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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1990)
% v The Battalion s SPORTS Wednesday, February 7,1990 Sports Editor Richard Tijerina 845-2688 Vince Snyder Sporfs Writer Johnson has new faces to step in for ’90 season TP he change in seasons means a change in sports. Spring is right around the comer, and along with it conies a sport that has been around for well over a century; a sport that is as American as hot dogs, apple pies and Chevrolets. A sport in which dreams are made. The sport called baseball. The Aggies have a dream — make that elusive trip to Omaha, Neb. at the end of the season. Although A&M has played in the regionals for the last four years, they have yet to make it to the College World Series. In 1986 the Aggies lost to South Florida in the South II Regionals; in 1987 they lost to Oklahoma State in the Mideast Regionals; in 1988 they lost to Cal State-Fullerton in the South Regionals; in 1989 they lost to Louisiana State in the Central Regionals. Last year the Aggies arguably had the most talented team in the history of college baseball. They sported a 58-7 record, their best ever dating back to the start of A&M baseball. The question now is can the Aggies repeat their awesome play this year? For the pride and tradition of Texas A&M University ... lets hope so. Bit one problem exists for another Cinderella story: the loss of 11 A&M players to the major leagues. Eight of those 11 were starters, not to mention three star juniors who decided to move on to the big leagues a little early. And yes, the effects have been felt by the team already. A&M was ranked No. 1 in the nation for 11 weeks in 1989, and finished ninth See Snyder/Page 12 Ags flatten Frogs by leaps, bounds Photo by Scott D. Weaver A&M’s David Harris pulls down a rebound against Baylor last weekend. Harris leads the Aggies tonight against TCU at G. Rollie White Colisum. A&M tramples TCU 84-70 Tuesday By NADJA SABAWALA Ot The Battalion Staff The Texas A&M women’s basketball team defeated the Texas Christian Univer sity Lady Frogs, 84-70, in a grudge match Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 405 in G. Rollie White Coliseum. With honarary head coach A&M Presi dent William H. Mobley looking on, A&M improved it’s overall record to 14-7 while TCU dropped to 9-11. Both teams are now tied at 6-4 in Southwest Conference play. The Lady Aggies, still bitter from a close 55-51 loss at the hands of the Lady Frogs in Fort Worth earlier this season, played with both emotion and spirit. “We had the home advantage,” said A&M junior forward Diane DeCree, who led the Lady Aggies with two blocks and five assists. “We didn’t want anyone to come to College Station and take anything away from us.” Junior Aggie guard Yvonne Hill had a game-high 21 points and was 8-of-10 on free throws to lead A&M. Hill animated the Lady Aggies with an emotional reaction for every key play. A&M coach Lynn Hickey said, “Yvonne has that kind of emotion ... she’s that kind of leader.” The lead shifted from team to team throughout the first half and was tied six times, with TCU usually coming out on top. With 6:26 left in the first period. Hill con nected on two free throws, tying the game at 19. Twenty-one seconds later, sopho more guard Sheri Dillard made a short jumpshot for a basket and A&M began to pull away. The Lady Aggies then went into a scor ing drive, scoring 14 points to the Lady Frogs’ eight for the last six minutes of the first half. A&M sophomore forward Dena Russo left the game with a knee injury with 1:59 remaining in the half but not before scoring four points and pulling down four de fensive rebounds. With only one second left in the half, sophomore center Vanessa Edwards fouled TCU’s Janice Dziuk, who made one free throw to end the first period with the Ag gies on top, 35-27. The Lady Frogs returned in the second half to pull within two points of A&M, 45- 43, with 12:43 left in the half after a quick four point run, but the Lady Aggies drew together and began to break away. “I felt we did a good job coming in,” De cree said. “The key was communication.” A&M’s Hill, Lori Dillard and LaTanya Irving exploded on second-half offense, scoring 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. DeCree went under the boards, record ing two offensive and four defensive re bounds in the second half for a total of eight rebounds for the night. TCU freshman guard Liz Zeller was five- of-five for the night, but fouled out with 8:32 left in the game. The Lady Aggies went on to score their last four points with only 43 seconds re maining and held on for the victory. Harris leading team to another rebound By CLAY RASMUSSEN Of The Battalion Staff The Texas A&M men’s basketball team has had its share of rebounding woes this season, both under the basket and in the win-loss column. The Aggies will get an opportunity to bo unce back from a disappointing 85-77 loss to Baylor last weekend when they host the rejuvenated Texas Christian Horned Frogs in a key Southwest Conference matchup at G. Rollie White Coliseum Wednesday night. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. A&M Coach John Thornton said he be lieves the Aggies are ready to face TCU and that they’ve always been able to bounce back from disappointing losses. “The only thing I really have to go by to tell if they’re ready is the way they practice,” Thornton said. “They’ve practiced like they’re ready to go out and play. “This club is resilient, they want to play basketball. I think that’s a trait of our team. Hopefully we’ll be able to bounce back.” And it’s imperative that the Aggies re bound from the Baylor loss. A&M, 4-5 in SWC play, and TCU, also 4-5 in the SWC, are locked in a fourth place tie with Baylor, just a half game back from third-place Rice. A win Wednesday could move the Aggies in a position to overtake TCU and set up a showdown next week with the Owls. However, Thornton said A&M can’t look past TCU. “They’ve got a real solid inside game,” Thornton said. “Their two big men, (center Reggie) Smith and (backup Rich) Antee compliment each other, and forward (Craig) Sibley might be the best athlete in the league. “They just do an outstanding job execut ing their offense and play real agressive man-to-man defense.” Sibley has been the backbone of the Horned Frogs’ offense over the last nine games. He has been one of TCU’s most productive and consistent players, leading the Frogs in scoring (14.2 points per game), rebounds (7) and blocked shots (30). He is shooting 55.3 percent from the field. But to score, Sibley will have to go through A&M center David Harris. Al though Harris only scored one bucket See Advance/Page 12 % J .». I ■ || AC Sr MSC STUDENT CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL AFFAIRS PRESENTS "United States Foreign Aid: Purpose, Players & Politics” Keynote Address: Tonight 8 - 9:30 p.m. in Rudder Theater ’’Origin, History & Purpose of Foreign Aid" John Maxwell Hamilton - Senior Public Affairs Advisor, The World Bank UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID purpose, players & politics MSC SCONA XXXV What is America r s role in today's sweeping international events? SPEAKER SCHEDULE All Events Held in Rudder Theater: Free Admission to the Public Wednesday, February 7: 8-9:30 p.m. Keynote Address "Origin, History & Purpose of Foreign Aid" John Maxwell Hamilton - Senior Public Affairs Advisor, The World Bank Thursday, February 8:10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Panel Discussion: "Formulation of U.S. Foreign Aid" Dr. James T. Goodwin - Coordinator, International Agricultural Programs, Texas A&M University Patrick Breslin - Office of Learning and Dissemination, Inter-American Foundation Col. Charles Rex Weaver - Former U.S. Army Chief, Office of Military Cooperation, Beirut, Lebanon Thursday, February 8: 7:30-9 p.m. Address "Execution of Foreign Aid" David Black - Representative, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture Friday, February 9:10:30-11:30 a.m. Address "Evaluation of Foreign Aid" Paul Coverdell - Director, United States Peace Corps Saturday, February 10:10-11 a.m. Closing Address "The Future of Foreign Aid" Dr. Betty Unterberger - Professor of History, Texas A&M University