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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1980
Aggies escape with 55-53 win
Owls catch Ags looking ahead
By TONY GALLUCCI
Sports Editor
The Aggie basketball team got
caught looking ahead Saturday and
nearly lost the Southwest Confer
ence lead they gained earlier in the
day when Arkansas lost 90-84 to
Houston in triple overtime.
The Ags spent the afternoon
watching the game in the dorm and
came into G. Rollie White Coliseum
hot to trot. Problem was, they were
hot to trot all over the Hogs and it
was the Rice Owls who showed up to
play. And did they show up to play,
taking A&M to the wire in a thrilling
game, which saw the Ags finally win
55-53.
Vernon Smith scored 22 points in
the game, his highest point total in
ten games and second highest in
SWC play, in leading the Ags to the
victory. He was the only Aggie in
double figures for the evening. Rynn
Wright led Aggie rebounders with
eight.
A&M was the first to score in the
game, a rebound follow by Vernon
Smith with only 30 seconds elapsed.
Rice immediately tied the game up
on a mirror image shot by Ricky
Pierce. In full court press from the
start. Rice took a 4-2 lead when
Pierce hit a second shot, this time
from the right side. Smith tied the
game up on a jumper from the corner
and then the two teams traded buck
ets for another five minutes.
Smith fouled Pierce, his third foul,
with 12:57 to go in the first half and
Pierce made good on the three-
pointer to put Rice up by three. Rice
went ahead by five before David
Britton threw a beautiful outlet pass
to Wright, who stuffed the ball. Rice
scored two more unanswered bas
kets and was up by seven when Aggie
head coach Shelby Metcalf decided
enough was enough.
Immediately after, Dave Goff tos
sed an alley-oop to Britton who
casually dumped the ball over his
right shoulder. It was Maroon all the
way to the locker room as the Ags
outscored Rice 17-8 in the last nine
minutes of the half. They led at the
half 27-25.
Rice started the second half as
fired up as they were the first and
jumped right back into the lead. The
Aggies never let the game get away
from them this time, though, and
regained the lead for good with ten
minutes remaining.
With Rudy Woods and Vernon
Smith each getting six points, the
Aggies jumped to their biggest lead
of the night — six — with two and a
half minutes left. Rice then called
the first of a string of timeouts.
Tyrone Ladson fouled Bobby
Tudor and Tudor hit both of his free
throws to cut the Aggie lead to four.
Britton scored on a layup but
charged Donald Bennett in the pro
cess. Bennett hit his free throws also
to keep the lead at four points.
With 47 seconds remaining in the
game, Ladson was fouled. He missed
the first of his one-and-one and was
fouled again just 12 seconds later.
This time he hit the first of his free
throws and missed the second, put
ting the Ags up by five. Pierce hit a
jump shot after the rebound on the
missed free throw and Rice called
timeout.
Ladson was fouled again on the
inbound pass and again hit the front
end of the one-and-one and Pierce
again went down court and hit the
jumper. This time the Ag lead was
narrowed to two points, 53-51, and
only 17 seconds remained.
On the inbounds Woods was
fouled this time. He sank both his
free throws to put the game out of
reach for the Owls. Pierce hit a short
jumpshot at the buzzer but it cut the
final margin only to two.
Metcalf was generally pleased
with the team’s performance. “We
played the hell out of them,” he said.
“Rice played a great ballgame. I
thought we played when we had to.
“I’m glad we don’t have to got to
Houston to play them. Actually, I
wish we didn’t have to go to Houston
at all.
“That’s the best they’ve broken
our press since (Rice coach Mike)
Schuler’s been there, ” Metcalf said.
Smith agreed, “They played good
man-on-man. They’ve got some good
players and they came to play.”
Dave Goff, Aggie point guard,
admitted the team lapsus, “Yeah, we
got caught looking ahead a little. But
they played good and we just
couldn’t find the hole. We played
real hard tonight. We were a little
tight I think.
