SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, March 17, 1993
11
Hot'Hawks to open tournament at home
Stephen Pingry / KANSAN
Coach Marian Washington, right, discusses the Jayhawks' preparations for the NCAA Tournament. Washington and sophomore forward Alana Slatter talked about tonight's game against California at a news conference yesterday. Tipoff is at 7:30 at Allen Field House.
Depth could help Kansas in first round
By Jay Williams
Kansan sportswriter
Tonight's matchup between the Kansas and California women's basketball teams will showcase two squads that both coaches say will mirror each other.
The two will clash at 7:30 tonight in Allen Field House in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The teams expect a fast-paced game with the Jayhawks and the Golden Bears looking to run.
Both teams share another characteristic: few people expected to see either team in the NCAA Tournament. California was picked to finish eight in a preseason poll of Pacific 10 Conference coaches.
The Jayhawks were once 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference and looked like they were going nowhere. Late in the conference season, Kansas went on a roll, winning seven games in a row and 10 of its last 11.
The Kansas substitutes are averaging 26.3 points a game and 35 points a game during the team's current winning streak. The Kansas bench scored 44 when the Jayhawks upset then-No. 6 Colorado 81-78 in double overtime at the Big Eight Women's Basketball Tournament.
"It could be very important if it's an un-tempo game," she said.
Kite, sophomore forward Alana Slatter and freshman guard Charisse Sampson contribute the bulk of the Jayhawks' bench scoring. They combined to average 33.3 points a game at the conference tournament.
"We have the depth," senior guard Shannon Kite said. "We can go 10 dee if necessary."
But it's the differences that could make the difference tonight, and the Jayhawks think they may have the edge in one important area — more productive substitutes.
All five California starters average more than 28 minutes. California coach Gooch Foster said her team had been playing eight players for significant minutes. The California bench averages 12.3 points a game.
Despite their lack of depth, the Golden Bears plan to run with the Jayhawks. Foster said.
Kansas coach Marian Washington said that her team's depth could be a critical factor in tonight's game.
"We don't know any other way," she said. "At this point of the season, you can't get tired."
Kansas and California feature players who are considered in the elite of their respective conferences
Senior guard Milica Vakadinovic leads the Golden Beans' charge. The All-Pac 10 performer, averaging 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists a game, has been called by some West Coast coaches the female equivalent of Magic Johnson. The 6-foot-1 point guard said she tried to keep the comparisons at a distance.
Kansas answers with its scoring leader, first team all-conference forward Angela Aycock. Aycock earned Most Valuable Player honors at the conference tournament averaging 19.7 points and 9 rebounds during the tournament.
I just trying to focus on my game and how I want to play. "Ukadinovic said. "I'm not too worried about what other coaches and the media say."
It is difficult to stop a player of Aycock's quality, Foster said.
"You want to make them work for
everything and prevent them from having one of those special nights," she said.
Kansas senior guard Jo Ko Witherpoon, originally from Los Angeles, watched many Pac-10 games growing up in California. She said it would be different playing against a Pac-10 school because the Jayhawks had not faced a Pac-10 team since last January when they lost to Arizona State.
Washington said the way the officials called the game could be a factor in the final outcome.
"In the Pac-10, they are known to be very physical in their play," Wither-spoon said.
Tonight will be Kansas' first NCAA Tournament game at home since 1988, when the Jayhawks defeated Middle Tennessee State 81-75.
- The winning team will travel to Nashville, Tenn., and play No. 1 Vanderbilt in the second round.
"It's important to get a sense of how the officials call it early," she said.
Both teams appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament. Kansas lost in the first round to Southwest Missouri State 75-50 in Springfield, Mo.
California lost to Santa Clara in the first round 73-71 in Berkeley, Calif.
NOTES:
Source: Kansas and California sports information departments
PLAYER'S COLUMN
ALANASLATTER
The season came to an abrupt, yet exciting end. The win-loss records were tallied, and Colorado prevailed.
The Buffaloes were seeded first in the Big Eight Conference Tournament. The Lady dawhaskes were seeded second in the Oklahoma State third.
If you followed this past 1992.93 regular season, you would have noticed a strong conference with several top contenders. The season was full of glorious victories and unfortunate upsets. But as it has always been said, "It's all part of the game."
The Lady Jayhawks have experienced their share of expected and unexpected ups and downs. We opened our season with a loss to Minnesota, but we still managed the streak that was traumatized twaing lost streak in mid-season.
