SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Fridav. Januarv 28.1994
11
Kansas prepares for Colorado, Missouri
William Aiix / KANSAN
Kansas senior guard Steve Woodberry prepares to drive against Oklahoma State junior guard Randy Rutherford. Woodberry made the game winning three-pointer Wednesday night against the Cowboys. The Jayhaws play tomorrow at Colorado.
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
When the Kansas men's basketball team plays Colorado tomorrow, it will be the Jayhawks' longest Big Eight Conference road trip.
Combine that with the Jayhawks' game against No. 24 Missouri on Monday night in Columbia, Mo., and it makes for a difficult weekend, Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
No. 3 Kansas will enter Boulder, Colo., at 18-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while Colorado is seventh in the conference at 9-7 and 1-3.
The game will be televised on Raycom Network at 1 p.m. CST.
Williams said back-to-back road games were not an excuse for his team to let down. Missouri was in the same situation last weekend when it played at Oklahoma State on Saturday and at Nebraska two days later. The Tigers won both games.
Although Williams never likes to look to future games, he had to look ahead to plan the team's practices.
"The only reason I know we're playing Colorado and Missouri is because I looked down the schedule." Williams said. "Missouri and Kansas are the only teams in the Big Eight that have this kind of schedule."
"It really hurt Missouri," Williams said sarcastically. "They went on the road and beat Nebraska."
The Tigers are first in the conference at 5-0.
Kansas will play a Colorado team that has gone through changes during the past few weeks. Colorado coach Joe Harrington lost freshman guard Dameon Page on Jan. 4 because of personal reasons, but Williams said the Buffaloais might have benefited from it.
"They've lost some players, but it was good for them." he said. "Some players wanted more playing time and left the team. But the guys that are playing are the ones that should be."
Kansas faces a premier conference player in Colorado junior guard Donnie Boyce, who averages 20.1 points and 4.3 assists a game. As a sophomore, Boyce averaged 28 points in the two games against Kansas, including a 30-point performance at Allen Field House.
Williams said Boyce's play and Colorado's experience would be tough against Kansas.
"Donnie is back at the point, and I think that's helped them," Williams said. "The experience factor is huge. They have six or seven players that have started and they're good."
Harrington said Boyce elevated his game against Kansas. Boyce dueloed with former Jayhawk Rex Walters in last year's games and is the fifth leading scorer in the conference this year. He is also in the top 10 in four conference statistical categories.
"I just think he likes playing against those nationally-ranked teams," Harrington said. "He really likes those Big Eight teams. He enjoys the challenge. It seemed that way going against Rex Walters last year."
Kansas senior guard Steve Woodberry likely will cover Boyce. Against Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Woodberry won the game on a last-second three-pointer in overtime, but his defense was impressive as well.
On one play, Oklahoma State senior guard Brooks Thompson moved around low picks for what he thought was an uncontested three-pointer. He didn't count on Woodberry, who fought around Cowboys just in time to swipe the ball away.
"You look at the numbers and it looks like three-pointers dominated," Williams said. "I'd like to think that defense dominated the game."
Colorado is riding the momentum from its 86-81 upset victory of Nebraska on Jan. 19. The Buffaloes ended the Cornhuskers' 11-game winning streak and improved Colorado's record to 1-3 in the conference. It was an even bigger accomplishment, considering Nebraska had defeated Colorado by 39 points two weeks earlier.
Talent, top-ranked players integral to women's tennis
Harrington said the blowout was good for his team because Colorado started to play harder.
"We had a long meeting after the loss," he said. "It was about keeping our heads into it the whole season. It was like a wake up call for us."
Kansan sportswriter
By Matt Siegel
Some coaches complain about not having enough talent on their team. Not so with Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher.
The No. 15 Kansas women's tennis team opens match play at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Alvamar Racquet Club against Utah, which is 1-2 this season.
"We've got a lot of horses," Merzbach said. "We've got five studs on this team. The other spot is a question mark but all of our freshmen have a lot of talent."
One of the players that Merzbacher is counting on is senior Mindy Weiner. Weiner enters the season playing in the top spot for the Jayhawks and is ranked No. 35 in the nation. She finished the fall season with a 15-4 singles record.
Joining Weiner will be juniors Nora Koves and two-time All-American Rebecca Jensen, who are nationally ranked No. 10 in doubles, and seniors Kim Rodgers and Abby Woods, who are ranked No. 15 in doubles.
Merzbacher said that the sixth spot was still up for grabs and would go to one of the incoming freshmen: Chessa Bierl, Heather Heidel, Bianca Kirchhof or Amy Trytek.
Woods and Rodgers ended the fall season on a high note by winning the Central Regional Rolex Championship. Woods said that the reason why she was successful in doubles was because of her familiarity with
Rodgers.
"It's almost to the point where we know exactly where the other one is going to hit the ball," Woods said. "I think when you have two strong, tall girls, constantly attacking the net and attacking the opponent, it gets tiring for an opponent to constantly have to come up with great passing shots and try to figure out how to break us down."
As for singles play, Weiner, who won the Central Regional Rolex singles championship against her teammate Rodgers, said she already had fulfilled some of her goals.
"I'll always remember winning the Big Eight Championship," said Weiner, who transferred from Clemson to Kansas in 1992. "When I played at Clemson, there was no way we were ever going to win the ACC Championship because Duke was always a top-five team in the country. No matter what I do the rest of my life, I can always look at my ring and remember that I was part of the Big Eight Championship."
