Fort Hays State final warmup for KU women

By Ryan Wood     Nov 17, 2002

Hopefully, those pesky jitterbugs won’t attack the Kansas University women’s basketball squad so hard this time.

The Jayhawks finish their exhibition season at 2 p.m. today when Fort Hays State visits Allen Fieldhouse.

With nine new faces on the team, including seven freshman, Kansas’ 61-56 exhibition victory Wednesday against the Solna Vikings may have been more terrifying than fun.

“(Tuesday) they were jumping around and carrying on,” KU coach Marian Washington said. “And (Wednesday) it was kind of quiet. That’s expected. They’re going to have more times like this, but I hope with each game they’ll get more confident and find their own way of preparing.”

One freshman who confessed nervousness was Tamara Ransburg, who still managed 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

But Ransburg isn’t worried about another anxiety attack.

“Now that I know what college is like,” Ransburg said, “I’m not going to be nervous anymore.”

Overall, Washington was pleased with KU’s performance in its five-point victory against the Swedish squad, but she noticed some kinks.

“We got on the boards and did a pretty good job on both the offensive boards and the defensive boards,” Washington said. “I think our defense : obviously we’ve got to work on it.”

KU is playing Fort Hays State for the second straight year in exhibition play. The Jayhawks downed the Tigers 72-56 last season behind 18 points from former guard KC Hilgenkamp and 12 by current sophomore Blair Waltz.

¢

Another signing: Washington announced on Friday the signing of Sharita Smith, a 5-foot-8 guard from Dallas. Smith is a Street and Smith’s preseason All-American and is ranked the 37th best prospect in the nation by the All Star Girls Report.

She joins Lauren Ervin, a 6-foot-3 forward from Inglewood, Calif., to form a small but talented recruiting class.

“We’re not finished with our recruiting but we certainly feel good about the signees we have,” Washington said. “With Lauren and now Sharita, we have one of the top signing classes in the country.”

¢

Homecoming: It will be a special game for one Tiger. Katie Rhodes, a Free State High graduate, will return to her hometown today. She had two points and two rebounds in limited action last season when KU and Fort Hays State met. Also on the Tigers roster is former area standout Lindsey Dieterich, a 5-10 freshman from Ottawa who will be playing in her first collegiate game today.

PREV POST

KU briefs

NEXT POST

2192Fort Hays State final warmup for KU women