THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009
SPORTS
11C
WOMEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 10C)
Freshman forward Aishah Sutherland fights to make a shot against Nebraska. Sutherland scored 12 points and snagged 8 rebounds in the 70-57 victory for the Javhawks.
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
- Christian Lucero
game while tallying 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Each of those averages were among the top three on the team. The Cyclones will also rely on 6-foot-1 junior guard Kelsey Bolte from Ida Grove, Iowa. Bolte scored 9.4 points per game last season and led the team in free-throw shooting at .867.
COLORADO (11-18, 3-13)
Guard LaChelida Jacobs, then a junior, shuffles with a Colorado guard on defense in a game last season. Jacobs had one steal and five assists in the Jayhawks 65-54 victory.
Vs. Kansas: Jan. 27, 6 p.m., Lawrence; Feb. 16, 7 p.m., Boulder, Colo.
Key losses: G/F Hannah Skilldum, C Kara Richards
Key newcomers: G Chucky Jeffery, C Melissa MacFarlane
Ryan Waqqoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Colorado Buffaloes enter the 2009-2010 season with a lot of star power among their returners and optimism about their recruiting class. Boulder will be the playground of Brittany Spears, 6-foot-1 junior from Pasadena, Calif. Spears led Colorado in minutes, field goals made and attempted, rebounds, steals and points and will be relied upon again to lead this young recruiting class headlined by Chucky Jeffery and Melissa MacFarlane. Alyssa Fressle, 5-foot-10 sophomore guard from Highlands Ranch, Colo., will be looked to for experience as well as production, coming off a season in which she started 27 games while averaging 5.3 points per game. Fressle also lead the team in assists with 99 in the season.
— Christian Lucero
MISSOURI (13-17, 4-12)
Vs. Kansas: Jan. 17, 1 p.m., Lawrence; Jan. 30, 5 p.m., Lawrence
Missouri is looking to rebound from a forgettable 2008-2009 season where it finished 11th in the Big 12. The Tigers struggled to put the ball in the basket, averaging a Big 12 low of 60.6 points per game, as well as finishing last in field goal, free throw and three-point shooting percentages.
Key losses: G Alyssa Hollins
Key newcomers: G Sydney Crafton, G Trenee Thornton
Losing leading scorer, Alyssa Hollins, won't help out the offensive woes in Columbia, but the Tigers do return every other player from last season's roster. With Hollins gone, coach Cindy
Stein will look to upperclassmen Jessra Johnson, Shakara Jones, and RaeShara Brown to build on their successful 2008-2009 campaigns. With the addition of two freshmen guards to the backcourt, Missouri hopes to further bolster its production on the offensive end, which will be essential if it hopes to contend for a Big 12 title.
Ben Ward
KANSAS STATE (25-8,10-6)
Vs. Kansas: Jan. 9, 11 a.m., Lawrence; Feb. 7, 1 p.m., Lawrence
Key losses: G Shalee Lehning,
F Marlies Gipson, G/F Danielle
Zanotti
should see their scoring opportunities increase further. Sweat finished fourth in scoring in the Big 12 with 16.5 points per game. Only two players averaged more playing time than Kincaid.
But for as much as Sweat and Kincaid can put on their shoulders this season, the Wildcats are picked to finish eighth in the 2009-10 Big 12 preseason coaches' poll. This would be an uncharacteristic drop for a team that has been in the top tier of the conference for a while. Kansas State missed out on the Big 12 title game last season by 25.3 seconds and won the championship in the 2007-08 season.
Key returners: F Ashley Sweat,
G Kari Kaicda
With three of Kansas State's starting five missing — including Lehning, who led the Big 12 in assists with 229 (7.63 per game) and led the Wildcats in rebounds — senior forward Ashley Sweat and senior guard Kari Kincaid
Stephen Montemayor
TEXAS A&M (27-8,11-5)
Last year the Aggies couldn't
Key returners: G/F Tanisha Smith, Gydney Colson
Key losses: G Takia Starks,
G/F Danielle Gant, C La Toya
Micheaux
Vs. Kansas: March 6, 7 p.m.
Lawrence
— Stephen Montemayor
convert a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament into a Final Four berth as their season ended in a 84-69 loss to Arizona State. Baylor needed a clutch shot in the closing 30 seconds of the Big 12 title game to stop Texas A&M from claiming the conference crown and the Aggies should contend again.
Selected fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, the Aggies return Smith, whose 10.6 points per game were good for third on the team. She will be expected to lead a Texas A&M squad devoid of Starks and Gant, a pair of players who played in and started all of the team's 35 games.
BAYLOR (29-6,12-4)
Vs. Kansas: Feb. 28, 4 p.m.
Waco, Texas
Key losses: C Danielle Wilson, G/F Jessica Morrow, J Ghasim Player, F Rachel Allison
Key returners: G Melissa Jones, G Kelli Griffin
The 2008-09 Big 12 champions appear primed for a successful title defense despite a sizeable loss of key contributors — at least that's the opinion of conference coaches. In junior guards Jones and Griffin, the Lady Bears have a pair of players who led in scoring for all three NCAA tournament games. Jones is the team's highest returning scorer with the four
other leading scorers gone. Griffin saw the third most minutes on the court and the team can use all the experience it can get.
The team's leading scorer Danielle Wilson opted not to return for a senior season after a knee injury in February cut short her 2008-09 season. With her goes 15.1 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game (also a team high). Jhasmin Player, whose heroics won the Big 12 title in March, and Jessica Morrow also are missing from the roster one year after starting all but one game and finishing in the top two in minutes played.
Stephen Montemayor
What do you think? BY DANA MEREDITH
COURTNEY HOLLE
Maryville sophomore
"My favorite part is getting a camp
ing group together and camping
the week before the game."
Ballwin, Mo., junior
"I like the very beginning video because it pumps up the crowd and makes me happy to be a Jayhawk"
What is your favorite basketball tradition?
ALEX JORAWSKY Overland Park senior "Throwing ripped up Kansans on everyone"
RYAN MOULDER Leawood sophomore "Singing the Rock Chalk Chant after we win the game."
PAT SWANSON
White Bear Lake, Minn., sophomore
"I like the pregame video best. It
gives you chills."
PAIGE MATHIAS Kansas City, Mo., senior "like the intro video. It gets people pumped up."
Major in communications.
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