SRIilllll
Softball team splits
twin bill with UTSA
The University of Texas-San Anto
nio held the Texas A&M softball team
to just four hits in 1-0 win to gain a
doubleheader split with the Lady Ag
gies Tuesday in San Antonio.
The Lady Aggies won the first
game, 6-4, behind the pitching of
Christy Bunting, who allowed no
earned runs and struck out five bat
ters in four-and-two-thirds innings
pitched.
Second baseman Mary Mapp con
tinued her hot hitting in the first game,
going 2-4 with two RBIs. Also enjoy
ing a big day at the plate was Beth
Gerken, who broke out of a hitting
slump with a 3-3 day and four runs
batted in.
Erin Field was pegged with the
loss in the second game, despite al
lowing just one run in seven-and-one-
third innings.
The Lady Aggies will return to ac
tion on Thursday when they host
Louisianna Tech at 2 p.m. and the
University of Texas-Arlington at 4
p.m. at the Lady Aggie Softball Field.
Mavericks win by
one on Jones’ tip-in
DALLAS (AP) — Popeye Jones of
Dallas tipped in a shot and hit a free
throw with 23.9 seconds left and
Hakeem Olajuwon missed a short
jumper at the buzzer Tuesday night,
sending the Mavericks to a 102-101
victory over the Houston Rockets.
Clyde Drexler’s driving layup with
58 seconds left gave Houston a 101-
99 lead.
Jones was fouled by Chucky Brown
as he went up to tip Jamal Mashburn’s
miss. Jones made the free throw and
the Rockets called timeout. Olajuwon
had a clear look at the basket with time
running out but the ball bounced off the
back of the rim.
Scott Brooks, recently obtained in a
trade from Houston, tied it 80-80 with a
drive with 3.4 seconds left in the third
quarter, then put Dallas ahead 82-80
with a jumper. He had 12 points.
Houston’s Vernon Maxwell played
for the first time since being suspended
for 10 games without pay and fined
$20,000 for punching a fan in Portland.
He scored six points, including a layup
that tied it 97-97 with 3:18 to play.
Panthers sign free
agent Lamar Lathon
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The
Carolina Panthers signed their fifth
unrestricted free agent Tuesday,
linebacker Lamar Lathon from the
Houston Oilers.
Lathon, the Oilers’ No. 1 pick out
of the University of Houston in 1990,
had 8 1/2 sacks last season, more
than one-third of the sacks recorded
by Houston.
"I felt after visiting the Panthers
organization that this is where I wanted
to play,” Lathon said in a statement
released by the Panthers. ‘This is a
first-class organization and the people I
spoke with here are all committed to
winning football games. The chance to
be a part of that from the very
beginning is a great opportunity.”
The Panthers did not release the
terms of Lathon’s signing.
Roger Hsieh/ The Battalion
Senior forward Joe Wilbert eyes the basket as he prepares the slam the ball.
ies try
emotional
to avoid
letdown
□ Five seniors will play
their last game in G. Rollie
White Coliseum tonight.
By Jim Anderson
The Battalion
The Texas A&M men’s basketball
team will try to keep their new found
momentum going as they host South
ern Methodist University at 7 p.m.
The Aggies, 5-7 in conference play
and 12-15 overall, are coming off
an emotional victory over
Texas Christian University
on Wednesday. A mental
letdown is something head
Coach Tony Barone is
hoping will not effect his
team as they prepare for
the conference tourna
ment next week.
“We are not going to take
anyone for granted going
down the home stretch,” Barone
said. “The seedings for the South
west Conference tournament are still
up in the air, and we want to get the
best possible position we can.”
The Mustangs, 2-10 in the SWC and
6-18 overall, are also fighting for final
position as the season comes to a close.
They must find a way to stop Joe
Wilbert, who had 39 points in the first
meeting between the two teams, a 79-
60 Aggie victory. The extra effort put
forth to stop Wilbert should open up
the offense to other players.
“As other teams double and triple
team Joe down in the paint, we will be
able to open up some other shots,” said
senior guard Corey Henderson. “The
thing is that we have to take advantage
of those open shots when we get them.” -
“SMU has some terrific guards and-
is really a lot better than their record
would indicate,” Barone said. “They'
should give us a lot better effort than
the last time we played them.”
