JEAN SHORT MADNESS Columnist Ryan Greene says thanks for all of the Free For All comments. PAGE 6B
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2004
Blues ice 'Hawks with 35-5 blitz
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
With a 39-26 second-half deficit at the 15:35 mark, Washburn Lady Blues junior guard Jennifer Harris simply took over the game.
Harris scored 12 straight Washburn points on her way to 21 total points and a torrid second half of shooting. In the first half. Harris played only six minutes before gathering her third personal foul, but broke out in the second half to lead Washburn (4-0) to a 62-59 victory against Kansas (3-2), which snapped the Jawhaws' three game winning streak.
Harris' performance led Washburn to its first victory against Kansas. Kansas won the first nine games in the series.
In Harris' tremendous second half, the 5-foot-10 guard took advantage of a Kansas defense that was crippled by foul trouble and was forced to play with less of a physical approach.
"Everything she threw up went in." Kansas senior guard Aquanita Burras said. "The coaches were telling me to get up on her, but I still had to respect her ability to drive."
Foul trouble left the Jayhawks, who led 35-19 at the break, without forwards Crystal Kemp and Taylor McIntosh for much of the second half.
www.kansan.com
Junior guard Erica Hallman, the leading scorer for Kansas with 18 points, also encountered foul trouble after picking up her fourth personal foul with 12:27 remaining. Hallman shortly left the game and left Kansas with only one scoring threat, Burras, on the floor.
Going in to the half, the Jayhawks held a 16-point advantage after shooting 50 percent from the field and making six of 10 three-point attempts. Washburn shot an icy five for 19 and hit only one of eight from behind the arc.
"As a team, we just have to learn to adjust," Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "If we are getting called for fouls, we have to adjust and stop doing what it is that we keep getting called for."
Foul trouble was not the only cause for concern as Kansas went cold after an impressive first-half shooting show.
In the second half, the tables turned.
In the second man, the tabs turned Kansas built its lead to 39-21 with a flashy reverse-and-spin move by Hallman in the paint, but the jawhawk
lead quickly disintegrated.
The Jayhawk offense struggled to find a scorer and went cold from long range. Kansas shot only nine of 25 from the field after halftime and missed all eight of its three-point attempts.
"We didn't score on our end and shot poorly in the second half," Herickson said. "We needed to be aggressive going to the rim."
As Harris led the charge for the Lady Blues, Washburn embarked on a 33-5 run that Harris capped with a threepoint shot to make the Washburn lead 10 at 54-44.
Burras led a late effort by Kansas and closed out a 13-5 run by drawing the defense away from the basket on a drive and sneaking a pass over two defenders to dish the ball to Boyd. Boyd then made a bucket and a free throw to cut the Washburn lead to two, 59-57. Burras finished with 16 points and freshman forward Jamie Boyd finished with three.
Junior guard Kaylee Brown missed a long-range shot at the buzzer which would have tied the game.
— Edited by Marissa Stephenson
Lindsev Gold/KANSAN
Junior guard Erica Hallman runs down the court against Washburn last night at Allen Fieldhouse. Hallman scored 18 points as the Jayhawks fell in their 1,000th game.
Kit Leffler/KANSAN
Senior middle blocker Ashley Michael's spikes the ball past opponents during last weekend's volleyball match against Colorado at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The team will begin NCAA tournament play tonight against Santa Clara in Seattle.
Team set to start tournament play
BY BILL CROSS
bccross@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
For the second time in program history, the Kansas volleyball team is going to the NCAA tournament.
The Broncos dropped out of the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 poll this week after losing their last two matches of the regular season, but Kansas coach Ray Bechard said Santa Clara was playing like a top-20 team.
Last year was the first appearance for the team. Junior middle blocker Josi Lima said she hoped the outcome for tonight's game would be the same as last year's opening-round victory.
On Dec. 4, 2003, the team defeated Long Beach State, which will make its 18th straight tournament appearance this season.
Santa Clara is another tournament-savvy team and will make its seventh straight tournament appearance.
"There's nothing like winning in the tournament," she said. "If we serve, pass and block, we will win."
But he said his team was playing just as well.
"We're playing our best volleyball," he said. "But it's one and done, so we can't have an off night."
"Their middles are very active and have good left-side players," he said. "You don't know where the setter's going to pass."
He said he had not seen Santa Clara play until a tape session Monday night.
