SPORTS WOMEN'S BIG 12 PICKS PAGE 4B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM SOFTBALL PLAYS HARDBALL PAGE 5B TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008 PAGE 1B
INTRAMURALS
Adverse Possessors win championship
Victory within reach for Showtime, yet they fail to clinch the title
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
Robel Yemane, St. Louis senior, and Jesse Temple, Overland Park graduate student, try to gain control of the ball Monday night during the championship intramural basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse.
BY WHITNEY HAMILTON whamilton@kansan.com
With the spirit of Phog Allen in their presence, two teams fought for the intramural men's basketball title on Monday night. The Adverse Possessors and Showtime battled it out in the championship and fought until the last second in Allen Fieldhouse.
The hard work paid off for the Adverse Possessors as they clinched the title in a 55-45 victory. The stands were scattered with faithful supporters for both teams. They showed their spirit and incorporated some distractions just like at a packed Kansas men's basketball game. Even Baby Jay made an appearance and cloned around with fans, while getting people pumped for the game.
The Adverse Possessors won the tipoff, starting the game with high energy as both teams sped to the lane and tried to gain some points. At first, both teams had difficulty sinking a basket and the game seemed more like a tennis match as the ball went back and forth between both sides of the court.
players on the benches shouted to their teammates on the court.
Showtime player Jarrett Austin, Brunswick, N. J., freshman, used the glass for two points. Adverse Possessors tried to gain a bigger lead by shooting more three-pointers from behind the arc, but ended up hitting the rim on a few shots. The Adverse Possessors found a break when Showtime's player Brandon Uloho, Wichita senior, gained his first foul and gave Cameron Karlin, Lawrence graduate student, a chance for points. The game continued to get increasingly more intense as the fans in the stands started yelling "defense" and the
Showtime's Samuel Allen, Wichita graduate student, hit a perfect three-point shot from the wing making the Adverse Possessors only six points ahead. The Adverse Possessors gained possession of the ball and Temple fired a three-pointer from the wing in response to Allen.
"Some of the Allen Fieldhouse mystique got to us in the first half," Jesse Temple, Overland Park graduate student and Adverse Possessors' player, said. The tempo quickly changed as the Adverse Possessors made the first three-point shot of the night and fueled Showtime's vengeance.
In the seconds ticking from the first
other winners
Co-recreation — Minor Prophets beat Lights Out 76-67
Women's Open — Hangtime beat Ballin' Babes 35-18
half, Adverse Possessors were still up by five. Showtime player Phillip Benibo, Lenexa senior, grabbed the ball and dribbled to the outside. With only 2.2 seconds left, he released the ball from behind the arc, but the ball hit the rim and bounced off as the buzzer sounded.
Showtime turned up the heat in the second half and players from the sidelines reminded teammates not to "let them set it up" referring to Adverse Possessors' solid outside shooting.
Feeling the sense of urgency, Matthew Riley, Hutchinson graduate student and Adverse Possessors' player, sped right through two Showtime players and shot at the baseline for a two-point bucket.
The intensity of the game was at its peak during the last two minutes of the game. Once Adverse Possessors had possession of the ball, Showtime's defense stayed on its men and made it hard for the Adverse Possessors to move to its side of the court in time, resulting in loss of possession. Still, the clock on the scoreboard ticked away the seconds and Showtime couldn't measure up to Adverse Possessors in its ten-point victory. Kevin Sterk, Chicago graduate student and Adverse Possessors' player, thought his team played better in the second half resulting in the win.
"We slowed the ball down in the second half," Sterk said. "In the first half, we seemed to be rushing."
>> WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks aim for another victory against Nebraska
Freshman center Krysten Boogaard fights for a shot, The Jayhawks play Nebraska in the Big 12 tournament tonight.
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
The Jahawks hope to gain back some of their original spark when they play the Cornhuskers tonight at 8:30 in Kansas City, Mo., in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
The women's basketball team had a certain spark when it played against Nebraska on Feb. 17. Perhaps it was the pink uniforms that made Kansas' 62-61 victory so exciting.
More likely, it was that sophomore guard Danielle McCray won the game at the free throw line with 1.4 seconds on the clock, the Jayhawks' third win in their last four games at the time.
Though she would have liked to pick up some victories along the way, McCray likes the fact that her team will go into the game knowing it can win.
After that game, the talk from Kansas was about finishing at least 8-8 in conference play and getting to the NCAA tournament. Five agonizing losses later and those ideas are long gone. But the Jayhawks still have a chance to recapture the magic from that Sunday afternoon.
