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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20,1995
PAGE 3
K-State's defeat is a mixed bag
Thank you. Kansas State.
Because the No. 10 Wildcats lost their game with No. 8 Colorado in Manhattan, the No. 11 Jayhawks grabbed a share of second place during the final year of the Big Eight Conference.
Congratulations to Kansas for a fun and exciting season. Good luck in your bowl game. Thanks for making this year a special one for all Jajahwk fans—including those who came out of the woodwork after the win against Colorado.
Now back to the Wildcats, who in my opinion, just didn't want to go to the Cotton Bowl badly enough. A win against Colorado on Saturday would have given K-State its first-
ever trip to a
ever trip to a New Year's Day bowl game and its first 10-win season in 85 years.
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
But a late touchdown drive with less than two minutes left in the game by the Buffalooes and a Wildcat fumble, which led to another Colorado touchdown, prevented all that from happening.
Now that Colorado, Kansas and K-State are tied at 5-2 in the Big Eight and 9-2 overall, the Cotton Bowl most likely will choose the highest-ranked team, that being the Buffalooids. Then the Holiday Bowl, which appeared to be the Jahayhaws' destiny until Saturday evening, will probably choose the Wildcats.
That leaves either the Copper or Alahna bowls for Kansas. I'm not saying that a trip to either bowl is a bad thing, but it really is a shame that the Wildcats' loss will take the Jayhawks away from a higher-profile bowling game.
When Kansas won the 1992 Aloha Bowl, the University and the football program took a giant step forward. But to return to the same bowl game three years later is a step backward. The Jayhawks deserve a better match than the Aloha Bowl. But because of the Wildcats, it looks like that won't happen.
Thanks but no thanks, K-State.
I'm one for progress, but the hicks from Manhattan have stood in the Jayhawks' way. That's a shame, especially because Colorado really didn't deserve to win. The "Mildcats" were haunted by their past and let one slip away.
Now that the Preseason NIT tournament is under way and the college football season is almost finished, I officially can say that college basketball is here. Some of my colleagues may think otherwise, but games really don't mean anything until after the exhibition season is complete.
That's not to say that I won't be watching tonight's men's game against the Victorian All-Stars with great interest. I didn't see the first exhibition game, but from what I understand, the No. 2 Jayhawks still have a lot of work to do before the season opener against No. 10 Utah on Saturday.
Tell you this now so everyone won't be crying as hard come January — expect this team to be good, but they won't be undefeated going into the conference season. Kansas is still a young team with one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
Speaking of exhibition games,
Allen Field House will be the site a
real gem on Nov. 30 when the No.
13 Kansas women's team faces the
USA women's squad.
No matter what you think about women's basketball, get your butts to this game because it will be great. Where else can you see an Olympic team in action for free? With all the ticket troubles the folks organizing next year's Summer Games in Atlanta are having, people will be paying hundreds of dollars to see the United States team play. Don't miss it.
Kansas athletes who don't get much recognition are the members of the Jayhawk swimming and diving teams. They won't have any more home meets until January but are among the nation's best so far. Keep up the good work.
Easy win was an 'average' game
Edmee Rodriguez / KANSAN
Kansas junior guard Tamecka Dixon drives around a Slovakian national team defender during Kansas' victory.
Women's basketball sees room to improve before DePaul game
By Bill Petulla
Kansan sportswriter
The last three letters in each member of the Slovakian National team's last names are o-v-a. About five minutes into Friday's matchup between the Kansas women's basketball team and the Slovaks at Allen Field House, the game was just that — over.
About a minute and a half into the game, Slovakian guard Lucia Hostynova made a three-point shot and put her team ahead, 3-2. But that was the closest the Slovakians would get all evening. The Jayhawks won, 87-54.
Despite winning by 33 points, many Jayhawks felt this was a average showing and saw room for improvement.
"I think that this game is going to make us want to work harder in practice," said Kansas junior center Jennifer Trapp. "There's a lot of things we need to do and can improve on."
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said that although it was not a perfect performance, the errors were not very serious.
"We have a lot of things to work on, but all of our mistakes are correctable," she said. "I wish we had another exhibition game, but this gave us a chance to see what we need to do."
Washington said she was pleased with the inside play and the Jayhawks' offensive play was a plus.
Seeing her first game action in two years was point guard Erinn Reed. The sophomore transfer from Iowa had three assists and six points — including a one-on-three swooping layup that drew "ooh's" from the crowd in the first half.
"There's always something that I feel that I can improve on, but this was this was the first game I've played in two years," she said.
The Jayhawks came out with both full- and half-court presses on defense. For the aggressive Reed, these pressure defenses gave her a
chance to showcase her defensive skills.
Kansas senior guard Charisse Sampson led all scorers with 18 points. Sampson — who finished the night shooting 4 of 5 from behind the three-point line — said that the Jayhawks came out sluggish.
"I like that type of defense; I like taking risks on defense," she said.
"I think we underestimated this team. We didn't come out fired up," Sampson said. "I know that my throat was dry, and I could barely breathe in the first few minutes."
Though still recovering from ankle surgery, Kansas junior guard Tamecka Dixon scored eight points and had a team-leading four steals in 14 minutes.
Next up for Kansas is No. 15 DePaul Friday in Rosemont, Ill. The Blue Demons return four starters, including a player of the year candidate, senior forward Latasha Byears.
"I'm glad we got a win and got this game out of the way, but we can't come out against DePaul the way we did tonight and expect to win," Sampson said.
