Woodland records third victory of season
Senior golfer Gary Woodland won the Louisiana Classics Golf Tournament on Tuesday, shooting a final-round score of 70. The victory was his third of the season and second in a row.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
KANSAS 71, OKLAHOMA STATE 62
Freshman forward Danielle McCray drives to the basket Tuesday night against Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks defeated the Cogers 71-62 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma
Late Kansas rally fuels upset
BY CASE KEEFER
Sarah Leonard/KANSAM
OKLAHOMA CITY — To upset No. 6-seed Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday night, No. 11-seed Kansas had to put together its best game.
The lajhawks did just that to defeat the Cowirts 71-62.
"I have great respect for these kids that they did not cash it in," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "They did not call it quits, great energy, great enthusiasm and great pride in getting better."
With the victory, Kansas advanced
In front of a crowd compromised almost entirely of Cowgirl fans, the Jayhawks played with an unmatched intensity even in the face of adversity.
to play third-seed Baylor at 8:30 tonight in the second round of the tournament. The game will be televised on FSN.
"They showed great resiliency and great fortitude." Henrickson said.
The small contingent of lajwah fans at the Cox Convention Center held their breath when junior forward Taylor McIntosh stumbled off the court after taking an elbow
with 16:28 left in the game. When McIntosh returned wearing a bandage on her face, she brought a determined demeanor.
"I feel more confident and it all started in practice," McIntosh said.
"Ever since I got tired of losing like everyone else on the team, I stepped
up to become more available."
It was easy to see who the leaders were for each of the teams in the final first-round game of the tournament. For Kansas, once again it was senior guard Shaquina Mosley. For Oklahoma State, it was guard Danielle Green, someone who Mosley knew well.
Two years ago, Green and Mosley teamed up and won a junior college national championship at Central Arizona. The game turned into a battle between the ex-teammates.
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Conference lacks national respect
Three teams slated to make tournament
BY MARK DENT
"I'm really disappointed in the way people are perceiving our league," Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie said during Monday's Big 12 Coaches Teleconference. "We're talking about a team in our league
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi better not show up at the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City this weekend
Big 12 coaches are fed up at the lack of NCAA Tournament respect their league is getting from Lundardi and other college basketball analysts.
that needs to win a game in our conference tournament and they already have 10 wins. Give me a break."
That team Gillispie is talking about is Kansas State.
one. The Wildcats have made their NCAA tournament case in the conference. They won at Texas, a teat no other team can claim and finished fourth.
But Big 12 coaches don't think four teams is enough when the
The fifth team that has a chance to make it — Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas are regarded as locks – is Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (20-11, 9-7) don't have a sparkling record, but they defeated the Aggies twice and the Jayhawks once. ESPN.com, CBSSportline.com and SportsIllustrated.com all have Tech in the dance.
"I'm really disappointed in the way people are perceiving our league."
The Wildcats are being held out of the NCAA largely because of their soft non-conference schedule. Kansas State's non-conference schedule is ranked 225, and the Wildcats still struggled. K-State lost to California by 30, New Mexico by 24 and to Colorado State by
ESPN.com, CBSSportsline.com
and SportsIllustrated.com do not
protect the Wildcats (21-10, 10-6)
to be in the NCAA Tournament.
Even Blair Kerkhoff, Big 12 writer for The Kansas City Star, had K State out of the tournament.
BILLY GILLISPIE Texas A&M coach
KANSAS 18, TABOR2
Atlantic Coast Conference has a chance to get nine teams. The Big East Conference is projected to have seven, the Pacific-10 Conference six and the Southeastern
Arkansas, which is fourth in the SEC West Division, illustrates the Big 12's unfair treatment. The Razorbacks (18-12, 7-9) are in the tournament according to Sports Illustrated. This despite having a worse record than K-State and Tech and going 0-3 against the Big 12, including a 22-point loss to Missouri.
"No one plays better ball than us from one through 12." Gillispie said. "I get tired of hearing about
Conference five.
SEE COACHES ON PAGE 3B
Freshman pitcher Wallv Marcel pitches during the game against Tabor College Tuesday evening. The Javahaws defeated the Bluelawks 18-2, capturing their third victory at home.
Big inning leads to blowout victory
BY ALISSA BAUER
When Kansas lost at Oral Roberts a week ago, junior shortstop Erik Morrison said the big innings his team gave up that day would happen. He added that his team needed to work towards finding big innings of its own.
Kansas found some Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks (10-5) took their third victory at home in as many days with an 18-2 victory against Tabor College (6-7).
"That's kind of like the motto of this team — to work for the big inning, to do whatever it takes." Morrison said.
Despite the lopsided final score,
the Bluejays hung with the Jayhawks
more than half of the game. In fact,
Tabor's batters sparked first in the first. Freshman left Wally Marceli hit蓝 Jay sophomore designated hitter Alfred Wilson to lead off the game. Two batters later, Wilson scored to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.
The layhawks let the lead stand through their half of the first inning, but by the second, Kansas was ready to take over.
greedy, you need to go up there and want to get five hits," Morrison said. "It's not going to happen, granted, but when you play a team like this that's not at your caliber of play, you should get on them early and you shouldn't let up"
'With this game you need to be
Junior second baseman Ryne
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 9B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Jayhawks will focus on free-throw and rebounding this week in preparation for post-season play. Kansas shot just 7-for-16 from the free-throw line in the second half against Texas.
Focus turns to problem areas
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
With the NCAA tournament less than 10 days away, Kansas is fine-tuning its game to withstand the pressure of an intense March showdown. Coach Bill Self and his staff have singled out two areas in particular that the team will focus on this week: free-throw shooting and rebounding.
On Saturday, the lajhawks went just 7-for-16 from the free throw line in the second half – worse than
they shot from the field.
During practice, players shoot 25 free throws after running to simulate a game situation. The goal is to make 21, which the players say they usually do. That why few are worried.
"Our free-throw shooting was atrocious down the stretch," junior guard Russell Robinson said. "As well as we played against Texas, we've still got to finish games better."
"When it comes down to crunch time, I think we're going to make the big free throws at the end." sophomore guard Brandon Rush said.
"If we could combine those two a little bit better, we could become a very good rebounding team," he said.
The other focus is on rebounding, where the layhawks have had mixed results throughout the season. Self attributed to that to the players not blocking out very well but still fighting hard for loose balls.
Junior center Sasha Kaun acknowledged the problem, saying that solution is in changing his
mindset under the basket.
NBA speculation
As the season winds down, elite players begin to face questions on whether they'll turn pro after the season ends.
.
Three players at Kansas are receiving attention. Sophomore forward Brandon Rush began the year as a preseason first team All-American, but had an inconsistent year and has
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B