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By Cray Pixley
Sports Writer
There is more than one athlete
lamed Roper at T exas A&M.
John Roper is an All-America
inebacker; his sister Donna Roper
lasher sights set on All-America sta
ins as well.
“I think people wonder if I’ll be
i All-American like him, but I
lon’t know what will happen,”
loper said.
Roper, a junior guard for the
i&M women’s basketball team, is
fell on her way to a great college ca-
[eer. She is consistently one of the
lop scorers for the Lady Aggies, av
eraging 18 points a game.
Roper’s basketball days began in
ier own backyard where she prac-
[iced shots. She began shooting in el-
mentary school then started play
ing in the seventh grade.
“I watched guys shoot and tried to
levelop my shot f rom them,” she
said. “I had this one-hand shot — 1
lon’t know where it came from. I
st shot crazy.”
Roper, who is f rom Houston, con
tinued her early career at Jack Yates
ligh School.
Her team competed in every state
hampionship during her stay and
von the title her sophomore year.
Roper’s choice of college came
down to Lamar and T exas A&M.
“My mom wanted me to come to
so she could come see me and
in,” she said. “It didn’t matter at
time which school I picked, but I
|hink A&M was the best choice for
ic.”
The Lady Aggies have a 12-10
bverall record and are 6-6 in the
Southwest Conference. The team is
In fourth place and probably headed
IbrtheSWC tournament in Dallas.
“The beginning of our season was
■going well until we began SWC play,
land then things started going down-
’ 11,” she said.
The Lady Aggies have had disap
pointing games where it came right
down to the end and the other team
won, but Roper is confident her
team will reach the tournament.
“Right now we are trying to re
group and w in more games.”
Although her college career is far
from over, she is already considering
her options after her graduation.
Professional basketball in Europe is
not one of them.
I was thinking about going to play
overseas, but I knew I would get
over there and not know what peo
ple were saying,” she said. “I would
get overseas and become homesick.
There are too many people I would
miss.”
Roper is disappointed that her ca
reer ends after leaving A&M.
“I had hoped there would still be a
professional women’s basketball
league in the United States, but that
program ended.”
She said it would be nice to con
tinue playing like the men.
“They don't have to quit until they
get old,” she said, laughing.
At this point, Roper says her main
priority is school, not basketball.
“I’m concentrating on finishing
school and graduating,” she said.
“Basketball is just my sport.”
Basketball isn’t her only sport ei
ther.
In high school, Roper played vol
leyball in addition to basketball, and
it’s a sport she is still interested in.
“After basketball I play intramu
ral volleyball with Lisa Jordon.”
Roper said she doesn’t feel she has
an advantage over the other players.
“We played in B level and did
really well, but when we moved to A
level there was some tough competi
tion.”
Really, when I’m not playing bas
ketball I like to get aw'ay from other
sports,” she said. “Eve been running
and playing all year, so it’s nice to sit
around and watch television.”
Pitchers lead Aggies to 2 wins
By Anthony Wilson
Sports Writer
Like a vat of fine wine, the
Texas A&M baseball team keeps
improving with time. The pitch
ing staff particularly has aged
gracefully, as evidenced by the
three earned runs it held Lamar
University to in a double-header
Tuesday at Olsen Field.
A&M won the games 2-1 and
4-2. The victories upped fourth-
ranked A&M’s record to 1 1-0. La
mar dropped to 1-8.
The Aggies’ bats were silenced
by a stiff 15 mph wind blowing in
from centerfield and a strong
Cardinal defense. The usually
potent A&M offense could man
age only 11 hits in the two games.
“We hit the ball today as hard
as we’ve hit the ball,” A&M Head
Coach Mark Johnson said. “But
we hit it right at them. Sometimes
you crush the ball but hit it right
at them.
“In the short games (seven in
nings), if the winds are blowing in
and you’ve got some pop, which
we have, it makes it tough.”
Johnson was pleased to see his
team really tested in a close game.
“You have to have those games
to build team chemistry,” he said.
“It lets players know they’re
clutch players.”
The crusaders of clutch in the
first game of the twinbill were
Nick Felix and Chuck Knoblauch.
Felix pitched a complete seven
inning game to become the team’s
first three-game winner. The left
hander gave up one run on five
hits and one walk. Five of Felix’s
six strikeouts were the last batters
he faced.
