SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Monday, January 25, 1993 9 Women's team struggles in Oklahoma By Jay Williams Kansan sportswriter STILLWATER, Okla — The Kansas women's basketball team gave the game away early, took it back, then gave it away again, losing to Oklahoma State 56-54 yesterday. After trailing by 13 points in the first half, the Jawahras took a seven-point lead with 5.09 remaining in the game, but could not hold on for the victory. Turnovers cost the Jayhaws once again. Kansas made 29 in the game, the crucial ones coming as Kansas tried to protect its slim lead. "I thought we played excellent except for the final three minutes," said Kansas coach Marian Washington. The No. 22 Cowgirls applied a full-court press that forced four Kansas turnovers in two minutes as Oklahoma State tied the game at 53. The Jayhawks could muster only one free throw in the final 3:05. "We've got to handle pressure better than we did," Washington said. Freshman guard Charise Sampson was fouled and made one of two free throws to give Kansas a 54-53 lead with 1:22 remaining. Sophomore Angela Aycock had a chance to win the game, but her three-point attempt with four seconds left was long, and the Cowgirls recovered as time expired. Kansas is now 3-3 in the Big Eight Conference and 10-6 overall. The Jayhawks could do nothing right early in the first half, going scorerless for the first three and a-half innings, before 10-2 with 13-42 remaining in the half. The Cowgirls' 1-1-3 match-up zone disrupted the Jahawks' half-court game and forced them into poor shots. Even when the Jahawks had good shot attempts, they missed. Cowgirl freshman forward Stacy Coffey led Oklahoma State's defensive assault, harassing the Kansas passing lanes. Coffey, who set a Kansas opponent's record with 11 steals, started the Cowgirls' early defensive dominance on the first play of the game by blocking Sampson's layup attempt after the opening tip-off. The Oklahoma State offense performed in sharp contrast to the floundering Jayhawks. The Cowgirls fed center Lisa McGill inside for easy shots as the senior center scored 10 of her team's first 15 points. "We got off to a great start," said Oklahoma State coach Dick Halterman. "Our shots were falling, and we were executing well." shots. The Jahavahks trailed 20-8 with 9:55 left in the first half, but outscored the Cowgirls 13-3 in a seven-minute span to pull within two. Kansas did come back when it start ed to work the ball inside for easier Senior guard Shannon kite made a three-pointer that closed the gap to two points. She finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-8 from beyond the three-point line. "A lot of it was determination," Kite said of the comeback. "We realized that we needed to come together, plus our shots started to fall." Kansas also clawed back in the game, thanks to its defense. The Jay hawks switched to a zone defense, which kept McGill scoreless in the final 12 minutes of the period. Aycock took the Jawahyers with 16 points. Lisa Tate led the team with 14 rebounds. Kansas showed the poise it had lacked against Oklahoma State in the second half of Friday's 70-64 victory against Oklahoma. second half, but a pesky Sooner team never allowed Kansas to take complete control of the game. Sooner forward Angi Guffy's haytied the game at 44 with 14:37 remaining. The Jayhawks never trailed in the Kansas guard Erika Muncy stole the ball on the Sooner's next possession, and Sampson converted two free throws to put the Jayhawks ahead for good. Senior guard Jo Jo Witerspoon's two free throws with 548 remaining gave the Jayhawks a nine point lead. Witerspoon, who had seen limited action this season, helped Kansas with eight of her 12 points coming in the second half. Oklahoma cut the deficit to four points with 37 seconds remaining. Leathers made two free throws, and on the final possession, the Jayhawks played a perfect game of keep away, preventing Oklahoma from fouling to stop the clock. "Jo do really sparked us," Washington said. Oklahoma St. 56 Kansas 54 KANSAS (10-6, 3-3) PLAYER tgm/fga ftm/fa 47 Ayronk 6.16 4.7 16 Baird 16 14 14 Tate 3.5 2.3 8 Sampson 3.12 1.2 8 Others 2.7 1.8 8 Kite 4.10 0.0 11 Witershoff 0.2 0.0 10 Muncy 0.0 0.0 0 Yarmen 1.2 1.2 0 TOTALS 20.57 9.14 54 OKLAHOMA ST. (16-2, 4-0) Jayhawks stomp on Buffaloes in Boulder Coffey 316 1.3 8 Scales 1.7 2.4 McGill 6.9 5.10 17 Gill 6.9 5.10 17 Briley 4.14 5.6 15 Jackson 0.5 2.5 2 Lee 0.1 0.1 0 Mahn 0.0 4.4 4 Brayley 