BIG EIGHT SWIMMING The Kansas men's and women's teams both finish second at the conference meet. Page 3 SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1996 SECTION B Jayhawks win their sixth championship By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter NORMAN, Okla. — The Kansas women's basketball team can now say those four magic words: 1996 Big Eight Conference Champions. What had been only talk became reality as the Jayhawks clinched at least a tie for first place with their 81-63 victory against Oklahoma yesterday at the Lloyd Noble Center. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL The title is the first for Kansas since 1992 and the sixth women's basketball title for the Jayhawks. Kansas is now 17-8 overall and 10-3 in the Big Eight. Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said that winning the Big Eight was especially sweet this season since the Jayhawks had gone through some early season struggles. "Our situation forced us to really show what we're all about, and I think we demonstrated it," Washington said. Kansas routed the Sooners despite an inspired first half performance from Oklahoma. The Sooners stayed right with the Jayhawks for most of the first half because of the performance of seniors Pam Pennon and Etta Maytubby. Penon and Maytubby accounted for 28 of the Sooners' 35 points in the first half, but Kansas still led 43-35 at halftime. "I'm really delighted with this win, because we struggled in the first half, and then we worked through it in the second half," Washington said. The Jayhawks began the second half with a quick 6-0 run to go up 49-35, and they never looked back. Junior guard Hallebileb led the Jayhawks with 19 points, and senior guard Hableib said that Kansas couldn't afford to relax now, despite clinching a tie for the Big Eight title. Charise Sampson chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We're excited, but we still have one game left," Halbleib said. "We want this title all to ourselves." After Oldahoma upset the Jayhawks earlier this season, junior Tamecka Dixon said that returning the favor was extremely important. "They were top on my list," Dixon said. "We felt we needed to come back strong against them, and I think we did." Dixon said she thought Kansas was peaking at just the right time. The Jayhawks put themselves in prime position by handing Oklahoma State its first home loss of the season Friday night. Kansas outshot and out-rebounded the Cowgirls throughout the 69-59 victory. "I feel like we're perfecting our game right now, the way we want to play it." she said. Sampson led the Jayhawks with 20 points and seven rebounds. Her six-for-six performance from the free-throw line paced the strong team effort from the line at 16 for 18. Kansas nine grabs Texas by the horns BUFFAOLES WIN TOO: No. 18 Colorado stayed in position for a tie for the conference title with a win against Iowa State yesterday, Page 4. Baseball team stuns No.18 Longhorns by winning 2 of 3 By Dan Gelston Kansan sportswriter There were plenty of stars in the Lone Star state for the Kansas baseball team this weekend. The unranked Jayhawks stunned the No. 18 Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, winning two of the three games. Once again Once again Kansas (3-3) was led by the pitching of senior Clay Baird and the offense of senior second baseman Josh Kliner. After winning the first two games the Jayhawks lost 9-2 yesterday afternoon at Disch-Falk Field. No. 18 Texas 9, Kansas 2 Kansas senior starting pitcher Aric Peters (0-2) took the loss. He was the first of a record six Kansas pitchers in the game. All of them gave up at least one run, with the exception of junior Tim Lyons who pitched only one-third of an inning. Kliner and freshman third baseman Sparky Wilhelm each had two hits. After Kansas won its first two games. Kansas | | eh | r | h | rh | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | aa DeMarco | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | cf Byrd | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2b Kliner | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | | r Headley | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | dh Dimmick | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | c Meadows | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3b Wilhelm | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | 1b Frank | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | if Vann | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | | 32 | 2 | 9 | 2 | TEXAS (6-7) ab r h rbl 2b Campbell 5 3 3 1 ss Harkier 2 0 0 1 cf Byers 5 1 2 3 dh Peoples 4 0 2 1 1b Layne 5 1 1 0 c Escamilla 2 2 1 1 f Edelstein 3 1 0 0 rf Salinas 3 1 0 0 3b Braswell 4 0 0 0 33 9 9 9 Kansas IP H R ER BB SO Paters 4.2 3 1 1 4 1 Walrond 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 Wingerd 1.0 2 2 2 1 0 Williams 0.0 0 1 1 1 1 Pruett 0.2 2 3 3 0 1 Lyons 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 Texas IP H R ER BB SO Weaver 5.1 7 1 1 1 7 Zamarira 1.2 2 1 1 2 1 Barker 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 baseball coach Bobby Randall said he had been disappointed with how the team played yesterday. Texas played very well, and things didn't go our way, and we didn't make the plays we needed to," he said. "You have to give credit to Texas for that." Kliner agreed. "We're kind of disappointed coming out of today, but if you told us we would take two of three from Texas, we would be happy," he said. Randall said he had been impressed with the Longhorn pitching. "They brought us three guys who throw radio pitching — you hear about them but you don't see them," he said. Kansas won Saturday's game 8-6 behind