Big 12 hopes to set record
BY DAVID DIEHL
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Big 12
Conference knows that women’s bas
ketball has been put on the map in the
past few years. Now it’s just trying to
get more people to notice.
The conference has announced a
promotional program for the 2000-01
season, “The Million Fan March to
Madness.”
The goal is to have die Big 12 be the
first conference to attract one million
fens to its conference games. The con
ference led the nation in attendance
figures last year, drawing 802,419 fans.
“This should be an exciting pro
motion that will help push Big 12
women’s basketball even further into
the spotlight,” Big 12 Commissioner
Kevin Weiberg said. “We appreciate
the fen support we’ve had in the past
and hope to draw new fans as we all
work together towards a million.”
The program will rely upon each
school’s promotions department as
well as gaining exposure through tele
vision and radio. Should the promo
tion work, it will be building on a
national benchmark. Last year’s atten
dance mark was the highest for a con
ference in NCAA history.
Big 12 coaches have welcomed the
challenge with open arms.
HI think it is a remarkable thing
they are doing,” Nebraska Coach Paid
Sanderford said. “We are trying to
make women’s basketball socially
acceptable in Lincoln. I think the Big
12 is doing the same thing.”
Nebraska had the fourth highest
average attendance in the Big 12 last
year, averaging 4,772 fans per home
contest
Last year, the Big 12 had three
teams - Texas Tech, Iowa State and
Ibxas-rank in the top 10 nationally in
average attendance. The teams
ranked second, fourth and 10th,
respectively. Tech and ISU averaged
over 10,000 fans a game.
Texas Tech Coach Marsha Sharp
said all that is needed to draw more
fens is a loyal base, which is gathered
by winning.
“I do think one thing about
women’s basketball fens on a whole is
when you finally get them hooked,
they are probably more loyal and will
probably follow you through thick and
thin more than maybe some on the
men’s side will,” foe said
Sanderford said NCAA
Tbumament games at foe 13,500-seat
Devaney Center would kick-start an
expansion of fen base in Lincoln.
“I look at it as we have 8,000 empty
seats,” Sanderford said. “I would be
totally happy to fill the place. We need
to play in March to get those 8,000
seats filled”
One-two [
r
punch leads
ISU into 2000 I
ISU from page 12_ |
replace ISU's all-time leader in
three-pointers, assists, and free
throw percentage - Frese. That
could be tougher now that the
pair, and especially Welle, will be
the primary focus of the other
teams in die league.
"Last year, if teams were going
to let anybody beat them, they
were going to let me beat them,”
Welle said.
That philosophy allowed
Welle to average 15.4 points on the
opposition last year.
“It’ll be different this year," die
said. "It’s a great opportunity for
people to step up. People will have
to ftilfill their roles and have to do
a little more than they were
expected in tne last years.
To keep her game above
everyone else's, Welle said, she
worked on her play away from the
basket and tried to make herself
harder to guard in the high post
“I try to do different things and
just try to be a threat,” Welle said.
Paired with Taylor, Welle will
constitute one half of the confer
ence’s most dangerous threat.
Taylor, Fennelly said, will be not
only a scorer, as she's averaged 14
points a game in her career, but
she’ll be the general of a very
“even-keeled” team.
“It’s her fourth year here,” he
said, “and she’s a great leader and a
different kind of leader than we've
had in the past”
The native of Roseau, Minn.,
will serve as a captain on die 2000
squad after being an All-Big 12
third-team selection in 1999 and
the conference’s Freshman of the
Year in 1998.
Taylor said she is looking to
return the Cyclones deep into the
NCAA Tournament, like in 1998
when she helped take ISU to the
Elite Eight
“This is my last opportunity to
do anything,” Taylor said. “We
have to go out there and work
hard, and if we do that hopefully
we’ll get that far again.”
Coach keeps Raiders
at top of conference
BY JOSHUA CAMENZ1ND
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Last
season, Texas Tfech’s starting five
started all 33 of its games.
No other player was able to
crack the Lady Raider lineup on
the opening tip, a remarkable
achievement, Texas Tech Coach
Marsha Sharp said.
But in 2000, three spots are
open and have yet to be filled.
Gone are Keitha Dickerson,
Aleah Johnson and Melinda
Schmucker-Pharies. With the
departure of the three, Sharp
lost 34 points per game and her
floor general in Schmucker
Pharies.
But even with those three
leaving Lubbock, Texas, few
expect the Lady Raiders to fall
from the top. This is because
the Tech coach isn’t going any
where.
Sharp, who has coached at
Texas Tech for 18 years, has
established a winning consis
tency in her program with a
career record of434-134, one
that is unmatched in the Big 12
Conference and one of the best
in the nation.
lexas lech has qualified for
the NCAA Tournament in the
last 11 seasons, sporting a 293
64 record in that span. Compare
that to Iowa State, which was 8
19 in both 1994 and 1995 and
had a two-win season in 1993.
The Lady Raiders can make a
case for the premier program in
the conference.
Last season was supposed
to be a bump in the road for
Sharp and her team, as they
were picked in the middle of die
pack before the season. But
when the horn sounded at the
end of the season, the Lady
Raiders had 28 wins and an Elite
Eight appearance.
“'We gained a little bit of
respect last year,” Sharp said.
“Last year’s team had a little
more heart and were over
achievers.”
Tech senior Katrisa O'Neal
said the Lady Raiders expected
to win last season despite the
odds that were stacked against
them.
“We were able to prove a lot
of people wrong,” O’Neal said.
“We believed in ourselves, and
it just helped us realize that if we
have that love and fire for the
game to go against all odds,
then we can get the job done.”
