SENIORS' LAST HURRAH The women's basketball team plays its last game at Allen Fieldhouse this season tonight. Game day decides which team has the advantage on Senior Night.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
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KANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA, 7 TONIGHT, ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Sooner center poses tough challenge
BY ASHER FUSCO
Sharita Smith and Shaquina Mosley deserve to be at the center of attention when they are recognized during the senior night ceremony at halftime of tonight's game against Oklahoma, but for the rest of the game the senior guards may have a tough time prying the audience's gaze from Oklahoma's Courtney Paris.
Paris, a sophomore center, looms larger than life over the Big 12
Conference. A quick glance at her statistics hints at the impact she has on the game.
Paris is averaging almost 23 points, 16 rebounds, and nearly 4 blocks per game, good for 1st in the conference in each category. As a freshman, she was voted to the AP All-American first team, named Co-Defensive player of the year, and set the NCAA single season rebounding record. However, the numbers and accolades do not begin to tell the whole story.
At 6-foot-4, the Piedmont, Calif., native towers over most opponents and turns the lane into her personal playground. Paris has earned the nickname 'Baby Shaq' for a reason; on defense, she is nearly impossible to avoid, and on offense, almost unstoppable.
and disrupts the flow of the opposing offense.
"We're going to step up and compete. I'm sure the young kids are excited about it," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "But we know we've got our hands full."
Freshman forward Porscha Weddington and junior forward Taylor McIntosh are the Jayhawks who will go head-to-head with Paris.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
Sharla Smith and Shaquina Mosley will be honored during Senior Night at tonight's game against Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Opponents free-throw percentage not greatly affected by crazy crowds
It's not a serious topic, and Darrell Arthur approaches it with an appropriate amount of lightheartedness.
"The students all go like this," the freshman forward said, crouching down before jumping up and yelling "whoosh!!" It's a spot-on imitation of the Allen Fieldhouse student section.
During every home game, students try to give Kansas an advantage by jumping up and down, waving, baring their chests and doing whatever else they can to distract opposing free-throw shooters. But how much of an impact do they
really have?
"I would like to think more than we actually do, but probably not that much." Topeka junior Kyle Davis said.
He's right. The fieldhouse does have an advantage, but it's not a huge one. Opponents make 5 percent fewer free throws when playing in Lawrence. In a typical game a team may shoot 20 free throws; which means it will miss one shot that would otherwise go in.
The standard distractions involve the students behind the basket way
Creating confusion
ing their arms, either back and forth or in a set pattern as the shooter releases the ball. Creativity is encouraged, though. Over the last two years a new distraction has emerged where students crouch down in the bleachers, then jump up just before the shot. Shawnee freshman T.J. Haynes said that one was his favorite.
"We have all the impact," he joked. "It is all determined by the free-throw distraction."
Kyle Davis came to the Texas A&M game with a set of 30 hypnosis wheels that he handed out to his
For teams that have played in Allen Fieldhouse at least twice since 2005, a look at how they fared at Allen Fieldhouse compared to their performance in other conference games:
SEE FREE THROWS ON PAGE 3B
School AFH Conf. Difference Iowa State 56% 71% +15 Colorado 54% 64% +10 Nebraska 60% 68% +8 Missouri 64% 68% +4 Kansas State 70% 71% +1 Texas A&M 74% 73% -1 Oklahoma St. 76% 74% -2 Total 65% 70% +5
》 BASEBALL
Home opener pushed back once again due to sloppy field
Despite the pilot's past success, not even a helicopter could do the trick Tuesday morning.
BY ALISSA BAUER
In an effort to dry out the Hoglund Ballpark infield, coach Ritch Price spent $600 to rent the chopper in hopes of playing the Jayhawks' home opener Tuesday.
No such luck.
And with that, both Kansas and North Dakota State continue to wait to play a series that was set to begin a week ago today. A decision on today's game, set for 3 p.m., will be made this morning.
"Until it's finished thawing, there's nothing they can do," Price said.
True, the 60 degree temperature combined with the force of the helicopter seemed to be enough to get the field ready to play, which is why Price is so frustrated.
The problem is not standing water, in fact, there is almost none. But as the ground thaws, the moisture comes up through the ground making the field too muddy for play.
Price said that was the most frustrating part about canceling the doubleheader on Tuesday.
"The outfield looks fantastic" he said.
Meet switches emphasis
Event will feature college athletes, not Olympians
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 2B
BY KYLE CARTER
>> KANSAS RELAYS
The change in focus means the Relays will return to its traditional college-focused format. The Relays debuted the Gold Zone event, which featured Olympic athletes, in 2005.
Spectators at the Kansas Relays in April will notice something missing from this year's competition.
Donley was not available for comment by press time, but assistant meet director Billy Steffens said there would be significantly less Olympic athletes in the Gold Zone section of the meet, which had featured world-class athletes such as Marion Jones and Maurice Greene in recent years. He said the Gold Zone would continue to be included in the meet, bui
New meet director Milan Donley plans to shift the focus of the Relays from elite Olympic athletes running during the Gold Zone to heightening
Steffens said Donley had spoken with coaches at Nebraska, Arkansas and Cal-Fullerton, among others, about bringing athletes to the Relays.
Junior distance runner Paul Hefferon said he appreciated the efforts to bring in better competition and thought it would benefit the team.
the level of competition in collegiate events.
"There's a lot of other meets that we could go to that weekend but our coaches think it's important to run in front of our home crowd,
would no longer be the main focus.
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SEE RELAYS ON PAGE 2B