pitcher Josh Belovsky. Belovsky rebounded from a loss in his first start by allowing just two hits in five shutout innings to even his record at 1-1. Kansas sophomore Casey Barrett pitched one-third of an inning and earned his second save in as many days. Barrett walked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before getting the final batter to strikeout. Kilner led a 12-hit Jayhawk attack with three doubles while three other hitters had two hits each. He had seven hits, including three doubles in Saturday's game. "Things are going good for me right now," he said. "I am really hitting the ball hard." On Friday, Baird upped his record to 2-0 in a 7-6 win. Kansas led 4-3, 6-5 and finally 7-6, but never let Texas take the lead. Junior first baseman Justin Headley hit Kansas' first home run of the season with a two-run shot in the eighth inning. Barrett pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save. Randall said Kansas was still in the learning process this early in the year. "We're still evolving, trying to find out things about ourselves," Randall said. "It could be great to learn things and win, but sometimes you have to discover things when you lose." Kansas junior guards Jerod Haase and Jacque Vaughn share their emotions with each other following a tangle with an Iowa State player in Saturday's game. Vaughn said, the increased intensity came from a team meeting following practice on Thursday. "It was something we needed after the way we played against Colorado," he said. Matt Flickner / KANSAN Men's team has fun blowing Cyclones away Victory elevates Kansas to 9-1 in the Big Eight By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter "Paul, it's Bill Clinton," Doherty said to freshman forward Paul Pierce. "Wants to congratulate you on the bid win." AMES, Iowa — Outside the locker room after Kansas' 61-50 victory against Iowa State, Kansas assistant coach Matt Doherty picked up a pay phone receiver. "Tell him to hold on," replied Pierce, who scored a game high 18 points. ing fun after their victory, which elevated their record to 21-2 and 9-1 in the Big Eight Conference. They appeared to be enjoying themselves from the moment they stepped on the floor at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday to play No. 22 Iowa State. Part of that was because of a team meeting after the Jayhawks' practice on Thursday. The No. 5 Jayhawks weren't just hav- "It was something we needed after the way we played against Colorado." Kansas junior guard Jacque Vaughn said. "Knowing how much fun the game of basketball can be was the gist of the meeting." Even though the topic was fun, the meeting itself might not have been. "It definitely was not a lunch-break meeting," Vaughn said. "It was a long one." For the first 10 minutes of the second half, neither the Jayhawks nor the Cyclones could build a lead larger than four points. But when leading 40-36, the Jayhawks hit an 11-4 run capped by a no-look ally-oop from Vaughn to junior But it worked. Kansas held Iowa State without a field goal for the first nine minutes and 36 seconds of the game and built a 13-4 lead. The Cyclones battled back and tied the score 28-28 with baskets in the lane by junior guard Dedric Willoughby and junior forward Kenny Pratt, which ended the half. "I think it was the swing in the game," Pierce said. "It just seemed like they couldn't come back from that deficit." Although the Jayhawks hit their stride offensively in the second half, the Cyclones never found theirs. That included Willoughby, the Big Eight's second-leading scorer entering the game. The Jayhawks held him eight points below his average of 20.8 points. center Scot Pollard. "It shows how great a player he is; he scores 12, and people say we stopped him," said Kansas junior guard Jerod Haase, who divided time with Vaughn guarding Willoughby. "Some previous See JAYNAWKS, Page 4. Matt Flickner / KARBAN 'Benedict' LaFrentz laughs last Kansas sophomore Reef LaFrentz boxes out an Iowa State opponent in Saturday's game. By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter AMES, Iowa — Iowa State fans remembered Raef LaFrentz. They booed the Kansas sophomore forward when he was announced in the starting lineup and whenever he hit a field goal. They made signs, including one that referred to him as "Benedict LaFrentz." But the reception that the Monona, Iowa, native got when he returned to Iowa on Saturday was not nearly as bad as last year. "That's all in the past," LaFrentz said after No. 5 Kansas' 61-50 victory against No. 22 Iowa State." I and happy but not thrilled just because we beat Iowa State. I fully expected to get a victory." It was a struggle, though. The Jayhawks' offensive execution was not stellar, said LaFrentz who hit four of 10 shots from the floor and scored eight points. It was LaFrentz and his teammates, though. who intimidated the Cyclones in the end. The Jayhawks went on an 11-4 run midway through the second half and extended their lead to 11 points, 51-40. Iowa State cut the lead to nine several times in the final three minutes, but the fans in Hilton Coliseum seemed to know that the victory belonged to the Jayhawks. "Coach Williams will say, 'Listen to the games get quiet as we play,' junior forward B.J. Williams said. "Scot (Pollard) was telling me the fans were leaving, and I agreed with him." The Cyclone fans gave LaFrentz a final showering of boos when he checked out near the game's end. But the crowd's reaction wasn't what was important to him. "I just wanted to give my friends and family an opportunity to see me play and hopefully come away with a victory," LaFrentz said. "I would have been very disappointed to leave here with a loss."