1.1 4.4 4 **TOTALS** 17-60 19-32 56 Haftime Okhamaa 51, Krawan 24, 3-point team Okhamaa 51, Krawan 18, Kampmann 3, 7-point team Okhamaa 51, Krawan 16, Kampmann 3, 7-point team Blythe 2, Cleyfe 16, York 0,1) Rebounds Kamara 44 (tape 34, Tahama 56, Hine 6) Akela 39, Krawan 24, Tahama 56, Jackson 7) Assists 54 (tape 5, Oikawa 2), Okhaamaa 5, 6 (teach 2), Total fouls 23, Kawasaki 24 Long Beach next up for Jayhawks By David Dorsey Kansan sportswriter BOULDER, Colo. — The Kansas men's basketball team returns to Allen Field House tonight after upholding its No.1 ranking Saturday against Colorado. The Jayhawks defeated the Buffaloes 82-51 in Boulder, Colo. and will tip off against Long Beach State at 7 tonight. Long Beach State, ranked 25th in the nation, lost last Monday to University of California-Santa Barbara and Saturday to Virginia Commonwealth. The 48ers will try to improve on their 13-3 record against 16-1 Kansas. Dan Schauer / KANSAN The Jayhawks defeated Long Beach State 66-60 last season in California. Kansas coach Roy Williams said he expected a tough 49er squad. Source: Kansas Sports Information What Williams enjoyed was a 31-point victory on the road against the Buffaloz that gave the Jayhawks a 4-0 Big Eight Conference record. Colorado dropped to 8-7 overall and 0-3 in the conference. "It's a good team." Williams said after the Colorado game. "It'll be a challenge for us to come back home because a lot of people are saying we'll have a let down. But for right now I'm going to enjoy this one." The game started close until Kansas pulled ahead 29-20. Then Colorado sophomore guard Donnie Boyce led a 10-10 run that put the Buffaloes ahead and threw the soldout crowd of 11,199 into a frenzy. Kansas senior guard Rex Walters quieted the crowd when he spotted up and made an open three-pointer which gave the Jayhawks a 32-30 lead. Boyce and Walters guarded one another for much of the game. Boyce finished with a game-high 26 points while Walters scored 21 during a heated, trash-talking battle. "That's just a challenge." Walters said about the words exchanged. "And I should a challenge. Donnie is a scorer, and he's a lot better athletically than ever will be. Colorado will be a good team because of him." Junior forward Richard Scott also had 21 points for the Jayhawks. Scott, who sat on the bench for most of the first half after getting his third foul, erupted in the second half and scored more points than the entire Colorado team. Scott had 19 points in the second half, while Colorado scored just 18. "He was almost like a man possessed in the second half," Williams said. Scott said that he was mad at himself after picking up his third foul, but he didn't let the trouble get to him. "I guess I was just playing too hard," he said. "I wasn't frustrated at all because I knew I was going to get another chance to get in the game, and I knew my teammates were going to pick up the slack." Junior forward Darrin Hancock scored nine points in the first half. He made a highlight-film slam dunk in the second half and finished with 11 points. With the Jayhawks ahead by nine, junior forward Patrick Ricyole stole the ball from senior forward Randy Robinson, the fastbreak, then fed the incoming Hancock. Robinson wrapped his arms around Hancock just as the Kansas newcomer slammed the ball, forcing him to hang onto the rim. Although Hancock did not convert the free throw, the Jayhawks led 51-40 and coasted to the victory. The Jayhawks ride a seven-game winning streak into tonight's game that includes a reunion between Kansas senior guard Adonis Jordan and Long Beach State senior guard Lucious Harris, the 49ers' leading Kansas 82, Colorado 51 KANSAS (16-1, 4-0) TEAM fgm/taa ftm/taa tp Hannock 1-9 1-9 12 Scott 9-10 1-9 11 Pauley 3-10 1-2 7 Walters 7-10 1-5 21 Jordan 1-6 0-0 2 Brayery 1-2 0-0 4 Woodberry 2-3 0-0 4 Rayford 0-0 0-0 0 Ostertag 0-4 0-0 8 Gurley 1-4 0-0 3 Gurley 1-1 0-0 2 TOTALS 34-57 12-15 82 COLORADO (B-7, 0-3) Robinson 4-14 1-2 10 Allen 2-3 0-0 4 Hodges 4-9 2-2 10 Hefty 0-0 0-0 0 Boyce 9-17 7-10 26 Oglett 0-2 1.2 1 Golgart -3-3 0-0 1 Terrell 0-1 0-0 0 TOTALS 19-49 11-16 81 Hattie Kansas 37, Colorado 39. 