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SWEET 16 Scores from yesterday night's third-round NCAA tournament action. Page 2.
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 22,1996
KANSAS BASKETBALL
SECTION B
Kansas ready for its next test
Speed and size to be highlighted tonight
By Jenni Carlison Kansan sportswriter
DENVER — It's Kansas' size against Arizona's quickness.
At least that's what the Wildcats would have one believe about the West Regional semifinal, which tips off about 9:40 tonight at McNichols Sports Arena.
"With Raef and Scot being as big as they are, there's really not much we can do about that," Arizona senior forward Corey Williams said.
However, he said the Wildcats' strength, once they get the ball, is their speed.
Kansas junior guard Jerod Haase would contend that the Jayhawks aren't exactly slouches in that area.
"They're extremely quick," Haase said. "But you know, we have some quickness ourselves."
The numbers indicate that the Jayhawks and Wildcats like to run, with both teams averaging about 80 points a game.
Kansas junior guard Jacque Vaughn will go head-to-head with Arizona senior guard Reggie Geary.
Except for an extra inch in Geary's favor, the two are almost mirror images of each other, Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
"Jacque's best qualities are his defensive play and his leadership and doing what is needed," Williams said. "And Reggie Geary's best qualities are his defense, his leadership and doing what is needed. They have the same motive, and that's winning."
Vaughn does has a slight advantage in the offensive category, averaging 10.5 points to Geary's 10.1.
Geary, who was a Pacific-10 Conference first-team selection, scored 16 points and dished out 13 assists in the Wildcats' NCAA tournament second round victory against Iowa.
It didn't take Geary's performance in Tempe. To grab Vaupinha's attention
Both grew up in the Los Angeles area and have been playing against each other since junior high school.
But it's just another game to Vaughn.
But it's just another game to Vaughn. "I'll be out there playing, and Reggie Geary will be out there playing. So, I guess that's it, huh?" Vaughn said.
Williams said that too much was being
made out of the one-on-one battle between the two point guards.
"But I also believe it is a very important factor in the game," Williams said. "In the Santa Clara game; we needed to try to control Steve Nash's penetration, and Jacque did a great job. And everyone else realized how important it was to them.
What could end up being more important in today's Sweet 16 game is the Jayhawks' height. Kansas junior center Scot Pollard and sophomore forward RaeF LaFrentz have at least two inches on Arizona's starting center and power forward.
LaFrentz said that the heights and sizes could be used to the Jawhawk's advantage.
"But I pride myself in my ability to run and my agility for being 6-11," he said. "Scot Pollard is the same way."
With the exception of senior forward Ben Davis and freshman forward A.J. Bramlett, all the Wildcats can shoot three-point goals, LaFrentz said.
Therefore, the Kansas big men may have to use some of that agility to get out defensively on Arizona.
"I'm going to have to be out on the floor a lot, sliding my feet and getting out on them to contest the shots," he said. "I'm looking forward to it, though."
Entering McNichols Sports Arena, the Jayhawks probably couldn't miss the sign declaring that it is 5,280 feet above sea level.
Despite the higher altitude, Kansas sophomore guard Billy Thomas said that did not affect players.
"I played here during the summer, and I don't think there's that much of a difference." Thomas said.
He played at McNichols during the Olympic Festival when his North team won the gold medal. Thomas met up with Arizona sophomore guard Miles Simon during the festival.
Former Kansas forward Mark Randall watched the Jayhawks' one-hour practice yesterday.
Randall played for the 1991 Jayhawk team that lost to Duke in the NCAA championship game.
If the Jayhawks lose today, they will return at about 3 p.m. tomorrow to Forbes Field in Topeka. The Jayhawks would then bus to Lawrence and arrive at about 4 p.m. at Allen Field House.
If the Jayhawks advance to the regional championship on Sunday, they are scheduled to arrive at about 7 p.m. at Forbes Field and at about 8 p.m. in Lawrence.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas forward Jennifer Trapp reaches for the ball at the beginning of a game earlier this season in Allen Field House. The Jayhawks will begin third round play against Tennessee at 30:30 a.m. tomorrow in Charlestonville, Va.
They know it won't be easy
Jayhawks to take on No.1 seed Tennessee
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Marian Washington.
"Tennessee is an unbelievable program," said Kansas women's basketball coach
Not only is the Kansas women's basketball team making history tomorrow with its first ever appearance in the Sweet Sixteen, it'll also be facing history.
The Jayhawks will be taking on Tennessee, the No.1 seed in the East Region, the No.4 team in the country, and one of the traditional powers of women's basketball.
The NCAA tournament format has been used in college women's basketball since 1982. In those 14 years, the Lady Vols have won three national championships, which is more than any other school in the nation. The Lady Vols won titles in 1987, 1989 and 1991.
Tennessee also has made five other appearances in the Final Four, including losing 70-64 to Connecticut in last year's championship game.
Washington said the Jayhawks realized that they had their work cut out for them.
The Lady Vols are powered by a dynamic inside-outside combination that has been tough to stop, Washington said.
"They're big and they have quickness," she said. "I'm worried about the inside game on the boards."
"We want to go in and give it our best shot."she said
Freshman Chamique Holdschaw, a 6-foot-2-inch forward, leads Tennessee in both scoring, at 16.5 points a game, and rebounds, at 9.1.