“They were hitting all their free
throws — we pressed them so much
and the refs were calling the game so
tight — they had so many opportuni
ties.”
Assistant coach Barry Davis insists
he wasn’t looking ahead, but added,
“I didn’t think they’d be that tough,
either. These guys have to play
teams like Arkansas and then they
have Rice — what would you do.”
That game is over now, fortunately
it goes into the books as a win, and
now the Aggies can worry about the
team they were thinking about all
weekend. The team leaves this after
noon for the hills of Fayetteville
where no Aggie basketball team has
won a game in nine years. In the
championship years of 1975 and 1976
the Aggies were twice victims of the
Hogs in four overtimes.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. with
broadcast on the Aggie Basketball
Network. Local audio can be found
on KTAM-AM radio with DeWayne
Staats and David Walker.
Ladies' soccer team
opens — ranked fin
By MIKE BURRICHTER
Sports Staff
The Texas A&M women’s soc
cer team will kick off the 1980
season Saturday when it meets
Southwest Texas State University
in Georgetown.
The Aggies, ranked number
one among Texas college teams,
have a six-match schedule, in
cluding three home games. They
have been invited to participate
in tournaments in Colorado,
Louisiana, Wisconsin, Indiana
and Houston.
The Texas A&M women, who
lost only once last semester in 17
games, will return to College Sta
tion Sunday to play Baylor at Cain
Field at 2 p. m. The Aggies posted
a 14-1-2 record last semester.
Their lone loss came against the
University of Mexico at Mon
terrey.
The Ags also won two tourna
ments last semester, taking the
state tournament in Dallas and
the Austin Women’s Soccer
League Tournament. The Dallas
tournament consisted oflOTa,
college teams. The Aggiesn,
that one by defeating the Unive
sity of Texas in the finals.
“We are ranked numberotf E
Texas at the collegiate levels
the Austin tournament win pnl
ably makes us the best team inti
state,” coach Alan Heathsiii
The Aggies scored over
times as many goals as their
nents last semester, booti
goals to their opponents 13.
The Aggies’ three home
are against Baylor this Sunt
Stephen F. Austin on
and Texas on March 29. Hi
Aggies will travel to
Feb. 16; to Sam ffouston StiS
March 22; and to Trinity AprilE
The SFA and UT games will sfe
at 1 p.m. on Cain Field.
To begin the season the sir
ters will he Jamie FoiW
Becky Carpenter, Lani Jacob
Donna Ellerbe, Adele Faim»
Chantel Fougeron, Carol SI
van, Stephanie Barrett, Mel*
Felger, Lucy Bourne and Tem
Gerber.
Girls take second in Rice tourney
despite playing indoors in the dark
The Texas A&M women’s tennis
team placed second in the Rice Quad
Invitational tournament over the
weekend. The tournament, moved
indoors because of rain, began at 9
p.m. Friday and ended at 5 a.m.
Saturday at the Houston Indoor Rac
quet Club.
“This was the only time we could
get the courts,” said Texas A&M ten
nis coach David Kent. “They played
all through the night without a
break. I’ve never seen anything like
it.”
The A&M men’s tennis team was
to play Southwest Texas State Satur
day, but the matches, in College Sta
tion, were postponed. The two
teams will meet today at 1:30.
The women met nationally-ranked
Trinity in their first match Friday
night. Trinity won, 8-1, and even
tually went on to win the tourna
ment. The only Aggie victory came
in the last match, when Kathleen Sis-
som and Liliana Fernandez, the
third ranked doubles team on the
A&M squad, beat Trinity’s number
three duo.
Saturday proved a better day for
the Aggie women. In matches begin
ning at midnight, they beat Rice 7-2,
and East Texas State 8-1.
Terri Neutze, Lilana Fernandez,
Judy Willard and Ferol Hinkle won
their singles matches against Rice
opponents. The doubles teams of
Maylyn Hooten and Neutze, Willard
and Hinkle and Fernandez and
Kathleen Sissom all won their
matches.
