Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
JAYHAWKS TRY TO GO 6-0 AGAINST BIG12
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Kansas will take on Colorado Saturday afternoon. GAME DAY 18B
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
IDOL, SUPER BOWL AND SNACK TIME
Athletes discuss their favorite things in the Gridlock. GRIDLOCK 1 2B
COMMENTARY
HOT HAND WHEN IT COUNTS
Hawks look promising with many returners
The KU softball team isn't lacking experience on its roster. It returns eight of
nine starters and five seniors. The Jayhawks are not at a lack of talent either, and that talent is reflected in the senior class.
The Jayhawks return a pitcher in senior Valerie George, who led most of the pitching categories last year. They return a big bat in senior third baseman Val Chapple, who led the team in home runs and RBIs. They also return one of the Big 12's top hitters in senior outfielder Dougie McCaulley, who hit .375 last spring.
McCaulley knows that there is a lot of chemistry between the seniors and that they have a chance to do something special this year.
"We all mesh together really well," McCaulley said.
She said each player has her own strength that contributes to making a good overall team.
McCaulley said that she is slightly sad to know it is her last season, but that she would do her best to benefit the team in her final season.
"I'm generally kind of a silent leader on the field and try and lead more by action." McCaulley said.
She said she is not one to lead by words though.
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It won't be a cakewalk for the Jayhawks this season. In their first three tournaments the team will face six ranked opponents. McCaulley said the team is excited about this, though.
"We have a really great schedule playing a lot of top notch teams." McCauley said.
The Big 12 competition will be tough too, but McCaulley said the team is still very optimistic about the season.
"We know potentially we could have the best year KU softball has ever seen." McCaulley said.
When you look at the talent, there is no reason Kansas can't compete. The only prime player the layhawks lost from last season is Betsy Wilson. McCaulley said the number of players coming back got a lot of players pumped for this season.
"It's really exciting knowing that you have all this camaraderie coming back," McCaulley said.
On top of the starters returning, senior catcher Elle Potterfif is coming back from injury this season, which could be a big plus for the Jayhawk lineup. McCaulley said that out of all of the seniors Potterfif had been around the longest and probably knew the program better than any of her fellow seniors.
“To be honest, I want to be an All-American more than anything.” McCaulley said. She knows her role on the team is important too. “Mainly, my goal is to just be a leader for my team and contribute to my part.” McCaulley said.
McCauley is keeping her own personal goals high as well.
With McCaulley and the rest of the senior class leading the way the high hopes for the Kansas softball team are warranted. Don't be surprised if the Jayhawks wind up in the College Softball World Series later this spring.
Edited by Liz Schubauer
Weston White/KANSAN
Sophmore guard Tyrrell Reed puts up his second of two three pointers during the second half against Nebraska Wednesday night. Reed has recently picked up a habit of sinking threes when he teammates need to him most.
A new Mr. Clutch?
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
They're ahead of an opponent late in the game, but are struggling to put them away. Then, sophomore guard Tyrel Reed checks in and everything changes.
Reed swishes a few three-pointers — sometimes it only takes one — and Kansas coasts the rest of the way. After the game, Kansas coach Bill Self says Reed made the biggest shot of the game. But Reed wants no credit. He praises his teammates.
The situation has become routine for the lavihawks.
He made two in a row this time. In less than a minute, Reed changed the score from Nebraska 50, Kansas 48 to Kansas 54, Nebraska 50, Kansas never trailed
"They found me open," Reed says. "Fortunately, I knocked them down."
It happened again in Wednesday night's 68-62 victory against Nebraska. For the third time in the last four games, Reed's three-pointers sparked Kansas.
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The Jayhawks will once again look to Reed if they need a crucial three-pointer in Saturday's 3 p.m. game against Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse. Reed, who is averaging 7.5 points per game and shooting 39.7 percent from the three-point line, said he doesn't feel the pressure when that situation arises.
"I know there are points in a game where a shot can turn the tide of things," Reed said. "I try not to think about that and just be ready to shoot at all times."
again.
But his shots seem to fall more frequently when the game is winding down. Take Kansas' first game
against Colorado, a 73-56 victory at the Coors Events Center two weeks ago, for example.
