Sports University Daily Kansan / Friday, March 1, 1991 9 'Hawks rebound for title shot 'Husker seniors will be psyched By S. J. Bailey Kansan sportswriter After an emotional overtime loss at Oklahoma State on Jan. 12 dropped the Kansas basketball team to 0-2 in the Big Eight Conference, coach Roy Williams was asked if the next league game was critical to the Jayhawks' success during the remainder of the conference schedule. Going into the weekend games, Kansas is tied with Oklahoma State for the conference lead at 10.3. If Kansas wins and the Cowboys lose, the Jayhawks would be the outright conference champions. Kansas Basketball GAME 27 "I think critical is a word they use in hospitals," Williams said at that time. "There are still a lot of games left to be played, and at this point, no one can be counted out of the race. I think the teams that can win game games on the road will be the ones you have to be around at the end of the season." If both teams win, they would share the league title, but Kansas would receive the higher seed in the conference tournament because of its record against the next-highest-seeded team. Who could have known Williams would turn out to be such a prognosticist. Since that bitter loss in Stillwater, Williams and the Jayhawks have posted a 12-1 record, including a 1-1 mark in league road games, and have vaulted into the driver's seat for the Big Eight Conference title. Sunday, Kansas could claim at least a share of the league crown with a victory against the 15th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskens in Lincoln. KANSAS JAYHAWKS Coach: Roy Williams Record:21-5 PROBABLE STARTERS NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS Coach: Danny Nee Record:23-6 Player Ht. PPG RPG Player Ht. PPG RPG F-Alonzo Jamison 6-6 10.3 6.4 F-Carl Hayes 6-8 13.8 5.6 F-Mike Maddox 6-7 7.3 3.3 F-Tony Farmer 6-10 11.4 7.0 C-Mark Randall 6-9 15.8 5.7 F-Beau Reld 6-7 10.0 4.5 G-Terry Brown 6-2 17.0 3.7 C-RIch King 7-2 15.1 7.9 G-Adonis Jordan 5-11 11.7 2.9 G-Clifford Scales 6-2 9.5 2.9 Game Notes: Kansas will play Nebraska at 2 p.m. Sunday at Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Jayhawks lead the series with the Cornhuskers 131-63, with a 48-38 advantage in Lincoln. Kansas won the first meeting with Nebraska 85-77. The Jayhawks ranked 10th in the nation in The Associated Press poll, will try to extend their two-game winning streak after Big Eight Conference victories last week against Oklahoma and Iowa State. Kansas coach Roy Williams is 3-1 against the Cornhuskers, and Nebraska coach Danny Nee is 3-6 against the Jayhawks. Radio: KLZR (105.9 FM), KJHK (90.7 FM) TV: NBC (Channels 4, 27) Men's Basketball The Jayhaws defeated the Cornbushers 85-77 feb. 6 at Allen Field House, but Williams said he thought Nebraska would be more fired up this time around because it would be the date for a game in front of the Cornhusker faithful. "Clifford Scales, Rich King and Beau Reid will all be bowing up there, and I'm sure it will be a very emotional day for them," he said. "But we can't go up there and get caught in that kind of thing. They're very different from the team, regardless of all the emotion." The Jayhawks will have to find some way to counter the Cornhuskers' dominating height advantage, starting around four players 6-foot 8 or taller. rebounds in the game earlier this season in Lawrence. King, a 7.2 center, leads the Cornhuskers offensively with 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. He scored 25 points and pulled down eight Senior forward Mike Maddox said he hoped the Nebraska seniors would not have as good a game as the one they played in their last game on the home floor. "They're big and strong, and we're going to have to do a great job inside rebounding to be successful." Maddox said. "If we can go out on there and just play and lose our pose, we should have a good shot at winning the game." By Rick C. Honish Lacrosse team must travel to play games Kansan sportswriter The Kansas women's lacrosse team will travel to Boulder, Colo., this weekend for a tournament and a clinic. Jeanne Brennan, vice-president of the team, said that 15 to 17 women would make the trip today. make the trip today. "We will play against teams from Colorado, Denver University, Colorado State." Breman said the team had to travel for each tournament because there were no other teams in the area. "Missouri has tried to a team going, but they have had some trouble," she said. "Right now I think we are the only women's team in Kansas and that means we can win." She described the sport as a combination of fieldockey and soccer. The game is played with a hard rubber ball on a field that closely resembles a soccer field. The 12 players on each team have long sticks with shallow, triangular nets