The game has special significance
for the five Aggie seniors, Henderson,
Damon Johnson, Wilbert, Tony
McGinnis and John Jungers
who will play in their final
game at G. Rollie White.
Coliseum.
Henderson admitted
that the emotions of the
game will be on the play^
ers’ minds as they take
the home floor for the last
time as Aggies.
“After a while, it hits you
that this is the final time you
will go out before the home crowd
and could be the last time playing orga
nized basketball,” Henderson said. “It
will be an emotional experience for all
of us.”
Still, the players must put personal
experiences aside as they prepare for
this crucial stretch run.
“The main thing is that we need to
get that big momentum going into the
tournament,” Barone said. “If we can
do that, we have the ability to compete
against anyone.”
Lady Ags look to even score
□ The woman's team
battles to stay in second
place in the SWC.
By Shelly Hall
The Battalion
The Lady Aggies will at
tempt to defend their position
in the race for the second seed
in the Southwest Conference
tournament when they play
Southern Methodist University
tonight in Dallas.
Women’s basketball head
coach Candi Harvey said the
main key to victory will be de
fending the basket.
“One thing is man-to-man
defense,” Harvey said. “We
need to increase the defensive
pressure overall.”
Harvey said playing smart
and minimizing errors will be
the other keys to the game
against a tough SMU team.
“We have to come out and
play smart,” Harvey said. “They
will make you pay if you
make errors.”
Harvey said her team came
out slowly in the first half and
picked up the momentum in the
second the last time the two
teams met, when SMU upset
A&M at home.
“We need to come out and
put two halves together to
make a whole game out of it,”
Harvey said.
Harvey said the Lady Mus
tangs will load the floor with
talented players against the
Lady Aggies.
“All five players are very ver
satile and very well-balanced,”
Harvey said. “They are a good of
fensive basketball team.”
Two SMU players who will
need to be contained are junior
forward Kim Brandi and junior
guard Jennifer McLaughlin.
Brandi has averaged 15.9
points and 7.3 rebounds a game
while McLaughlin has averaged
16.3 points per game.
Freshman guard Carey
Owens, who tied her career-high
with 16 points on Saturday
against Texas Christin, said the
Lady Aggies have to come out
against SMU and establish their
superiority immediately.
“They will havte the home
court advantage,” Owens said.
“But, we just need to come out
and establish that we’re the bet
ter team.”
Owens said she will help the
team by taking the open shot,
especially behind the three-
point arc.
“Coach Harvey told me that
whenever I’m open, I need to
take it,” Owens said. “If I hesi
tate, I will sit down.”
Defense is the key to the
game for Owens against SMU.
“First, I need to work on my
defense,” Owens said. “I’ve never
played at SMU before, so I will
need to get used to the rim to see
how it bounces.”
Junior guard Bambi Ferguson
said the keys to her game
against SMU are to relax and
use the confidence she gained
See Lady Ags, Page 8
Stew Milne/THE Batealion
Junior Bambi Ferguson drives the lane against Houston.
Big 12 success depends on recruiting
W hen one thinks of Texas
A&M and recruiting,
it’s natural to see im
ages of blue-chip recruits flock
ing to Aggieland, eager to wear
maroon and wave 12th Man
towels. That’s on the football
field, of course.
On the basketball court,
however, it’s been a different
story in recent years. Simply
put, the program hasn’t exactly
been a recruiting magnet.
With the move into the Big
12 just around the corner, this
trend must change in a hurry.
To enjoy life in the new confer
ence, A&M as to have top-
notch recruiting classes on a
yearly basis.
Up until now, the climate
hasn’t been right for this to oc
cur. G. Rollie White Coliseum is
a great place to play and watch
basketball. However, its age
and small capacity (7,500 seats)
doesn’t exactly qualify the
“Holler House” as a state-of-the-
art facility.
The new spe
cial events cen
ter, due to open
in 1997 will
have a capacity
of 12, 500. At
tendance has
been a perenni
al problem, but
the new confer
ence and the new arena should
help that.
