THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007
SPORTS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
3B
Big 12 team-by-team preview
Baylor plays favorite in new season; Kansas should win 15 to 20 games
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
BAYLOR (26-8, 11-5)
BATLOR (26-8, 11-5)
Coach Kim Mulkey's Lady Bears
return four of five starters, including
COLORADO (13-17, 6-10)
contend for the title again this year.
senior guard Angela Tisdale, who averaged 10.8 points per game last season. Baylor finished third in the Big 12 last season and could
The Buffalofoes lost four key players off the bench but did return four starters. Big 12 coaches predicted
Colorado to finish 11th this season, but it has a great chance to finish in the middle of the pack
and push for a postseason berth
IOWA STATE (26-9, 10-6)
Bill Fennelly is the longest-tenured women's basketball coach in the Big 12, entering his 13th year at Iowa State. The Cyclones broke out
with 26 victories last year, but two starters and a key bench player graduated. Fennelly's crew could be headed to the
bottom of the pack unless they can keep an impressive record at Hilton Coliseum.
KANSAS (11-20.4-12)
The layhawks lost two starters but no one else. The large group of experienced sophomores must prove that they're ready to lead this
t e a m sh o u l d w15 to 20 games this season, but an injury or two
could keep that from happening and force them to stay in the bottom half of the conference.
KANSAS STATE (19-15,
4-12)
The Wildcats suffered through an ugly Big 12 season, 4-12, but their 19 overall wins was enough for the Women's NIT. Once there, Kansas State made it all the way to
the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Wyoming. K ans as S t a t e
brings back four official starters and two players who each started 16 games but suffered injuries. This squad is almost a lock for 20 wins.
MISSOURI (17-14, 5-11) Missouri brings back only one
Missouri brings back only one
enced players. The Tigers will really struggle inside because they're tallest player is Nicole Wilson at 6'3". Wilson has been on the Mizzou volleyball team for the past four years and hasn't played basketball since high school.
forced to start several inexperi
NEBRASKA (22-10, 10-6)
The Cornhuskers rolled through their season until a four-game losing streak in February left a black mark on their year. Kelsey Griffin is the only returning starter, and with just
one senior on the roster this team could be good in 2008-09, but not this year.
OKLAHOMA (28-5.13-3)
Coach Sherri Coale has reached the postseason for the past nine
years, and this season won't be any different. Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Courtney Paris led the Sooners to the Sweet 16 last
year, and with the help of her twin sister Ashley, this squad could be hunting for a national championship.
OKLAHOMA ST.
(20-11, 8-8)
start they could struggle. Oklahoma State will hurt for depth because seven letter winners graduated.
should benefit from a weak nonconference schedule, but once conference games
TEXAS (18-14,6-10)
The Longhorns welcome former Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, but don't expect a drop-off because of the change. Gostenkors has one of
the best reputations amongst female coaches, and she'll have plenty to work with at Texas.
TEXAS A&M (25-7.13-3)
Texas A&M returns all five starters from the team that shared last season's regular season Big 12 title with Oklahoma. That's why the Aggies were picked to win the
conference by the Big 12 coaches and several publications have them in the top five in the country. This
is another team with Final Four aspirations.
TEXAS TECH (15-16, 6-10)
The Lady Raiders lost eighg of
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
their last nine games
and will struggle to stay above .500 throughout the season.
— Edited by Luke Morris
Media day discussions focus on improvements
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
The first half of last year's Big 12 season couldn't have gone much worse for Kansas.
Kansas started 0-9 in the conference before a 70-68 overtime victory against Colorado turned things around. The Jayhawks followed that game with four more conference wins, including a Big 12 tournament upset of Oklahoma State.
That late-season surge is the reason for so much optimism around this Kansas team. On Tuesday, the players and coaches had the chance to share their hopes for the season at the Big 12 media day in Kansas City, Mo.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson, accompanied by senior forward Taylor Mcintosh and sophomore guard Danielle McCray, spoke to the media about the difference in this year's team.
"We have some young talent from last year that's improved, putting in the time and effort to individually improve. It will help us be a better basketball team," Henrickson said.
Henrickson was forced to cut nearly half of the playbook last year because her young players couldn't remember everything.
She's excited to get some of those plays back.
"I do feel more comfortable and confident about how we want to play and what we might want to run," she said.
She added that the team's improvement has opened more scoring options than last year, with McCray and sophomore forward Sade Morris leading the way.
The team has had only a few practices, but McIntosh already likes the wide-open look of the offense.
"This year we want to run and push the ball, and whoever scores, scores," McIntosh said.
McCray also pointed to Morris as
Schedule
Date Opponent Time
Date Opponent Time
11/4 Pittsburg State 4 p.m.
11/8 Emporia State 7 p.m.
11/11 Hartford 2 p.m.
11/14 UMKC 7 p.m.
11/23 Drake University (in Dallas) 5 p.m.
11/24 SMU or Western Michigan (in Dallas)
TBA
11/27 Creighton 7 p.m.
12/2 St. Louis 4 p.m.
12/6 Marquette 4 p.m.
12/9 Indiana 2 p.m.
12/16 UC Riverside 7 p.m.
12/19 @San Jose State
9 p.m.
12/21 @Cal 8 p.m.
12/30 Boston University
2 p.m.
an offensive threat.
"Sade has been playing really well," McCray said. "She's more confident than ever before."
As for that feeling of success at the end of last year, the players haven't let it slip from their minds.
"Knowing the good things that we've done pushes us and motivates us to not fall back down," McCray said. "We just need to start from the end of last season."
The Jayhawks' strong finish didn't do much to convince the Big 12 coaches that they are for real. Kansas was picked to finish 10th in the conference this year.
"It is what it is. There's nothing I can do to control that," Henrickson said. "Would I have picked us there? No."
What Kansas can control is where it finishes the year, and the Jayhawks plan on turning a few heads along the way.
NFL
Edited by Luke Morris
Rams stay hopeful despite 0-6 record
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Randy McMichael looked around the huddle in practice Wednesday and Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson and Isaac Bruce looked right back at the tight end. The St. Louis Rams are still winless, but finally there was a ray of sunshine.
"It's been a frustrating year, all the losing, and it seems like you're always losing a teammate," McMichael said. "We lose teammates for weeks at a time, so it will make you a little happy to see some of your guys back out there."
a team. We're adding players, slowly but surely."
Bulger is back after missing two games with two broken ribs, a pair of losses in which backup Gus Frerotte threw eight interceptions. Jackson and Bruce were limited in practice after missing two games each, with Bruce a better bet to return this week at Seattle.
Coach Scott Linehan said Jackson, recovering from a partially torn groin, had an "outside chance" of returning to the lineup.
"He's starting to show signs of returning," Linehan said. "It's very encouraging, we talked about it as
St. Louis (0-6) has been hit hardest on offense, with backup center Andy McCollum likely to become the 23rd starter. The starter, Brett Romberg, did not practice Wednesday and could miss this game with a sprained ankle although Linehan doesn't expect him to be out of action for very long.
“There’s only so much bad luck one team can have,” McMichael said. “I really don't think I've seen injuries hit a team like it's hit us every week."
Still, McMichael prefers to be optimistic. He said he wasn't alone during a spirited practice that could have been dismal given the circumstances.
"The guys were all amped up and everybody was working hard and you could tell the crispiness," McMichael said. "It was like everybody felt like we were 0-0 and we were starting our season from this game."
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