3 pts. Blackwater 28, Washoe 24, Jordan 2, Pearson 1, Ojibwe 0, Nebraska Kansas 37 (Prairie 6), Gogert 0, Nebraska Kansas 37 (Prairie 6), Gogert 0, Woodbury 5, Colorado 22 (Hogerty 6), Bovey 5, Woodbury 22, Colorado 18 (Bovey 5), Telfair 6, Woodbury 16, Colorado 18. Attendance 11.199 scorer. Harris and Jordan played in the same backcourt at Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda, Calif. In last season's game, Jordan scored 11 points while Harris scored 24, but Jordan said he would focus on winning rather than outplaying his formermate. "I will do what I have to do to help our team win, and he'll do what he has to do to help his team win," Jordan said. "That's the bottom line." Junior forward Richard Scott, who scored 20 points against Australia Gold Coast, scored 21 against Colorado Saturday. Paul Kotz / KANANB faul Kotz / KANSAN Swimmer makes progress in freestyle New teammates opponents provide needed competition By Matt Doyle Kansan sportswriter Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempf admits that he did not do a good job of training swimmer Dan Querciagrossa during his freshman year. Junior Dan Querciogrossa takes a breath as he practices for his freestyle events. He is the reigning Big Eight champion in the 1,650-yd freestyle. "It took a while for us to meet the needs of each other," Kempf said. "He is better trained now than he was as a freshman and is on the way to a great year." Quercigrosa, a junior, has progressed a lot since his freshman season. He placed fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle at the Big Eight Conference championships in his first year. However, he rebounded last year to set the Big Eight meet record in the 1,650 with a winning time of 15.25.30 Quercigrossa acknowledges that he has come a long way in the last three years. The 1,600 freestyle is an event that is swam only at invitational and championship meets. Querciagrossa has swum the event only three times this year, but stays conditioned for it by swimming the 500- and 1,000-freestyle events in dual meets and swimming longer distances in practice. "The one thing I struggled with my freshman year was swimming fast at dual meets," he said. "This year, I have been faster than I have ever been at this point of the season." He tries to pace himself during the course of the race so that he has enough speed and stamina for the finish. "At the start I want to get out fast, but without taking too much effort and tiring yourself out," he said. "I try to build on the start throughout the middle part of the race and try to come home as strong as I can at the end." His best performances of the year came Jan. 8 and 9 in Minnesota. He placed third in the 1,000 freestyle against Minnesota with a time of 9:32.61 and then posted a second place finish at the Gold Coast Invitational in the 1,650 with a time of 16:01.28. Freshman teammate Ryan Lowe bested Querciagrossa in both of those races. The presence of Lowe and teammates B.J. Walker and Julio Cuarez should provide stiff compe tion for Querciagossa in the 1,650 this year. Kempf believes that his four swimmers will be challenged by the Nebraska trio of sophomore Doug Humphrey, junior Justin Switzer and freshman Jason Miller in this event at the Big Eight Championships, March 4-6. "Dan's the defending champion, so I'd give him the inside track." Kempf said. "But he will be pushed." Five track athletes win events at invite By Blake Spurney Kansan sportswriter Five Kansas track athletes won their events Saturday at the KSU Wildcat invitational in Manhattan Leading the way was Natalya Shafer who placed first in the 55 and 200-meter dashes with times of 7.16 and 25.9. She is undefeated in both events after two meets this season. "I don't think anyone was expecting an outstanding performance," she said. "I didn't expect going in to do well," Evers said. "I was more Junior Cheryl Evers threw a personal best of 48-1% to win the shot put. All-American MaryBeth Labosky won the high jump with a leap of 5-10. She said the meet was mainly a tuneup for the KU-KSU MU TRIangular next weekend in Manhattan. relaxed, so I threw farther." Teresa Sherman Reichert finished second to Evers with a throw of 47-6, also a career best. Reichert's husband, Michael, won the men's shot at 51-1 %, and teammate Brian Hollands placed for Kansas with a throw of 49-10. The other winner on the men's team was junior Harun Hazim. He leapt past the competition in the long jump with a mark of 23,8, almost one-and-a-half feet better than the second-place performer. Labosky said that most of Kansas' middle and long distance runners did not compete because they still were recovering from last fall's cross country season. "I'm a little concerned because we have a number of people that haven't been able to compete this year," he said.