2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EDITION APRIL 2, 2008
FRIDAY.APRIL 3.2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Normally, when we have a lot of people we normally don't have a lot of students. It was cool that they were waving their hands during the foul shots just like the guy's games. It felt like going to a guy's game and being one of the guys out there playing."
- Danielle McCray following Kansas'
75-72 victory against Illinois State
FACT OF DAY
If junior forward Danielle McCray scores more than five points against South Florida on Saturday, she will register the fourth most points in a season in Kansas history. She has scored 753 points this season. Lynette Woodard currently holds the top-four slots.
Kansas Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Who holds the Kansas record for most three-point field goals made in a single season?
A: Danielle McCray. The junior forward has converted 77-of-180 attempts this season to set a new school record. The previous record of 69 in one season was set by Angie Halbleib in 1996.
-KU Athletics
NFL
Bears trade for Cutler; pick up free agent Pace
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos have agreed to trade disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.
The Broncos announced the deal Thursday and said terms would be disclosed later. It wasn't immediately known if Denver got any players in return or just draft picks.
The Broncos were trading Cutler on his terms and there was no shortage of teams lining up to take a crack at acquiring the 25-year-old Pro Bowl passer.
Cutler had asked for a trade last month after his relationship with new coach Josh McDaniels soured. McDaniels had talked to other teams about trading his rocket-armed passer.
Chicago also signed former St. Louis Rams tackle Orlando Pace to a three-year deal. Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, was released by the Rams in March.
Associated Press
15 predictions for the coming season
COMMENTARY
At most schools basketball season is over. It ends the minute the team gets knocked out of its postseason tournament and no one cares anymore.
Not in Lawrence, Plenty of talk still surrounds the Jayhawks. Everyone is interested in the future. That's part of what makes Kansas so special. To join in on the fun, here are 15 Kansas basketball related predictions
1. Sherron Collins stays. He never really gets that close to declaring for the NBA Draft.
Collins' draft stock — he's the No.
49 prospect according to ESPN.com's Chad Ford — isn't high enough to think about it.
2. Cole Aldrich stays. His littlenation with the NBA Draft gets a little more serious than Collins. But Aldrich enjoys the college experience and has enough to improve on that he will be back.
3. Remember the Sports Illustrated cover before the 2006-2007 season with Julian Wright and Mario Chalmer's? Yeah, expect a similar one next November with Collins and Aldrich. The Jayhawks will be the preseason No. 1 team in America.
4. In 2015, Sherron Collins' jersey is retired. Collins only has to wait Bill Self's minimum five years before the ceremony and he will be the first player on the 2008 national championship team to receive the honor.
5. While we're on the subject of looking too far ahead, here's the earliest possible 2010 Final Four prediction: Kansas, Duke, Texas and Villanova in Indianapolis.
6. Xavier Henry winds up at Kansas. He's been Kansas' top target all along and Self won't miss a second chance at the 6-foot-5 guard from Oklahoma City.
7. Lance Stephenson winds up somewhere else. Maybe not even Maryland or St. John's. The kid is unpredictable. John Calipari could stage a late courting at Kentucky if he misses out on Henry.
8. John Wall winds up at Baylor. Don't forget, the Bears hired Dwon Clifton, Wall's AAU coach, as an assistant coach. Clifton can use the Calipari situation as a diversion to once again sell Wall on Waco, Texas.
9. Pundits start mentioning Bill Self's name with the vacant Oklahoma City Thunder coaching job at the end of the NBA season. A chance to go home for Self. Tons of young talent on the roster. And, no chance. Self is not going anywhere.
10. Behind the direction of coach Mike Anderson, Missouri returns the Border Showdown basketball rivalry to relevance for the next 10 years.
11. Behind the direction of coach Frank Martin, Kansas State keeps the Sunflower Showdown basketball rivalry irrelevant for the next 10 years.
12, Jayhawk assistant coach Joe Dooley is hired as a head coach somewhere within the next three years. He was already listed on Virginia Commonwealth's short list this season before it hired Florida assistant coach Shaka Smart Thursday.
13. Either sophomore Travis
Releford or freshman Eljiah Johnson takes a redshirt next season. One of those two will likely be the seventh guard option — the same position Brady Morningstar was in during the 2007-2008 season when he sat out.
14. Former lajayhawk Mario Chalmers plays his best basketball in the NBA playoffs in a couple of weeks. Along with Dwyane Wade, Chalmers leads the Miami Heat to a first round upset against whomever they play.
15. Until Late Night in the Phog in six months you will have at least one conversation about each of the previous 14 topics. It's Kansas. That's what happens.
— Edited by Chris Hickerson
SOFTBALL
Bunge one victory from 400 for career
BY TOM POWERS
tpowers@kansan.com
Junior pitcher Sarah Blair and senior catcher Eileot Potter talk to softball coach Tracy Bunge during a March 7 game against Northern Iowa University.
KANSAS VS.
