9
Sports
Wednesday, January 30, 1991
The Battalion
wmmmmmmmimmmmmmmM:
Sports Editor Alan Lehmann 845-2688
Ailing Aggie
basketball team
time to heal
Somebody call a doctor.
The Texas A&M basketball team is
ill. It has lost 10 of i
is searching for a
cure to a sickness
only time can
heal.
For now, the
Aggies must en
dure a tension
headache for
which no aspirin
can alleviate the
pain.
But A&M
coach Kermi t
Davis Jr. refuses to admit the team’s real
problem. When you mention the word
“rebuilding” to the coach, he shys away
from the term like a child would awful-
tasting cough medicine.
Instead, Davis insists the situation is
just the opposite, that the team is in the
early stages of something bigger to
come. Much like the sniffles and then
the cold.
The fact of the matter is the team is
bed-ridden until nature can take its
course.
From the very start the Aggies have
been snowed under a load of problems
that would make the healthiest person a
little dizzy.
The team’s problems may have
started last year with the removal of
Shelby Metcalf as the Aggies’ long-time
head coach, and then the subsequent
replacing of interim coach John
Thornton.
The hiring of Davis was supposed to
be the remedy that would cure the
teams’ problems for years to come. But
this cure has proved to have many side
effects.
From the first day of school, players
have dropped from the team as if there
was an epidemic.
Some never played a minute for the
Aggies before being declared ineligible
because of academic problems or sordid
pasts.
A storied past or just quite a story
made up by a transfer player who didn’t
feel like going to school, heje .anymore
has added to A&M’s affliction.
And the team has had to deal with a
number of near-misses that could have
put W’s in the win column rather than
L’s in the loss column.
“If you think we’re having fun losing,
that’s not the case,” the coach admitted.
So what can the 11 players who wear
the maroon and white do now?
Play through the pain.
If it’s any consolation to players or
fans, there have been some teams that
have made miraculous recoveries after
agonizing through losing seasons.
Most Texas sports fans are familiar
with the trials and tribulations of the San
Antonio Spurs and most recently the
Dallas Cowboys.
Two years ago the Spurs were in the
midst of a miserable 21-61 season,
marked by a handful of players coming
See Wudel/Page 11
last 11^ games and
Scott Wudel
Sports Writer
KEVIN IVY/The Battalion
Houston’s Derrick Smith goes for a dunk while A&M’s Lynn Suber watches.
Ags fight hard, still
fall to Coogs 77-64
By SCOTT WUDEL
Of The Battalion Staff
It’s the same old song, eighth time
around. Eight Southwest Conference
games, eight losses.
The Texas A&M basketball team equaled
its worst SWC start since 1954 by losing to
the University of Houston, 77-64.
The broken record also typified A&M’s
personnel.
The Aggies were without starting center
Shedrick Anderson and starting guard
Isaac Brown, who were suspended for the
game for violating team procedures, A&M
basketball coach Kermit Davis Jr. said.
Davis said he needed to discipline the
players for careless mistakes they make that
inhibit the progress of the program.
Because of the lack of depth, three Ag
gies were forced to play all 40 minutes of
the game. But Davis said he was pleased
with the effort of all the players.
“I’m as proud of our team as I’ve been
this year,” Davis said. “I thought they really
tried to do the things that we asked them to
do.
“It’s encouraging because those guys got
nothing to hang their heads about, they
played really hard,” he said.
Rashone Lewis and Lynn Suber each
scored 18 points while playing the entire
game. Lewis remained optimistic about the
team after the loss.
“I don’t look for any moral victories,” he
said. “We’re all collegiate athletes, so we ex
pect to win every night.
“I think we did the best we can do under
the certain circumstances that we played,
and I think we did a pretty good job.”
Lewis said the team needs to play
through the adversity.
“It was a little disappointing,” Lewis said.
“But you just have to overlook those things
and just try to play as a team, it’s a team ef
fort.”
Suber said the team could have used the
two suspended players.
“I can’t say that we would have won with
them, but I know we would have had a
shot,” Suber said. “They are two starters
and we definitely needed them.”
Despite the lack of depth, the Aggies re
fused to let the Cougars run away with the
game.
Lewis and forward Anthony Ware kept
A&M close in the first 10 minutes of the
game as they combined for the Aggies’ first
12 points.
A&M point guard Brooks Thompson
found Lewis for two alley-oop baskets in the
early minutes, and the Aggies eventually
tied the score at 16 on a Lewis free throw
with 10:28 left in the half.
But Houston ran off 12 straight points in
the next six minutes to give the Cougars a
comfortable buffer headed into halftime.
Houston increased their 13 point half
time lead to as much as 16 points with 15:42
left in the game.
