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(11/13/00 5:01am)
New women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett spent her early birthdays in musty, humid gymnasiums across scenic Wisconsin. \nIt was the best gift her father, Dick, ever gave her.\nGrowing up in what would be one of the country's best-known basketball families, Kathi learned her trade at the feet of her father, one of the best defensive coaches ever to teach the game, she said.\n"Some of my best memories growing up were in the gym," Bennett said. "Waiting for my dad after a game, running around the gym, hiding balls so I could shoot around.\n"Even at an early age, I'll never forget the interaction with his players."\nThings were a lot different back then. Dick Bennett wasn't known outside Eastern Wisconsin -- taking the Badgers to the Final Four was 30 years away. Tony, her brother, was a newborn -- his career with the NBA's Charlotte franchise was a far-off dream.\nAnd don\'t forget about her uncle, Jack Bennett, currently the men\'s coach at the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. Then, he was just a blip on the radar.\nEven before the Bennett name became synonymous with basketball on the national scope, the Bennett's were still a roundball family.\nDick spent 11 seasons coaching Wisconsin high school ball before he began his collegiate career. In those 11 years, he posted a 168-60 record culminating with Eau Claire Memorial\'s 22-3 record and second place finish in Wisconsin in his final year of prep basketball.\nFrom there he moved to NAIA school UW-Stevens Point, where he turned a sagging program into one of the division\'s strongest in his nine years there. Three straight trips to the NAIA tournament and national runner-up finish in 1984 solidified his move to UW-Green Bay.\nAt UWGB, Dick Bennett made a name for himself, taking a team that had lost over 40 games the two seasons prior to his entrance and making them a postseason force in five years. In all, Bennett made three NCAA tourney trips with the Phoenix, including an opening round win over Jason Kidd and California in 1994.\nHis success at UWGB earned him the UW job, where he took the Badgers to the Final Four last season, his fifth.\n"At every level that my dad went, I remember those games vividly and the struggles to get to that point," Bennett said. "There aren't a lot of kids that have those types of memories. And maybe we didn't sit home and have dinner together every single night. We had a different upbringing and it was just as special.\n"And I wouldn\'t trade that in for anything."\nBut the job that Dick has and the one Bennett ultimately pursued kept the two apart, each said. Like a knife that cuts both ways, the Bennett\'s have been brought together, but kept apart by the same game. \n"She talks to her mother a lot, and I get in on it second hand," Dick said. "We tried to get down and see her a couple weekends ago. We got outside of Bloomington to land, but it was such a bad storm that we had to turn around and come back."\nCarol Hammerle, Kathi's college coach at UWGB, said that Dick\'s absence sometimes didn\'t bother Kathi.\n"Because of Dick's schedule, he hasn\'t been able to be with her always," Hammerle said. "But I think she understood that. As a competitor herself, she appreciated what he was doing." \nKathi will travel with her team to Wisconsin for a Big Ten match-up with the Badgers, Sunday, Jan. 21. Placed near the middle of the conference schedule, the game will be important for the Hoosiers, who hope to make postseason play.\nBut the game may be only a side-note to the Bennett family reunion.\n"Her mother and I always worry about her," Dick said. "She's been on her own so long. She has to be a little worried about things.\n"I'll try to be in a very inconspicuous spot, watching."\nHer brother, Tony, who is now coaching alongside Dick at UW, and her mother will undoubtedly not be far away.\nThe Bennetts are excited to be in the Big Ten together. They have already made father/daughter history, being the only tandem to have their teams in the NCAA tournament in the same year. Kathi and Dick lost in the first rounds of the 1999 NCAA tourney.\nEven though Dick has a trip to the Final Four along with numerous accolades during his 24-year collegiate coaching career, he humbly touts his daughter as the best coach in the family.\n"All you have to do is look at the two records," he said. "Her record is so much better than mine. She's won a national championship at Oshkosh. She goes to Evansville and turns that program around. \n"I think that her winning percentage is far better than mine, in comparable situations I might add."\nIn fact, Kathi's winning percentage is better. In 12 seasons as a coach, Kathi has complied a 224-103 record, with a 0.685 winning percentage. Her father\'s is a mere 0.637.\n"She's just a better coach," Dick Bennett said. "I can tell you that"
(11/13/00 4:59am)
Coach Kathi Bennett's stingy defense showed some signs of arriving Friday as IU forced 32 turnovers in overpowering Finnish traveling team, Tapiolan Honka, 87-39.\n"We were aggressive," Bennett said. "I think this builds confidence for us."\nAt one point in Friday's game, Bennett's defense had created 23 turnovers, while allowing only 23 points.\nPlaying one-on-one defense the entire game, the Hoosiers cut down passing lanes and wreaked havoc in the post for Tapiolan Honka, who were at a huge size advantage. \nThe Hoosiers have six players 6-0 or higher, compared to Tapiolan Honka's two. The IU post defense of juniors Jill Chapman and Jelena Lazic, as well as sophomore Erika Christenson, who average 6-5, dwarfed Tapiolan Honka's Nina Laaksonen and Heta Korpivaara, at 6-1.\nThe tremendous size advantage was exploited on the offensive end as well IU continually pounded the ball down low where the Hoosier frontcourt imposed its will on the Finnish team.\nChapman led the down-low presence finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds in just 17 minutes of play.\n"I'm more aggressive when I playing against smaller players," said Chapman of the Tapiolan Honka team. "Tonight was good. It shows that I need to be as aggressive against taller teams."\nThe Hoosiers were sloppy with the ball at times, committing 24 turnovers. They were surprised with zone presses and traps by Tapiolan Honka that they had not worked on breaking in practice, Bennett said.\n"We had way too many turnovers and way too many breakdowns," Bennett said. "That's something we need to address.\n"It's a big concern. In the second half, we adjusted."\nSophomore Jill Hartman started at small forward in place of junior Erin McGinnis, who sat out the entire first half and the first five minutes of the second half. Bennett would not comment on why McGinnis sat.\nIn her place, Hartman went four-for-seven from the field, scoring 12 points.\n"I wanted to bring some energy to the team," Hartman said. "I think that's what we were missing Tuesday." \nWhen McGinnis came in with 14:22 left in the game, she shot two-for-three from the field, and one-for-two from three-point range, a far cry from her one-for-eight performance Tuesday. She also had four assists and four rebounds.\nBennett said she was happy with McGinnis' play.\nShe added she was also happy that her team played hard for 40 minutes. Intensity was something she criticized after their first preseason game, a 74-64 loss to the Lady Reebok All-Stars.\n"If we are going to win games, we're going to have to play hard, no matter what the score is," Bennett said. "And that's what we did tonight"
(11/10/00 5:58am)
The groundwork has been laid.\nNow, the waiting begins.\nCoach Kathi Bennett's vision of an aggressive defense has been drilled into her new team. The question left is how long until that lesson is applied on the floor.\n"We have a long way to go," senior forward Rachael Honegger said. "There's a lot we need to work on in order to be competitive in the Big Ten and nationally.\n"Defensive intensity is the key. We need to play defense for 40 minutes."\nThey'll get their second chance to play 40 minutes of defense at 5 p.m. this evening at Assembly Hall against Tapiolan Honka, a team out of Helsinki, Finland.\nThe women's game will be followed by the men taking on Marathon Oil at 8 p.m.\nBennett is focusing on defense this week, but is also trying to get more aggressive play offensively. Bennett is also trying to work on the team's conditioning, a problem that loomed in their 10-point loss Tuesday.\n"We showed that we weren't in very good shape and that's something we need to address between now and Washington," Bennett said. "And our transition (defense) is a big problem. We need to work on getting back quickly and getting our defense set."\nTapiolan Honka has had a rough time on their 10-game tour. They are 0-6 in their first six contests, including a 75-point drubbing by Purdue Nov. 1. In all, Tapiolan Honka has been outscored by an average of 50 points. The team's closest game came last week in a nine-point loss to Wright State.\n"They have got beaten bad by some pretty good schools," Bennett said. "We're not going to take anything for granted.