TEXASTECH
Two-game series
Lubbock, Texas
Game 1
2 p.m., Saturday
Kansas softball coach Tracy Bunge needs one more win to reach a career milestone of 400 victories. The Jayhawks will travel down to Lubbock, Texas to play a pair of games against Texas Tech this weekend — with that milestone in sight. Since her first game on February 15th, 1997, an 8-0 victory over Illinois-Chicago, Bunge has become the all-time winningest coach in Kansas softball history. During her tenure, the Jayhawks have reached the NCAA regions four times and have won the Big 12 postseason championship once, in 2006.
Game 2
Noon, Sunday
No game is guaranteed in any sport, but the layhawks have a prime opportunity to get their coach a couple of victories over the weekend. The Red Raiders currently reside in the basement of the Big 12, with a conference record of 1-6 and an overall
"It's not about me, it's about the girls," said coach Bunge. "We need to continue to step forward and win ball games. To be honest, I didn't even know about the record."
record of 11-28 and the Jayhawks come into this weekend's series riding an eleven-game winning streak against the team.
The Texas Tech offense is led by senior Liz Firman who has 44 hits and a .379 average this season. On the other side of the ball, though, the Red Raiders have been less than stellar. Defensively, Texas Tech has accumulated 49 errors, second most in the Big 12. The Red Raider pitchers have a staff ERA of 4.79 and have given up 315 hits on the way to 178 earned runs.
At 11-20 overall, 1-3 in confer-
ence and 4-4 against the ESPN/
USA Softball Top 25, Kansas hopes to ride the momentum from their walk-off victory over No.11 Missouri into the games against Texas Tech.
"The win against Missouri was a big boost for our team confidence," Bunge said. "I sound like a broken record, but we need to continue getting timely hitting, quality defense and solid pitching."
Val Chapple leads the Jayhawk
offense, posting a .354 average and .400 on base percentage, as well as recently being recognized by the Big 12 as an exemplary student athlete. Kansas ace Valerie George leads the pitching staff with 111 innings pitches and 121 strikeouts, after racking up 18 in her last two appearances.
Edited by Chris Hickerson
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Women's Tennis
Baylor, 6 p.m.
Waco, Texas
Baseball
Baylor, 6 p.m.
Lawrence
SATURDAY
Women's Basketball
South Florida,
1 p.m.
Lawrence
Baseball Baylor, 2 p.m. Lawrence
Softball Texas Tech, 2 p.m. Lubbock, Texas
Women's Soccer
Marquette, TBA
St. Louis, Mo.
Women's Rowing Texas, TBA Kansas City, Kan.
Track
Arizona
Invitational, All Day
Tucson, Ariz.
Women's Soccer
Saint Louis, TBA
St. Louis, Mo.
SUNDAY
Tennis Texas Tech, 11 a.m.
Lubbock, Texas
Softball Texas Tech, Noon Lubbock, Texas
Baseball
Baylor, 1 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's Golf
Susie Maxwell
Berning Classic,
All Day
Norman, Okla.
Women's Golf
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Baseball
lowa, 6 p.m.
lowa City, lowa
WOMEN'S GOLF
Jayhawks to face Big 12 opponents in Oklahoma
BY HALLIE MANN
hmann@kansan.com
The Kansas women's golf team will finally have the opportunity to face off against some Big 12 opponents this weekend at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla. Junior Meghan Gockel said she was looking forward to facing off with some familiar opponents and thought the team would finish well at this tournament.
"I think we can finish in the top
After a brief and tough tournament in Georgia last weekend, the team is prepared for a good tournament, said Gockel. Four weeks ago, the team took the title at the Duramed Collegiate Classic with Gockel taking the individual title as well. Gockel said the team tries not to be result-oriented but felt confident about their level of play for Oklahoma.
three at this tournament," Gockel said. "That would be a pretty respectable finish for us."
"We try to take it shot by shot
The layhawks will play against Baylor, Kansas State and Qklahoma at the tournament. Baylor took the first place title at the Cincinnati Invitational last weekend. Kansas State took 14th and Oklahoma took 17th in the Mountain View Classic last weekend. Junior Emily Powers said that Kansas has played against these three teams before.
"This should be familiar for all of us," Powers said. "All of us have played against these girls and on this course before."
and just add it up at the end." Gockel said.
With the Big 12 tournament only three weeks away the team will try to get in as many rounds as possible said Coach Erin O'Neil. O'Neil said this will be a good matchup for the team and said she thought they would do well against these Big 12 teams. The tournament will be held at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course,
"We're out there before the sun comes up and we play until after dark," Gockel said. "We've all developed the endurance to do this so we should do well."
Kansas will send five golfers to the tournament: juniors Powers and Gockel, and sophomores Meghna Bal, Grace Thiry and Sydney Wilson.
This will be a two-day tournament with 36 holes on Sunday and 18 holes on Monday. Play will begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday. Gockel said this was a normal format for the players even though it was scheduled for a Sunday and Monday, and that they should be able to handle the all-day play on Sunday.
which is a par 72 course.
"This is a very playable course and the girls can score well on it," O'Neil said.
— Edited by Liz Schubauer
NOW ACCEPTING BEAK-EM BUCKS!!!
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