8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GAMEDAY
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2006
'Hawks seniors face last chance to beat'Cats
KU Tip-off
SEASON IN REVIEW
After starting the season 12-0, the Jayhawks were able to win only two of their next 11 games. That streak was broken when the team won its first road game, a 57-56 overtime victory, at Iowa State. After a victory against Missouri, Kansas has to feel pretty good about its chances of making the Women's National Invitational Tournament, and beating Kansas State would all but guarantee a selection.
LAST TIME OUT
It took overtime to settle the Border Showdown, but Kansas prevailed over Missouri in an 81-71 thriller Feb. 25. A crowd of 5,467 was on hand to watch the game, which was the second largest of the season in Allen Fieldhouse. Senior guard Erica Hallman led the Jayhawks in scoring with 29, followed by Kemp's 25. The Tigers stayed in the game by the strength of their free-throw shooting; the team converted on 21-consecutive attempts, tying a school record.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Forwards not named Crystal Kemp. Sophomore Taylor McIntosh and freshman Marija Zinic will share minutes opposite Kemp in the paint. Opposing defenses have a tendency to double-team Kemp, leaving these two with open shots. They also will have to contribute on the defensive end, where they sometimes have open looks at rebounds because of all the attention placed on Kemp.
1 - The Jayhawks' ranking in the Big 12 in three-point shooting percentage.
5. QUICK FACTS
12 — The Jayhawks' ranking in the Big 12 in three-point shooting defense.
.535 — The RPI rating of Kansas, which is the 98th best in the country, according to ESPN.The Jayhawks were hurt by a weak non-conference schedule.
0 - The number of Big 12 North players who have a better scoring average than Kemp's 19 points per game.
LOOKING AHEAD
6-0  Kansas' record when the final margin is five points or less.
With a WNIT berth all but guaranteed, Kansas will look to establish momentum going into the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas next week.
Perhaps the biggest implications are for future years. If the Jayhawks can win, it will help Henrickson compete for top recruits in the state.
KEY TO VICTORY
It's now or never for the Jayhawk seniors, who face their last, and perhaps best, chance to defeat the Wildcats. The game will have the feel of the postseason, with an equal number of fans supporting both teams, the possibility of this being the last game of the season and national television coverage. The Wildcats know what it is like to play big games, and the Jayhawks can't get overwhelmed early.
Kansas vs. Kansas State, CSTV 7 tonight, Allen Fieldhouse
Kansas
OFFENSE
The question mark here is how long it will take senior guard Erica Hallman to find her shooting touch. Hallman is responsible for most of the team's scoring from behind the arc, but she is alternately hot and cold and rarely in-between. She started out cold against Missouri on Sunday before Kansas coach Bonnie Hendrickson told her to follow through more on her shot. After that point, she started hitting her shots and had a career-high 29 points in the victory.
Kansas also will have to balance playing time between junior guard Sharita Smith and freshman guard Ivana Catic. Smith has been a defensive catalyst for the team, proving she can match up with anybody in the league. Catic has been the team's only true point guard who has seen much time this season. If Kansas State starts scoring, look for Smith to get the minutes, in which case Hallman will have to pick up the slack on the offensive end.
DEFENSE
Back in January, the Jayhawks lost a 69-63 game to the Wildcats because they had no answer for freshman forward Marlies Gipson. Gipson is a better player now than she was during that game, but Kansas shouldn't lose sleep thinking about guarding her. Senior forward Crystal Kemp has been helped on defense in recent games by sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh and freshman forward Marija Zinic.
The Wildcats don't pose any challenge for Smith beyond what she's already faced. In the past month Smith has shut down three of the Big 12's best players: Nebraska's Kierra Hardy, Iowa State's Lyndsey Medders and Missouri's LaToya Bond.
COACHING
Henrickson has presided over the high of a 12-0 start and the low of winning only three of the first 11 conference games. She finally has room to work with the bench, as Smith and freshman forward Marija Zinic are able to relieve the starters without any drop in
quality of play. Smith has helped fill the void that was created when junior guard Shaquina Mosley failed to develop into the type of player Henrickson was looking for.
The coaching staff has installed a new offense that allows Smith to play to the shooting strengths of Hallman and senior guard Kaylee Brown. The team will no doubt be watching video of the loss to Kansas State earlier in the season to see what can be improved on.
Michael Phillips
Kansas State
OFFENSE
Kansas State ranks near the middle of the Big 12 conference in most offensive statistics. The game could be won at the three-point line, with both teams in the top four in the conference in three-point shooting percentage. If Kansas State goes cold from behind the arc, it will be up to its young forwards to battle in the paint against an improving Kansas defense. While the Wildcats' young players are improving, the Jayhawks' experience in the paint could be too much to handle.
DEFENSE
Kansas State nearly blew a 17-point lead late in the game at Bramlage Coliseum earlier this season. Kansas was able to cut the lead down to two points. The Jayhawks proved they could put together a run against the Wildcats' defense.The key to stopping Kansas is not to control senior forward Crystal Kemp, but to stop the guards. Kansas' offense is most effective with guards driving through the lane and kicking back out to the perimeter.A zone defense, popular against Kemp, will struggle if Kansas' guards are knocking down shots.