\n"Plus, we're focused on ourselves right now and what we need to do to become a better team."\nUnlike Tuesday, when Bennett rotated her line-up freely, Tapiolan Honka is more likely to see the rotation that will probably see most of the action when things count for real -- next Friday against Washington.\n"I'm going to play the people who have earned it," Bennett said. "Those that have worked the hardest in practice and have had the highest energy level."\nAnd one of those might be freshman Anna Waugh who made the most of her 18 minutes Tuesday night. The 5-foot-8 guard from Franklin, Ind., scored 17 points, connecting on five three-pointers from the field.\nWaugh, who is clearly behind starters senior Rainey Alting and junior Heather Cassady at the guard spot, didn't expect the solid numbers from the floor.\n"I just went out there hoping to play the way I knew I could," said Waugh, adding she wasn't making any statements about the security of Cassady and Alting's starting jobs. "I didn't expect it. When you have halftime and then you sit out, it's hard to know if you'll have your shot when you do get back in there."\nWhile Waugh was five-for-seven, starters Alting and Cassady struggled in the season opener, shooting a combined 2-for-14.\nAlthough it is a preseason game, the score meaningless by all accounts, and against an unfamiliar team, the Hoosiers still want the motivation of a big win to propel them into the regular season.\n"You always want to win," Honegger said. "It doesn't matter against who or where, you just want to win. "It's the best motivator there is"
(11/09/00 4:43am)
Kathi Bennett made her debut as women's basketball coach Tuesday night in a 74-64 preseason loss to the Lady Reebok All-Stars.\nBut Bennett wasn't the only one to begin her basketball tenure at Assembly Hall.\nIn fact, two other newcomers to IU overshadowed the former Evansville coach.\nFreshmen Charliss Ridley and Anna Waugh combined for 33 points in 46 minutes as the Hoosiers opened their season with an exhibition loss to a team that included WNBA players.\n"They were outstanding," said Bennett about the freshmen. "They played fearlessly, and that's very good."\nRidley stole the show in the first half as the Hoosiers built a 40-36 lead. Ridley went a perfect six-for-six from the floor and two-for-two from the line for a team-high 14 first half points.\nIn the middle of the first half, Ridley scored 10 of her team's 15 points over a seven-minute stretch.\n"Coach wants me to screen and pop," Ridley said. "I just wanted to keep moving and know where the ball is.\n"It just so happened that after I would set the screen, the defender would leave and I'd be open."\nRidley finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.\nRidley, who played power forward most of the game, seemed to have a good chemistry with junior post-mate Jill Chapman. As the Hoosiers tried to claw back late in the second half, the two ran a high-low game to get the All-Stars, thinking they could make up an 18-point deficit.\nThey didn't, getting no closer than the final margin of 10, but the attempted comeback also showcased the shooting of another freshman, as Waugh scored a team-high 17 points.\nWaugh played sparingly in the first half, tallying only six minutes, but nailed two threes and scored eight points.\nHer solid shooting carried over to the second half -- especially in the last eight minutes of the game, when Waugh would add three more threes. Waugh finished five-for-seven from the field, all three-point shots. She was a perfect two-for-two from the line finishing up her 17-point effort.\n"Our shot selection was good in the second half," Bennett said. "We got away from that in the first half. We took some bad shots in the first half, but we came out and did get good shots in the second half.\n"We didn't shoot a high percentage, but we got good shots."\nWaugh picked up for her backcourt teammates Erin McGinnis and Heather Cassady, who combined to shoot two for 18 from the field and one for 12 from three-point range.\nCassady saw 34 minutes of action, accumulating seven points and one assist from her point guard spot.\n"It was pretty rough," said Cassady of her shooting. "I think we just need to stay positive. Tomorrow is a different day"
(11/03/00 9:33am)
Freshman midfielder Emily Hotz can't even remember the last time a team of hers had a losing season.\nAnd she's not the only one.\nHotz and the group of freshmen, who've been winning games all their lives, didn't expect their 2000 season to end in October with an 8-9-1 record.\n"I can't really remember the last time I finished off a season with a losing record," Hotz said. "It is new, and I definitely don't like it very much.\n"However, the season is over, so now all we can focus on is a successful spring and next year."\nAfter experiencing the disappointment that comes with the losing record, the freshmen, who ended their season on a positive note with a 3-1 win over Kentucky, said they aren't planning on letting the sting of losing enter their minds again.\n"All the teams I have played for have always been winning teams," freshman forward Shelly Gruszka said. "It wasn't what I expected the season to be like, but we learned something from it. And that's all that matters."\nFive freshmen Hoosiers logged significant time over the season for coach Joe Kelley's team. The class came into Bloomington as the 39th ranked class in the country by Soccer Buzz Magazine.\nIn her very first game, on her first two shots, Hotz scored two goals in helping the Hoosiers beat Xavier 3-0 in the season opener. Hotz, a four-time all-state selection in Missouri, took more shots from her midfield position than any other Hoosier by season's end.\nIn fact, she had nearly 20 more shots than the closest Hoosier in starting all 18 games, and played nearly all of the season's minutes.\nWhile Hotz was providing IU's offense early on, freshman goalie Shaunna Daugherty was setting up shop at the other end of the field.\nDaugherty won her first three games, pitching two shutouts and allowing just one goal. She got caught sometimes, including giving up three goals in four minutes against Penn State, but was in solid tandem with senior Chrissy Heubi in the net.\nGruszka, the two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America Missouri State Player of the Year, played in all 18 games for the Hoosiers, starting in 15. Gruszka, who was a threat coming into IU, only managed two goals in her first season.\nHer disappointment carried over to the team. She said she knew they were young, but thoughtthey could still win.\n"I expected a better season," Gruszka said. "I knew we were young, but extremely talented. During spring season, I was so impressed with all the upper classmen and my fellow freshmen. This season didn't work out the way we wanted it. We are young still and are learning all the time."\nThe spring season included a win over Michigan, one of the Big Ten's top teams this year.\nBut the momentum of the spring and non-conference success never translated into Big Ten wins for the Hoosiers.\nAfter a team-best 5-0 start that included a 2-1 double-overtime win over San Diego State, the Hoosiers' offense went into hibernation, scoring only four goals during the entire, 10-game, Big Ten season.\n"We were so excited after the first five games," Gruszka said. "We were really clicking and we were producing the stats. After our first weekend in Big Ten play, we were almost shocked (in losing to both Michigan and Northwestern). It put a damper on our confidence. And then all the injuries happen."\nInjuries forced the early maturation of two more freshmen tossed into starting roles for IU.\nFreshmen Carly Everett and Erin Hesselbach were replacements, who earned their way into full-time starting roles for the Big Ten season. Their play allowed Kelley to move opening day backs, senior Kendal Willis and junior Whitney Butler to the forward third, creating offense for IU.\nKelley said he was immediately impressed with Hesselbach's play in the air and her control on the field. He said he was also impressed with Everett's play.\n"We knew Carly was a very good athlete," Kelley said after her second start. "We knew she was a decent soccer player. \n"Well, after two weeks we saw, 'Whoa, Carly is a very good soccer player.' Her decision making and her one-touch passing was much better than we had anticipated because we hadn\'t seen that out of her."\nThe Hoosiers up-and-down season ended last Sunday, with a 3-1 win over SEC power and nationally-ranked Kentucky. The Hoosiers, who hadn't scored in over 500 consecutive minutes and were 0-for-7 in October, plowed through the Wildcat defense three times in the first half.\nSo all this leaves one question: which is the real women's soccer team?\nIs it the team that started out 5-0, streaking to a No. 24 national ranking, or is the team that finished one point out of last place in the Big Ten?\n"The true picture of our team is Sunday," said Hotz, referring to their win over UK. "We are a great team with just tons of talent.