The women won all of their singles
matches against ETSU. Hooten
Neutze, Sissom, Fernandez, Willard
and Hinkle all won in straight sets.
The doubles teams of Hooten-
Neutze and Hinkle-Willard also
won.
“They played their best tennis of
the year,” Kent said. “Terri Neutze
was outstanding the entire tourney. ”
The women now have a season re
cord of 2-2 and the men are 1-0.
— Mike Burrichter
FORMAL
FOR AN
EVENING.
TUXEDO SALES
& RENTALS
formals
111 College Main
846-1021
846-4116
YOU DON T KNOW
WHERE TO
EAT OUT?
Check the
Battalion ads!
hf\
■ McDonald's
DRIVE-THRU
WINDOW
MCDONALD’S
INTRAMURAL HIGHLIGHTS
At University Drive
JOY McCARTHY, a sophomore aerospace
engineering major demonstrates his serve in
a practice match with DAVID WASHING
TON. Both are competitors in the I.M. hand
ball tourney.
Coming Soon —
A
Sporting
Event /
Did You See?
A really close defensive battle in
Fish AB when H-2 eased o' er the
M-l Fish 16-15. H-2 players in
cluded Mark Lendale, Chris May,
Ed Gardner, Doug Trawick, Doug
Head, Dan Roffec; M-l team mem
bers were Greg Mayton, Bill Dast,
Bob Appleton, Thomas Reynolds,
Bob Batrico, Mike Legatick,
Quotin Bach, and Stewart Atmar.
D1 “B” gave it the old Aggie try
against K-l #1 in Corps AB Com
petition. K-l #1 bested D-l “B”
38-8. D-l’s players were John
McAdams, Jeff Kins, Terry Smith,
Eddy Mearey, Tim Schmidt, Scott
Jordan, Abe Wyant, and Mike
Chandler. K-l’s roster included
Blaine Smith, Charlie Canedy,
Brian Truelove, John Guess, Rocky
Smith, Ted Ihrke, Tim Sullivan,
and Robert Smith.
Another really close game as
VD’s fell to EZ’s in a men’s inde
pendent AB contest, 27 to 28. At
the half, however, the VD’s were
Ref ' s
Corner ?
Any student who would like
to officiate Intramural Soccer
should see Dave Kerr in the IM
office before February 19.
Games will be played Monday
through Thursday at 3:45 and
4:45 pm and Sunday from 12:30
to 5:30 pm beginning March 3.
Pay will be $3.10/game with
games lasting 55 minutes. All
students are welcome.
f m
! SPOR i
SHORTS
Sports
Shorts
It takes two to tango and two
to play TENNIS DOUBLES.
Swing your partner out of love
and onto the tennis court. The
IM tennis doubles competition
opens for entries today, Febru
ary 11, and close Tuesday, Feb
ruary 19. Mosey down to the IM
office in DeWare Fieldhouse to
sign up and reserve a court to
practice your back swing.
“W” is for WRESTLING and
February is the month to start
the entries for the IM wrestling
competition. Entries open to
day, February 11 and close next
Tuesday, February 19. And yes,
ladies, you may enter this com
petition. Classes are set by
weights. Entries will be turned
in at the weigh in February 25.
Don’t forget to check your
SOFTBALL schedules. Today
is the day softball starts play.
Don’t forfeit because you forgot
to check. Come by the IM office
in DeWare Fieldhouse today!
Dirty
Sock
Award
The most recent Dirty Sock
Award went to the Spence Sharp
Shooters. Spence showed great
sportsmanship during a recent
game in women’s dorm basketball.
Congratulations, gals!
Acknowledgments
This ad is sponsored by your local
McDonald’s Restaurant at Uni
versity Drive and Manor East
Mall. Stories by Michelle Wol-
stein, Pictures by Rose Delano.
‘I-spy” participant
ELLEN FRISCHE, a chemical engineering
major, enjoys a table tennis match during IM
Women’s Dorm competition. Ellen can pick
up a McDonald’s “Be our guest card for Free
Food in the IM office.