Tuesday • February 11, A&M continues close loss trend A fter their recent foray north to Oklahoma and Colorado, the Texas A&M Men’s Basketball Team returns to the friendly confines of G. Rollie White Coliseum this week to play Texas Tech Univer sity and Oklahoma State. The Aggies’ stay at home will be short-lived, however, when they again take to the road to vis it Oklahoma State University in the second game of a home-and- home series. Take a gander at this glut of topics and assorted ramblings of a self-professed hoops guru. D^jaVu All Over Again... Those who followed the Ag gies for the last two years may have noticed a certain trend — close losses in the final seconds of the game, especially away from home. One may recall last year’s team lost seven of its last 11 games in the final 30 seconds. Men's Basketball m Eight of those games were de cided by five points or less and another was lost in overtime. The team finished 0-7 in league road games. This year’s edition is 0-5 away from the Holler House against Big 12 competition and is again just a few fortuitous bounces of the ball away from at least a .500 record. The Aggies lost close games to Baylor (three points), Nebraska (two points), Texas (overtime), and Oklahoma (overtime). Against Colorado, the Aggies were down by just three late in the second half before a ques tionable call turned the momen tum of the game. “We’ve been so close in all these games,” senior center Dario Quesada said. “Even when the final score is 13 points or whatever, we were still pretty close at the end. It’s just a matter of putting it to gether in the last minute and then we’ll be okay.” One big reason for the crunch-time futility is A&M’s move from the either really good or really bad teams of the South west Conference to the consis tent talent and experience of the Big 12 basketball programs. “Last year, we were playing lower-level Southwest Confer ence teams,” Quesada said. “I mean, how many ranked teams have we played this , year? Iowa State, Clemson, Texas, Kansas, Colorado. Now we’re playing Big 12 teams and we’re still close.” Fans would think after so many close losses, the Aggies would have it down by now, but they remain a few well-executed plays away from winning the games that more experienced teams are able to win. Player of the Week I’ve got to agree with Whataburger this week, be cause the stats speak for them selves. Senior guard Tracey An derson was on fire against Oklahoma and Colorado, aver aging 20 points per game, shooting 50 percent from three-point land, and 100 per cent from the charity stripe. Anderson shooting excep tionally well from painted lines is nothing new, as any one who has seen him knock down 15 of 20 treys in practice can attest. Combine that shooting prowess with a developing pull up 15-20 foot jumper and a heart the size of Allen Iverson’s ego, and you’ve got the makings of a pro prospect. As usual, consis tency is the key. Softball Continued from Page 7 own pieces of the puzzle andr any team for granted.” The Lady Sooners have eight se niors including pitcher and Big 12 Co-Player of the Year Jill Most, while Nebraska has been to the NCAA tour nament for the last two years. Evans said the Lady Aggies have key players who will help them com pete against national powerhouse teams like OU and Nebraska. “We are planning on using Mya as our clean-up hitter because she returns with the highest batting average and she can get RBIs by hitting long balls,” Evans said. “We also have senior Gina Perez, who is a consistent hitter, an ag gressive player in the outfield and a silent leader by virtue of her ability. With everything we have, we should be com petitive every game we play.” Perez said the Lady Aggies are concentrating overall on one game at a time. “Nothing is different this year, we still have high expectations for our selves,” Perez said. “Talent is talent, all we need is to get the right chemistry go ing to win the right games at the right time. We each need to take care of our A&M begins season with doubleheadei olume 10 By Nicki Smith Tm Battalion The Texas A&M Softball lean begin its 1997 season today™ double-header against South Texas State l Jniversity in San Me The first game is slated tost at 5:00 p.m. with a secondgac immediately following. 1 lead Coach Jo Evans saidthel Aggies are excited to play SWT. "We have been practicing for months get ourse “Although it’s been fun to get tola each other and come together it After a l verified student on yell i straight, so we are anxious off ol CCt eason underway,” Evanssi team, we are re;ul\ to test on: : |< >! . The] (Students i and see what our strengths and wet nesses are. Hopefully, our gait against SWF will help things stan| the right foot.” ■ether or n A&M went 3-1 against South ^der run-ofl Texas last year, winning all iLjj ec tion. home games. Ilf approver gHuld follow t IT DEALS EVERY TUESDA Y IN THE BATTALION ■ m Jeree VcrchBrs s*eNew: Aggie Dominos Station DQ Greenfield Plaza Brook Wood Greenfield Ctr Plaza $10 OFF COLOR 15% OFF HAIRCUT_ First-time clients only 1800 Greenfield Plaza Mon - Sat 9-7 Call 846-4150 WE WILL BEAT ANY COMPETITOR’S OFFER! 30 TANS $ 39 Single Session •Sorority Link Brscele, Block Rings V \ Rings, Bracelet ^jecklaces •A&M Jewelry hi , Vy ‘Elephant Rings - Bf iJSn 1 month UNLIMITED TANNING First time customers only 1 coupon per customer Phone: 775-7626 Expires 2/15/97 1 coupon per customer expires 2-18-97 expires 2-18-97 Open I0am-6:00pm Mon-Sat !-5pm Sunilsy Some exclusions apply. Come see our new Angel Scented candles! Inside Manor East Mall (next to Beall's) • Texas Ave @ Villa Maria Frienc By Gra__ The ■ Churches an= )ns will obse=- e traditional H ariety of way— Lent is the ation four Father Mik tholic Cente^- dnesday is n= [ass or a holy cz [an Catholics Tt is a ve* tholics [wit® leaning.” Sis s— g, abstinences stance of sir* On Ash V- ■ire A booming ompted state M, to coordi The resear i Universii xas Tech U*i Hince the ent Plan at» day in AustL The institu* i a bill to m ipulation. Tfe- r $2.7 millio xt six years, \— te Texas Legi trrent sessiorz A news rele ive infested d Seas, about tw- Dr. Bart Dr™ ist with the T“ ce, said the om South An - it overpopufe “What’s ba™ ere’s too man The ants ca__