(10/20/00 6:33am)
Women's soccer coach Joe Kelley is starting to do the things he said he hoped to do with his lineup.\nThe wealth of talent he possessed at the beginning of the season disappeared during the bulk of conference play as injuries kept Kelley's plans purely on paper.\nBut this weekend Kelley said those original plans will finally take shape on the field when IU travels for its final Big Ten game with Purdue, 3 p.m. today in West Lafayette.\n"We're able to do more things now than we could during the middle of the season as far as tactical alignments, and who we're going to play," Kelley said. "(Sophomore forward Kristen) Sprunger looks a lot better. She's dangerous now. (Senior back) Kendal (Willis) is doing a good job up front, which is one of the ways we've made an adjustment so now she's able to play at full strength again. (Sophomore forward Kate) Kastl's getting back. \n"I think we're going to take a different shape against Purdue. One that we would have liked to have taken a couple weeks ago but just couldn't."\n Just looking at an updated roster shows what Kelley is talking about.\n The two starting backs in the season opener, Willis and junior Whitney Butler, are playing forward. The other starting back in the Xavier game, senior Jena Kluska, has since lost her starting job. The new starting backfield is totally different from the one fans saw on opening night.\nThe team's depth, which was hurt by injuries all season, is finally back to what Kelley said he had thought it would be.\nPurdue coach Robert Klatte agreed.\n"They are such a talented team," Klatte said. "We recruited a lot of the same players, so we know just how good they can be.\n"It's just unfortunate what has happened to them this year."\nWhile the Hoosiers are playing the rest of their season, the Boilermakers are in the middle of a struggle for position heading into the Big Ten tournament. A win could move Purdue into the sixth slot of the eight-team field, while a loss to IU puts the Hoosiers eighth, with a first-round match-up with nationally-ranked Penn State.\nPurdue, like the Hoosiers, features an attack filled with underclassmen, as the the 3-year-old program has one senior on its roster.\nThe top two scorers for the Boilermakers are freshmen forwards Jennie Moppert and Courtney Coppedge. Moppert, who chose Purdue over IU and other schools, leads the team with 14 points.\n"(Moppert's) very opportunistic," Kelley said. "She's somebody we definitely have to watch."\nKelley also said Coppedge is a potential threat and someone IU backs will have to mark cautiously.\nIU has defeated the Boilermakers in the two previous meetings, 8-1 and 1-0, respectively. With roles reversed and Purdue ahead of the Hoosiers in the conference, Klatte sees an opportunity to get over the hump and beat IU.\nKlatte and Kelley agreed the game will also help in winning the recruiting battle off the field. Behind Notre Dame (ranked No. 1 nationally), Purdue and IU are fighting for the second spot in the state.\n"There will be a lot of potential recruits at the game," Klatte said. "It's obviously important for that reason."\nTake away recruiting, Purdue's post season chances and all the backdrops and frills. There's still IU-Purdue. There's still the classic rivalry between the state's two biggest schools -- right?\nOne Purdue player isn't too sure. With a total of five seniors and just 11 Indiana players on the combined rosters, Purdue sophomore back Elise Berry doesn't expect the rivalry to get too intense.\n"We have a pretty young team, so a lot of them don't understand IU-Purdue"
(10/16/00 5:52am)
While the men's basketball team waited patiently inside their locker room, much of the women's team hovered around the floor of Assembly Hall waiting for their first official practice to begin. \nAs the clock ticked down, and the cheers got louder, the team's smiles got bigger and their step a little livelier. They've never played in front of this many people, let alone practiced. \nYes, the 9,000 fans that attended probably came to welcome interim head coach Mike Davis and the men's team or to see a dunk contest featuring the Hoosier high-risers. And no, the television cameras weren't focused on the women's team as they ran out of their locker room. \nIndeed, the women's team might have been the second act in the early moments Saturday morning, but for one night, that was OK.\n"This is a unique experience to have this many people at one of our events," said junior forward Erin McGinnis, minutes before the start of practice. "I'm very excited. I've been getting ready for this all summer and all fall."\nFor the first time ever, the women's team ushered in the new season, practicing with the men's team at Midnight Madness.\nBut the hour and fifteen minute gala resembled anything but a usual IU practice.\nUnder former men's Coach Bob Knight, the practice was a practice; simple as that. Nothing fancy, and no women's team.\nWith Davis at the helm, things were different as the team shared the spotlight with the women's team and had a series of contests made for the fans.\nAfter warming-up, the women's team was introduced to the fans at Assembly Hall for the first time. As public address announcer Chuck Crabb voiced each player's name, they scurried across the floor, obviously in awe of the adrenaline that came with the situation. The fans then welcomed women's coach Kathi Bennett, in her first public appearance with her team, with a standing ovation.\n"There's this anticipation of something very exciting," junior guard Tara Jones said. "I'm glad to see so many people came out. I'm excited to see what's going to go on."\nWhat went on was junior guard Heather Cassady showing why she took 160 three-point attempts last year.\nCassady stole the show from the men in the three-point contest, making more three-pointers in all three of her rounds than any man. She won the women's portion of the contest by netting 14 three-pointers each round, breezing by McGinnis in the finals, 14-11.\nThen Cassady quickly dispatched the men's winner, junior forward/center Kirk Haston, 17-12 in a battle for inter-gender supremacy. Cassady won the competition shooting an amazing 60-percent from behind the arc. She shot 33-percent for the Hoosiers last season.\nIn the spot shot competition, Jones teamed with freshman forward Mike Roberts to defeat junior forward Jill Chapman and freshman forward George Leach in the finals.\nAfter the women judged the men in the slam dunk contest, they sat out as the men scrimmaged for 10 minutes. But then they got right back to work.\nAs the Midnight Madness program ended, the women's team remained on the floor of Assembly Hall for their first real practice of the season. And for all the shooting that happened in front of the fans, Bennett said there would be hardly any use of a ball for the hour-and-a-half after the crowds dispersed.\nThe practice would focus on installing her defense and running drills to accentuate that, Bennett said.\nThere was no fanfare this time though, as players got down to business. The team did not talk to the media after the midnight practice. \n"The problem won't be getting them up in front of all the people," said Bennett beforehand. "The key is for them to have the same intensity when no one's there. When it's just us. When we're all alone"
(10/13/00 6:00am)
Women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett came to IU six-and-a-half months ago in the shadow of two men: her father, Dick, who was busy guiding the Wisconsin men's program to the Final Four and Bob Knight, who was busy making headlines with his actions on and off the court.\nWith one 350 miles away and the other plucked from the IU sidelines, the shadows have been removed and the stage is set for Bennett to hit the lights of Assembly Hall.\nThe glares will strike her one minute past twelve, tonight.\n"If there was a better word than excited, I think I'd use it," Bennett said. "I'm ready to get going, and so is the team."\nBennett will officially introduce herself to IU fans at the Hoosiers' Midnight Madness practice alongside the men's team and their interim head coach, Mike Davis. Just over a month ago, this wasn't the way Bennett expected to meet the Hoosier family.\nUnder Knight, Midnight Madness had been a regular practice with none of the frills fans will see tonight. And it was a practice that didn't include the women's team. Knight had approached Bennett with some ideas to put the two team's together, but it was Davis' idea to include the women's team in the season's first team practice.\n"It's an awesome opportunity for us to get some exposure," Bennett said. "I just can't think of a better way to start your season with that rush of excitement of having 8,000 fans watching in to start your basketball season.\n"I think that energy should carry over. Then you think about that next game and the excitement should carry over." \nJunior forward Jill Chapman has seen a lot of cooperation between the men's and women's programs in her three years, she said. \nOn a daily basis, the women's team practices immediately before the men's program at Assembly Hall, work out on similar schedules and are even in many of the same classes. Chapman said some of the men and women even live together. She says tonight will be a chance for the fans to see that bond.\nFreshman Andre Owens of the men's team agrees.\n"People have never seen us on the same court at the same time, so that will be a little different," Owens said. "(The two teams) have a good relationship. A lot of us joke around with each other and hang out. These two teams are real tight."\nBennett will enjoy the limelight of tonight's exposure like the rest of her team, but will immediately re-focus her team on the season's opener Nov. 17 against Washington. The team will stay on the floor for a full practice once the fans leave Assembly Hall.\nWhereas the men's team had some difficulty accepting the transition after the removal of Knight, the women's team has not had the same problems, Chapman said.\n"Everybody is really excited about this season," Chapman said. "We want a lot more fans in the stands this year because we are going to be a good team.\n"We're going to play defense. We have the offense. This year, we're adding the 'd.'"\nDefinitely music to Bennett's ear.\nMolded in the style of her father, Bennett considers herself a defensive coach who will stress those fundamentals daily in practice, she said.\n"I hope at the end of their first practice, they're going to be saying 'I love defense,'" Bennett said. "Because they're going to be getting a lot of it every day, they may not have a ball for a three-hour practice. They might have to get use to that. \n"I wouldn't take the job unless they committed to defense. That's going to be the majority of our practices."\nBennett has taken her defensive fundamentals a long way in a short period of time. Only five seasons ago, she was coaching Division III women in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.\nAfter a successful stop at Evansville, she's now a Big Ten women's coach, a privilege reserved for a minority of coaches. The change in jobs had made things easier, but hasn't changed her personality, Bennett said.\n"Most of the time I'm still the first one here, so I turn on the light in the morning," Bennett said. "And if I see dust, I'll still go out and wipe it up. It's just the way I am.\n"When I first started at Oshkosh, we did the van thing. I could barely see above the steering wheel. I was sitting on stacks of things because the seats wouldn't adjust.\n"That would never happen here"