Sophomore outside hitter Jana
The Broncos rank 10th in the NCAA in blocking. Middle blocker Annalisa Muratore, a freshman who ranked third in the nation in blocking and 25th in hitting percentage, leads the team.
Bechard said the return of Correa, who missed last year's tournament and the beginning of this season with a knee injury, was key to overcoming the Broncos' power.
Correa said Bechard also warned her about the right-side hitters. She said Santa Clara's front line would be a challenge for the team.
Bechard said he told his team that the Santa Clara combined the power of Texas A&M with the offensive balance of Missouri.
Correa said she was even more excited than her teammates when the tournament selections were announced Sunday.
She will help replace last year's tournament star, outside hitter Sarah Rome, who had 17 kills in the Jayhawks' sweep of Long Beach State last year.
"And they're both top teams, so we better be ready." he said.
She danced around the room, eventually involving several teammates in the celebration.
"Last year, I was happy for my teammates, but this year is really special. I actually get to play." she said.
The Jayhawks' first round match starts at 7 tonight in Bank of America Arena in Seattle.
Edited by Anna Clovis
'Hawks on AP team
The Associated Press recognizes Gordon, Reid on first team All-Big 12
BY JONATHAN KEALING
jkealing@ansan.com
ANSAN SPORTSWITHER
The honors keep coming for Charles Gordon.
One day after Big 12 Conference coaches named Gordon to their defensive first team, writers who cover the Big 12 named the sophomore cornerback to The Associated Press' All-Big 12 Team yesterday.
Joining Gordon on the AP first team was junior linebacker Nick Reid, who was a second team All-Big 12 selection by the coaches.
This is the first time REID
the Kansas football
team has had a first-team AP selection since linebacker Ron Warner was selected in 1997 in the second year of the Big 12. Warner is the only other Jayhawk ever named to the AP first team since the Big 12's inception.
KANSAS FOOTBALL PLAYERS
ON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-BIG 12 TEAM.
First Team Charles Gordon Nick Reid
Second Team David McMillan Joe Vaughn
Honorable Mention
Charles Gordon*
John Randle*
Kevin Kane
Gabriel Toomey
Rodney Harris
Cornerback Linebacker
Defensive End Center
Cornerback Running Back Linebacker Linebacker Safety
- All-Big 12 Honorable Mention all-purpose player
Sophomore Junior
Senior Senior
Sophomore
Sophomore
Junior
Junior
Sophomore
Gordon did not even realize he had been selected until his parents called to congratulate him. Gordon led the Big 12 in interceptions with seven and is tied for the NCAA lead.
Source: The Associated Press
This was Gordon's first year playing primarily on defense. He led the team in passes defended with seven. He also blocked a kick, forced and recovered a fumble and broke up eight passes.
SEE AP TEAM ON PAGE 3B
Self wary of Tiger tricks
Kansas faces Pacific team that has offensive variety
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
It hasn't been that long since the Kansas Jayhawks put a good whooping on the Pacific Tigers.
But senior guard Aaron Miles doesn't remember much about Pacific.
"I know we played them in the tournament last year," Miles said.
Maybe the game film the Jayhawk watched yesterday will trigger Miles' memory. If so, he may find that this Pacific team is not all that different from the team that Kansas beat, 78-63, in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers graduated only one major contributor, guard Miah Davis, from last year's 25-8 team. Although Davis led the team with 14.7 points per game, Pacific has its core group of players back for this season.
The Tigers have only played two games on the season, but in each of their
outings, they have gotten good performances from that group. Guard Marko Mihailovic, a 6-foot-5 junior transfer from Santa Monica Junior College, put up 18 points in Pacific's season-opening victory over San Jose State. Sophomore forward Christian Maraker and senior guard David Doubley each scored 20 points in the Tigers' second victory over Santa Clara — the team that beat North Carolina in its season opener.
Coach Bob Thomason said all of those guys needed to step up for the Tigers to have a chance.
"There is no way that we can be in the game without those three guys having big games." he said.
SEE TRICKS ON PAGE 3B
Senior forward Guillaume Yango, who led Pacific in scoring in the NCAA Tournament game against Kansas, scored 13 points in each of the Tigers' games. But Thomason said Yango was only playing at 60 percent of what he was capable of.
Then freshman guard J.R. Giddens leaves his foot while defending Pacific's Tom Cockle during first half action of last year's game of the NCAA tournament. Kansas defeated Pacific, 78-63.
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