Cancellation leaves hockey team cold
By Jeffrey Auslander
Kansan sportswriter
Despite a canceled game against Missouri last weekend, the Kansas men's club hockey team still is working hard to make its season a success.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Considering the team could have measured its ability against the Tigers, some team members are a little angry the Tigers denied them the opportunity.
"They have canceled something like the last six games they have been scheduled to play." Kansas defenseman Chad Beaver, Overland Park junior, said. "We were excited, but I guess we will have to get on with our practices and concentrate on our next games."
Mike Shore (left), Chicago junior, and Chad Beaver, Overland Park junior, are members of the Kansas men's club hockey team. Despite two losses and a canceled game, the team is looking for the opportunity to prove itself.
The only games the team has played this season were two losses to Kansas State a month ago. Kansas left wing Mike Shore, Chicago junior, said that the first two losses didn't reflect how good Kansas was.
"When we played K-State, we had only been practicing for a couple of weeks, and they had a lot more experience," Shore said. "We're playing more now, and we are better in terms of teamwork."
Shore stressed teamwork and the fact that this weekend's games, which were in Jefferson City, Mo., would have encouraged the team to bond.
"We were totally excited to go on the trip because we only see each other once a week," Shore said. "It would have been a prime weekend to really get to know one another better."
With no game, the team will go back to the drawing board on Monday at practice. The team's practices usually start with drills. After drills the team
works on breakouts and then scrimmage. Shore said that the practices, which are held at King Louie Bowling Centers in Overland Park, were taken seriously.
"The attitude at practice is one that is serious when it needs to, but also one that is fun when it needs to be," he said. "People just like the ice time and enjoy
the whole practice."
The team wants to take that attitude and bring it to game time. Shore said that the main motivation for the games was the experience of playing upperlevel hockey.
"We want to win and use team work, but we also enjoy playing college sports at a competitive
level," he said.
Beaver agreed with Shore and said that Kansas' dedication should lead to some victories.
in we come out and play like we have in practice, we should win a lot," Beaver said. "So far, everyone on this team has been playing 100 percent and showing a lot of heart."
Volleyball team keeps fighting to end
The Kansas volleyball team ended its season Saturday night with a hard-fought three-game loss to Oklahoma 15-12, 15-8 and 14 at Allen Field House. The Jayhawks finished the year with a 8-19 overall record and 1-11 in the final season of the Big Eight Conference.
By Bill Petulla Kansan sportswriter
Seniors Walt and Larson end careers, 8-19 season with loss to Oklahoma
"I thought the passing and setting was good," Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said. "We make some crucial hitting errors. When we did that, the team got tight, and the errors really were compounded from there."
The Jayhawks stormed out to a 6-10 lead in the first game. Oklahoma (19-10 overall and 7-5 in the Big Eight) mounted a comeback behind the play of sophomore outside hitter Patrice Arrington and sophomore middle blocker Tanisha Webster.
After back-and-forth sideouts, the Sooners caught Kansas and tied the score at 10-10 before pulling away to win the first game 15-12.
The second game saw Oklahoma jump out to a 5-2 lead. The Jayhawks battled back and went ahead of the Sooners 8-7. Kansas would not score again in the second game. Oklahoma went on a 8-0 run and defeated Kansas 15-8.
Following the intermission, the Sooners dominated play in the
See VOLLEYBALL, Page 4B.
Kansas senior Tracie Walt slams the ball over the net and into the Oklahoma defense. For the Jayhawk seniors, Walt and Jenny Larson, Saturday's game against the Sooners was their last.
Steve Puppe/
KANSAN
'Hawks try to avoid 'slippage' in exhibition
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
When the Kansas men's basketball team plays the Victorian All-Stars at 7:05 tonight in Allen Field House, Kansas coach Roy Williams expects his team not to play as well as they have been playing in practice.
Williams had seen the Jayhawks' improve in practice last week, but playing in front of a crowd would change things, he said.
Kansas will play its first game of the season against No. 10 Utah on Nov. 25 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Then Kansas will play No. 19 Virginia on Nov. 29 at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., and No. 4 UCLA on Dec. 2 in Allen Field House.
"Utah is going to be a great game, a great test for us, and if we don't improve, we are going to get killed," Williams said early last week.
Williams hopes his team can minimize game slippage because soon it will face more challenges than just losing concentration in front of a crowd. The Jayhawks will face three ranked opponents in an eight-day span starting Nov. 25.
The game against the Victorian All-Stars, a collection of Australian professional players, gives the team a chance to improve on its performance in its first exhibition game.
"Game slippage is what I call it." Williams said. "The execution is not going to be as precise as it is going to be in practice because of the distraction. The amount of people in the stands is always going to be a factor in that. We've got to minimize that game slippage, and, if we do, we're in good shape."
"We want to be better and have better execution in every phase of our game," Williams said. "We've got to do a better job offensively of moving the ball. We've got to have sharper movement. We've got to have better screens. And then on the defensive end, just try to control their offensive play a little more than we did the offense of the Converse All-Stars."
Controlling the Victorian All-Stars may be a little easier than past Australian teams the Jayhawks have faced. This year, the Victorian All-Stars have lost to teams such as Tennessee State and McNessee State.
"My guess is this Victorian All-Stars team is not nearly as good as the team that was called the Victorian All-Stars that we played either last year or the year before," Williams said.
Last year's version of the Victorian All-Stars lost to Kansas 87-85 and two years ago Kansas lost 93-82 to Australia Gold Coast.
The Victorian All-Stars may need a couple players to give their team some depth. Former Kansas players Steve Woodberry and Adonis Jordan are possible candidates. Jordan plays professionally in Australia.