(10/12/00 5:28am)
There's no ground left to give for the women's soccer team this weekend.\nAfter meandering in the middle of the pack for the first three weekends of Big Ten play, the Hoosiers watched the middle move forward, leaving them behind in the dust.\nNow the team is left with a fight to squeeze into the Big Ten playoffs.\n"We keep saying we have to win, but now we really have to win," freshman midfielder Emily Hotz said. "There's nothing more to it. We have to win every game."\nThat means the Hoosiers need three wins on the road against Iowa, Illinois and Purdue. The math is simple -- if IU wins all three games, it is assured of a spot in the Big Ten tournament field Nov. 3-5 at the University of Illinois.\nBut other than that situation, the picture is fuzzy for the 1-5-1 Hoosiers, who are in ninth place, one position out of the tournament field.\nIU plays the No. 8 team this weekend as Indiana travels to Iowa City to play the Hawkeyes. Iowa enters with a 2-5 record, one more than IU. Although a loss to Iowa won't mathematically eliminate the Hoosiers from playoff contention, it would make the path a lot tougher.\n"Every day is a new chance to compete," coach Joe Kelley said. "We've been better than the teams we're playing, we're not getting a just result. But every day is a chance to get better, and that's how you keep your focus when things are frustrating.\n"Despite what's happened to us, our confidence is at an all-time high right now."\nA loss against the Hawkeyes puts IU four points back with two games left. Both teams finish their seasons with Purdue and Illinois. A win earns the team three points while a tie produces two points.\nIf IU loses Friday, it would need to earn five points against Purdue and Illinois while Iowa would have to lose both those games. The Hoosiers in that scenario would need a win and a tie along with two Iowa losses to make the tournament.\nIf IU wins Friday afternoon, the path could possibly lead as high as sixth in the tournament. If IU were to run the table and win its remaining games, as Hotz insists it will, the team would end the season with 14 points.\nFreshman forward Shelly Gruszka understands the position the Hoosiers are in. \n"This is it," Gruszka said. "We need to win every game."\nFour Big Ten teams are tied in fourth place with 12 points (Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota). Three of those teams could lose the remainder of their games and finish below IU in the standings. Illinois plays Purdue Friday. That would vault one of those teams to 15 points.\nThis best-case scenario puts the team as the fifth seed in the tournament. But those four teams play games against Big Ten teams with losing records.\n Kelley said he thinks his team can do some damage if it makes a move that'll put them in the tournament. \n "We can still do lots of things," Kelley said. "But before we think about that, we need to take care of business on the field against Iowa and Illinois. Wisconsin doesn't want to play us. Minnesota doesn't want to play again, either. And for that matter neither does Northwestern or Michigan. At this point, Penn State doesn't even scare us."\n"We're very good and those teams know that. They don't want to play us"
(10/11/00 5:18am)
The women's soccer team thought the problem was solved.\nThey thought they could score.\nBut now, in a fight for a postseason, the Hoosiers are desperate for a goal.\n"We need a goal," freshman forward Shelly Gruszka said. "We're creating the chances, but we just need to put one through."\nThe Hoosiers have sulked through the first seven games of the Big Ten season with a 1-5-1 record, good enough for ninth place in the conference. They are one point behind eighth-place Iowa, with three games remaining. The top eight teams make the Big Ten tournament November 3-5 at the University of Illinois.\n As their record indicates, the Hoosiers' problem has been being able to score. Through seven conference games, IU has scored just four goals compared to their opponents' 12.\n "I don't have the answer," coach Joe Kelley said about the problems. "Maybe I should. I don't know. We've been doing everything right."\n To put the scoring woes in perspective, the Hoosiers scored three of their four goals in one game -- a 3-2 win against Ohio State. Subtract that win, IU's only conference triumph, and the Hoosiers have scored one goal in six games.\nThe Hoosiers have been outshot in conference play 99-77 and have put 20 fewer shots on goal in their seven games.\n"The mental thing may be that we'll never score," Kelley said. "But we're creating opportunities. It's not like we're not close. We're right there. We just need to work a little harder and finish.\n"We're not done." \nBut the inability to score in Big Ten games has been something the Hoosiers have grown accustomed to. Last year, IU scored four times on its way to a 2-4-4 Big Ten record. Of those four goals, one is by a player now on the IU roster, as junior midfielder Stacey Peterson scored in a 2-1 loss to Penn State.\nThe problem seemed solved as the Hoosiers rolled through the 1999 non-conference schedule outscoring their opponents 14-1, on the way to a 5-0 record.\nThe Hoosiers outshot those five opponents 72-44. \nOnce the Big Ten season started and the competitiveness of the teams increased, the IU offense became stagnant.\nFreshman midfielder Emily Hotz, who has 20 shots in Big Ten play but only one goal, said she thinks the Hoosiers need to believe they can score in order to break out of their funk.\n"We need to keep pushing and not get down on ourselves," Hotz said. "We've been practicing great, but now we're getting down to it. We need to score -- now.\n"It's all or nothing"
(10/09/00 5:22am)
Women's soccer coach Joe Kelley saw his team play its best this weekend. But the best they could do still ended with two losses.\nThe Hoosiers dropped a pair of conference games at Bill Armstrong Stadium, 2-1 to Wisconsin Friday in double-overtime and 1-0 to Minnesota Sunday.\nKelley said he thought his team controlled every facet of both games, despite the losses.\n"Isn't that just the best thing about soccer," Kelley said with a sarcastic grin. "You could totally dominate somebody and just come out on the wrong end of it."\nSunday, the Gophers (6-6, 4-3), fresh off a 2-0 win at Purdue, jumped out early, grabbing the lead in the game's fifth minute.\nMinnesota freshman forward Rachael Roth crossed a ball from the right of freshman goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty. The ball sailed past the far post where sophomore Gopher midfielder Kyndra Hesse flicked it back toward the goal where senior forward Laurie Seidl was waiting.\nSeidl headed the ball past Daugherty for her fourth goal of the season.\nFrom then on, Kelley said his team controlled the game.\n"We made a mistake five minutes into the game," Kelley said. "It wasn't a huge mistake, but they were right where they needed to be. And that's it. They don't threaten the rest of the game -- never. We were a much better team today. We did everything right."\nThe Gophers first five shots were on goal in the first half. But from there, Minnesota only had one shot on goal, a harmless cross, corralled by Daugherty.\nThe second half was controlled by the Hoosiers, who possessed the ball in the Gophers' end for the most of the half. Kelley said the Hoosiers (7-5-1, 1-5-1) had chances, but were only able to put three shots on goal in the second 45 minutes.\n"It's so annoying," said freshman midfielder Emily Hotz about the team's inability to score. "I don't know what's wrong. We just can't score. We beat them down, and we just can't put it in the net."\nHotz took a game-high six shots at junior Minnesota keeper Julie Eibensteiner, but was only able to put one on goal.\nThe Hoosiers took 11 shots in the second half, but they were not able to beat Eibensteiner, who had five saves in the shutout.\n"We were there, we were creating everything," freshman forward Shelly Gruszka said. "But we just couldn't put it through. Nothing was going our way."\nFriday night's game was just as rough.\nThe Hoosiers lost in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Wisconsin.\nThe game was physical as the Hoosiers set a season high with 24 fouls. There were also five yellow cards issued with the Badgers recording three and the Hoosiers two as junior midfielder Kelly Kram and junior back Stacey Peterson picked up cautions during the 110-minute game.\nIU came out firing in the opening minutes of the game, scoring the game's first goal on its first shot.\nGruszka placed the ball just over the head of Badger goalie Kelly Conway in the eighth minute.\nWith a little under 10 minutes remaining, Wisconsin midfielder Jenny Kundert placed the ball past senior keeper Chrissy Heubi, sending the game into overtime.\nThe teams battled through the first overtime scoreless. Then, with 10 minutes remaining in the second overtime period, Badger back Natalie Roedler was awarded a free kick at the top of the IU box after Peterson took her down on a breakaway.\nRoedler bent a ball around the five-man IU wall and to Heubi's right, ending the game.\n"The defense worked really well tonight," freshman back Erin Hesselbach said. "It was just a couple breakthroughs. I think at the end everyone was just getting tired."\nThe two losses are crucial for the Hoosiers who now will have to win their way into the Big Ten tournament. At 1-5-1, the Hoosiers might have to win their final three conference games to make the tournament.\nWith all the disappointment, from an inability to finish as well as a rash of injuries, Kelley still thinks the Hoosiers can be a force in the remainder of the Big Ten season.\n"We're a very good team," Kelley said. "Obviously, the scores don't show, and our record doesn't show it ... this is a good team.\n"This is the best team that has played at IU. People might not think that, but it's true. And we'll show that to them"
(09/29/00 6:28pm)