And teams like last season’s
ensure that most will not
underestimate the Lady Raiders
again. While some programs
fluctuate from greatness to
mediocrity and back again,
Sharp has found a way to keep
the ship afloat for almost two
decades.
“When you coach at the col
lege level, there is no substitute
for great players," said Sharp,
who has only had three seasons
under 20 wins in her career. “I
think that is what separates any
college program from the next”
Sharp said Tech’s fan base
has allowed her to keep stock
ing up on young talent. The
Lady Raiders are second in the
nation in attendance, drawing
12,741 per game.
“Great players want to play
in arenas that have people in
them,” Sharp said.
Sharp didnt have to go tar to
find this year's group of great
players to complement O’Neal
and fellow returning starter
Plenette Pierson. A recruiting
class of six players, all from
Texas, was termed as “the best
group to ever come out of the
state” by Sharp.
Sharp said Candi White, a
junior college transfer from
Canyon, has emerged at point
guard for die Lady Raiders, and
fieshman Natalie Ritchie from
Amarillo has the potential to be
the best outside shooter ever at
Tech.
"I think they are living up to
their reputation,” O’Neal said.
“They will be a big part of what
we are doing.”
Sharp said Pierson can
“take her game anywhere she
wants to,” but while Pierson
holds the key to some of Tech's
success after averaging 13.6
points and seven rebounds per
game in her first season, the
1999 Big 12 Freshman of the
Year said much of it will depend
on the sensational six from her
home state.
“Just like last year, this year
will be all about the freshman
class stepping up,” Pierson said.
Don’t bet against Sharp
making sure they, and the rest of
the Lady Raiders, do step up.
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Calmus,Thatcher key OU defense
OU from page 12 _
knack for it He is a factoi in over
coming mistakes of other people.”
Thatcher has made numerous
big plays this season for OU after
switching to defense last season.
The senior started at running
back against Nebraska in 1997
when the Huskers beat Oklahoma
69-7 The following season,
Thatcher was made a quarter
back. And last year, special teams
was his forte.
In 2000, Thatchei said he has
been at ease in his position. OU
has been the benefactor.
“The coaches believe in me,
and the team believes in me in
this position,” Thatcher said. “And
I feel good at this position.”
Does he ever. Thatcher has six
interceptions this season along
with 12 pass deflections and 34
tackles.
As a returner, the 5-foot-11,
225-pound Thatcher has been
nothing short of spectacular,
averaging 31.6 yards on kick
returns and 16.7 on punt returns.
He had a huge touchdown against
Kansas State two weeks ago.
Against the No. 1 Nebraska
Cornhuskers, big plays from
Thatcher and OU’s defense will be
needed to stop NU’s offensive
attack that is averaging 46 points
and 500yards per game.
Something has to give, but
Stoops said he is confident that
his players can stop the Big Red
attack.
“In our three Big 12 games, we
have played well defensively,” said
Stoops, adding that defensive play
is crucial to the field position bat
tle OU has won most of the sea
son.
Benson steady presence for Husker soccer
BENSON from page 12 _
ability to play eithei position at a
top level,” LeBlanc said
Before the switch, Benson was
one of the top midfielders in the
country and earned the Huskers
Most Valuable Player Award.
From offense to defense and
through the highs and lows,
Benson has stood out to the
Abbott Sports Complex crowd
because of her red Pumas. She’s
worn the same brand for the last
three seasons.
Following her MVP season,
Benson saw Thomas Dooley, a
soccer star for Major League
Soccer’s New York/New Jersey
MetroStars, wearing some Pumas,
and she had to have them.
“My favorite player wore
them, so I ran out and got the red
just to be fun,” Benson said. “I've
taken a liking to them.”
But before Benson could put
them to use on the soccer field, the
then-sophomore tore her anterior
cruciate ligament, causing her to
redshirt her junior year.
Benson still has the red cleats
sitting in her closet at home. But
they aren’t just any pair of shoes.
“It’s just the memories,”
Benson said. “I’ve been through a
lot”
The worn-out, grass-stained
red Puma cleats serve as a
reminder for Benson of the 1998
season where she was forced to sit
out after blowing out her knee.
Benson is so fond of the
Pumas, she has bought the same
pair each of the past two seasons.
“That’s Benny for sure,”
LeBlanc said. “Her shoes repre
sent her personality. She's very
loud and outgoing.”
While Benson doesn’t like to
change shoe styles, the Huskers
will have to get used to life without
the senior, who’s been at NU for all
but two of the Huskers' seasons
and helped shape the program.
“She's completed herself as a
player in the same way we com
pleted our program,” Walker said.
Sport Clubs
On the Road
Results Crew will be traveling to Iowa City, IA to
Women’s Rugby split games this past compete in the Head of the Iowa on Sunday.
weekend in Ames, IA. NU defeated Iowa State Members of the Handball Club will compete
16-0. The dub lost to the University of Northern in the Heart of America Tournament in Kansas
Iowa 22-7. City Friday - Sunday.
___^Women’s & Men’s Ultimate will travel to
|SJU Crew will be sellina Fayetteville, AK for the weekend, competing
, . „ y in the Harvest Moon Tournament.
sweaters at the Union T. _ tDI. „ . .. .., ...
a The Great Plains Championship in Vermillion,
Oct. 30 - Nov. 2 SD will be the destination of Women’s Rugby I
1““^^ this weekend.
Traveling to Lawrence, KS Women’s Soccer
will take on KU Sunday.
Office of Campus Recreation
55 CREC5 32ECAB Phono 472.3457
snuw.unl.odu/eroe IMFO-REC 472.2599
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