PAGE 10
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Junior forward Tania Jackson defends Idaho State senior forward Ashleigh Vella during the second half of the match against the Idaho State Bengals at Allen Fieldhouse yesterday afternoon. Jackson had six points with seven rebounds, and Kansas defeated Idaho, 52-36.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Catherine (Bunny) Williams drives the ball against Idaho State senior forward Ashleigh Vella during the first half of the match against the Idaho State Bengals at Allen Fieldhouse yesterday afternoon. Williams had three points and four rebounds.
Jayhawks win despite poor shooting performance
NATHAN FORDYCE
nfordyce@kansan.com
They say a win is a win, and that's all that matters.
And on Sunday evening, the Kansas women's basketball team might have just proved that statement right. The Jayhawks beat the Idaho State Bengals 52-36 in their opening game of the season in Allen Fieldhouse.
Throughout the game, there appeared to be some kind of lid over the basket. The Jayhawks shot just 30.8 percent on a 20-of-65 shooting performance.
"Good news, we won," coach
Bonnie Henrickson said. "The bad news, I'm certain it's going to look a let worse on film than live, and it looked real bad out there."
It wasn't just on the first try that the Jayhawks couldn't find the net; they couldn't convert the second, third and sometimes the fourth shot. either.
The Jayhawks had 22 offensive rebounds, a statistic that normally puts points on the scoreboard.
"Typically, your first shot is a 30 percent shot, second shot is a 60 percent shot and your third shot is an 80 percent shot," Henrickson said. "Not today, that stuck at 30, second and third one."
For the shots that did fall, seniors Carolyn Davis and Monica Engelman led the Jayhawks with 10 points each. Engelman pointed out that the subpar shooting was related this game being the first of the season.
"You kind of get the jitters and are uptight a little bit," Engelman said.
Davis had an efficient game as she had got her 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She also grabbed eight rebounds in just 18 minutes of playing time.
Henrickson said Davis could have played longer, despite doctors recommending 20 minutes over
the course of the game. However, since the Jayhawks' lead had grown in the second half, there was no point in making her play more than what she did.
Davis, who is coming off an ACL injury from a year ago, has continued to look better every day. And Henrickson said that Sunday's game was good for Davis.
"Everyday is progress with her, and it's good for her," Henrickson said. "They tried to shove her around a little bit, and that's going to happen to her."
The physical play of Idaho State is something that senior point guard Angel Goodrich, who had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, four rebounds and three assists, looks at as a good way to open the season.
"They were feisty, and we needed to see that," Goodrich said. "It only makes us better on being able to see what we need to do to improve on our weaknesses and get better at."
Knight had seven points, two rebounds and two assists on the evening. Sophomore forward Chelsea Gardner had six points and nine rebounds coming off the bench. Also, junior forward Tania Jackson added six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
But even with the stat sheet stuffed, particularly in the rebounding category — Kansas out-rebounded Idaho State 51-39 — Henrickson wasn't pleased with the rebounding, especially out of the guards.
"We didn't get any effort or toughness," Henrickson said. "It's easy to get one when there is no one around you, but how about you go and get one in traffic. Then you're a really good rebounder and we didn't have enough of that."
The Jayhawks held the Bengals to 11 points in the first half on 5-of-27 shooting. The 11 points in the first half were the lowest ever by a team Henrickson has coached. Also, the 36 points allowed was the sixth fewest given up in Kansas
Sophomore guard Natalie
history.
But Henrickson is quick to point out it wasn't all because of the javhawk defense.
"Idaho State struggled, and at times, it was because of us, and other times, it wasn't because of us," Henrickson said. "I was impressed that they came in here and said, 'I don't what league you play in. We don't care how many games you won or that you're ranked or not.' They came in here, and they were physical and tried to push us around."
The bad shooting day by the Jayhawks doesn't faze Henrickson, because she knows the team is capable of performing at a much higher level in future games.
"We know we're better than that,
Henrickson said. "We know we can
play better than that. It's a game
that's going to help us, and we can
grow from that."
- Edited by Nikki Wentling
Cross country teams finish season at Midwest Regional
The Kansas cross country season ended on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, despite great performances from freshmen Gabe Gonzalez and Hanna Richardson.
ANDREW MORRIS
amorris@kansan.com
Although it was a strong season, both teams missed qualifying for the national meet after failing to earn an automatic bid or earning one of the at-large bids.
CROSS COUNTRY
The men's team finished outside of the automatic qualifying spots for Nationals, but the team, led by Gonzalez, finished sixth at the championships Friday.
Gonzalez finished the 10K race in
24th place with a time of 30:58.76.
This finish earned Gonzalez United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region honors, the first ever for a Kansas freshman under the current regional format.
"The men's strength all season has been our close distance from one to seven, and I think that showed today," coach Stanley Redwine said. "It was Gabe's turn to be the leader today, and I thought he turned in a really solid race."
The top five Kansas runners finished within 37 seconds of Gonzalez, including senior Donny Wasinger, who finished in 35th place. Wasinger, from Winona, Minnesota, has been consistent all year; he is the only one to be among the team's top-two finishers in every race this season.
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The race was run at a slow pace making for a large lead pack during the first half. Sophomores James Wilson and Reid Buchanan helped to round out a large contingent of Jayhawks in the lead pack until Gonzalez used a late kick to pass his teammates for Kansas' top finish. The men's team finished with 194 points, its best score at a regional event since 2007.
The women's team was led by senior Kathleen Thompson, who finished the women's 6K race in 12:55.73 for a 47th place finish. Kansas' Richardson finished just four seconds behind Thompson for a 54th place finish.
"It was a good race for Kathleen today," Redwine said. "She went out and did the things that we told her she needed to do."
Richardson's successful first year with the Jayhawks continued on Friday as she became the first freshman since 1997 to finish a regional meet among the team's top-two finishers. The Jayhawks finished with 367 points to finish in 13th of 31 teams.
"As a team, we didn't have the quality of depth to contend with some of the top, but our future is definitely premising," Redwine said. "We're excited about what Hannah Richardson did this year, and if we continue to get people healthy, the team will be in great shape."
Edited by Nikki Wentlin