IU alumnus, and Internet audio pioneer Mark Cuban was ready to write an open-ended check that would bring Napster back to IU computers.\nBut the University turned him down, Cuban said.\n"New technologies, new means of commerce, new uses of digital media are all learning experiences for the students, the University and for how commerce is done over the net," said Cuban, the founder of broadcast.com and current owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. "Rather than learning from the experience, and coming to a conclusion that allowed Napster to continue, like so many other schools, IU wimped out from fear of legal issues."\nIU's "wimping out" on its dealings with Napster as well as the firing of basketball coach Bob Knight forced Cuban, a self-made billionaire, to cease giving money to his alma mater, he said.\nCuban offered to purchase extra bandwidth that would allow Napster users to unimcumber the rest of the IU Internet traffic, he said. An offer that he said the University rejected.\nVice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations Christopher Simpson said he had two general conversations with Cuban that included Napster, but no formal offer was made.\n"We talked with Mark in general," Simpson said. "And in the course of that conversation, he said he'd be glad to help pay for the bandwidth. But it was a general conversation. I certainly didn't think it was a formal offer. \n"It's a real leap to make, to say that there was a formal offer to pay for it."\nCuban said that the conversations were more than informal.\n"I told him multiple times ... that I would buy bandwidth so that they wouldn't have to shut off Napster," Cuban said. "They told me the problem with Napster was that it used too much bandwidth. I said that it was a cost of being a leading university, but if it was a problem, I would pay for it."\nCuban said he offered to buy one year's worth of service on a DS3 line priced at $540,000 -- or $45,000 per month.\n"Bandwidth is the electrical current for new ideas on the net," Cuban said. "If Napster, or any (applications) used bandwidth, increasing the amount of bandwidth available was as important as having enough room for books in a library.\n"That a school that wanted to be a leader in the digital economy and wanted students to be in a position to try new ideas, like e-commerce, digital media, or whatever the future would hold, had to have bandwidth to enable that.\n"That is what I said, almost verbatim."\nCuban's dismay with IU arose after the University installed filters to prevent use of the MP3 Web site on its computers. \nIn the April 20 release on the Napster decision, Simpson wrote, "We believe Indiana University has no liability by allowing access to sites such as Napster. We now believe, however, that our faculty, staff and students could incur legal exposure if they use this technology. Until those unresolved legal issues are clarified, it seems prudent to block the site."\nSince then, students have been unable to download music from Napster.\nNapster representatives, who are under litigation from a group of recording artists, have said students are in no danger of prosecution by sharing music through the site.\n"Students who engage in person-to-person file sharing are not copyright infringers," Napster CEO Hank Barry said. "And we hope that, while the litigation is pending, schools would not be intimidated by Metallica and limit the freedom of students to participate in the Napster community."\nMany big-name universities have agreed with Barry by recently rejecting a proposal to shut the service down from lawyers representing the groups suing Napster.\nMIT, Stanford, Princeton, the University of North Carolina, Georgia Tech and others all dismissed the proposal this week.\nMark Bruhn, Information Technology Policy Officer for the UITS said 61 percent of IU's bandwidth was used up by Napster at its peak, in the second week of February.\n"Everything else would be competing for what was left," Bruhn said. "There\'s only 39 percent left for everything else. The system tries to service everything and what happens is the response time slows for everything."\nBruhn said he took no part in the decision surrounding Cuban's offer. The decision he said, came from the vice presidential level and above.\nHe said that to service the entire network costs $25,000 per month. Napster cost approximately $16,000 a month to fund. He added that the exact amount involves more complex calculations.\n"To spend 16,000-plus dollars a month to support a program like Napster," Bruhn said. "It didn't seem like the responsible thing to do."\nEnter Cuban, and his checkbook.\nCuban who made his billions from Internet audio, takes issue with the critics of Napster who say it takes money from the artists.\n"Napster doesn't steal a nickel," Cuban said. "In fact, it probably makes artists more money. First of all, rare is the artist that even earns royalties from their music. Most revenue from CDs is used to cover the production and marketing costs of the CD and doesn\'t go to the artists. Second ... most people when they find new songs they like or listen to songs they heard on the radio, they end up buying the CD.\n"You only have to look at CD sales to see that they are up this year. In fact, some of the biggest selling CDs in history of the CD have come this year."\nCuban also said for those who decide to copy to CD or tape, the record industry has placed a tax on recordable media that is part of the price of the rewriteable CD or tape. So the industry gets paid that way as well, he said.\n"So the problem isn't one of sales, it's one of control," he said.\nAnd a lack of control with the handling of Knight is the other reason the billionaire will no longer be sending his checks to Bloomington.\n"They took someone who gave 100 percent," Cuban said, "no compromises and they left him out to burn in the media.\n"Coach Knight is exactly as advertised. He is volatile, intense, incredibly knowledgeable and caring for his players."\nCuban said the IU administration created a situation in which they knew Knight would not succeed. With all of the media attention, Cuban said the University wanted a problem to be created that would violate the "zero-tolerance" agreement.\n"It was a joke of an effort," Cuban said. "An embarrassment to the school, and the best way to describe it was that the school wimped out."\nSimpson responded to Cuban's remarks about the administration and withdrawal of support by expressing disappointment.\n"I am certainly dismayed to hear (Cuban's comments)," Simpson said.\nCuban recalled meeting Knight at an administration function.\n"We met at the President's house for a lunch," Cuban said. "It was fancy. All set up for them to try to get money from me. All of the President's men where in suits and ties. Coach comes in his sweater. I was in jeans.\n"Knight got a kick out of it when I told him that since I was here to write the checks, I was going to be comfortable."\nSince Knight's firing, Cuban has been publicly adamant that Knight could have a job with the Mavericks.\nCuban will still calls himself a Hoosier, and roots for the cream and crimson, but said he won't have anything to do with the administration.\n"I still love the school, the campus and the students," Cuban said. "It's just the administration I have a problem with"
(09/29/00 5:14am)
The women's soccer team toyed around with Butler for most of the first half Thursday night in Bill Armstrong Stadium. With one minute left in the first half, they got down to business.\nIU broke through after 44 minutes of scoreless domination when sophomore back Dana Philp scored to give the Hoosiers the lead. The Hoosiers added a late second half goal in a 2-0 non-conference win.\n"It was very crucial to score in the first half," coach Joe Kelley said. "We dominated. They really didn't create."\nIU controlled the first half, amassing 12 shots to Butler's two, but were unable to get on the scoreboard until the final moments of the first half. Sophomore forward Jenny Mann drove a corner kick, IU's seventh of the first half, to the far post where Philp was left unmarked. She drove a header into the short-side of the net past Butler goalie Tricia Czerniack for her first goal and points of the season. The goal was the first of her career.\n"It was exciting," Philp said of her goal. "Jenny just hit an awesome ball and (Emily) Markwell and I just lost it in the lights a little. But luckily, it fell right on my head.\n"We needed that goal. It should have been a lot more than 1-0 in the first half."\nIU out shot Butler 16-5 for the game and senior keeper Chrissy Heubi record a team-best third individual shutout. She also shared a shutout with freshman keeper Shaunna Daugherty earlier in the season.\nHeubi's workload got heavier in the second half, where she saved a total of three shots and kept away some dangerous Butler crosses, including one in the final minutes of the game.\n"It was so slippery out," Heubi said. "I had trouble handling a couple of them. I got a lot of support from Dana and (Erin Hesslebach). They both played really well in the air."\nThe second half was physical at a time when Kelley already has a long list of injured Hoosiers. Junior back Whitney Butler, who played forward Thursday, had to leave the game 15 minutes into the second half with a heavy limp.\n"Well, I have a re-occurring ankle injury and sometimes when I get a lot of pressure on that side, it just kind of pops out," Butler said. "It happens about once every day, so I knew it wasn't serious.\n"It just takes about five minutes to come back."\nStarters sophomore Kate Kastl and seniors Kendal Willis and Jena Kluska missed the game with injuries as well.\n"We need to be more physical," Kelley said. "(The Bulldogs) dragged freshman Carly (Everett) down, they dragged (Hesselbach) down. What they were doing wasn't physical, it was more cheap.\n"We need to be the aggressors when we're out there. I don't want my team to be cheap, but they can be hard and clean and get the same things accomplished."\nButler amassed 16 fouls for the game, 13 of which came in the second half.\nShe returned ten minutes later to score her first career goal at IU from 25 yards into an empty net. Mann drew the keeper out to the edge of the penalty box where she drilled a shot into Czerniak's chest.\nButler picked up the rebound and smacked a ball past Czerniak, who was hustling back to the goal.\n"I just trapped it saw where the goalie was and just hit it," Butler said. "Nothing exciting."\nButler said she was excited to play forward. She tallied her first two shots of her IU career Thursday night.\n"I was excited to go up there," Butler said. "I like getting more touches on the ball."\nAnd Kelley said he enjoyed her up front as well. With Kastl unlikely for Sunday's game with Michigan State, it is likely that Whitney Butler will get another chance to score.\nThursday was Whitney Butler's first goal at IU. She transferred to IU last spring from the University of Connecticut.\n"Last couple days of practice, we've been in smaller groups, so she's been out in front of goal a lot hitting balls like she scored on tonight," Kelley said. "I think Dana and (Hesselbach) have been doing really well in the back and I thought we could afford to move her out tonight.\n"(Whitney) is great up there. She strikes the ball well. She combines well with Shelly (Gruszka) and Kelly (Kram). Right now, the change is permanent, but it could change tomorrow"
