehn, Kendra Wecker and Megan Mahoney.
"We have to get out on every shooter and we're going to have
to shut down all five players because they can all score," Notre Dame guard Megan Duffy said. "G o o d defense is definitely going to be the key
It also will be important for TCU, the No. 9 seed in the East.
again."
TCU (20-13) was the only other lower-seeded team to win in the first round, beating No. 8 Michigan State 50-47. The Horned Frogs will be looking for a much bigger upset Tuesday night when they play top-seeded Connecticut (32-1), the defending national champion, in front of the Huskies' usual sellout crowd in Storrs.
Connecticut overwhelmed Boston University 91-44 in the first round, showing no sign of a hangover from the loss to Villanova that broke the Huskies' 70-game winning streak.
"We'll have to play better, we know that," TCU coach Jeff Mitte said. "They are the best passing team in the country that I have seen."
Tuesday night's games will conclude the second round of the tournament, which moves to the regional semifinal level next Saturday and Sunday.
One of the more entertaining matchups could be at State College, Pa., where fourth-seeded
Penn State (25-8) hosts fifth-seeded South Carolina (23-7). Penn State's Kelly Mazzante is fourth nationally in scoring with a 24.2 average and had 27 in a first-round win over Holy Cross. South Carolina's Jocelyn Penn is right behind at 24.0.
"That's what brings fans out," South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. "Fans want to identify with players and personalities and the people that are on basketball teams. They're very, very different players, but they both are great at what they do for their teams."
In the other Mideast game Tuesday, second-seeded Villanova (26-5) plays seventh-seeded George Washington (25-6) in Norman, Okla.
In the Midwest, top-seeded Duke (32-1) plays eighth-seeded Utah (24-6) in Raleigh, N.C., and second-seeded Texas Tech (27-5) hosts seventh-seeded UC Santa Barbara (27-4). And in the West, it's second-seeded Texas (26-5) against seventh-seeded Arkansas (22-10) in Cincinnati and fourth-seeded Ohio State (22-9) at fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech (30-2).
The Texas-Arkansas game renews a rivalry that goes back to their days in the old Southwest Conference.
"Arkansas and Texas, that's something very special," Arkansas coach Gary Blair said. "You out-of-state writers might not understand."
Kansas State's challenge will include finding room for Ohlde to operate against Notre Dame's zone defense, which frustrated Arizona's freshman star, 6-5 Shawntinice Polk.
Ohlde scored 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting in a 79-69 victory over Harvard on Sunday night but had only five points in the second half.
"I think they are very athletic," Ohlde said of the Irish. "They have a really tall lineup. They bring in a lot of height from the bench. I think they are a blue-collar, hardworking team. They are going to be very tough."
Notre Dame is just two years removed from winning the national championship and has a history of beating teams on the road in the NCAA tournament.
The Irish won at third-seeded Texas in the second round of the 1997 tournament en route to a Final Four berth.
The next year, a Notre Dame team that was seeded ninth pulled off a second-round upset at top-seeded Texas Tech.
"We like being in the underdog role," McGraw said. "I think it's an easier role for them to be in than the championship year when we were the No. 1 seed. This is much easier for this team. Hopefully it will make us a little more relaxed and maybe we'll even make some of those lay-ups tomorrow."
The Associated Press
Injuries plague baseball teams as season's start approaches
With the start of the season less than a week away, many of baseball's top players are nursing nagging injuries.
Injured All-Star shortstops Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada sat out yesterday but hope to be ready for the start of the season.
Also, World Series MVP Troy Glaus was sent back to California to have his injured right hand examined, and pitchers Jarrod Washburn, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Orlando Hernandez all might miss the openers.
Rodriguez will play today for the first time in two weeks in a minor league game but won't play any more games for the Rangers
this spring in case his sore neck acts up.
Tejada will sit out at least two games for Oakland after getting hit on the left knee with a pitch. He was bothered by the knee for the past couple of weeks and then was hit by a pitch Sunday.
Washburn, an 18-game winner for the World Series champion Angels last year, probably won't start until the team's fifth game this season because of a sprained left shoulder.
Manager Mike Scioscia said Washburn will pitch in a minor league game Sunday when the Angels face the Rangers to begin the season. John Lackey, the first rookie to win Game 7 of the Series in 93 years, will start in Washburn's place.
Glaus was sent back to Anaheim yesterday to be examined by hand specialist Dr. Norman Zemel. Glaus injured his hand before Sunday's game with San Diego and was scratched from the lineup minutes before the game.
Sasaki, the Mariners' closer, has a sore right shoulder and hasn't pitched in a game since March 15. If Sasaki is not available for the start of the season, right-hander Jeff Nelson and left-hander Arthur Rhodes would close for Seattle.
Hernandez will miss at least one regular season start because of tendinitis in his right shoulder. Hernandez, who has sat out the past 10 days, could begin throwing again in another week.
In yesterday's games:
Red Sox 10, Reds 5
At Sarasota, Fla., shortstop Barry Larkin played the outfield for the first time in his career and spent most of the time retrieving run-scoring hits as Boston beat Cincinnati.
Cardinals 6, Dodgers1
At Jupiter, Fla., Garrett Stephenson pitched six innings in his best start of the spring and Tino Martinez had two hits.
Astros 4, Marlins 3
At Kissimmee, Fla., Mark Redman pitched five scoreless innings for Florida, but the Marlins lost on Colin Porter's game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth.
Pirates 9, Blue Jays 6
At Dunedin, Fla., Aramis Ramirez hit a tiebreaking three-
Orioles 4, Twins 3
At Fort Myers, Fla., Pat Hentgen struck out five in six innings for his first victory of the spring and Eddie Garabito went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple.
Angels 5, Mariners 4
At Tempe, Ariz., Kevin Appier pitched five innings and Adam Riggs hit an RBI triple to cap a two-run rally with two outs in the ninth inning for Anaheim.
Rangers 8, Padres 5
At Surprise, Ariz., Doug Glanville's two-run single highlighted a six-run seventh inning for Texas.
Royals 5, Athletics 3
run homer off Doug Creek in a five-run sixth inning and Pokey Keyes went 3-for-3 for Pittsburgh.
At Phoenix, Berroa hit a two-
Rockies 4, White Sox 2
At Tucson, Ariz., Todd Helton had two more hits and Shawn Chacon pitched six strong innings for Colorado.
Diamondbacks 8, Giants 2
At Scottsdale, Ariz., Matt Williams, Craig Counsell and Tony Womack homered as Arizona beat San Francisco for the 15th straight time in an exhibition game.
run double in the eighth inning to lead Kansas City. Oakland pinchhitter Adam Melhuse hit a three-run homer on the first pitch after entering the game when Eric Chavez was ejected.
At Mesa, Ariz., Mark Prior allowed two runs in five innings and Chicago scored four runs in the eighth to beat Milwaukee.
Cubs 5. Brewers2