on the end. A player has to "cradle" the ball in the net by sliding side while running and looking for a teammate to pass the ball to. The object is to get the ball into the opponent's goal at the opposite end of the field. Brennan and her roommate, Ellen Brisch, formed the team last year after several women asked the men's team about playing "We started the team with about 10 players," Brennan said. "And only two or three really knew how to play." "There are about 40 on the roster now, but they all play on a rotational-type schedule." she said. "There are about 20 solid players." schedule," she said. "There are about 20 solid players." She said that starting a new sport on campus was good because everyone Stephanie Hampton, a player on the team, said that she had never even seen a stick until Brennan showed her one. "It was hard to learn everything at first, but after our first game, we knew what we were supposed to be doing," she said. "I think we play really well together now." "There are a lot of girls on the team who have never even seen another game played." she said. Breman said she was excited to go to Colorado so that many of the new players could see what the sport was all about. game played, she said. After the Colorado tournament, the team will play scrimmages until April 14, when it will play in the Western States tournament at the University of California at Davis. The team is financed by the Sports Club Council, but Brennan said the team would have to finance their transportation and lodging. "We are going to have fund-raisers to help" she said. She added that the team probably would end up staying in hotel rooms, with many members "We will probably buy our groceries here and send them out on the plane to save some more money," she said. "It's worth it though. We have a lot of fun, and we are learning how to play better." Gathers' death draws flurry of legal action The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — One year after Hank Gathers collapsed on a basketball court and died, his name frequently recurs in court briefs, depositions and notices of appeal. More than 30 lawyers, representing seven different firms across the nation, have made Loyola Marymount's former star the subject of suits and counter-suits, accusations and denials, before a federal judge spawned acrimony among those who were closest to him. Gathers, a senior forward, was intent on leading the Lions to their third-straight West Coast Conference tournament title March 4 when, following one of his trademark dunks in a game against Houston, heapped to the floor. He was pronounced dead less than two hours later. The cause of death was found to be cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder. A jury likely will decide who or what contributed to Gathers' death and any culpability. In the meantime, heavy publicity surrounding the $2.5 million wrongful death suit filed by Gathers' mother, brother, aunt and a 7-year-old son born out of wedlock has drawn battle lines between the family and 14 defendants, among them former Loyola Marymount coach Paul Westhead, the university and doctors who treated Gathers before and after his collapse. The litigation even has cast a shadow over efforts by WCC officials to commemorate Gathers' death at this year's tourney. He will be a pause to remember him at Monday's championship. "The litigation really limits what we can appropriately do," said assistant WCC commissioner Don Ott, adding that the conference addressed with the problem. But everyone is remembering him this week. "We can never forget the impact Hank had on the conference and the tournament." Ott was the tournament MVP twice. There will be no public commemoration at Loyola Marymount, where Gathers was the nation's scoring and rebounding leader in 1988-89. The school's coaching staff and team doctor all are defendants in the suit, which also names the university. Although the suit was filed last April, the first settlement conference is set for March 3. That may not come off, though, since even the defendants can't agree on strategy. Sports briefs Gophers will play host to the Jayhawks today The Kansas baseball team plays the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Napoleon today in the first game of a three-game weekend series. “There's a real concern for us in our preparation,” he said. “When you get into a great facility like that, everybody steps up their game. We need to be able to do that for three games.” The games will be played in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the home of major-league baseball's Minnesota Twins The Jayhawks, 3-3 overall, will return home to Hogland-Maupin Stadium to play Creighton at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Kansas coach Dave Bingham said the