Suber’s three-pointer started the Aggies’
rally to close the gap.
Freddie Ricks helped the Aggie cause
with defense. The senior guard stole a UH
inbounds pass and scored an easy layup. He
then drew a charge on the next inbounds
pass and converted two free throws to move
A&M within seven points with 8:59 remain
ing.
Davis drew a technical foul after his reac
tion to a call against the Aggies with 2:03
left. Suber was called for a foul after reach
ing around UH guard Derrick Daniels
while heading for a layup.
Davis found himself halfway across the
court after referee Jim McDaniel gave
Houston the basket when the guard was
clearly fouled on the floor.
“I didn’t question him getting fouled,”
Davis said. “I just thought there was a huge
continuation on the play.
“That’s just the heat of the moment. I’ll
look at it on TV and wish I hadn’t done it,”
he said.
The Cougars would let the Aggies get no
closer the rest of the way. Suber’s three-
pointer from the right side pulled A&M to
within nine, but the Aggies ran out of time
in the final minutes.
Lady Ags host Houston tonight in key SWC tilt
By CRAIG WILSON
Of The Battalion Staff
Seeing the Texas A&M women’s basketball team play
for fourth place might not be high on many peoples’
priority lists.
However, those brave souls that visit G. Rollie White
Coliseum Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. may be in for a
real treat.
The Lady Aggies will host the University of Houston
Lady Cougars in what has been an exciting matchup in the
past.
The Lady Cougars (12-6, 4-3) boast four players averag
ing double figures in scoring, and are coming off of an 81-
55 drubbing of SMU in Dallas Saturday.
The Lady Aggies (9-8, 4-3) had their second highest
scoring output of the season Saturday at Rice when they
won 87-78 and shot 50.7 percent from the floor.
The home court has proven nothing more than a neu
tral battle site for these two teams.
Last season, Houston won at A&M, 94-76, and A&M
won at Houston, 88-67.
The Lady Cougars, who outscore their opponents by an
average of almost 17 points, are led by senior guard Ar
lene Brown who averages 13.2 points.
In a balanced UH attack, junior post Darla Simpson
(13.1 ppg), junior guard LaShawn Johnson (12.7 ppg),
and senior forward Mildred Williams (11.6 ppg) are major
contributors.
Simpson is coming off a 17 point, 12 rebound perfor
mance against SMU.
Houston is also outrebounding their foes by six boards
per game. Simpson leads the team in rebounding at 8.6
per game, whilejunior post Kellye Jones averages 7.4.
04005301 The Lady Aggies are led in scoring by senior
forward Yvonne Hill, averaging 15.8 points and 5.2 re
bounds per game. She has scored in double figures in six
consecutive games.
Junior forward Dena Russo is also playing well, averag
ing 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds a contest.
Hill scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds against
Rice.
Lady Aggie coach Lynn Flickey, who is four victories
away from the 100 victory plateau at A&M, is not afraid to
go to her bench, which is averaging over 20 points a game
this season.
The big gun off the pine is senior three-point shooter
Wendy Jennings, shooting 37.5 percent from the bomb
zone in conference play.
Sophomore guard Tish Bosha is averaging 19 minutes a
game, averaging 8.6 points.
A most pleasant surprise for the Lady Aggies has been
the return to the starting lineup of junior center Vanessa
EcUv-ards, who had seen limited action with a knee injury.
She scored 14 points at Rice Saturday.
In the Lady Aggies’ critical win over Rice, they outre-
bounded the Lady Owls 38-25. They will undoubtedly
need to keep their feet moving and block out on the glass
to be successful Wednesday, as coach Hickey noted.
“Houston is a very good athletic team,” Hickey said.
“This will be the first team we have faced that can get up
and down the floor as well as anyone.
“They have two of the best centers in the SWC and they
also have a good three-point shooter. Houston is just a
well-rounded team.”
Hopefully, the Lady Ags’ concentration will be at its
highest, as Texas comes in Saturday for their annual visit
to College Station. Naturally, preparation will be a key for
Wednesday night’s affair.
“We must be prepared to play an intense, physical
game,” Hickey said.
The Lady Cougars lead the all-time series 23-17 since
the two teams first met in 1975.
There should be some extra incentive for the Lady Ag
gies Wednesday night, though. The last time these two
teams met, in last season’s SWC tournament, the Lady
Cougars eliminated the Lady Aggies, 77-69.
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INFORMATION MEETING:
Date: February 13, 1991
Time: 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm
Place: Rudder Tower, Room 701
INTERVIEWING:
Date: February 14-15, 1991
Place: Please check with Placement Office
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the interviewing process. Please attend.
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