5 / **SPORTS** / THURSDAY. JANUARY 14. 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
--before Tuesday's loss.
GOODRICH (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"it's a big blow," Voepel said. "It'll be something that they're going to have to very quickly adjust to."
Goodrich was a prized recruit when she came to Kansas last year as a freshman. But her season ended before it could begin when she tore the ACL in her left knee in a preseason practice.
Goodrich redshirted last year as a result of the injury.
With Goodrich once again sided for the season, Kansas will need a few of its bench players to step up. Jacobs, a starter earlier in
her career, and junior guard Rhea Codio are the most likely replacements.
"Something that they can fall back on is that they do have experienced veterans." Voepel said.
A veteran player with 21 career starts, Jacobs will likely start in Goodrich's absence. Jacobs started 13 games last season, but played primarily as a reserve toward the end of the season.
As a freshman, she scored 18 points in two games and scored 17 in a game against Missouri last year. This season, Jacobs is averaging 9.1 minutes per game
in what was once a backseat role to Goodrich.
"It's not too late for her to put a very positive closing stamp on her career." Voepel said. "She's a talented player."
Still, Goodrich's passing made Kansas' offense click. The decorated point guard's injury is deflating to a team already ridden with conflicts. However, no team can mope through a Big 12 schedule and expect to win.
"We're going to know a lot based on the next couple of weeks," Voepel said.
With upcoming home games
against Missouri and Colorado and away games at Iowa State and Oklahoma, Kansas may soon discover its identity.
But what is certain is that Kansas will need to regroup quickly after the loss of Goodrich.
"It's not time to panic," Voepel said, "but it's time to realize that it can slip away pretty quickly."
Edited by Allison Shaw
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
A trainer for the women's basketball team assists freshman guard Angel Goodrich after she was injured during the first half of the lajahwaks game against Oklahoma State on Tuesday. Goodrich was injured again in the second half and tore her ACL in her right knee. She will miss the remainder of the season.
WOMENS BASKETBALL
Looking ahead is essential to conference success
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
ataylor@kansan.com
With slightly more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half of Kansas' 70-68 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma State on Jan. 12, freshman guard Angel Goodrich fell to the ground in pain below the basket and clutched her knee.
The sight conjured images from a season ago when the highly touted recruit tore her ACL in her left knee before she even had an opportunity to begin her career at Kansas.
The injury served as an accurate anecdote for a three-game losing streak that resulted in Kansas falling out of the top-25 — a spot the Jayhawks had for the first eight weeks of the season.
Following a close loss on the road to New Mexico State University, Kansas suffered a disappoint-
Junior guard Marsha Brown reacts after a game-winning shot attempted and missed by the Jayhawks at the end of the Oklahoma State game Tuesday afternoon. Despite a strong effort in the second half, Kansas lost 70-68 to Oklahoma State, ditching its third-straight game.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
59-35 loss at Kansas State. That tied the school record for fewest points scored in a game.
Nothing really went right for the Jayhawks against the Wildcats. In a 20 minute stretch that spanned parts
Against the Wildcats, the layhawks simply forced shots
instead of running their offense and finding open shots.
of the first and second half, the jayhawks failed to make a field goal.
"I thought we had a really good shot because we were at home and we know the court," sophomore forward Aishaib Sutherland said. "I mean, this is our house."
The loss sent Kansas looking for answers, and it seemed like the Jayhawks found them at various points against Oklahoma State Cowgirls.
Kansas played more aggressive basketball by attacking the basket and taking better shots. Simply looking at the lajayhaws improvement in field goal percentage between the two games is evidence enough. In Manhattan, the lajayhaws shot a miserable 26.4 percent and improved
"We need to build on what we did well and go from there."
BONNIE HENRICKSON Women's basketball coach
"At K-State we had no competi-
tiveness, no toughness, no resiliency", senior guard Sade Morris said,
"None of that."
