Hoosier women's basketball Head Coach Kathi Bennett, the daughter of former UW men's basketball Head Coach Dick Bennett, was involved in a head-on auto collision Friday morning on her way to Assembly Hall.
Bennett is in stable condition at a Bloomington, Ind. Hospital after breaking the second vertebra in her neck. No spinal cord damage was sustained and Bennett has full function in her arms and legs.
After being evaluated by a neurosurgeon Friday afternoon, it was determined that Bennett will not need surgery. She will wear a protective brace to stablize her neck for an extended period of time.
Bennett released a statement.
\I want everyone to know that I am going to be OK,"" Bennett said. ""I feel blessed to be a part of Indiana University. The support I have gotten here and the people have been awesome.""
The women's softball team arrived home from its 2002 season opener at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend. The Badgers, now 2-3 overall, began their series with a 3-0 victory over the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Friday. Junior pitcher Andrea Kirchberg, who pitched her 27th career shutout, allowed only one hit in the contest.
The Badgers enjoyed much of the same luck later in the day when they outscored New Mexico State University 6-0. The Badgers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, while freshman pitcher Katie Layne struck out 12 Aggies.
Despite their successes in Friday's games, the Badgers experienced a role reversal Saturday as both No. 16 Fresno State and No. 12 Nebraska held Wisconsin scoreless. While the Badgers kept Fresno State from scoring early in the first of Saturday's games, the Bulldogs drove in two runs in the third inning and another pair of runs in the fourth, handing Wisconsin its first loss, 4-0. The Nebraska Cornhuskers proceeded to hand Wisconsin its second loss, as a Nebraska grand slam home run in the fifth inning gave UW a 6-0 loss.
Sunday, the Badgers showed their stuff as they knocked off No. 1 Arizona, 3-0. Kirchberg struck out 10 batters and allowed just four hits. Freshman Boo Gillette put up a run for Wisconsin in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run. Sophomore Meghann Reiss later answered Gillette's home run with one of her own, blasting a shot over the fence.
The 73rd ranked women's tennis team hosted the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship this weekend, opening the tournament with a 7-0 loss to No. 1 Stanford Thursday. But the loss to the Stanford Cardinal did not end Wisconsin's run at the tournament. Wisconsin dueled with the No. 11 Washington in the first consolidation match and couldn't quite pull off the victory, losing 4-3. Wisconsin won two of three sets of doubles with the team of junior Linde Mues and junior Lara Vojnov. Freshman Katie McGaffigan paired up with freshman Lindsay Martin and to overcome the Huskies. Despite their victory in the doubles match, the Badgers only pulled off two singles matches.
The Badgers then faced No. 37 Old Dominion and avenged their previous losses, coming off the court with a 5-2 upset. Racking up victories in the singles tournament include junior Shana McElroy, McGaffigan, senior Katie Dougherty and Martin, who won by default.
No. 5 Georgia upset the Cardinal in the semifinals and played No. 4 Vanderbilt, who defeated No. 2 Duke in the previous match. The teams played Sunday but no information was available at press time.