What exactly was the problem?
No leadership.
No leadership.
That major problem was soon solved. The entire team stepped up its play. This provided Kansas with much needed confidence, and it all came at the perfect moment — just in time for the Big Eight Tournament.
We came into the tournament fearless and confident. We knew we had nothing to lose because we were not expected to make it farther than the first round, much less capture the title.
However, we swept through the tournament defeating Missouri, then 6th-ranked Colorado, and then 20th-ranked Nebraska. It turned out to be one of the most exciting tournaments vet.
It also led to our second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. None of this would have been accomplished without the support of coaches, friends, family, faculty and teammates.
Most importantly, a special thank you needs to be given to Jackie Martin, a former Lady Jayhawk and lifetime friend, who made the Jayhawks desire to succeed stronger.
Alana Slater is a Dallas sophomore major ing in business.
COACH'S LETTER
MARIAN WASHINGTON
We are thrilled to be playing host to California at 7:30 tonight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. While we look at this as an opportunity to showcase our team, it also will serve as an opportunity for the University to show how it supports Kansas athletics.
We feel very honored to be one of only 14 teams to have both our men's and women's basketball teams invited to their respective NCAA Tournaments. We believe that this is a testament to the hard work put in by both teams and coaching staffs. Best of luck to Coach Williams and the team! We hope to see all of you tonight in Alley Field House.
Marian Washington Women's basketball coach
Kansas rewrites record books in 36-2 victory
By Brady Prauser
Kansan sportswriter
It was not football, but the record breaking 36 runs scored by the Kansas baseball team yesterday in its rout of Northwest Missouri resembled that sport.
The Bearcats managed just two runs.
Six touchdowns
Five Kansas single-game records were shattered and two were tied, including the record for most runs scored by a Kansas team in one game. The old record, one of the longest standing in the history of Kansas athletics, was set in 1899 when the Jayhawks scored 31 runs against Haskell.
"bamaus junior starting pitcher Chris Corn raised his record to 2-0, and the Jayhawks improved to 11-4. The game, originally scheduled for nine innings, was shortened to seven because of the score.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham said his players were focused yesterday.
"They came to have a good time, and they did," Bingham said.
Beninghoff hit two doubles, a grand slam home run and a two-run home run en route to driving in nine runs, the new school record for single-game RBI. He broke senior catcher Jeff Niemeyer's record of 8 RBI set in 1991.
Junior designated hitter Joel Beninghoff might have had the best time of any Jayhawk.
This season Beninghoff is 11-for-19 with three doubles, two triples and five home runs, giving him a .578 batting average.
"It feels great," Benninghoff said about the record. "Niemier is a great guy to follow. I've been watching him since I got here."
As a team, Kansas broke single- game records for:
Runs batted in (34, breaking the
1991 record of 27).
Hits (33, breaking the 1991 record of 30).
Home runs (6, breaking the 1988 record of 5).
With six doubles in 55 at bats, the Jayhawks tied school records in both of those categories.
Senior right fielder Rory Tarquino said the explosive performance was gratifying because of Kansas' disappointing offensive output last week end against Iowa. In the second game of a doubleheader, Kansas lost 9-5 to the Hawkesey.
It was the Jayhawks' first home loss and snapped a seven-game winning streak.
"It was good to come out and hammer these guys," Tarquino said. "That was our objective, to beat them bad every inning."
Tarquinio was four-for-four at the plate, with three singles, a double, two RBI and five runs scored.
Bingham also said he was pleased by the way Kansas bounced back after the Iowa series.
"What I was most happy about was the way we went after them in the first inning," Bingham said. "Our plan was to get their starter out and into the bullpen."
The plan worked.
The parade
Northwest Missouri starting pitcher Jeffery Stein lasted just one-third of the first inning. The Jayhawks batted 20 times, scoring 16 runs on 12 hits in that inning.
The Bearcats used six different pitchers in the game, and 11 Kansas players had two or more hits.
needs the home runs hit by Benninghoff and Tarquinio, senior second baseman Jeff Berlinger, junior center fielder Darryl Monroe and senior first baseman John Wuycheck homered.
Kansas plays host to Emporia State at 3 p.m. today.
Irene Lanier / KANSAN
Kansas freshman second baseman Brian Turney makes a play against Northwest Missouri. The Jayhawks beat the Bearcats 36-2 yesterday.