4B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008
RAINS
(CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Tournament, Colorado and Texas Tech joined Kansas in the WNIT. Eleven of the league's 12 teams advanced to the postseason, what better way to get ready for postseason play than to play 16 games in the best and toughest conference in all of women's basketball.
"I really don't believe there's much that we could see in this or the NCAA Tournament that we haven't seen at some point and had to prepare for at some point in this league," Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks, who were 2-10 on the road during the regular season including an 0-8 road mark in the Big 12, will surely face a tough test Thursday night at Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the WNIT. The Spartans were ranked early in the season but faded down the stretch in the tough Big 10 Conference. If the Jayhawks can somehow win and reach the Elite Eight, they hope to play host to that game next Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
"We have nothing to lose," Morris said. "We're in this tournament and we want to feel good about ourselves and if we can win the tournament, it's going to give us all the confidence in the world for next year. It could definitely happen. Anything can happen."
Kansas State, which won the WNIT just two years ago, won the Big 12 regular season championship this year so the Jayhawks know it can be done. And according to them, it will.
"I don't really hope, I know that by the time I leave here, they are going to be saying our names up on that NCAA bracket during the watch party," Kohn said. "It's going to happen next year and the year after that."
And after the pain of missing out of the big dance this year, the Jayhawks aren't about to let it happen again. But just for good measure, they plan on winning the little dance first.
WNIT (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Edited by Sasha Roe
and 5 of 5 from three point range. Overall, Kansas made 9 of 13 three point attempts while limiting Evansville to 6 for 26 performance beyond the arc.
"It's just giving different looks," McCray said. "They can take away me, but then my teammates can do something."
The Jayhawk's ball movement and efficiency on the offensive end tore the Purple Aces' defense apart. Though Evansville alternated between zone and man-to-man defense in the first half, Kansas recorded 14 assists on 18 field goals to go to the locker room with a 41-25 advantage. Henrickon's team finished the same way they started, ending up with 22 assists while limiting themselves to 13 turnovers, more than six under their season average.
Junior guard Ivana Catic led Kansas with seven assists, and three others finished with more than three assists. Henrickson half-jokingly said she hadn't thought her team would learn to protect the basketball all season.
"That has been a red light for us," sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs said. "Going into the WNIT, it was a clean slate. We just came in with the mind-set that we are not going to harp on the pass, and come out and get a win."
The Purple Aces only led once after scoring the opening bucket of the game, but began chipping away at the Jayhawks lead in the second half. Though a 14-6 run brought Evansville within 13 at 56-43, Kansas responded with a 10-0 stretch of its own to effectively put the game out of reach. McCray scored seven of the Jayhawks' 10 points.
Henrickson's only complaint was her team's complete inability to keep the undersized Purple Aces off the offensive glass. Evansville hauled down 24 offensive rebounds despite no starter measuring more than 6-foot-1. Although Evansville couldn't take advantage of the extra opportunities, Michigan
State won't be so kind on Thursday.
The Spartans boast a formidable rebounding weapon in 6-foot-9 sophomore center Allyssa DeFlaan. Henrickson said she was disappointed in her team's effort on the boards and warned they wouldn't advance against Michigan State with a repeat performance on the boards. But like her players, she said she was happy to have another two weeks of practice to work with and the opportunity to continue their postseason run.
"It's great," she said. "Survive and advance."
CHEST PAINT
JACOBS STARTS ON BENCH
For the first time this season, fans in Allen Fieldhouse painted their chests in support of their team. Surprisingly, it wasn't the Jayhawk faithful who bared their fandom for all to see. That honor fell to a group of 15 traveling Evansville fans who created a human billboard in support of the Missouri Valley Co-Champions. The group was part of a busload of Purple Aces supporters who traveled to Lawrence for Monday night's second round WNIT game.
Sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs's streak of three consecutive starts was broken as Catic returned to coach Bonnie Henrickson's starting five. Henrickson said attitude problems had relegated Jacobs to the bench.
CLEARING THE BENCH
With 2.22 remaining the second half, Henrickson went to a place she has rarely gone this season: the end of the Kansas bench. Sophomore forward Rebecca Feickert made her first appearance this season while junior Marija Zinic and Katie Smith made rare appearances.
Edited by Sasha Roe
Hawks win with fewer turnovers
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
replaces too many mistakes with 22 assists and only 13 turnovers. The result is an 82-60 victory.
All season, coach Bonnie Henrickson's team could never stop helping out the other team. Even in victory the Jayhawks turned the ball over an upward of 20 times but narrowly escaped.
Monday night Henrickson found out what happens when her squad
While happy with the results, Henrickson admitted that she didn't think Kansas' turnover numbers would cease.
"No, not in my lifetime at Karsas I didn't think it would," Henricksen joked.
Truthfully, it was only the second fewest turnovers committed by the Jayhawks this season. But with the way things went at the end of the season – they averaged 21 turnovers in the last two games – it's hard to blame her for doubting that the team would turn it
SEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ON PAGE 5B
NBA
Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, dribbles down court as Memphis Grizzlies guard Juan Carlos Navarro follows in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Monday in Memphis, Tenn.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nuggets take edge in second half
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Allen Iverson had 26 points and seven assists, while Carmeelo Anthony finished with 23 points as the Denver Nuggets used a big second half to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 120-106 on Monday night.
J. R. Smith led the Nuggets, scoring 25 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, as Denver stretched the lead to as many as 22 in winning its third straight. Smith was 8-of-10 in the period, including seven outside the arc.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 30 points, while Hakim Warrick finished with a season-high 29. Mike Miller added 19 and Javaris Crittenton 14.
Memphis led at halftime, but the Nuggets outscored the Grizzlies 37-22 in the third period to build their lead to 14. Memphis was unable to overcome the deficit, particularly after Smith scored 16 points, including 13 straight for Denver, by the midway point of the fourth for a 109-95 lead, matching Denver's biggest margin of the night at that point.
Memphis, which had won three of its previous four, had no answer for the Nuggets after halftime as Denver connected on 24 of 40 shots. The Nuggets had built on their lead in the third quarter.
Denver, fighting for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, trails Golden State by one game.
Iverson led Denver with 11, but was 3-of-11 from the field.
The loss snapped Memphis' two-game winning streak.
Anthony, Camby and Iverson were a combined 8-of-25 in the half.
Denver had turned up the defensive pressure to open the second half, blocking shots and causing Memphis turnovers. The Nuggets shot better from the outside. Meanwhile, Memphis was missing seven of it first eight shots
in the third period.
Anthony had 14 in the third quarter, while Iverson added 11 as the Nuggets pulled away for their biggest lead at that point, 14 points, and led 88-79 at the end of three periods. The Nuggets didn't look back in the fourth finishing out the victory by 14.