The Jayhawks have made two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament and won the Big Eight Conference title and tournament last season.
The Utes, who finished third in the Western Athletic Conference last season, are led by senior Rebecca Smith.
Merzbacher is confident about the Jayhawks chances to repeat as conference champions.
"I think barring injuries we should be the pick to win it," he said.
Kansas faces improved K-State
Bv Matt Siegel
Kansas sportswriter
The last time the Kansas and Kansas State women's basketball teams faced each other was an experience that the WIldcats would rather forget. Kansas pounded the Wildcats, 77-45 on Feb. 28 last year in Allen Field House.
Kansas went on to win the Big Eight Conference Tournament and secure a NCAA tournament berth. Meanwhile, K-State muddled through a 1-13 conference record and finished 10-17 overall.
The rematch is here.
The No. 7 Kansas women's basketball team plays K-State at 2 p.m. Sunday in Allen Field House.
"We're still trying to overhaul a situation that wasn't positive from last season," Kansas State coach Brian Agler said. "We're still trying to build a foundation. Kansas has that foundation and they are building upon it. Kansas is more advanced than us."
"The team is doing a good job getting the ball to them," Agler said. "Even though it might not show up on the stat line, it has been a key to our
Last weekend against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Decamp and Stires combined for 92 points in two K-State victories. Decamp is the top scorer in the conference and second in the nation in three-point field goals made, averaging almost four a game. Either DeCamp or Stires has led the Wildcats in scoring every game.
Although in the building phase, behind the solid play of Shawdwn DeCamp and Shanele Stires, the Wildcats are 3-3 in the conference and 7-7 overall. DecCamp and Stires are both averaging more than 20 points per game in conference play.
success."
Kansas coach Marian Washington said that in order for the Jayhawks to be successful they would need to limit turnovers, keep the pace up-tempo and contain Decamp and Stires.
"They are two great players, so you are only going to limit them to so many." Washington said. "We have to force them to work hard for what they get."
The Kansas defense leads the league in field goal percentage defense and is ranked sixth nationally, limiting the opposition to 35.3 percent shooting. The defense is largely responsible for a 10-game winning streak that has Kansas sitting on top of the conference with a 6-0 record.
"I think that one of our main strengths as a team is that we don't have necessarily one player." Washington said. "We have had a lot of players do a lot of nice things throughout the season and that is what I've really enjoyed about the ballclub."
The Wildcats are 0-5 on the road this season. Kansas is undefeated at home this season and is averaging more than 81 points per game compared to K-State's 61.7.
Agler said that even if K-State played well, he didn't know if it would be enough to defeat the Javahwks.
"They do so many things so well," Alger said. "They are so talented, smart, and well-coached. Kansas is as talented as any team in the country."
Heather Lofflin / KANSAN
Kansas freshman guard Tameka Dixon goes for a lay at against OSU. Kansas plays K-State Sunday at upa.
Colorado, coach want to forget season's earlier incidents
BOULDER, Colo. — Joe Harrington senses an improved chemistry on the part of his team, a formula that may finally percolate into more victories if he couldn't impel his foe first.
The Associated Press
The season has been a volatile one for the beleaguered Colorado men's basketball team, with lagging attendance and several incidents of coach-player friction, including the dismissal of a promising freshman. Fans and the media have criticized the lack of progress, aiming their barbs at Harrington, who is in the fourth year of a
five-year contract as head coach.
He insists the program is headed in the right direction and that success is just around the corner. And he refuses to be deterred by his detractors, especially the media.
But Harrington, given unwavering support by athletic director Bill Marolt, vows to stay the course.
"I've never experienced anything like this as a head coach," Harrington said Wednesday in an interview. "Now that I've gone through it, I'm kind of immune to it. I used to read everything written about our team; now I read hardly anything."
On paper the Buffaloes, 9-7, don't look so troubled. They've won three of their last four games. Although two of the victories were over a Cal St.-Northridge team that was distracted by earthquake trauma back home and over a Cal St.-Sacramento team with one victory, the other victory was a resounding 86-81 decision over a Nebraska team that had punched the Buffaloes by 39 points just 11 days earlier in Lincoln.
"The win over Nebraska meant a lot," Harrington said. "It gave our kids the positive feedback they've needed."
The Big Eight, however, has been a graveyard for Colorado teams over the last several seasons. For Harrington — whose previous Colorado teams have progressively declined from 19-14 to 13-15 to 10-17 — another losing season appears likely.
Harrington, however, insists the Buffaloes are just one or two players shy of being a solid contender.
"I think our chemistry has improved since then," Harrington said. "Basically, our players understand their roles and really like each other. Early this season, I felt we were standing still. The past month, I finally feel like
The Buffaloes lost two of their top five leading scorers earlier this year. Freshman Mack Tuck was declared academically ineligible for the second semester, although Harrington says he would welcome him back. Then, on Jan. 5, redshirt freshman Dameon Page was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons.
"I know we can recruit those players," he said. "Some of the players we've just missed signing have gone on to have great careers at other schools. Somebody is going to come here and be that one player that turns
it around for us."
Marolt agrees.
"We hired Joe 3 L/2 years ago with the idea it would be a long-term commitment," Marolt said. "We're a young team with five first-year players and only one senior. It takes time to develop a team, and we're going to give him time."
we're moving forward."
Harrington expects a packed house on Saturday when his team entertains No. 3 kansas. "That place will be rocking, it will be a big-time college atmosphere," he said. "We have to give our fans a reason to keep coming back, and I think we will."