(09/28/00 5:17am)
The women's soccer team will face an in-state test 7 p.m. today as Butler makes the trip south from Indianapolis in a nonconference game at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nButler is a team the Hoosiers will have to be ready to play, junior midfielder Stacey Peterson said.\n"They'll definitely be up for the game," Peterson said. "They're going to be pumped up to play us. "That means we have to be pumped up to play our game too."\nThe Hoosiers have key players who won't wear the Cream and Crimson, as injuries continue to take their toll on the team. Senior starting back Kendal Willis and sophomore forward Kate Kastl will not play against the Bulldogs. Freshman goalie Shaunna Daugherty practiced Tuesday and Wednesday after nursing a quadriceps muscle. Daugherty might play against Butler.\n"We're going to look a lot like we did on Sunday," said coach Joe Kelley, referring to the 3-2 win against Ohio State. "Kendal and Kate may be back this Sunday, but we're definitely hoping for next weekend. We'll work through it."\nSophomore forward Kristen Sprunger, who missed three weeks earlier in the season with a hairline fracture in an ankle, is back in the lineup for the Hoosiers.\n"It's marvelous to be back playing," Sprunger said. "My ankle feels fine. My body is sore from hitting the ground and hitting other people, but my ankle feels great.\n"I'm not worried about it because it's stronger than it was before. The worst thing that happens now is that it breaks and then I'm out for the same amount of time I was before."\nSprunger's return started last weekend coincided with the loss of Kastl. Sprunger should see a lot of action this weekend.\nWithout Willis in the backfield, Kelley said he will rely heavily on junior back Whitney Butler to defend IU's third of the field.\n"I think the good thing about our team is that we have a lot of depth," Butler said. "Kendal plays a key role in our defense and we're going to miss her while she's out, but we have people that can step in for her and not skip a beat." \nThe Bulldogs enter Bloomington in worse physical shape than the Hoosiers. Most of the team came down with food poisoning last weekend and are in the process of recovering.\nCal Polytechnic State University dominated Butler 7-0 Saturday. The Bulldogs (4-3-1) have lost their last three games. The Bulldogs have earned a 5-1-1 record against the Hoosiers in seven regular season meetings. Last year, the teams tied 1-1 in what Kelley described as an ugly game.\n"They're going to be tough," Kelley said. "I think it's a mental thing. We have to come out and do the things that we do. There's nothing strategically different about our game plan. We just have to go out and play the soccer we've been playing."\nThe Hoosiers shutout the Bulldogs last spring in an exhibition match.\nButler boasts the Midwestern Collegiate Conference's two top scorers in sophomore forward Amy Morrison and sophomore midfielder Kara Bryan. Morrison has six goals while Bryan has five. Morrison also leads the MCC in total points through eight games, tallying 15.\nWith the break in conference play, Butler said she doesn't think the Hoosiers should rest tonight with the Michigan State matchup Sunday. \n"We can't look past anyone," Butler said. "We need to try to win every game we can. We need to know what it feels like to win. Every game is important"
(09/27/00 4:33am)
If women's soccer coach Joe Kelley is on a recruiting trip, there's a good chance he wound up in his hometown of St. Louis. Just look at the history.\nIU's all-time leading goal scorer, Wendy Dillinger, now an assistant coach, played soccer in a St. Louis suburb. Second on the list is 1999 graduate Tracy Grose, an assistant coach who grew up in the same town as Dillinger.\nNo. 3 on the goals scored list, Kris Fosdick, played in the St. Louis area as well.\nIf she has anything to say about it, No. 4 on that list might be freshman forward Shelly Gruszka. And yes, she's from St. Louis.\n"This was last my visit," said Gruszka of IU, "and I just loved it here. I knew I'd learn a lot from Joe (Kelley), and the girls were great.\n"We're bringing that St. Louis style of soccer to Indiana."\nUnlike most Hoosiers this season, Gruszka has been healthy and played in every game, missing the start only in the season opener against Xavier. Through nine games, Gruszka has one goal and two assists.\nThe two-time Missouri State Player of the Year, Gruszka turned down Harvard, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Boston College to play for Kelley at IU. Gruszka was named player of the year in her sophomore and junior years at St. Joseph's Academy. \n"They had never given it twice," Gruszka said. "So they were never going to give it three times.\n"My senior year went fine though."\nIt went fine, but with the accolades came a lot of pressure as Gruszka was marked every game by the opponent's best defender.\nOne of those would-be defenders is now her teammate and fellow Missouri freshman Erin Hesslebach. Freshmen midfielder Emily Hotz also made the drive east on Interstate 70 to join the Hoosiers.\n"Emily has been on my team since fifth grade, and then we were on rival high schools," Gruszka said. "I knew Erin through playing, but not really personally."\nSo, Gruszka recruited by a St. Louis native, came to IU with St. Louis soccer stars, and is now lining up beside one, fellow forward Kate Kastl, a sophomore. Kastl, now sidelined with a combination of ankle and hip problems, played against her in high school.\n"We work really well together," said Kastl earlier in the season. "We can anticipate what we want to do and react to the other person."\nGruszka said Kastl, who won't play Thursday and probably won't play Sunday, has been a teacher as well so far this season.\nFor Gruszka, who had been a natural scorer all her life, scoring has been a little difficult this season. Gruszka scored her first goal Sunday in IU's 3-2 win over Ohio State. The goal was followed with a sigh of relief, she said.\n"Finally," said Gruszka, with a big smile. "I was getting a little frustrated, but I knew it would come. It just took some time. \n"Hopefully, that will give me some confidence and I can keep building on that."\nKelley thinks Gruszka will be a big-time scorer for the Hoosiers soon.\n"We need to put her in better positions to score," Kelley said. "Sunday is going to help with that in telling her that she can and will be a goal scorer."\nAs players make the transition from high school to college soccer, they are often overwhelmed by the speed and physicality of it Kelley said. But with Gruszka, he sees a player who has been physical with opponents since day one.\n"She's not afraid to take people on, which is an attribute of a good forward," Kelley said. "She's not afraid to lose the ball." \nIn her goal Sunday, Gruszka drove right at an Ohio State defender, slashing past her with sharp, decisive cuts toward the goal.\nSo with a St. Louis staff and St. Louis players everywhere she turns, Gruszka seems a lot closer to her hometown than the four and a half hours of driving that it requires.\nBut make no mistake -- she knows this isn't high school soccer anymore. \n"All the girls here are fast and big. It's totally different from high school," Gruszka said. "It didn't shock me though. I played a lot of competitive soccer and kind of knew what to expect.\n"Now I just have to be one step faster"
(09/22/00 5:43am)
In a move she called a coup, former IU basketball coach Bob Knight's secretary, Mary Ann Davis will be reassigned within the University, athletics director Clarence Doninger said Thursday.\nDavis said she was forced to leave against her wishes by Doninger.\n"Clarence Doninger and (Administrative Assistant) Jeanette Hartgraves asked me to leave," she said. "They said (interim associate coach) John (Treloar) and (interim coach) Mike (Davis) didn't think they could work with me because I am a quote 'Bob Knight person.'\n"And then I heard from other sources that (coaches Davis and Treloar) said I would be a spy for coach Knight."\nSince Knight's firing, Mary Ann Davis said Davis and Treloar stayed out of the basketball office and sent student managers to get their mail in order to avoid her. After working well with Treloar and Davis in the past, the secretary was stunned by their sudden change.\n"They didn't want to look me in the eye," she said.\nDoninger said Davis is to be moved in a decision made by the current staff.\n"The coaches just wanted to have their own personnel," Doninger said. "The coaches wanted their own people. She's still with the department right now. We'll get her together with human resources and we'll work something out."\nHer new post has not been assigned yet, Doninger said.\nTreloar differed with Doninger in saying that the decision didn't fall solely upon the coaches.\n"There's no question that the direction came from the athletic department," Treloar said. "Coach Davis has wanted to bring (in his own secretary) and I don't think (the athletic department) would fund three secretaries."\nCoach Davis is out of town and unavailable for comment. He has yet to name a replacement for Mary Ann Davis.\nAlong with Mary Ann Davis, B.J. McElroy worked as a secretary in the basketball office. But McElroy will retain her position.\n"Well, I think that both Mary Ann and B.J. have worked in the basketball office over 20 years and have given a lot to the program," Treloar said. "But coach Davis is now in a position of leadership, and with that comes the opportunity to bring in his own people. It's not out of the ordinary."\nBut an attorney for Knight sees Mary Ann Davis' removal as more than a choice of personal preference.\n"I understand that she was reassigned out of the basketball office because she is too loyal to coach Knight," said Knight's attorney, Russell Yates.\nIn a conversation with Mary Ann Davis after her removal, Knight told her he was very upset that she got caught in the middle of his firing.\nDavis currently has two students at IU and plans on accepting her new position. But she said she would consider leaving if Knight coaches again.\n"I would like to stay here for my two sons," she said, "but if coach Knight does go somewhere, I would consider leaving with him."\nKnight could not be reached for comment.