"We come come away with a 'W' if we do the right things and do the process we did for that game," McCray said. "We got them into some foul trouble, we focused on the game plan and we executed what we had to do."
Jessie Fetterling/KANSAN
In the first meeting, Nebraska was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 30-of-32. The second time around, the Cornhuskers shot an ice cold 17-for-34 from the charity stripe.
"We felt like when we went to Nebraska the first time we played terrible," senior forward Taylor McIntosh said. "It was just nice to get a win and get it going again when we played them here, but we still gave them too many free-throw chances."
When the Jayhawks traveled to Lincoln, Neb., for their second Big 12 contest on Jan. 12, the Cornhuskens blew them away. 71-51.
Nebraska gets to the line so frequently by taking the Kansas defenders one-on-one and driving to the rim to draw fouls. Coach Bonnie Henrickson said she thought the Cornhuskers wouldn't shoot just 50 percent again so, to stay in the game, her team couldn't commit so many fouls.
Another thing Henrickson needs from
"You go back to how many games at the four-minute mark it's been a one-possession game, where we've dug ourselves such a big hole out of the locker room but then we're good enough and we're tough enough to make it a one-possession game," Henrickson said. "Then we don't make enough plays down the stretch to get on the right end."
her players is more focus and fire out of the locker room in the second half. In the last five games Kansas has given up big runs to start the second half, making it difficult to crawl back into the game.
If there’s a jayhawk who’s going to be her team on the right end it’ll probably be
Not only would McCray like to get her team a victory just for them, but as the No. 11 seed, she knows that not a lot is expected of the Jayhawks.
McCray. She's been the go-to player all season and wants to put the team on her shoulders when the game is on the line.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
"Everyone has their different doubts about us," McCray said. "It would mean a lot to come back and beat a team that we beat before and a team that's doing really good in the conference."
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
1.4.1
Matthew Riley, Hutchinson graduate student, shoots a laupage during last nights intramural championship game. Riley and the Adverse Possessors show Beattime 55-45.
BASEBALL
Bullpen experiencing more play this season
BY SHAWN SHROYER
shroyer@kansan.com
Kansas used 10 players off its bench and six pitchers out of its bullpen during its weekend series with North Dakota State.
Today also, the Jayhawks (8-5) may make at least six calls to the bullpen and most of those 10 substitutes could see significant playing time against the Tabor Bluejays (5-11). When playing NAIA foes, Kansas coach Ritch Price prefers to let his bench players see some action.
While plenty of underclassmen should be able see the field for Kansas, Price will turn to senior right-hander Hiarali Garcia to start the game. In four appearances out of the bullpen this season, Garcia has allowed just one unearned run on four hits with one strikeout.
Price may also start most of his regular starters in the field. Although the Jayhawks have scored 62 runs during their six-game winning streak, Price would still like to see his offense against on driving runners in when they get into scoring position. In three games against North Dakota State, Kansas left a total of 27 runners on base.
But Garcia's outing should last only a couple innings before Price hands the ball to others in his bullpen.
"Allman got his average up to .300 and I think he was under the Mendoza Line when the week started," Price said. "On top of that, E-Mo broke out in the second game and Robby got four hits in the doubleheader, so the three guys who've been struggling
But Price is encouraged that the cogs in his lineup are all starting to hit more consistently. Entering last week, senior left fielder John Allman, who led Kansas in hitting last season, is hitting .172; senior shortstop Erik Morrison, known as E-Mo, is hitting .242; and sophomore second baseman Robby Price is hitting .200. Heading into today's game, the players are up to .300, .292 and .244, respectively.
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior Preston Land slides into third base safely after Ryne Price's single to right field against North Dakota State Saturday. Players out of the bullpen have been playing more on the field this season.
The offense also received a boost over the weekend with the return of junior catcher Buck Afenir. He was one of Kansas' top hitters before missing four games with a pulled hamstring he suffered legging out a triple against Vanderbilt in the Music City Classic.
a little bit have got it going."
But Sunday, in his first at-bat since the injury, he announced his presence with authority, hitting a home run deep to left-center field. By the end of the weekend, Afenir had raised his average from .389 to a team-best .409 and his slugging percentage from .560 to a team-leading .727.
With Kansas' first Big 12 series coming up this weekend with No. 19 Texas, the Jayhawks' biggest challenge may be trying not to overlook Tabor today and Missouri State Wednesday. However, if the Jayhawks can remain focused on improving their weaknesses in the next two games, they'll roll into Austin with a full head of steam
"It's always harder to keep your focus with the lower level teams I guess, but Missouri State's pretty good," Afenir said. "I think we'll get up for that game. We always give them a game and they always give us a game."
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Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
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