dome might pose some problems for the Jayhawks. Hockey club to compete in Iowa championship The Kansas hockey club will be competing in the CSCHA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend. The club finished first in their The club received a first-round bye and will begin play Saturday in the semifinals of the single-elimination tournament. division with a 10-5-1 record, including 6-5 and 63 victories over Missouri last weekend. The Kansas men's tennis team will play Minnesota on Saturday and Drake on Sunday in the Drake Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa. Kansas will be competing against Drake, Washington, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Carleton College for the championship. Kansas coach Scott Perelman said the weekend was important for the Jayhawks in terms of rankings and postseason tournament seeds. Kansas, 6-3 overall, is coming out of an 18th place finish at the USTA/ITCA National Indoor Team Championships last weekend. "The Drake match is especially big for us," he said. "They're in our region, and we need to beat them and win our league to go to the NCAAs." Kansas men to compete in Iowa this weekend From staff reports Kansas guards Darye Bieber (left) and Kay Kay Hart take a short break during an informal practice at Allen Field House. The women's ilip Meiring/KANSAN basketball team will leave for the Big Eight tournament in Salina at 12:30 p.m. today. Team hopes that aggressive defense will win coming Conference tourney Lady 'Hawks ready to take Big 8 By Lana Smith Kansan sportswriter The Big Eight Conference tournament is here again, and Kansas junior guard Kay Kay Hart said that he will attend the conference title home this year. Hart said that the Jayhawks would not be the only team prepared to play a rough game. She said Kansas' first opponent, Nebraska, would also be "Everyone is going to be pumped," Hart said. "We've got to go in and play tough." Hart said she would look for Nebraska to try to force the Kansas offense to make fast decisions and not allow them to follow down and set up its plains. “Couch (Angela) Beck is going to have them read,” Hart said. “The season may not have been their best, but we’re going to come in ready to play.” "I think they'll try to hold our inside people," Hart said. "We'll have to play smarter than Nebraska and play people in the game if we want to win." Hart said that the key to the game would be Kansas' defense getting inside the lane and out-rebounding Nebraska's taller players. Women's Basketball "Rebounding is defense." Hart said. "It's desire. If you want the ball, you've got to go to get it." Hart said that the Jayhawks would definitely possess that desire. Kansas assistant coach Mitch Shea said he thought Kansas would be ready for a race to the boards with Nebraska. "They have the height advantage," Shea said. "It's a plus, but it's not a definite advantage. It's something else." He also said he'd do we do with it. We're a quicker team." Shea said that communication between players and a focused defense would secure a Kansas victory. Kansas sophomore center Lisa Tate said that if the Jayhawks played up to their potential, the game would Probable Starters for Women's Basketball "We are a tournament team," Shea said. "We have the depth and the defense. It's a team effort." Shea said that Kansas would try to force the Cornhuskers outside the lane, a strategy that might save the Jayhawks from making mistakes that would send the Cornhuskers to the free-throw line.
KansasPos.Ht.PPGRPG
Terrilyn JohnsonF5-1110.19.6
Tanya BonhamF5-86.11.9
Marthea McCloudC5-106.05.8
Stacy TruittG5-810.14.0
Kay Kay HartG5-79.43.2
Nebraska Karen Jennings C 6-2 20.3 8.7 Ann Halsne F 6-1 11.0 4.6 Kristi Dahn G 5-11 7.5 2.2 Meggan Yedsena G 5-8 7.3 3.2 Kelly Hubert F 6-1 7.0 6.9 Melissa Unterberg/KANSAN end in a Nebraska unset When Nebraska played host to Kansas on Feb. 6, the Jayhawks lost The Jayhawks dominated the court when they played Nebraska Jan. 23 at Allen Field House, beating the Cornuskers 83-63. Tate said that despite the size of the Nebraska players, Kansas could outmaneuver them. "We just have to make sure when they go for a shot that we block them out, so they don't get second chances." Tate said. "They may be bigger than we are, but we're quicker." 69-68. The Jayhawks finished their regular season with an overall record of 16-11 and 7-7 in the conference. "Our record might not show it," Tate said, "but I really do believe that we can win." For the last two years, Kansas has lost the conference title to Oklahoma State by narrow point margins. In 1990, the final score of the title game was 66-65, while the final score of the 1989 clash was 62-59. "We have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Hart said. "It's our year."