Reed played poorly in the first half of the game. He missed his two three-point attempts and also committed a turnover. The Jayhawks continued to toy with the Buffaloes in the second half and had not yet established a double-digit lead with 10 minutes remaining.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 7B
In the next three minutes, Reed converted on three three-pointers. Game over.
"He's a shooter," junior guard Sherron Collins said. "What's what they do. He just shoots the ball and doesn't worry about everything else."
Self said Reed understood his role on the team was to make threes. The fact that Reed recognizes his purpose makes him somewhat of a rarity among the young layhawks.
Self has spent the majority of the season trying to work young
TENNIS
Busy weekend kicks off season
BY JUSTIN HILLEY jhilley@kansan.com
The Jayhawk tennis team will begin the spring season with a trio of matches this weekend at First Serve Tennis in Lawrence.
At 11 a.m. Saturday the players will confront Texas-El Paso, a squad KU has not played since 1987. After concluding the fall season in October, Kansas has had plenty of time to prepare.
"We had conditioning practice when we went home. We ran a lot and practiced," junior Kunigunda "Kuni" Dorn said. "So we will be ready for these three matches."
Exactly twenty-four hours after the start of the match against UTEP, Kansas will occupy the court opposite Drake University, from Des Moines, Iowa. The Jayhawks pounded the Bulldogs 4-1 in dual match play in 2007, but unlike the Jayhawks who have four freshmen this year, the Bulldogs have ten returning letter-winners. Kansas coach Amy Hall-Holt remains pragmatic.
"The freshmen right now have no concept of what the spring consists of, except for what we've told them about" she said. "So they're just going in like 'I just gotta play and win.' They are still in individual mode."
The spring tennis season is played using a dual match system in which the scoring is team-based, as opposed to the fall where the players compete
matches
Saturday, 11 a.m.
— University of Texas-Ell Paso
Sunday, 11 a.m. — Drake University
Sunday, 4 p.m. — Saint Louis University
All three matches will be played in Lawrence at First Serve Tennis, 5200 Clinton Pkwy.
individually in tournaments. The format is squad versus squad instead of athlete versus athlete.
"It's a good weekend to start off, to get those freshmen in. When we see three teams in one weekend, it is really tough You usually don't play three matches in a weekend. We are getting them out there to see what they need to do and what we're talking about," Hall-Holt said.
Kansas' top fall singles player, sophomore Maria Martinez, who finished 7-3, said that the freshmen are in good shape. The spring is different, but they'll get used to it.
The atypical weekend concludes across the net from Saint Louis University at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Jayhaws shut out the Billikens 7-0 in February last year; Edina Horvath, Budapest,
SEE TENNIS ON PAGE 7B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Junior guard Kelly kohn feels the pressure from a Texas Tech defender during a Jan. 17 game in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawk will need Kohn to help them from deep if they want to beat A&T A&M Saturday.
A hundred threes just for practice
BY JAYSON JENKS
jienks@kansan.com
At the beginning of the season, without the pressures and responsibilities of conference play, junior guard Kelly Kohn and sophomore forward Nicollette Smith positioned themselves behind the three-point line with one purpose: make 100 shots.
But, as the season wore on and practices became more rigorously focused, Kansas' threepoint sharp shooters' attentions turned from simply shooting to, say, scouting reports on an upcoming opponent.
That Kansas' percentage has dipped 15 percent since conference play started serves as an example.
"When we were shooting so well, we had the time in the offseason to get in the gym and consistently make 100 threes every day," Kohn said. "And that just gets kind of tough as you get in to conference season."
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Check Kansan.com for expanded women's basketball content at the Courtside blog and The Give and Go podcast.
This week, though, Kohn and Smith are once again finding time for shooting. With Kansas in the midst of a bye week before traveling to Texas A&M on Saturday, Kohn and Smith again set goals to make 100 three-pointers before and after practice.
(
Each day this week, the two have grabbed their respective position coaches and shot three after three. The coaches, in turn, critique and offer advice on technical details such as form or release points.
"We have to have good rhythm
SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 7B