SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2006
2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS CALENDAR
Todav
Tennis at Kansas State, 2 p.m., Manhattan
THURSDAY
Swimming, NCAA Championships, all day, Athens Ga.
**Women's basketball vs. Northern Iowa, 7 p.m.,**
Allien Field
Player to watch: Crystal Kemp. The senior forward was fourth in the Big 12 in scoring this season. Her inside presence will be important against Northern Iowa's 6-foot-7-inch senior center Cassie Hager, Kemp is the Jayhawks' tallest player at 6-foot-2.
FRIDAY
Softball vs. Northwestern, University of Hawaii Softball Tournament, 4 p.m., Honolulu
Football tournament, 4 p.m., Houston
Basketball at Bayou 7, Waco, Texas
Swimming, NCAA Championships, all day, Athens, Ga.
Women's golf, Betsy Rawls Invitational, all day, Austin, Texas
Men's basketball vs. Bradley, NCAA tournament,
8:30 p.m., Auburn Hills, Mich.
SATURDAY
Beachball at Ravon, 6 p.m. Waco, Texas
Softball vs. Longwood, University of Hawaii Softball Tournament, 8 p.m., Honolulu
Softball vs. Hawaii, University of Hawaii Softball
Tournament a. n.m., Honolulu
Waterfront, UCLA
Swimming, NCAA Championships, all day, Athens,
Ga.
Women's golf, Betsy Rawls Invitational, all day Austin, Texas
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
HAGER
Henrickson said one of her team's strengths, transition play, was the key to taking Hager's impact out of the game. If the Jayhawks could run and score in transition, she said it could eliminate the five-inch height disadvantage in the post.
Despite UNI's obvious height advantage, Henrickson has no plans of allowing Hager to control the paint. Instead, she wants her team to continue to be aggressive and attack the basket. A bright spot for Kansas is that Kemp can step outside the paint and take a jump shot, as well as battle inside the paint.
"We're fortunate that Crystal has a great touch and doesn't have to be a foot away from the rim to score," Henrickson said. "We still want Crystal go be aggressive and attack her."
Edited by Matt Wilson
MLB
Yankees worry for hurt Damon
BY MIKE FITZPATRICK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla.- The New York Yankees were happy with Randy Johnson's outing Tuesday and worried about Johnny Damon's shoulder.
Johnson cruised through four efficient innings before tiring in the fifth, and New York lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3.
The final score, however, was far less important to the Yankees than their center fielder's health more than 2,100 miles away in Anaheim, Calif., where Damon has been playing for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
New York's biggest acquisition of the offseason has a sore left shoulder, the same one that hindered him late last year and weakened an already inferior throwing arm. He sat out Monday night's 7-3 loss to South Korea.
U. S. team spokesman Rob Butcher said Damon's latest aliment does not appear to be a serious injury. But this is exactly the kind of issue Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was referring to when he spoke out against the WBC.
"Nothing to say" Steinbrenner repeated twice Tuesday as he hustled to
Butcher said Damon's problem is being called "spring training shoulder," something players often get this time of year.
ward an elevator on his golf cart. "Ive said it all."
"From our standpoint, it's nothing more than a sore shoulder," Butcher said, adding that Damon is expected to be available for Thursday night's game against Mexico.
But Damon told reporters Monday night in Anaheim that he has been instructed not to throw for a few days by U.S. team trainers who consulted with New York general manager Brian Cashman.
Cashman, however, was returning to Tampa from his grandmother's funeral on Tuesday and indicated he didn't know much vet about the injury.
"I have no information on it. I will focus on that tomorrow." Cashman said through Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrope.
One thing is sure, the Yankees aren't happy about Damon hurting while far away from the team at the WBC.
"That's the thing you dread most is the injury," manager Joe Torre said. "It's sort of a helpless feeling."
Damon left Boston for a $52 million,
Kathy Willens/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Junior Spivey, left, and trainer Barry Weinberg, second from right, congratulate shortstop Hector Luna. Luna scored on Devi Cruz's fifth inning RB base hit in the Cardinals 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees Tuesday, in a spring baseball game at Legends Field in Tampa, Fla. Cardinals pitching coach David Duncan looked on.
four-year contract with New York during the offseason. He has played in four of the Americans' five games in the inaugural WBC, going 1-for-7. Before sitting out Monday, he pinch-hit in Sunday's 4-3 victory over Japan.
"That's the one thing about going,
you have to be so ready to play. That's got to be the hard part," Yankees teammate Jason Giambi said. "When you first get down here, I don't care how much you trained or whatever you do, you can't simulate being out in the field playing baseball.
WILSON
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
This past weekend, Kansas lost two out of three games to No. 2 Clemson, again on the road, but was highly competitive on Saturday and Sunday. The Jayhawks beat the Tigers 6-5 on Saturday when freshman first baseman Preston Land hit a solo home run in the eighth inning. On Sunday, the Jayhawks led 2-1 after five innings before falling 4-3 in the late innings.
Those two series have put KU on the national baseball map. Kansas was one of only five Big 12 teams to be ranked this week, and is nipping at the heels of in-state rival Wichita State, which is ranked No. 23.
The key to continued success for the Jayhawks this year will be finishing in the upper half of the Big 12, which fields 10 teams in baseball. Kansas has never been one of the five best teams in the league, and in the same time period has not qualified for the NCAA tournament. In fact, the Jayhawks haven't been to the tournament since 1994, the year after their appearance in the College World Series.
In a traditionally strong conference like the Big 12, finishing in the top five usually gets a team into the tournament. Last season, the league's top five all made it to the tournament. Kansas' conference schedule starts this weekend at Baylor, which finished second in the conference
last year and went to the College World Series.
Kansas won 11 conference games last season and finished seventh. Fifth-place Oklahoma won 14, so to jump into the top half likely wouldn't take a huge improvement.
Coach Ritch Price has brought the Jayhawks out of the conference cellar and made them a tough team to face in his three-plus years at KU. If he and his squad can take the next step and make the NCAA tournament this season, it would go a long way toward making Kansas a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 on a yearly basis.
Wilson is a Windsor, Mo., senior in journalism.
COVERAGE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
The Kansas women's basketball team will compete in the postseason as well in the WNIT. Our coverage of the women's team will also extend into spring break on kansan.com.
We invite you to visit the Web site during spring break for detailed blogs, scores, updates, columns, brackets and stories. After all, it's March Madness: For KU students, it's truly the most wonderful time of the athletic year.
Sorrentino is a Plano, Texas, senior in journalism. He is Kansan sports editor.