THE UNIVERSITY OF DARTY KANSAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008
SPORTS
3B
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior guard Danielle McCray stretches out to get a finger tip block on a San Jose State shot. McCray led the layhawks with 20 points and two blocks in a 93-49 win over San Jose State, moving to 7-0 on the season
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Junior shakes past slump
Kohn returns to freshman form with hard work and better health
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
During July and August, junior guard Kelly Kohn grabbed anyone willing and walked the one block from her home in Adrian, Mich., to the gym at Adrian College.
Inside, Kohn and her designated rebounder of the day launched shot after shot — 100 three-pointers, 100 free throws.
"I was in the gym every single day," Kohn said. "The point was to feel comfortable and confident with my shot."
"It just snowballed," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
After an impressive freshman season during which she averaged 9.8 points per game and led Kansas in minutes played. Kohn suffered from injuries and confidence issues in her sophomore year.
She missed five games with an ankle injury last year, while her points per game dipped to three.
Kohn returned to Adrian with two purposes. First, she wanted to gain confidence with her new shooting technique. When Kohn arrived at Kansas as a freshman, Henrickson said, she pushed the ball instead of snapping her wrist and following through.
Last season, however, Kohn started just four games, playing primarily as a reserve.
"When we got back to workouts in the fall you could tell she worked on it," Henrickson said. "It looked smooth."
But the Jayhawks noticed another change in Kohn. As a freshman, Kohn started all 31 games and added three assists.
With 11:35 left in the first half,
"Having to transition from starting to coming off the bench, that's hard for anyone who plays in college and is used to starting." Kohn
said. "It's definitely a different feeling."
In the gym at Adrian College, though, Kohn pieced the two together and embraced her role off the bench. The results were on display against San Jose State Thursday.
"When we got back to workouts in the fall you could tell she worked on it. It looked smooth."
BONNIE HENRICKSON Kansas coach
in the first hat,
Kohn provided a spark
for the Kansas
offense.
It wasn't that the Jayhawks werestruggling before Kohn pulled up for a free-throw line jumper—actually, they held an 8-2 lead. Offensively, however
Kansas lacked any sort of consistency.
KANSAS BOX SCORE
<table border="1"><tr><td>Player</td><td>FG-FGA</td><td>3FG-3FG</td><td>Rebs</td><td>A</td><td>Pts</td></tr><tr><td>Smith, Nicollette</td><td>0-7</td><td>0-2</td><td>7</td><td>2</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Weddington,Porscha6-7</td><td>0-0</td><td>4</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td>Jacobs,LaChelda</td><td>3-4</td><td>0-0</td><td>5</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>McCray,Danielle</td><td>7-10</td><td>2-4</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Morris,Sade</td><td>5-10</td><td>3-4</td><td>7</td><td>3</td><td>15</td></tr><tr><td>Sutherland,Aishah0-1</td><td>0-0</td><td>4</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Kohn,Kelly</td><td>5-7</td><td>4-5</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>15</td></tr><tr><td>Catic,Ivana</td><td>2-2</td><td>0-0</td><td>2</td><td>9</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Zinic,Maria</td><td>1-3</td><td>0-0</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Smith,Katie</td><td>1-1</td><td>1-1</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Feickert,Rebecca</td><td>4-5</td><td>0-1</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Team</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Totals</td><td>34-57</td><td>10-17</td><td>48</td><td>27</td><td>93</td></tr></table>
SAN JOSE STATE BOX SCORE
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FG Rebs A Pts
Ridge, Shaunna 3-7 1-2 4 0 9
Broaden, Myesha 3-7 0-0 2 0 6
Shavers, Chasity 1-12 0-2 5 0 6
Sumler, Sayja 0-3 0-0 1 3 0
White, Natalie 3-13 0-6 3 1 10
Brown, Ashley 2-7 0-0 1 4 4
Edinburgh, Aumornal1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Colbe, Monique 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Calcagno, Christina 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Hamilton, Dominique 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Blair, Kelly 4-10 3-7 4 1 12
Malicevic, Zlata 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team
Totals 17-61 4-17 28 9 49
That Kohn's made basket kickstarted the Jayhawks' scoring is fitting. Kohn finished the game with 15 points, made four of five three-pointers and even grabbed five rebounds.
"That's what great teams do," junior Danielle McCray said. "If someone isn't on, someone else steps up."
"Even when I didn't want to go my parents were like, 'We're going to the gym. Let's go.'" Kohn said.
Last night, though, Kohn's play resembled that of her freshman year, thanks in large part to those who worked with her during the summer.
True, San Jose State isn't a top tier team, but facing similarly skilled opponents in St. Louis and New Orleans, Kohn combined for just three points off the bench.
"I might send them a little thank you note."
— Edited by Adam Mowder
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins' Jordan Staal, left, and Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams (11) battle for the puck during the first period of game in Raleigh, N.C. yesterday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pittsburgh takes down a struggling Carolina team
BY JOEDY MCCREARY ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Pittsburgh Penguins found a simple way to hold on to a lead, for a change: Play a team that's having trouble scoring — no matter who its coach is.
Paul Maurice's second stint coaching the slumping Hurricanes.
Pascal Dupuis scored an early goal and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin added two assists, even as his league lead over Crosby dwindled to two.
Petr Sykora scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had four assists and the Penguins routed Carolina 5-2 Thursday night to spoil the start of
"We wee it to each other to play the right way," Crosby said about Malkin and the scoring race.
One night after blowing a 2-0 lead in a shootout loss to the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers, Pittsburgh led 3-0
less than 2 minutes into the second period and never let Carolina get closer than two goals after that.
"It would have been easy to be frustrated, because we probably deserved better" against the Rangers, Crosby said. "We expected (Carolina) to come out strong with a new coach and everything like that. We knew they'd be motivated. I think it was important to weather the storm."
play most of his time at small forward. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar currently starts at the position, although his natural spot is shooting guard.
Little will add immediate depth to a team that is playing five freshmen regularly. Rivals.com rated Little as the top junior-college recruit in the country last year.
MEN'S BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
might be his defensive intensity.
He averaged just fewer than 13 points per game and five rebounds during the trip to Canada. Little, however, said his greatest strength
"Hopefully, now I can contribute to the team's success," Little said.
- Edited by Kelsey Hayes