THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL|8A Duke defeats rival North Carolina The Blue Devils made a strong comeback after a rough first half to win 79-73.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10,2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
KANSAS 86, NO.20 IOWA STATE 85
Jayhawks come out on top
Senior guard Marisha Brown and freshman guard Diara Moore celebrate after teammate Carolyn Davis hits the winning shot Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks took on fellow Big 12 team Iowa State. The game went into overtime and Kansas won 86-85. Megan Singer/KANSAN
Jayhawks victorious against ranked team and claim their win in overtime
BY KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
As the clock wound down and Kansas faced another loss, sophomore forward Carolyn Davis made the final basket of the game, which gave Kansas the one point lead they needed to take down No. 20 Iowa State.
"I was just so excited," Davis said.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson revealed that the final play call was not choreographed, but she simply told toophone guard Angel Goodrich to throw the call in to Davis.
"I love that my teammates and my coaches have
the confidence in me, but I went into the hudble and called it," Davis said.
Kansas led the entire second half and ended regulation tied at 68. In overtime, the Jayhawks played from behind, trading free throws for the remainder until Davis' shot.
"Great resolve and great resiliency." Henrickson said. "I am really proud of the girls and really happy for them."
In the end of a hard fought game, Kansas defeated Iowa State 86-85 in overtime. This
victory improves their record to 16-8 and 3-7 in conference play.
"Great resolve and great resiliency. I am really proud of the girls and really happy for them."
Goodrich broke her career assist record with 15 in the victory last night.
BONNIE HENRICKSON coach
"It ites great we obviously need a win and coming here and just coming out on top was a great feeling." Goodrich said.
A number of fouls in the second half left Kansas in the
double bonus with over six minutes left.
" O n c e we see they are going to call touchy-touchy, we have to back off a little bit and let loose," Goodrich said.
Davis led
all scorers with 31 points in the outing off of 11-17 shooting. Davis shot 9-15 from the free throw line for her tenth 20-point game for the season.
"It is a big confidence booster." Davis said.
This was the Jayhawks first victory over a ranked team this season while the Big 12 boasts four ranked teams of its own.
four ranked
"We have to come out like this every single game and continue to play like we did tonight." Goodrich said.
Edited by Erin Wilbert
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND
PAGE 7A
Kansas softball team gears up for tournament
BY HANNAH WISE
hwise@kansan.com
Inches of snow and freezing temperatures don't generally comes to mind when thinking about softball season. But for the Kansas softball team, these elements became a harsh reality.
The weather has forced the team to practice indoors on the Ray Evans Football Field at the Anschutz Sports Pavillion. The facility allows the team to get batting practice in and hold full practices for the infield and outfield. However, practicing on the turf creates a number of obstacles for the players.
of obstacles on the play.
"We can't dive on it or else we will get torn up," said sophomore outfielder Maggie Hull. The ball reacts differently on the turf than it does on the grass or the dirt. When teams are playing outside, a ground ball might hop slightly to the left or the right depending on the condition of the field.
"We are ready to get out. At some point in time as a team you are done with practice and we are at that point. We are going to go out and work as hard as we can and there are some other schools that are in the same boat as we are," Smith said.
Even though the conditions are different, Coach Megan Smith is not going to let the indoor practices be an excuse for lack of effort.
The team's chance to escape the Kansas cold is finally here.
Kansas is heading to Jacksonville, Fla., to compete this weekend against the University of North Carolina, the University of Buffalo, Bethune-Cookman University and Jacksonville University.
PAGE 10A
Smith said this year's team is very different than last year's team, even though it graduated only two infielders. The eight-member freshman class has stepped up to the challenge.
"We have a talented group of freshman. They are going to have their normal freshman ups and downs, but the talent is there and they are going to do a really great job
"This first weekend is going to be a great chance for us to see everybody out in action," Smith said.
SEE
SOFTBALL
ON
PAGE 8A
A breakdown of the way this season's players will fill out the field
COMMENTARY
Possible Big12 rankings for 2011
BY KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
1. Oklahoma: This is an easy one. Eight starters return on defense, but the real story is the offense, which was 14th in the country last year. Quarterback Landry Jones returns with possible Heisman candidate Ryan Broyles at wide receiver while coach Bob Stoops landed another top-15 recruiting class.
With only seven months remaining in the college football offseason, let's take a way-too-early look at the Big 12 heading into next season.
2. Oklahoma State: What do you get for the offense that has everything? Another year from its All-American wide receiver. Justin Blackmon's head-scratch decision to skip the NFL and return for his junior season will keep the nation's No. 3 offense going strong into 2011.
3. Missouri: While the loss of quarterback Blaine Gabbert leaves some uncertainty for the Tigers, there might not be much of a drop off in quarterback play in 2011. James Franklin looks to be Gabbert's successor in Columbia, who I think is a better fit for Gary Pinkel's spread offense then Gabbert ever was.
5. Texas: There is just too much talent in Austin to miss out on another bowl game. Coach Mack Brown landed the nation's fifth-best recruiting class according to ESPN, and the defense returns eight starters. Losing defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to Florida keeps me from putting the Longhorns any higher than fifth.
4. Texas A&M: The emergence of quarterback Ryan Tannehill helped spark an impressive six-game winning streak heading into the Cotton Bowl, which the Aggies dropped to LSU. Tannehill starting from day one will help this year, along with eight other returning offensive starters.
6. Baylor: Robert Griffin III is the best quarterback one on one outside of Big 12 country has heard of. Griffin accounted for 30 touchdowns in 2010, with 22 through the air and eight on the ground. The defense is still a question mark, however.
still a question. Mark, Hawes, bwc.
7. Texas Tech: I liked the hire of coach Tommy Tubberville last year and I think he can continue to improve the Red Raiders. Without a quarterback, though, it's hard to see how good Tech can be in 2011.
how good does it need to be?
8. Kansas State: Kansas State nearly won a bowl game last year, but loses its only offensive spark, running back Daniel Thomas, who ran for 1,585 yards and 19 touchdowns. Who will replace him? Will the quarterback play improve even a little? Coach Bill Snyder hasn't recruited anyone of note to replace Thomas' production
9. Iowa State: I give the Cyclones the edge over Kansas here because of the schedule. Both teams have more holes than a block of swiss, but Iowa State gets to host the Jayhawks on Nov. 5, and that might be the tiebreaker in the conference standings.
10. Kansas: Good things are happening for Turner Gill and the football program, it just might take another year to see those improvements. Gill and his staff landed a stellar recruiting class for a disastrous first season. As many as 16 of those freshman will play in 2011 according to Gill, which makes me wonder how much talent he didn't have in 2010. Expect growing pains from the large batch of first year players next season, but be excited for 2012.
Edited by Corey Thibodeaux