Her name is Zane Teilane, and the native of Latvia is not an ordinary basketball player.
Teilane, whose name is pronounced zah-NAY tee-LAH-nay, is the starting center on Western Illinois University’s women’s basketball team. She stands 6-foot-7 and is averaging 17.4 points and 10.6 rebounds a game.
“She’s very, very good,” Kansas University coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “She’s mobile, shoots the ball well and covers a lot of ground.”
Teilane and the rest of the Westerwinds will be in Allen Fieldhouse tonight to tangle with the Jayhawks.
Tipoff will be at 7:05 p.m. The game will be telecast live on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 and broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network, including 1320 KLWN.
How to minimize Teilane’s impact has been a priority task for Henrickson and her staff this week.
“We’ve got to pressure their passes and limit her touches,” the KU coach said. “We can’t allow her to get under the rim.”
Kansas players can’t collapse too much on the WIU standout because the Westerwinds also have an outside presence in point guard Jessica Cook, who is averaging 15.2 points a game.
Western Illinois is coming off a 72-57 road win over Bradley. In that one, Teilane had 22 points and nine boards, while Samantha Greer, a 6-0 junior from Kansas City (Mo.) Ruskin via Allen County CC, added a dozen points and 13 boards.
The Westerwinds’ record is 2-3, but the three losses have been to Nebraska, Xavier and Rice — all on the road.
Kansas (3-3) is coming off its only road game. The Jayhawks were at then-No. 18 Minnesota on Sunday and bowed 62-45, wilting in the second half as they did in last week’s 62-59 home loss to Division II Washburn.
“I was proud of our effort Sunday,” Henrickson said. “I think we’ve made progress. I think we can be successful when we find consistency.”
Henrickson has settled on a starting lineup of junior Crystal Kemp and freshman Taylor McIntosh up front with Kaylee Brown, Aquanita Burras and point guard Erica Hallman in the backcourt.
“I think we’re pretty comfortable with that as long as we don’t go backward,” Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks will be playing their fifth game in the last 12 days, but after tonight they’ll take a break for final exams, and resume Dec. 18 against Dartmouth, also in Allen Fieldhouse.
Traditionally speaking, Kansas University’s volleyball team has had about as much success against Texas as it has had against Nebraska.
And that’s not much, considering the Jayhawks never have beaten the Cornhuskers.
Luckily for Kansas, coach Ray Bechard can talk recent history against UT, because the Jayhawks have been much better against the Longhorns lately.
“That speaks well of some of the improvements we’ve made,” said Bechard, whose team has taken two of the last three matches from the Austin, Texas, school.
But those two wins are KU’s only victories over Texas since the series began in 1981. Bechard said tonight’s 7 p.m. match at Horejsi Center again would be a challenge.
“I think it will be a really, really, really difficult match,” Bechard said. “Just a real quality opponent.
“They’re extremely physical. Young, but they’ve gained experience as they go. They’re a much better team now than they were a month ago. I think they understand their roles better, what expectations they have individually and as a team.”
But Bechard said his team had learned from bitter setbacks.
While Texas nearly upended No. 8 Kansas State Oct. 15 in Manhattan in a five-game match, Kansas has played three five-game matches in Big 12 Conference play, losing twice and defeating Baylor.
“When you go five in Manhattan, I don’t know how many teams do that,” Bechard said. “I think even though they lose that match, you can build on it.
“We’ve had a couple of five-gamers ourselves with Texas A&M and Missouri. We walked away from them disappointed. But you also have to understand that, hey, we made some team goals.”
Kansas’ 13-7 overall record is slightly better than Texas’ mark of 10-8, but both teams are 5-4 in the Big 12 and tied for fifth place with Colorado.
“We see them both this week,” Bechard said of tonight’s match and Friday’s 8 p.m., showdown in Boulder, Colo. “Obviously those spots — five, six and seven — will shake out a little this week.”
KU-Western Illinois game notes (.pdf)