SPORTS
BASEBALL LOSES TO ARKANSAS 2-1
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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WOMEN'S GOLF VICTORY
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WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008
MEN'S BASKETBALL
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Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur takes a shot at the basket during the second half of Wednesday's game at Iowa State. Arthur led Kansas with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Jayhaws defeated the Cyclones 75-64 and improved to 10-3 in the Biaf 12.
Kansas conquers ISU
Jayhawks blow away Cyclones with 75-64 victory in Iowa
MARK DENT mdent@kansan.com
AMES, Iowa - Russell Robinson is watching the calendar with extra interest the past week. March is approaching.
Lately, his Kansas team hadn't been looking like they were ready for the ensuing month of madness. The Jayhawks were defeated in recent road losses to Oklahoma State and Texas. A better performance was necessary at Iowa State.
"March is right around the corner, a couple days away," Robinson said. "This is crunch time for us now. We have to turn
around and start playing our best basketball."
Kansas made progress, defeating the Cyclones 75-64 Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum. Instead of falling apart like they did in recent away games against the Cowboys and Longhorns, the Jayhawks (25-3, 10-3) showed some toughness and a sense of urgency when Iowa State made runs in the second half.
"When you're 24 and three," Kansas coach Bill Self said, "you shouldn't need to say the ship needs righting, but our players all knew that it did, and we felt it did, too."
Jayhawks let the Cyclones back into the game early in the second. Iowa State cut a 13-point Kansas lead to six just after intermission.
If the Jayhawks continued to let the Cyclones play like they did those first two minutes, the game could've easily turned in favor of Iowa State. Kansas could've been losers of three straight on the road and two games out of first place in the league. It wouldn't have been pretty; so, Self got nasty.
After dominating in the first half, the
He called a time-out, pointed, screamed
SEE MENS' BASKETBALL ON PAGE 4B
The greatest sports movies of all time
》 COMMENTARY
With the hyped release of Will Ferrell's new sports movie, "Semi-Pro," only a day away, I took a trip down memory lane to think about some of the best sports movies of all time. Feel free to e-mail me if you disagree because these rankings could be debated for hours.
BEST SPORTS MOVIES FROM OUR CHILDHOOD:
5. "Little Big League" - How cool would it be to not only own the Minnesota Twins, but to manage the team while still in middle school?
Honorable Mentions: "Space Jarn," "Air Bud"
4. "Cool Runnings" - There's nothing like four track stars from Jamaica entering the bobsled competition at the Olympics. "Sanka va dead?" "No man."
3. "Rookie of The Year" – Only the Cubs would sign a 12-year-old pitcher who throws 100 miles per hour after falling and breaking his arm. "Rosenbauer...warm
up. You're going in!"
1. "The Mighty Ducks Trilogy"
- Rarely is a sequel better than the original, but Mighty Ducks 2 was. The story lines of all three movies were similar (an under-dog Duck's team taking down the favorites) but who doesn't love an overweight goalie, the knucklepuck or the great Gordon Bombay.
Quack, quack, quack, quack...go0000 Ducks!
2. "The Sandlot" - After losing an autographed baseball from some guy named Babe Ruth, Benny 'The Jet' Rodriguez outruns 'The Beast' to save the day.
SEE RAINS ON PAGE 6B
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Turnover trend dooms the Jayhawks to defeat
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Turnovers plagued Kansas the entire season, as evidenced by its Big 12 worst 19.8 turnovers per game.
The difference between wins and losses for coach Bonnie Henrickson's team has been what the opponent does with those giveaways. Wednesday night Texas turned these free possessions into 21 points, which was enough to get past Kansas 57-53.
"Every mistake we made, they made us pay, but when we made them make a mistake we couldn't make them pay. That was the difference in the game," sophomore guard Sade Morris said.
Kansas' last victory was on Feb. 17 against Nebraska, a game in which sophomore guard Danielle McCray drove to the rim and drew a blocking foul with 1.4 seconds left.