With probation and scholar
ship limitations no longer taint
ing the program, recruiting is
expected to flourish. Based on
A&M’s success during last fall’s
early signing period, the expect
ed changes are already begin
ning to pay off.
The Aggies landed four top
recruits in November, including
guard Gary Nottingham of
Otero Junior College in Col
orado. The JUCO All-American
candidate will be joined by na
tional top 100 players Calvin
Davis of Killeen and Brad
Strieker of Devine.
A&M also
signed guard
Joel Ockey, a
highly-regarded
player out of
Payson, Utah.
Head coach
Tony Barone said
the new players
should make an
immediate impact on the team.
“Gary Nottingham is a
JUCO player, so he’ll be more
ready than the other three,”
Barone said. “We think the
other three kids will help us if
they play up to their capabili
ties and skill levels.
“We know that it’s very diffi
cult for the freshman to come in
and play, but we’re anticipating
that they’ll have good years.”
With two more scholarships
available, A&M still has a gold
en chance to add more talent to
the mix during the spring sign
ing period. Barone said an eval
uation of returning players is
necessary before the team can
address its specific needs.
“We’re going to sit back and
make some evaluations on the
players in the program and see
where we need to improve,”
Barone said. “We’ll make some
value judgments on the recruit
ing process based on this.”
Considered to be one of the
best recruiting classes in school
history, this year’s crop of tal
ent is solid. But if A&M is to
compete in the Big 12, it will
need a recruiting effort this
strong or even stronger in the
coming years to bring in the
necessary weapons.
Currently, the Big 8 has six
teams in the Top 25. It’s obvi
ous the Aggies will have their
work cut out for them in 1996
when the SWC and Big 8 be
come one super-conference.
The equation is simple: The
Big 12 plus a new arena plus
higher attendance equals solid re
cruiting and a winning program.
For the A&M basketball pro
gram, the fun is just beginning.
A&M walks away with
win against Sam Houston
□ Error-prone SHSU
allow Aggies to escape
with 11-9 victory.
Staff and Wire Reports
The Texas A&M baseball
team used four Sam Houston
State errors and 11 walks to
beat the Bearkats, 11-9, Tues
day in Huntsville.
The -big opening for the Ag
gies came when SHSU pitcher
Jamey DeBruin committed a
bases-loaded throwing error
that allowed all three Aggie
runners to score in A&M’s four-
run sixth inning.
Junior John Codrington
picked up his first win of the
season by working two innings
of relief, allowing three hits
and striking out two. Senior
Brian Parker came on to earn
the save by working the final
three innings and striking out
the final batter with the tying
run on base.
Aggie senior first baseman
John Curl continued his torrid
hitting streak with a three-run
home run in the fourth inning.
Curl increased his hitting streak
to eleven games.
Texas A&M head coach Mark
Johnson said that while the win
was not the Aggies’ best perfor
mance, he noticed improvement
in key areas.
“This was an ugly win, but
when I look back on the game, I
see pressure points where our
players responded well, “ John
son said. “We need to be put in
pressure situations, and I’m glad
our players responded. It always
seems to be a wild game against
Sam Houston State.”
The win moves A&M’s record
to 8-5-1. The Aggies return to
play on Friday when they open:
up a three-game series with Cal
State-Northridge at 3 p.m. at
Olsen Field.
'A ^
A A A A A
A A
AAA
1st Annual AMA Four Man Scramble
GOLF TOURNAMENT
benefiting Stillcreek Boys Ranch
SATURDAY, MARCH 4th, BRYAN MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
• Wehner: Feb. 27 (Mon.) - Mar.1 (Wed.)
• ‘95 Mazda Protege for a year
• Raffle Giveaway _ . x .
•1st Place ($400); 2nd ($200); 3rd ($150) * Zachr y ; Feb - 28 (Tues.) - Mar. 2 (Thur.)
^ ^
A A A A A A
A A A A
N
South Padre, Winter Park, Daytona
Taking a Spring Break Trip? Stop by and
look at our vacation files for information
on your Spring Break location! We have
maps, hotel and restaurant information,
and great things to do for many Spring
Break locations.
CDPE: The Rainbow Center
222 Beutel Health Center
345-0230
A A