COACHING
It's not quite a "decade of dominance," as Kansas State fans like to claim their football team has against Kansas, but Wildcats coach Deb Patterson has accumulated an impressive record against the Jayhawks — especially the past four seasons. Patterson is also 9-0 against Kansas in the past four seasons. She will desperately need a 10th straight victory if Kansas State hopes to continue its streak of four NCAA Tournaments in a row.The program she's built in Manhattan is the type of program Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson hopes to duplicate in Lawrence. Henrickson and her Jayhawks could be well on their way to doing just that with a victory tonight.
KSU Tip-off
SEASON IN REVIEW
Kansas State has dropped five of its last eight games since defeating Kansas on Jan. 25. This recent stretch adds additional importance to tonight's Sunflower Showdown. With a team built mainly around freshmen and sophomores, Kansas State was expected to have a rebuilding season.
LAST TIME OUT
Kansas State dropped its best chance to secure a bid in the NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 10 Baylor 79-70 at Bramlage Coliseum on Feb. 25.The Wildcats sealed their defeat by scoring only five baskets in the final 11 minutes of the game.Junior guard Twiggy McIntyre led Kansas State with 20 points.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Marlies Gipson. The
Maries Gipson. The freshmen forward scored a team-high 16 points for the Wildcats in the earlier meeting this season. On the season, Gipson shoots nearly 50 percent from the field. She is one of three forwards that Kansas State starts and could possibly be matched up with a Kansas guard on several possessions.
5 QUICK FACTS
9 The number of consecutive victories for Kansas State against Kansas in the last four seasons.
4 The number of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the Wildcats under coach Deb Patterson. 6.81 The average amount of three-point field goals made per game by Kansas State.
34 The total points scored by Kansas State's forwards in the game earlier in the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Windsor NCAA tournament streak could end this year. If Kansas State loses tonight, it would drop its Big 12 Conference record to 7-9, a mark that won't sit well with the tournament selection committee. The team has dropped two straight games to top 10 teams and passed up a chance to get a signature victory for its tournament resume. With a loss tonight, these two teams just might meet up again in the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
KEY TO VICTORY
Kansas State must find a way to counter the emotion Kansas players will be playing with on Senior Night. In the biggest game in the rivalry in nearly five years, the key for the Wildcats will be to strike first and get the thousands of fans in purple who flocked to Allen Fieldhouse behind them. Kansas has a knack for winning close games this season, especially at home. If the score is close late in the game, Kansas State's purple reign could end tonight.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Snyder encouraged to resign one year ago
ALAN SCHER ZAGIER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Former Missouri basketball coach Quin Snyder was first encouraged by athletics director Mike Alden to consider a midseason resignation more than a year ago, according to notes from Chancellor Brady Deaton's recently concluded internal investigation.
And before what would become Snyder's final season at Missouri, Deaton and Alden in October rejected the coach's request for a public show of support and a commitment to honor his contract through 2008, Deaton's Feb. 21 notes show.
The Associated Press obtained the notes Wednesday through a public records request.
What Deaton's investigation doesn't clarify, though, is the role played by Tiger broadcaster Gary Link, a special assistant to Alden whom Snyder said delivered an ultimatum to the coach on Feb. 9, hours after Snyder told reporters he would finish out the season.
would not "divulge the contents" of his conversations with Snyder and Alden, citing confidentiality. However, Link did acknowledge serving as an intermediary between his boss and Snyder, with whom Alden acknowledged having a "close but tense" relationship.
Link told Deaton that he
"Quin, the team is not looking good," Link told Snyder, according to Deaton's notes. "We know how the book is going to end. The question is how do we write the last chapter."
According to Link and Alden, Snyder replied: "I think I
Snyder's job security was in jeopardy as early as Feb. 8, 2005, when Alden said publicly he would retain the coach through the 2005-06 season. At the same time, Alden told Snyder he needed a winning season, a finish in the top half of the Big 12 Conference and an NCAA tournament appearance to avoid losing his job, Deaton's report said.
am better off resigning." He left with six regular season games remaining.
Alden also suggested then that Snyder might want to resign
In return, "Quin was told that we would do the best we could to see that he would not be hurt financially."
in the middle of this year "if he felt that the season were going south." Deaton reported.
Snyder officially left Missouri on Feb. 14 with a seven-year record of 126-91 that included NCAA tournament appearances his first four years. He received a $574,000 contract buyout that was approved by university curators. His total compensation package at Missouri, including incentives, was worth more than
$1 million a season.
The chancellor's report describes a second conversation between Link and Snyder on Feb. 9, this time after practice. Joined by his attorney, Wally Bley, Snyder said he planned to resign but had not worked out the details.
Only then was Alden told of Snyder's intention, Deaton reported. Alden then placed three calls to Snyder that were not returned.
Alden told Deaton that he and Snyder spoke "periodically" throughout the season.