“I got mad,” Felix said of his
game-ending strikeout binge. “I
was a little pumped up and ex
cited. We didn’t play as well as we
should have. I was spotting the
fastball, but my curveball wasn’t
even close.”
Johnson agreed that Felix’s
curveball wasn’t as effective as it
had been.
“Nick Felix threw well but he
didn’t throw the breaking pitch
well,” Johnson said. “He got by
but he won’t be able to do that in
the conference.”
Knoblauch drove in both of
A&M’s runs in the sixth inning
with the Aggies down 1-0. Pinch
hitter Tom Carcione led off the
inning with a single. Carcione
moved to third on a sacrifice bunt
by Terry Taylor and a fielder’s
choice.
Lamar intentionally walked
Scott Livingstone who advanced
to second on a wild pitch. John
Byington also walked to load the
bases. With the runners breaking
on a full-count pitch, Knoblauch
lined a single into centerfield,
driving in Carcione and Liv
ingstone. Knoblauch stole second
base on the next pitch. When the
second baseman hobbled the ball,
Byington broke for home but was
gunned down at the plate.
The Aggies also had to come
from behind to win late in the sec
ond game. Scott Centala relieved
starter Keith Langston in the
sixth inning of the second game
with two outs and struck out
Todd Benoit with a runner in
scoring position.
A&M’s seventh, eighth and
ninth place hitters each got a hit
and scored a run in the seventh
inning to propel the Aggies past
Lamar. The big blow was Deron
Dacus’ double off the right field
wall to drive in the first two runs
of the inning.
“With a man on third base, I
was looking for something to hit
on the ground, and he hung a
curveball,” Dacus said.
Since Dacus had played spar
ingly recently, Johnson’s decision
to start him in the second game
was a surprise.
“It wasn’t a genius move on my
part,” Johnson said. “He isn’t beat
out. I wanted to get him in the
game and keep him ready, not
bury him on the bench.”
Dacus scored the game’s final
run on an RBI double by Kirk
Thompson.
Centala struck out five in 3‘/a
innings while picking up his sec
ond win of the year.
A&M travels to Louisiana on its
first road trip of the season this
weekend. The Aggies play a
three-game series against Loui
siana Tech on Friday and Satur
day. A&M faces Northeast Lous-
iana in three games on Sunday
and Monday.
A&M men netters easily handle UTSA
By Cray Pixley
Sports Writer
The Texas A&M men’s tennis
team easily blew away the University
of Texas-San Antonio 9-0 in a dual
match on a blustery Tuesday af
ternoon at the Omar Smith Tennis
Center.
A&M took all six singles matches,
four of them in two sets.
No. 2 Shaun O’Donovan dropped
only one game to smash Johan Hed-
burg 6-0,6-1.
“Odie (O’Donovan) is on a streak.
He’s been dominating his last few
matches,” Assistant Coach Tim
Drain said.
No. 1 Dean Johnson defeated
Craig Hiddleston 6-2, 6-4.
Recently released Intercolliate
Tennis Coaches Association rank-
Shaun O’Donovan
ings have Johnson slotted in the No.
39 position.
No. 3 Steve Kennedy won 6-3, 6-4
over Orlanda Batista while No. 4 Mi
chael Chambers defeated Bobby
Galligan 7-6, 6-2.
A&M’s No. 5 and No. 6 seeds
Craig Whitteker and Wayne Green
were taken to the third set before
knocking off their opponents.
Whitteker defeated Vince Giorda-
nelli 6-1,2-6, 6-2.
“Whitteker will leave his blood on
the court,” Drain said. “He plays best
when things don’t look like they’re
going his way. In today’s match he
lost the second set and the momen
tum had swung the other way.”
Whitteker later regained his mo
mentum to win the match.
Green also lost the second set but
came back to beat Ace Horan 6-2, 4-
6, 6-4.
A&M’s doubles action told much
the same story as the men took all
three matches.
A&M’s No. 1 doubles team of
Steve Kennedy and Shaun O’Dono
van are now ranked No. 25 by the
ITCA.
The Aggies have won four consec
utive matches at the Tennis Center.
“At home we don’t have to go
through the wear and tear of travel
and eating out,” Drain said. “We’ve
proved we can win at home, now we
need to start winning the road mat
ches.”
The team will have two more
home matches before hitting the
road again. The Aggies will take on
Southwest Texas State on Thursday,
Feb. 25 and 16th-ranked Trinity the
following day.
Jilj
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