(09/20/00 4:31am)
As the women's soccer season began, coach Joe Kelley was pleased with his team's depth. \nFor Kelley, it was one of the team's three largest assets going into this season.\nThree weeks later, Kelley might be biting his tongue.\nThe team, once filled with potential starters, is now frail and thin after a host of injuries has depleted the team's midfield and front. In all, four potential starters have been put on the bench for part or all of the season, and another is playing through an ailment. \n"It takes away a lot," Kelley said. "It really hurts our speed. We are a deep team, but we're getting hurt in the same place, and it's tough to make up for that."\nThe first blow came in June when sophomore Jessie Rabin injured her anterior cruciate ligament, leaving her out for the season. Rabin had started six games for the Hoosiers last year and played in 18.\nFrom there, things calmed down for a while, but as the season progressed, healthy Hoosiers have been hard to find.\nSophomore Kristen Sprunger, who had four goals and two assists in the team's two exhibition games and the season opener against Xavier, suffered a stress-fracture in her right ankle in a practice before the Vermont Classic.\nShe's been sidelined since Aug. 30. The injury resulted from constant strenuous activity including running, practicing and playing.\nBut after missing six games, Sprunger expects to be back in the lineup this week. \n"I should be able to do some practice (Wednesday) and play this weekend," Sprunger said. "It's been really hard not being able to be out there with everyone."\nAnd last week was especially difficult for the Hoosiers as they lost two starters to illness.\nSophomores Emily Markwell and Lisa Tecklenburg, who started every game this year, were forced to sit out both Big Ten games last weekend with ailments. \nFor Tecklenburg, the news isn't as promising.\nAfter undergoing further tests early this week, Tecklenburg said she has to have season-ending ankle surgery to repair a torn ligament in her right ankle.\nThe injury came Sept. 10 in a game against Utah State. Playing on a messy field during a driving rain storm, Tecklenburg was tackled by an Aggie defender with her cleats exposed.\n"It was really rainy, and the girl slid with a lot of power and caused my ankle to roll even though I was wearing an ankle brace, due to a previous injury I had when I was a freshman in high school," Tecklenburg said. "Initially, it hurt really bad but then the pain went to almost nothing while I was (down) on the field. \n"When I tried to stand up and walk, it snapped and I fell. When I was sitting on the bench it snapped a lot more and was very painful." \nFreshman Carly Everett has played in Tecklenburg's place while further tests are conducted on Tecklenburg's ankle.\nMarkwell, who had been fighting a viral infection, was unable to dress for the first Big Ten weekend of the year. She started all 19 games last season in the backfield. She had moved to midfield in her five starts this year and earned two assists.\n"I was running a temperature of 103 and had swollen glands and a sore throat," Markwell said. "It was really hard and upsetting to just sit on the bench and watch us lose this weekend." \nAlthough sitting on the bench was painful for Markwell, on top of the illness, it was an eye-opening experience for the sophomore who was cleared to return to practice yesterday. \n"I guess it was good in the fact that it helped us to see the game from (coach Kelley's) perspective and see the mistakes we were making."\nAs long as the virus doesn't recur, Markwell expects to be back playing this weekend.\nSophomore Kate Kastl made it through the week of practice but was injured in Friday's 1-0 loss to Northwestern. With less than 10 minutes left in the game and the Hoosiers trailing, Kastl made a play on the ball at the Wildcat net where she collided with Northwestern goalie Erin Ekeberg.\nKastl received a hip pointer in the collision that knocked her off the starting lineup Sunday. But she did see action off the IU bench, despite the pain.\n"It mostly (hurts) when I push off," Kastl said after Sunday's games. "It's kind of a pull in my hip. I woke up Saturday morning and I could barely walk."\nAnd with Penn State approaching on the calendar, Kelley said he hopes there will be some empty beds in the trainer's room.\n"Kristen Sprunger ... will maybe be back by next weekend," said Kelley, alluding to the PSU match "And maybe Lisa too. We usually play Penn State tough, so it will be interesting to see what happens."\nKastl also expects to play Friday.\nWith much of the Hoosier's scoring pop on the bench, Kelley has had to go to different places for offense. Sophomore Jenny Mann and junior Janie Gregory saw significant action in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Michigan but were unable to provide much help. Sunday's shutout was the second straight game that IU was unable to score. \nIf most of the sidelined Hoosiers aren't able to return in time for this weekend's games, Kelley said he would change some things in order to accommodate for the loss of much of his speed and scoring threats.\n"I'm not sure what (we would change)," Kelley said, "(but if we don't get anyone back), we would change something"
(09/15/00 5:25am)
Whether the women's soccer team wanted it or not, they received an added challenge this week.\nAs if starting the Big Ten schedule wasn't enough and playing one of the top teams in the conference wouldn't suffice, a certain Sunday press conference added another aspect to this week's practices ' focus.\nThe dismissal of former basketball coach Bob Knight certainly has been a distraction to everyone on the IU campus this week, with TV crews scouring the walkways and microphones probing student's faces. It's monopolized local news coverage and the coffee talk of Bloomington residents.\nAnd while the IU administration and the men's basketball team has the world focused on them, the women's soccer team has been trying to focus on their biggest challenge so far this season ' the beginning of the Big Ten schedule.\n"They're focused," coach Joe Kelley said. "We talked about the whole situation and it's very unfortunate, but like Coach Knight said (Wednesday), we've got to move on. And I think we have. It's been a great week of practice and the team is definitely focused and ready."\nThe Hoosiers look to set aside the distractions this weekend as they host Northwestern and Michigan in a pair of Big Ten match-ups. IU hosts the Wildcats at 7 p.m. tonight at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The Wolverines come to town 1:30 p.m. Sunday.\nIU is the hottest team in the Big Ten, entering this weekend's action at a perfect 5-0. They are the only team with a perfect record in the conference. The Hoosiers have gained some national attention as they are ranked No. 22 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll for the first time since 1998. \nAdd to that, the Wildcats and Wolverines are a combined 2-6-1 and the matches look lopsided, but Kelley knows records won\'t dictate how the games are played.\n"I'm really looking forward to the Big Ten schedule," senior back Kendal Willis said. "It's going to be a challenge, but I know we\'re ready for those teams."\nSunday, the Hoosiers battle Michigan, whom they have only beaten once in six matches. They won a 3-1 decision in the two teams' first meeting in 1994. Since then, IU has been outscored 8-0 in five consecutive losses.\nMichigan finished second in the conference last year with only one loss to Penn State. The Wolverines then went on to win the 1999 Big Ten tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.\n"They've had good teams and caught us at the right times," Kelley said. "They usually come here after Purdue. They're fresh and we're tired from playing a tough game before while they handle Purdue.\n"Thank you to Purdue for once in my life. Purdue's competitive this year and going to give Michigan all they can handle and make things a bit easier on us."\nThe Wolverines boast two of the conference's best forwards in senior Kacy Beitel and sophomore Abby Crumpton. Both Beitel and Crumpton were first-team Big Ten selections last season.\nAfter three losses to open the season, Michigan got hot in their last contest, scoring seven times in a rout of nationally ranked Missouri. Crumpton had five points in the win on two goals and an assist for the Wolverines.\n"Our team defense has not been sharp, and tough defense generates more offense," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin Rademacher said about her team's early season scoring problem. "We are a youthful team making youthful mistakes right now." \nBut before the Hoosiers face Michigan, they'll have to get by Northwestern Friday night. \nThe Wildcats enter the weekend 1-3-1, coming off a 0-0 tie at Detroit Mercy. Minus their 6-2 win over Detroit Mercy, the Wildcats have had problems scoring, posting only two goals in four games.\nBut Northwestern does return its two leading scorers from last year\'s team in senior Brooke Bell and junior Katie Hertz.\n"We are back in a familiar position," Northwestern coach Marcia McDermott said. "We are the underdog. Nobody expects much of us."\nFor Kelley, he's making sure his team doesn\'t look past the Wildcats.\n"Northwestern is a very capable team," Kelley said. "The fact that they're not winning is a mystery.\n"Michigan doesn't even exist yet for us."\nBut they will Sunday.
