16B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2007
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Team travels Down Under to compete
Preseason competition in Australia provides experience, team bonding
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Taylor McIntosh, junior guard, takes a shot against Missouri last season. The Jayhawks are in Australia to play preseason games and bond as a team.
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
The Jayhawks left for the trip Down Under on Aug. 4, destined for capital city Sydney to play their first of four games.
Though the women's basketball team's trip to Australia offers a chance for preseason competition to prepare for the upcoming season, the real value of the trip seems to be in the bonding experience of a 10-day trip overseas.
Before ever stepping into a gym, coach Bonnie Henrickson and her crew toured the famous Sydney Opera House, shopped at various malls, climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and walked along Manly Beach.
"The trip has been everything and more than what I expected," said sophomore guard Kelly Kohn. "There are just a million things to do every day."
All of the outside attractions did little to help Kansas on the court, though, as the semi-pro Sydney Flames welcomed the team with an 88-54 loss Tuesday night. Disappointment would be an understatement for senior guard Taylor McIntosh.
"We were having so much fun that it was hard to get focused. It had to be comparable to our worst game from last year," she said.
The Jayhawks took on the Flames instead of their original opponent, the Sutherland Sharks, because of a scheduling conflict. Worse yet, traffic jams left Kansas with very little time to prepare before the game.
“It's a combination of all those things,” Henrickson said. “There’s never an excuse to play that poorly, but we got there … had to change our clothes and had 18 minutes to warm-up.”
Henrickson said the roster her team was given didn't match the team they played, a great disadvantage for a team that relies heavily on scouting reports. With a better idea of what it would take to compete in Australia, the Jayhawks re-focused on their way
to Brisbane for games two and three.
The difference was clear Thursday night as sophomore forward Danielle McCray poured in 26 points and led Kansas to a 78-71 win over Logan Blue. McIntosh posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards while sophomore forwards Sade Morris and Porscha Weddington also reached double-figure point totals, tallying 13 and 11, respectively.
Before the game Henrickson had
preached better defense, and her team held Logan Blue to 36.4 percent shooting from the field. The coach also said she liked the opportunity she had to see some of her players in different roles, such as McCray on the perimeter and Kohn trying to take over the point guard.
Aside from giving her a chance to prove herself for the starting spot, Kohn felt the trip would help make the team closer.
"Outside of basketball, I like just having an opportunity to be together for a bonding experience," she said.
The Jayhawks defeated Logan Red Saturday evening 83-56. They then left for Cairns, where they will play their fourth and final game Tuesday, and they will return to Lawrence Wednesday.
- Edited by Matt Erickson
BIG 12
Walker redshirted after knee injury Team eager to see him back in action
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State forward Bill Walker, who played just six games last season due to an injury, was awarded a medical redshirt from the Big 12 Conference on Thursday.
The 6-foot-6 freshman had an impressive start last year before sustaining a season-endling knee injury Jan. 6 in the first few minutes of a 69-65 loss at No. 11 Texas A&M.
Kansas State coach Frank Martin said he was pleased with the conference's decision, allowing Walker to keep a year of eligibility.
"In reality, Bill is still a freshman because he participated in less than 10 practices and played in just six games last season, so he deserves the opportunity," Martin said in a statement. "We look forward to getting a healthy Bill Walker back to the floor because he will be a tremendous asset to our basketball team."
Walker underwent surgery on his left knee in mid-January, and
the team has said he has almost completely recovered.
Before the injury, Walker averaged 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games.
With the ruling, Walker will remain a freshman, joining the class of Michael Beasley, Fred Brown, Jacob Pullen and Dominique Sutton.
The Huntington, WVa., native, was the most highly sought freshman ever to play for the Wildcats. He teamed with O.J. Mayo to lead Cincinnati's North College Hill High School to two Ohio State championships. Last summer, Walker was ruled ineligible to play his final season at North College Hill and he enrolled at Kansas State.
Kansas State went 23-12 last season, two wins shy of the school single-season record for victories. The Wildcats were 10-6 in the Big 12, their best finish since the conference formed in 1996. Still, they did not make the NCAA tournament, settling instead for an NIT bid.
BOXING
Cuban defectors, or refugees?
BY STAN LEHMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAO PAULO, Brazil — An international human rights group has asked Brazil to investigate the deportation of two Cuban boxers who disappeared during last month's Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Two-time defending Olympic bantamweightchampion Guillermo Rigdeaux and 2005 welterweight
amateur world champion Erislandy Lara left the athletes' village July 22 and failed to appear for their weigh-ins.
They were arrested 11 days later for overstaying their visas and sent back to Cuba.
New York-based Human Rights Watch claimed the boxers may have been eligible for refugee status despite the fact they did not explicitly request political asylum while they were in Brazil.
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