6B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2003
Jayhawks take on Bears
Women prepare for Baylor, hope to tie in Big 12
Courtney Kublen/Kansan
"It's tough to win on the road," said coach Marian Washington. "We're going to face another team that's relentless on the boards." Kansas will vie for the Big 12 Conference race when they take on Baylor at 2:05 p.m. tomorrow at Allen Fieldhouse.
By Shane Mettlen
smettlen@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
With the women's basketball season nearing the home stretch, two teams jockeying for position in the Big 12 Conference race will meet tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse when Baylor visits Kansas.
The Bears fell to 5-7 in the Big 12 with a 64-55 defeat at Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. The defeat dropped Baylor into a tie for seventh place in the conference with Iowa State.
The Bears seemed to have the game against the Cowgirls in hand, but Oklahoma State closed it with a 13-4 run that dealt Baylor its fifth conference road defeat of the season. The defeat came despite a sensational effort from Big 12 freshman of the week, Sophia Young. Young posted her 11th double-double of the season leading the Bears with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson said her team needed more balance to be successful.
"If you're going to win on the road, you've got to bring more than one player," Mulkey-
KANSAS VS. BAYLOR
KANSAS (9-13)
P No. Player Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
F 3 Blair Walz 6-0 So 7.7 2.2
F 40 Crystal Kemal 6-0 So 10.3 2.2
F 44 Quinn Harrington 5-8 So 10.3 2.2
F 24 Lela Mengus 5-6 Jr 2.9 2.3
F 44 Aqanta Burran 5-8 So 10.3 2.3
Top Reserves
G 23 Erica Hallman 5-8 Fr 8.7 1.7
F 33 Nichole Roberts 5-8 Fr 4.2 1.7
F 30 Stacey Backer 5-8 So 4.2 1.7
BAYLOR (16-8)
P No. Player Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
G 32 Dory Jeancky 5-5 Fr 5.4 1.4
G 10 Jessica Simmon 5-10 Jr 3.4 1.7
G 45 Stephanie Blackmon 6-2 So 17.3
G 32 Sophia Young 6-1 Fr 12.4 1.9
F 44 Stasia Richards 5-11 Sr 6.5 3.9
Top Reserves
F 32 Dionne Royce 5-0 So 10.2 5.8
G 27 Melanie Humery 5-0 So 5.6 2.5
F 42 Malene Humery 5-0 So 7.1 3.3
Robertson told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "We had one player tonight. The other night (against Texas Tech), we had five or six players. We had one
player tonight."
Kansas was in a better mood after its 62-58 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night. The Jayhawks improved their conference record to 3-9 and moved into ninth place in the Big 12. A victory over Baylor would move the Jayhawks within one game of the Bears as both teams look to move up the conference ladder going into the Big 12 tournament. Kansas coach Marian Washington said despite the road victory, Baylor would pose a challenge to her team.
"It's tough to win on the road." Washington said. "We're going to face another team that's going to be relentless on the boards."
Oklahoma
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- Edited by Amber Byarlay
The teams do have one statistical category in common — scoring margin, Kansas and Oklahoma rank first and second in conference, respectively, proving that both methods, while dissimilar, are effective.
game.
With the Jayhawks and Sooners occupying opposite ends of basketball ideology, Kansas hopes the addition of 255 pounds to its lineup will shift the scales in its favor. Sophomore forward Wayne Simien returned to action in full force after sitting on the bench for 11 games with a dislocated shoulder. Despite playing through obvious pain, he scored 21 points and ripped down $^{13}$
rebounds in Wednesday's 94-87 victory against Colorado.
Simien's return could signal a bright future for the Jayhawks, coach Roy Williams said Wednesday.
"Our team can be really, really good if Wayne comes back healthy and Jeff Graves plays like he did in stretches," Williams said.
— Edited by Christy Dendurent
Baylor CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
either Erica or Leila," Washing-ton said, "It'll be a good thing I think."
the shooting guard position puts less of an emphasis on her being a vocal leader and pushes her to unveil her natural shooting ability more often.
Burras saw more time running the point on Wednesday than in any game so far this year. She responded with 12 points, three assists and five steals.
On the inside, freshman forward Tamara Ransburg will be looking for her third consecutive double-double. Last Saturday against Missouri, Ransburg recorded 19 points and 15 rebounds, then followed it up with 10 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday. Ransburg said
For Hallman, the new role at
the key to her performance was staying out of foul trouble, which she has improved lately.
Along with freshman forward Crystal Kemp (6-foot-2), Ransburg (6-foot-4) will look to take advantage of Baylor's starting lineup that features no one taller than 6-foot-2.
Washington's quest toward career victory No.551 tips off at 2:05 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
Edited by Christy Dendurent
Baseball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
in the team's last nine games.
"It is great winning for coach Price," Metcalf said. "He is getting everything that we need to be successful. He has bent over backwards to turn this program around, and it is nice to get him some wins under his belt."
Besides Metcalf, the Jayhawks will look to senior Casey Spanish and juniors Matt Tribble and Ryan Baty to continue their hot hitting. Tribble and Baty have both recorded a hit in each of Kansas' first 12 games. Spanish has come on strong as of late, hitting safely
"We had a good week of practice this week," Metcalf said. "We have just been working on fundamentals and staying focused for 27 outs. We are looking forward to playing at home again, and hopefully we can continue our good play."
Juniors Chris Smart, Brandon Johnson and Ryan Knippschild will also see time out of the
Price said he would stick with the same lineup that he used last weekend in Louisiana. He will send senior Kevin Wheeler to the pitcher's mound for the first game and junior Josh Duran and senior Pat Holmes will follow.
butpen. The pitching staff is a big reason for the Jayhawks early season success, Price said.
"We knew in the beginning of the year that we lacked a true power pitcher," Price said. "So we put together a staff that is mostly left handers. All three of our starters this weekend are lefties who throw a lot of breaking balls. Then we have Johnson and Smart who are righties, followed by Knippschild, another lefty. We feel like we have put together a staff that is confusing and difficult to hit against."
Edited by Ryan Wood
Money
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
among the different teams based on a formula that incorporates team participation and the
school's percentage of female athletes.
The higher a team's postseason participation level and the higher the percentage of female athletes,the more money the school would receive.
The Big 12 money is separated by fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30.
For example, Oklahoma would receive a large portion of the money for going to the men's
and women's basketball final four and participating in a major bowl game.
Other teams would profit from Kansas' postseason basketball success as well.
This was the second straight
year the Big 12 sent eight teams to bowl games.
In 2000-2001, the Big 12 also had two teams in the Bowl Championship Series. Nebraska played in the Rose Bowl against Miami, and Colorado
played Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Big 12 made about $27 million for its bowl efforts.
- Edited by Amber Byarlay