Wednesday night the Jayhawks were down 55-53 with 13 seconds left. They were looking for a replay of some late-game McCray heroes, but this time officials whistled her for a charge. Then, a pair of Longhorn free throws put the game away.
"When I went up I didn't see anyone but I guess they called it as I was coming down." McCray said of the play. "I should have pulled up because it was wide open from the free throw line."
Weston White/KANSAN
Henrickson said that was exactly what she told her leader in the huddle but McCray didn't follow her instructions.
"Right now she's not a very good decision-maker off the dribble," Henrickson said. "She sees the rim and she doesn't see anybody around the rim."
McCray's charge wasn't the only late call to go against Kansas.
McCray had a team high 19 points and 10 rebounds. She tallied her sixth double-dou
With 1:23 left, about six players from both teams chased a loose ball to the Jayhawk bench and a Longhorn appeared to knock the ball out of bounds. However, none of the referees felt confident enough to make a call and ruled it a jump ball - with the possession arrow in favor of Texas.
"It's hard to believe three people make pretty good money and nobody could figure it out," Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks (15-12, 4-10) failed to put themselves in a good position even before that call largely because their two stars - McCray and freshman center Krysten Bogaard - were ineffective down the stretch.
Sophomore forward Danielle McCray drives through the lane with less than 30 seconds left on the clock and down by two points. McCray was called for a charge on the play, giving the ball back to the Longhorns who capitized on two freethrows. The Jayhawks dropped their third game in a row losing 57-53 Wednesday night.
ble of the year, but only four of those points came in the second half. Boogaard performed poorly. She barely scraped together 10 points and shot a measly 3-for-11.
"No presence, absolutely not a factor," Henrick said of Boogaard. "No balance, no power position, she doesn't box out - nothing. She, right now, has got absolutely not an ounce of focus to box out."
Guard LaChelda jacobs played solid offensively, sprinting to the basket for eight points thanks to 4-of-4 shooting from the field. The sophomore was also one of three Jayhawks to turn the ball over at least four times.
.
Turnovers plus the lack of intensity in the second half cost Kansas its last three games (and even more earlier this season). This trend of costly and foolish mistakes made Henrickson as upset as she's been all season.
"It's the same mistakes and that's frustrating. Henrickson said. "It's the definition of insanity; expect a different result but do the same thing everyday. That makes no sense to me."
Edited by Nick Manaiaracina
FULL COVERAGE ON PAGE 8B
Rachel Anne Seymour/VAMSAN
SOFTBALL
Freshman catcher Brittany Hile is transitioning from high school to college-level softball this year. Hile's mentor, Elle Pottorf, has been a large influence in her transition.
College play not a challenge for catcher
BY KELLY BRECKUNITCH
kbreckunitch@kansan.com
All freshmen have to adapt in their first year of college and college athletes are no different. Freshman catcher Brittany Hile said she already understood the differences in competition level from high school to college.
Hile splits time with junior catcher Elle Pottorf behind the plate for the University of Kansas softball team. Hile was in the starting line-up for 15 of the Jayhawks' 16 games so far this season. She said the biggest difference between high school and college competition was the mental part of the game.
"You have to be in the game all the time, every time." Hile said.
Hile said she was predisposed to softball because her brother was always involved in sports.
Hile said her family moved a lot when she was growing up and she lived in both Minnesota and Florida at different points in her life. When her family settled in Kansas, Hile said that being close to home influenced her choice to play softball for the Jayhawks.
"Before I could actually play, I was always
running around the fields with him," Hile said.
She admitted she always had either a basketball or a glove with her so she could play sports.
Hile said she tried to adapt to the college game by communicating and learning from the upperclassmen on the team and from the coaches. Hile said while playing behind Potorf she tried to learn from her work ethic.
"She's really pushed me to become a better catcher." Hile said.
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SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 6B
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