(09/11/00 8:17am)
Bob Knight's dismissal after 29 years at IU has sent shock waves through the entire country. Here are the thoughts of Murray Sperber, Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps and John Feinstein after hearing the news released in President Myles Brand's Sunday afternoon press conference.\nThe Critic:\nAs men's basketball coach Bob Knight leaves IU after 29 years of roaming Assembly Hall's sidelines, English and American Studies professor Murray Sperber hopes to be back in the classroom sooner than expected.\nThe IU faculty member, who has been a vocal critic of Knight is currently on an unpaid leave of absence for the fall semester. His agreement with the University would have him back in a paid position for the spring semester, but not teaching classes.\nWith Knight's removal as basketball coach, Sperber said he hopes he can return to teaching in the spring.\n"I, for one, will be very relieved when this is over and when the media circus leaves town," Sperber said Sunday from Montreal. "I hope I can go back to being a critic of the overuses of college sports and not a Knight critic. I hate that I was branded a Knight critic.\n"I hope now I can come back to Bloomington and the circus that has surrounded the University will finally blow over."\nSperber took leave after receiving numerous threats from Knight supporters, he said. \nThrough the entire process, which began with the release of a CNN/SI report that Knight had choked former player Neil Reed at a 1997 practice, Sperber said the University had to be above the achievements of one man.\n"The Trustees and Brand should have always seen this in the terms of the University," Sperber said. "Coach Knight has brought many positives to this University, but in the past year, the negatives have far outweighed the positives.\n"It is very important for the University to put this behind them. No one person can be more important than the University."\nSperber said he hopes attention can now be focused off the storied basketball program and onto one of the best public universities in the nation.\n"I look forward to the day when I read in the national press about new research this school has produced," he said. "Or a story about the music school, or the business school. IU has so much to offer, but it has been silenced by what has gone on over the past year." \nOther critics of Knight did not wish to comment.\n"I've seen it on TV, but I can't comment on it," said Iowa basketball player, Luke Recker, a former IU basketball standout, who transferred in 1999.\nTerry Reed, the father of Neil Reed, also refused to comment on Knight's dismissal.\nThe Analyst:\nIn a Web chat Sunday evening, men's college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said five IU players could transfer following the dismissal of coach Bob Knight.\nFreshmen Jared Jeffries, George Leach and A.J. Moye, sophomore Jeffrey Newton and junior Dane Fife all could leave, according to Bilas. The only way they'll stay is if assistant coach Mike Davis is named interim coach, he said.\n"That is a natural reaction for a kid that has just lost his coach," said Bilas, through ESPN.com. "But when the smoke has cleared and each player has had time to think, each will wind up doing what is in that player's best long term interest." \nBilas added that Davis is in a difficult position with ties to Knight, but has opportunity to become coach.\n"Knight will expect Davis to resign in support of Knight, but this would be a good opportunity for Davis to make something positive out of a negative situation," Bilas said. "Davis has family and financial concerns as well, as we all do, and he has been a very good and very loyal assistant to Knight. Davis has been instrumental in Indiana's better recruiting efforts over the past few years and has been supportive of the players. While I think that Davis would be an excellent choice as an interim coach, there may be an unwillingness on the part of the administration to hire a Knight assistant right now. That is truly unfortunate." \nIn the chat, Bilas also said the chances of Steve Alfrod taking the interim position are "very slim."\nThe Friend:\nDigger Phelps, a close friend of Knight's, was confused and shocked by the statement Brand made, formally dismissing Knight from his position as men's basketball coach.\n"Back in May, President Brand instituted a 'zero-tolerance' policy," Phelps said from his home in South Bend. "If there was a policy of zero tolerance, then why wasn't Knight dismissed after the first violation?\n"Or the second? Or the third? Or the fourth? Or the fifth?"\nAt the conference, Brand unearthed five forms of misconduct since the instatement of the zero tolerance policy. Included in the accusations were, insubordination to Brand himself, as well as disregarding the proper chain of command through the athletic department. \nBrand also cited an exchange between Knight and a female athletic department worker which violated the letter and the spirit of the zero tolerance agreement.\n"If these things were going on, why wasn't he fired in May or June?" Phelps said. "Why'd they wait until now? I'll tell you why -- because when this latest thing went public Thursday, they had no choice."\nPhelps, who accompanied Roy Firestone for an interview of Knight in May following the University's sanctions, said that Knight's basketball career is most likely over.\n"He'll take some space and do nothing," Phelps said. "There's nothing he can do. He loves Indiana and he loves his players. Now, all of the sudden, that's all taken away from him."\nPhelps tried to contact Knight Thursday through his office, but was unable to reach him. The two often play golf together when Knight travels to South Bend or when Phelps is in Bloomington.\nA former Notre Dame coach and now ESPN analyst, Phelps said the loss of Knight will be especially difficult for his players.\n"I feel bad for all the players," Phelps said. "They lived through this whole thing once in the spring. When I looked at the final eight last year and saw Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State, I knew Indiana should have been right there with them.\n"It was horrible for the Reed story to break when it did because it destroyed that team. They were as solid as any team in the country. And now it looks like it might happen again. It's a shame."\nThe Author:\nAuthor John Feinstein followed coach Knight around during the team's 1985-86 season, and Feinstein's resulting book, "A Season on the Brink" became the best-selling sports book of all time.\nFeinstein said that throughout his chronicling of the season, Knight was "both the best person I've ever met and the worst person I've ever met, depending on the day and his mood." The author said he had an encounter with Knight similar to that of Kent Harvey's. Feinstein recalled that he, Knight, and a few others were walking out of breakfast one morning at a Minneapolis restaurant when someone asked Feinstein what he was going to do that day.\n"I said something to the effect of, 'Oh, I'm going to do what I do every day, I'm going to follow Knight around,'" Feinstein said. "And Bob whirled around and said, 'Don't you ever call me Knight. Call me Bob, call me coach, call me coach Knight, but don't ever call me Knight. You're almost 20 years younger than I am, and no one calls me Knight.' And that's with a lot of profanities omitted."\nFeinstein said Knight and he later discussed the incident, and Knight realized Feinstein had meant his comment in a joking manner. When Feinstein heard about the circumstances surrounding Knight's firing, "There was a ring of truth to it," he said.\nThe author heard about Knight's dismissal while in his car Sunday afternoon and was "shocked" by it. Feinstein said he found it a little amusing that it took an event that was highly publicized to warrant the coach's firing. Based on the standards set last spring by Brand, Feinstein said Knight probably should have been fired about four months ago. "It seemed more like a 99% tolerance policy to me," said Feinstein, referring to Brand's zero tolerance policy for the coach.\nStill, Feinstein said it took courage for Brand to do what he has done in firing Knight. The job for the IU administration and the basketball department now is to find someone who is loved in Indiana, he added. Feinstein suggested that the first phone call should be made to Iowa coach Steve Alford, with Larry Bird being possibly a second choice.\n"This is a very sad day," Feinstein said. Knight's denial of his emotional state and the "enabling" behavior of those around him probably made the dismissal inevitable, he said, but Feinstein was quick to emphasize the coach's positive contributions to the sport. "He stood for most of what was good in basketball," Feinstein said.\nIDS reporter Christy LaFave contributed to this story.
(09/05/00 6:31am)
Junior Kelly Kram can't explain it.\nFreshman Emily Hotz shrugs her shoulders and smiles.\nThey mutter "practice" and "hard work" ' all the usuals, but when it comes down to it, they are clueless.\nIn the end, no one can explain the offensive explosion that has vaulted the women's soccer team to three consecutive 3-0 wins, and nobody seems to care.\n"I don't even know what's going on," said Kram, a midfielder, after scoring twice in IU's 3-0 win over New Hampshire Saturday. "It was all luck. I never score. I had more goals this tournament than I did all of last year."\nKram finished the weekend with eight points, high for the tournament, tallying three goals and two assists. Kram, the top returning scorer from last year's team, is three points shy of tying her point total for all of last year.\nAnd her three goals matches her total from all of last season.\n"She's the leader on the field," said coach Joe Kelley of Kram. "She's the person that is going to make this team go this year. And we're going to look to her to provide the leadership on the field.\n"She's stepping up to the challenge so far."\nWith her eight points over the weekend, Kram made the six-woman All-Tournament team as the tourney's leading scorer.\nKram's outburst stole the offensive clout from Hotz, who has contributed five points in three games, including an assist over the weekend.\nHotz, a midfielder from St. Louis, stole the show in the opening game with a pair of goals against Xavier.\n"(Hotz) is going to be very a very solid player, and she's shown that so far," Kelley said. "As a freshman, she's very good. But we're going to demand that she gets better."\nThe three wins are in stark contrast to last year's first three games, where IU was battered, going 0-3 and only scoring two goals.\nIn their three wins, the Hoosiers have outshot their opponents by an average of 19-6, and have dominated in every category in all three contests.\nThe Hoosiers have scored on their first shot in each of their three games, gaining the lead in the first 10 minutes in each of their contests. \n"This year there's just a different attitude," senior forward Wendy Graves said. "We believe we can win. \n"It makes everything more fun. It's always more fun when you're winning."\nHotz said the advances in the spring and summer are starting to show now, as well. IU went 4-0 in spring games as well as winning both exhibition games last month.\nShe also attributes that time to the advances in her own game as well as her early season goals.\n"Hard work pays off," Hotz said. "I guess luck was on my side too, but it's the hard work that puts you in those positions"