On the perimeter, Tennessee has senior guards Michelle Marciniak and Latina Davis. Davis has averaged 21.5 points a game in the NCAA tournament.
Washington said Kansas would have to try and attack the Lady Vols with its own quickness.
See WOMEN, Page 2.
Jayhawks' hitting shocks the Shockers
Softball team sweeps home doubleheader
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's softball team discovered yesterday that home is where the hits are.
The Jayhawks (17-9) had a total of 17 hits in two victories against Wichita State at a doubleheader at Jayhawk Field.
Kansas played its first home games of the season yesterday.
Kansas shortstop Michelle Huber throws a batter out in yesterday's second game.
"We did a good job at the plate," Kansas softball coach Gayle Luedke said. "When you put up that many hits, you have to be
Kansas won the first game 4-1 and the second 9-1.
happy."
Senior pitcher Beth Robinson earned her seventh win of the season in the first game, allowing just five hits and one run on 27 at bats, including four strikeouts.
At the plate, Kansas' five hits included a two-run home run from freshman Sara Holland.
"That was nice," Holland said. "I really didn't know I hit it over the wall at first." Shocker pitcher Stacey Hart picked up her fifth loss of the year.
In game two, Kansas received good pitching from freshman Sarah Workman and put on an offensive display.
Workman won her ninth game, allowing only three hits and one run. The lone Shocker run came from Carrie Brown's line-drive home run in the top of the first inning.
After that, it was all Kansas. The Jav-
"When you put up that many hits, you have to be happy."
Gayle Luedke
Kansas softball coach
hawks collected nine runs on 12 hits.
They broke the game open when, up 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Holland hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run, her second home run of the day, putting Kansas ahead 5-1.
"I just tried to get base hits, and they
turned into home runs." Holland said.
The Jayhawks scored four more runs in the fifth and wint 9-1. Kristina Johnson and Katie Morgan both went two for two at the plate for the Jayhawks.
"I had been thinking that we needed to be more aggressive on offense," Luedke said. "Today we were."
Wichita State had three errors in the second game as Shocker pitcher Michelle Moores picked up her fifth loss of the season.
Yesterday marked the second time the two teams met this season. Kansas defeated Wichita State last weekend in the opening round of the Cowgirl Classic in Stillwater, Okla.
Luedke said she hoped that the offensive display the Jayhawks showed yesterday was the start of better things to come.
"We haven't really gotten this out of our team yet this year," Luedke said. "Hopefully, this is the start."
Pitching problems frustrating for Kansas baseball team
By Dan Geiston
Kansan sportswriter
Players disappointed with effort this season
Tears welled up in Kansas sophomore pitcher Casey Barrett's eyes as he sat alone outside the dugout, distraught after surrendering the winning runs in a 14-12 Pittsburgh State victory on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
Senior second baseman Josh Kliner struggled to find the right words to explain the surprising loss. He said it was tough to understand how the Jayhawks lost, especially after playing so well in recent games. But the answer has become painfully obvious for the Jayhawks.
Pitching, which was Kansas' biggest question mark entering the season, has not yielded the results that Kansas coach Bobby Randall and the rest of the coaching staff would have liked.
Of the 11 pitchers who have pitched in at least five games, only four — senior starters Clay Baird and Josh Belovsky, junior reliever Josh Wingerd, and sophomore Barrett — are having respectable seasons.
Baird (4-1) and Belovsky (3-1) have combined for seven of the 12 Kansas victories this year while Barrett is five for five in save opportunities with a 2.38 ERA.
Wingerd has not allowed a run in his last six appearances (11 innings pitched) lowering his team-leading ERA to 2.13.
The rest have muddled through inconsistency and ineffectiveness and aren't giving Randall good reasons to have confidence in them.
Junior Aric Peters, Randall's preseason pick to be the pitching ace, dropped his first three decisions before winning his last two. He has pitched just 22 1/3 innings in his five starts.
performance.
Peters had elbow surgery last year and redshirted, but doesn't blame that on his
"I can't really blame it on sitting out last year," he said. "I believe things are starting to fall in to place."
"Certainly things haven't gone the way
Aric would have liked," Randall said. "I'm
sure it's more of a concern for Aric. He still
has some mechanical problems to work out,
but he's out there with (pitching coach)
Wilson Killner and (assistant) Steve
Leinhard trying to straighten that out."
Randall hasn't found much relief with the relievers. Sophomore Linus Williams — 15 runs in six innings — has made it a habit of letting teams back into games. Junior Matt Pruett has allowed 11 runs in five 1/3 innings, and sophomore Tim Lyons has
given up 16 runs in seven 2/3 innings.
The lack of a reliable bullpen will be crucial as Kansas enters the brunt of Big Eight Conference play. The Jayhawks will need more than four pitchers to carry the load, but as to who will step up, even Randall isn't sure.
"We're still hoping for some more pitches to step up, sure," Randall said. "But I think with more experience and growth that it will happen. This is a learning process for most of these guys. They really haven't pitched at this level but they're learning."
Kansas starts a three-game series with No. 20 Alabama at 3 p.m. today at Hogdalen-Maupin Stadium. They will also play at 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday.
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