Pag-
February 21
The Battalion
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Vqgies continue homestand against Cougars
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Tim Moog, The Battalion
ior pitcher Scott Barrett hurls one against Arizona.
By Chris Ferrell
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Baseball Team (8-4)
will entertain the Washington State
Cougars (1 -7) at Olsen Field as the teams
compete in a weekend series.
A&M will look to build on an emo
tional come-from-behind victory
against Nevada-Reno in which the Ag
gies, trailing by one
run going into the
ninth inning, rallied
and won the game on
a grand slam by senior
Johnny Hunter.
Washington State is
beginning a Texas
road trip which will
also stop in Fort Worth
for a one-game set
against Texas Christ
ian. It will try to get
back on the winning
track after losing its
last game to the Uni
versity of Pacific. Prior to splitting
with Pacific, the Cougars had lost six
straight.
The Aggies see this weekend as a
chance to improve.
“We’re working on our game,” Head
Coach Mark Johnson said. “It doesn’t
matter who our opponent is. By Sun
day, we want to be three days better.”
The players are hoping this weekend
will be a breakout series.
“We haven’t really come out and
“We haven’t
really come out
and played an all
around great
game yet this
year.”
Mark Johnson
A&M head coach
played an all around great game yet this
year,” Hunter said. “We’re just ready for
it to happen. It could be tomorrow, and
hopefully, it will be.”
Knocking in base runners will be a
major focus for the team.
“Right now our average is not very
good with runners in scoring position,”
Johnson said.
The Aggies will look to get their
bats healthy against a
Cougar pitching staff
which has compiled an
11.72 ERA and has op
ponents batting .339
against them.
Johnson said Wash
ington State’s pitchers
are better than they have
shown so far.
“Some guys don’t
hook up well early in
the season,” Johnson
said. “A lot of things
can happen to make
guys get off to a slow
start. They’ll be better this outing,
much as I anticipate our pitchers to
be better this outing.”
WSU will send Burdette Greeny (0-
2) and his team-high 10 strikeouts to
the mound for today’s game.
The Aggies will counter with
freshman Casey Possum. Possum
has struck out a team-high 20 batters
and has averaged six innings per
outing in his three starts this season.
Despite posting a 1.00 ERA, he is
Tim Moog, The Battalion
Junior second baseman Brian Benefield tags Arizona's Diego Rico out during
the second game at Olsen Field.
winless at 0-1.
Possum and the rest of the Aggie
staff will have their hands full with a
young group of WSU batters.
Cougar freshman left fielder Brad
Philley is the team’s leading batter
with a .500 average. Philley is one of
six underclassmen in the Cougars’
starting lineup.
The Aggie batters have shown signs
of life in the past few games after get
ting off to a slow start.
Three batters, junior catcher Scott
Sandusky (.485) and outfielders
William Gray (.455) and Jason Tyner
(.453) are batting over .400. A&M as a
team is batting .340.
A&M was also able to capitalize on
clutch hitting situations down the
stretch in the win over Nevada.
;eived the it
oftball hosts Aggie
Mini
its to the com
revisions,” he
for.
ByNicki Smith
The Battalion
With a week of playing time un
it its belt, the Texas A&M Softball
m (2-4) is prepared to settle in
enjoy some time at home as it
jsts the first of two Aggie Invita
tional Tournaments, making its
home debut this weekend at the
Lady Aggie Softball Complex.
Aside from the Lady Aggies, Col-
kio State University, Creighton
iversity and Sam Houston State
iversity will compete in a double
nd-robin tournament begin-
g today at 12.
Head Coach Jo Evans said Col-
orkdo State will be the Lady Aggies’
:o ighest competition.
“Colorado is probably the best
we will be up against,” Evans
“They have a really great
who has a nice drop and
Rogge Heflin, The Battalion
mie Johnson practices her field-
skills at the Softball Complex.
change-up and a really talented
shortstop. Not only will we have to
play well to beat them, we will have
to play our best to beat them.”
So far, A&M has winning records
against all three teams in the tour
nament. It has a 5-0 series record
against the Lady Rams, a 7-6 all-
time record against Creighton and
51-13 overall record against Sam
Houston, the second-most com
mon opponent in the history of the
A&M program.
Freshman second baseman
Angie Long said the Lady Aggies are
excited to finally play at home.
“We are really looking forward
to having some Aggies root us on,”
Long said. “So far, at all of our
games we haven’t had a lot of fans
because we have been out of
town. All of the teams will be
tough competitors, but, with the
home field and home crowd, we
have nothing to lose.”
Although A&M will not take the
field until 4 p.m., when they face in
state rival Sam Houston State, Col
orado State and Creighton will kick
off the tournament at noon.
Four games will be played both
on Friday and Saturday at 12:00
p.m. and ending at 6:00 p.m.
On Sunday, the tournament will
begin at 9:00 a.m. and will con
clude with A&M playing Sam
Houston at 3:00 p.m.
Evans said even though the team
Invitational
was not able to play its double-
header against the University of
Texas-San Antonio because of rain,
the Aggies still have a good chance
of winning all of their games.
“We know we have the home ad
vantage, which is a plus for us,”
Evans said. “None of the other
teams has been able to get outdoors
because of the weather. With that,
we feel we have a good chance to
get our team chemistry going and
hope to improve on some things we
have been having trouble with the
past week.”
The Lady Aggie pitchers have al
lowed only five earned runs in six
games, but are coming off a three
game losing streak.