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"We threw the first punch in the first half, and the first punch in the second half and we kept going," Morris said. "That was a complete turnaround from
that to 44.6 percent against the Coweirls.
how we did at K-State."
With Goodrich out for the season, it will be even more important for McCray to take over offensively, and she has demonstrated an ability to do just that on more than one occasion. Most recently, she led Kansas to a victory against Houston with a career-high 37 points.
In the first half, though, the turnaround all seemed due to the efforts of senior guard Danielle McCray, who had 16 of the Jayhawks' 29 first half points. Still, Kansas trailed by 10 at halftime.
On the downside, McCray has shown a streaky tendency. Just three games after leading Kansas
to victory against Houston, McCray made just three of 14 shots against K-State.
Kansas did several things well in the game against Oklahoma State that can be used as a foundation for the rest of the season. Still, the Jayhawks have areas that must be improved — such as rebounding — if they hope to compete in the Big 12.
"We were aggressors, and we attacked and we put ourselves in position to win other than on the defensive boards," Coach Bonne
Henrickson said. "We need to build on what we did well and go from there."
In the last few minutes against the Cowgirls, the Jayhawks failed to block out on at least four separate occasions after missed shots by Andrea Riley, the Big 12's leading scorer. That resulted in extra possessions for Oklahoma State, which allowed the Cowgirls to maintain the lead.
The losses at K-State and against Oklahoma State aren't a good start to conference play for a team that
With its next game against Missouri (10-6) Jan. 17 in Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas has ample opportunity to begin climbing out of its 0-2 hole in the conference.
was a preseason pick to finish second in the Big 12 and had aspirations much higher than that.
"We have got to keep the focus on ourselves," McCray said. "We've got some time to get ready for Missouri and get a win here, so we can get some things going and get some more wins."
cessfully become a contender in the conference again is to win, but few games will be easy in the Big 12, one of the nation's toughest conferences. As a whole, the Big 12 had 133 wins and only 28 losses to non-conference teams and no Big 12 team has a sub .500 record at this point in the season.
"All we have to do is keep playing hard," Sutherland said. "We need to forget about the games that we lost and just focus on the next game."
The only way Kansas can suc-
— Edited by Kate Larrabee
Rutgers' Austin Johnson grabs at the ball with Syracuse's Scoop Jardine during the first half of a game Wednesday in Piscataway, N.J.
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No .5 Syracuse takes out Rutgers Despite inconsistent effort, Orange saw big numbers in Wednesday win
Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine added 12 points apiece for Syracuse which built a 23-point lead early in the second half only to see Rutgers close to within eight points before losing their fifth straight game.
The game was ugly and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim frequently pulled players off the court after bad shots and turnovers.
Mike Rosario, who missed his first eight shots, led the Scarlet Knights with 17 points. Dane Miller had 15 points in his first career start.
Rautins was the bright spot for
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Andy Rautins had a season-high 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and No. 5 Syracuse overcame an inconsistent effort to beat Rutgers 81-65 on Wednesday night.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wes Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Orange (16-1, 3-1 Big East) beat Rutgers (9-7, 0-4) for the 10th straight time by getting double figures from five players.
Syracuse. He was 7 of 14 from the field, had 11 points early to get the Orange off to a quick start and dominated on both ends of the court.
Mookie Jones came off the bench and scored 8 of his 11 points in a 24-10 run in the final 12 minutes of the first half that gave Syracuse a 41-23 halftime lead. The Orange, who forced 23 turnovers with their 2-3 zone, increased the margin to 23 points early in the second half on a layup by Arinze Onuaku and appeared ready to play the game onen.
That's when Rosario and Miller combined on a 20-5 spurt that got the Scarlet Knights within 53-45.
Rosario scored 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, while Miller got Rutgers within 53-45 with a basket on a goaltending call.
Rautins then hit a jumper and Jardine hit 6 of 8 free throws and made a layup to build the lead to 63-48 with 10:21 to play.
Rutgers managed to get within nine points twice, but Johnson scored on a one-handed slam and then hit two free throws to end the threat.