UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday. March 14. 1996
3C
Experience propels Lady Raiders
First-round opponent similar to Jayhawks
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Middle Tennessee State women's basketball coach Lewis Bivens knew he had reason to be nervous on Selection Sunday.
Even though the Lady Raiders had raced to a 24-5 record and an Ohio Valley Conference regular season title, they lost their chance at the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament when they lost to Austin Peay in the championship game.
"We figured it was a 50-50 shot," Bivens said. "I felt like we had a pretty good year and deserved a chance."
Middle Tennessee State will get that chance this weekend.
The Lady Raiders are the No. 13 seed in the East region, and they will play the No. 4 seed Kansas at 8 p.m. Saturday at Allen Field House.
Middle Tennessee State has been led this year by a mix of youth and experience.
Freshman center Jonelda Buck has been a powerful presence in the
paint, averaging 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She was named Ohio Valley freshman of the year.
The Lady Raiders also feature a battle-tested backcourt in senior guards Trella Thomas and Heather Prater. Prater is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game.
Middle Tennessee State averages nearly 80 points per game and hit 34.6 percent of its three-point shots this year.
Bivens said the Lady Raiders were similar to the Jayhawks in almost every way.
"We're very quick and very athletic, but we're small," Bivens said. "Kansas is quick and athletic, but they're bigger than we."
Kansas coach Marian Washington said Middle Tennessee State seemed to like a faster game, something which could play into the Jayhawks hands.
"Obviously, we like an up-tempo game," Washington said. "But we've got to make sure we don't give them easy opportunities.
"We don't want them to get a lot of easy transition baskets."
Location:
Murfreesboro,
Tennessee
Middle Tennessee State AT A GLANCE
Bivens said the Lady Raiders would have to come up with an inspired performance to make up for Kansas's size advantage.
Enrollment:
1911
16.780
1995-96 record:
Conference:
Mascot:
Ohio Valley
Lady Raiders
Head coach:
Record:
NCAA Tournament appearances:
Lewis Bivens
Colors:
386-156
(18 yrs.)
Royal Blue
White.
Silver
"We'll have to really battle on the backboards and take care of the basketball," he said.
Murphy Athletic Center (11,520)
Continued from Page 2.
CROWDS:
trees," Keary said. "Some trees were torn out of the ground. There were lots of fights and lots of medical emergencies."
When Kansas lost to North Carolina in the Final Four two years later, the campus got a break. Unseasonably cold temperatures kept people inside and off campus, Keary said.
KU and Lawrence police will work together on a plan to deal with people if the Jayhawks have a successful tournament run.
"We don't have an overall plan in place yet," Keary said. "Each game will be handled separately and differently. But there will be extra officers here and on duty."
The police also are happy that most tournament games this year will be played during spring break.
"Some of the early wins can occur during spring break," Hadl said. "Then the campus-wide parties are poor and there are less people."
However, police may want to protect the trees, because students will be back in time for the Final Four championship game on April 1.
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