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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansas looks to live up to expectations with young team
STELLA LIANG
sliang@kansan.com
The team is young, but the expectations are high for the Kansas women's basketball.
"The expectation would be to win," Bunny Williams, a junior forward from Duncaville, Texas, said. "Personally, I want to do better than what we did last year and in the past two years. Just win and work hard."
With five freshmen on the squad and only two returning starters, the team is looking for an identity while also looking to live up to the expectations that come along with back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances.
Senior guard CeCe Harper attempts to steal the ball from a West Virginia player in a game on Feb. 9.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson, now
"We want to come in and continue to go off of what they've started here."
The team has not chosen captains yet, but Natalie Knight, a junior guard from Olathe, is expected to fill one of those leadership roles. Knight, who started the first 19 games of the season last year, is returning from an ACL tear in her right knee that sidelined her for the rest of the
DYLAN GONZALEX Freshman guard
"Natalie does everything the right way," Henrickson said. "From a lead-by-example standpoint, Natalie is spot on."
Knight was leading the country in to-turnover ratio at the time
or her injury last year. While she is still not back to the level of play she wants to be, Henrickson said Knight's mind is in a good place and will return to pre-injury form soon. Knight continues to rehab her knee, but says she will be ready for the first game.
Junior forward Chelsea Gardner is the other returning starter. Gardner averaged 8.8 points and 6.9 rebounds a game last year. She is expected to take on a bigger role in the post, and might become one of the top post players in the league.
Other players who can influence and be leaders are senior guard Cece Harper, junior guard Asia Boyd and Williams. Henrickson top players
said she expects the leadership to be by committee from the upper-classmen on the team.
Leadership will be important in mentoring the team's freshmen. The newcomers include twins Dakota and Dylan Gonzalez, guards from Pocatello, Idaho. The Gonzalez twins, who were both three-star recruits, come to Kansas with many high school accolades. Dylan was a 2013 McDonald's All-American nominee.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
"We want to come in and continue to go off of what they've started here," Dylan said.
"They have a great foundation and a great team. Everybody wants to work hard and compete with each other."
Dvlan and Dakota's mom played
at Kansas and was an All-American honorable mention during her time on the team. The twins had plenty of Kansas gear at home and often attended games at Allen Fieldhouse growing up.
The Jayhaws also added freshman forward Jada Brown from Las Vegas to the team.
Henrickson said Brown has speed and quickness and has a knack for
pulling down offensive rebounds.
"We are not looking at the big picture right now and are just trying to win every day."
Brown said, "If we do that and put the pieces together, we'll be fine."
Freshman guard Keyla Morgan from Rancho Dominguez, Calif., can get to the rim, and has impressed with her ability to shoot pull-up jumpers. Henrickson said
freshman forward Caelynn Manning-Allen has been the most improved so far. She is strong and can shoot and run
The Jayhawks look to put the pieces together and continue its success.
"For us to have had the success these last two years, it's been nothing but a positive for us," Henrickson said. "We continue to present it as a positive from an expectations
standpoint.
That junior class has done nothing but go to two Sweet Sixteens. That's all they know. That's a really good thing."
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks to lean on returning starters to compete in league
BRIAN HILLIX
bhillix@kansan.com
After losing its three leading scorers from last season, Kansas will lean on its returners to compete against the top teams in the country and in the Big 12, which Coach Bonnie Henrickson refers to as the "best league in America."
Forward Carolyn Davis and guard Angel Goodrich, who both graduated last season, together averaged nearly 30 points a game and were forces on both offense and defense. Davis led the team averaging 15.8 points per game with Goodrich averaging 14.1 points per game. Guard
Monica Engelman ranked third
on the team with 9.9 points a game.
Goodrich is Kansas' all-time leader in assists and was a finalist for the
the program's history to notch 1800 points and 700 rebounds.
Lieberman award that recognizes the best point guards in the country. She led the Big 12 last year with 3 steals per game and ranked second in assists. She now plays in the WNAB for the Tulsa Shock.
Four players in particular will be
Davis ranked 8th
"I've worked on being more vocal, and I know I can't be afraid to speak up in certain situations."
Davis ranked nationally in field goal percentage with 55.4 and set a Kansas record with a 61.8 career field goal percentage. She is one of four players in
ticular will be counted on to lead the team and fill the void
NATALIE KNIGHT Junior guard
Junior forward Chelsea Garden stepped into the national spotlight as a freshman in the 2012
NCAA Tournament after replacing Davis, who tore her ACL in February and was out for the season. She led the team in rebounds during the
NCAA Tournament that year averaging 11 per game.
With Davis back in action the next season, Gardner averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 2012. While she will be called upon to score and rebound more, Gardner didn't place all of the emphasis on improving statistics.
"Ive worked on being more of a leader and stepping up to the plate and communicating," Gardner said. Gardner led the team in rebounds last season.
Helping Garner down low will be $6^{4}$ freshman forward Caelynn Manning-Allen. While Manning-Allen doesn't have the strong post game Davis was known for, her jump shot will give the lajwhawks a better chance to spread the floor.
"She shoots a 15-foot jump shot as well as any 6'4" freshman I've ever had" Henrickson said.
Junior guard Natalie Knight, coming off ACL surgery in which she missed the second half of the sea.
son, returns as the focal point of the team.
Capable of knocking down the open three and playing lockdown defense, Knight will also take on more of a leadership role than in her first two years.
"I've worked on being more vocal, and I know I can't be afraid to speak up in certain situations," Knight said.
While she plays at a different style and pace than Goodrich, Knight is the best on the team at protecting the ball.
"She's not going to turn the ball over," Henrickson said. "She's going to take care of the ball and run a good half-court offense."
Before going down with an injury, Knight was among the best in the country in assist-to-
turnover ratio. Midway through February, Knight had totaled just 13 turnovers while averaging around 35 minutes a game.
Henrickson believes sophomore
guard Lamaria Cole is ready to step in and take on a bigger role, too.
"What she brings to the table is unmatched speed and quickness that Angel had," Henrickson said. Henrickson noted that sometimes her speed can work against her.
"It can be an asset," Henrickson said. "But it can be a detriment because she exceeds her speed limit at times and is forced to make a bad decision."
Kansas isn't the only team losing its scoring punch from last season.
Baylor and Iowa State, who finished first and second in the Big 12 last season, each lost two of their leading scorers. Most notably, the Associated Press Player of the Year Brittney Griner will be gone, making it easier for all opponents to score in the paint.
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
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