Colorado State (2-0) has a two-
game winning streak after blast
ing the University of Colorado 13-
0 in five innings, Sam Houston
(4-4) is riding on a four-game los
ing streak, and Creighton will be
making its season debut with sev
en returning starters.
Senior pitcher Lori Gioco said
this tournament will help the Aggies
improve on their concentration.
“We are going to have our par
ents and regular fans there sup
porting us,” Gioco said. “We will
want to play well in front of them
and we know our field very well.
This should allow us to become
more cohesive and get more
games in.”
Aggies face Baylor in final
home game at G. Rollie
By Matt Mitchell
The Battalion
It was supposed to be the Texas
A&M Men’s Basketball Team’s final
game in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
But thanks to some unfortunate de
lays in the con
struction of Reed
Arena, it will mere
ly be the final
home game of a
trying and often
disappointing sea
son for the Aggies
when they take on
the Baylor Bears
Saturday at 7 p.m.
The meeting will
be the second of the
season between the
two teams. Baylor
won the first in im
probable fashion, 69-66, as the Aggies
set a season-high for turnovers with 28.
The Bears (17-9, 5-8) are coming
off an impressive 71-60 win over
Nebraska Wednesday night and
need a win over the Aggies to keep
their NCAA Tournament aspira
tions alive. The Aggies (8-15, 2-11)
are looking to rebound from a 72-55
loss to Oklahoma State Wednesday
and break a five-game losing streak.
“I think the kids have really han
dled the tough losses in a very posi
tive way,” A&M Head Coach Tony
Barone said. “We’re trying to bring out
of these games things that we did
well, and at the same time identify
things that have caused us some
problems. We’re not trying to write off
or rationalize whether
we win or lose, but we
have to learn from
each game.”
The growing pains
tire Aggies have experi
enced this year are
nothing new to several
members of the team,
notably freshman
guard Jerald Brown,
who toiled on
mediocre teams at Al-
dine High School be
fore meeting with
marked success.
“My freshman year in high school,
we didn’t have the most successful
season,” Brown said. “It was a building
process that took time. We had a
young team in high school and we
had to leam how to get over the hump,
and that’s what we have to do here as
a team, try to fight through that wall.”
But as difficult as such situations
may be for Brown and his team
mates, he said better times are ahead.
“It’s frustrating to lose, don’t get
“I think the kids
have really han
dled the tough
losses in a very
positive way.”
Tony Barone
A&M head coach
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Sophomore forward Calvin Davis
battles Tech forward Gionet Cooper
for the rebound at G. Rollie.
me wrong,” Brown said. “I hate to
see the guys go through the season
like this, but you have to keep in
mind that we’re young and we’re
going to get to that point where
we’re going to beat teams. Instead
of losing by two, we’ll win by two,
if not more.”
A look back at one of the Lady Aggie's greatest
Barber^
A fter suffering a treacherous
L\ 29-point loss to Texas Tech
L \.University Feb. 12, the Texas
l&M Women’s Basketball Team (9-
4 overall, 3-10) closed out the
veek by edging Oklahoma State
Jniversity (94-84) in a thrilling
Overtime victory Saturday night.
The Lady Aggies will finish the
oad portion of the season against
the University of Baylor tomorrow
tight before coming home for their
Inal two games.
Ya Know She’s Butter Cause
She Was on A Roll
Senior forward Melissa Roller-
son was named Big 12 Conference
Player of the Week for her explosive
play over the last week.
Rollerson carried the Lady Aggies
to victory against Oklahoma State,
scoring a career-high 30 points. The
6-foot-1 senior from Paris played 39
minutes, grabbing seven boards and
swatting an A&M single-game
record five blocks. Rollerson was 12
of 21 from the field and six of nine
from the free-throw line.
Head Coach Candi Harvey said
Rollerson provided a much-need
ed support over the past week.
“This team has been searching
for that kind of performance all
year long,” Harvey said. “She was
the total player. We have to hope
she’s going to sustain this. Her ca
reer is coming to an end and I want
her to feel she has contributed.”
Sophomore guard Stacy Sykora
said Rollerson was unstoppable.
“She was amazing,” Sykora said.
“The ball would go in no matter
what she did. She couldn’t miss.”
Lana Tucker: A Look Back
Senior guard Lana Tucker’s bas
ketball career ended a little sooner
than she had hoped. Early in the
second half of the Lady Aggie’s
game against Colorado Feb. 8, the
co-captain tore the anterior cruci
ate ligament in her right knee.
While Tucker will try to rehab her
knee without surgery, the severity
of the injury will force her to miss
the remainder of the season.
The catalyst of the young team,
Tucker led the squad in scoring
(13.8), steals (37), free-throw
shooting percentage (81.4), and
minutes played (30.0).
In a press release, Harvey said
she appreciates all the sacrifices
Tucker made for the team.
“The biggest compliment I can
give a player is that she has my ulti
mate and total respect,” Harvey said.
“In 17 years of coaching, I have nev
er had a player respond and work as
hard as Lana. She has always gone
above and beyond her best.
“I hate losing this game (Col
orado), but in the big picture, I
am sad that I will never coach
this kid again.”
Tucker, the only Lady Aggie play
er to start all 21 games this season,
played in 113 games in her A&M ca
reer, starting the last 88 consecutive
contests. The ironwoman guard
missed only one game in her career
because of injury.
Looking beyond the injury,
Tucker said she wants to do what
ever she can to help the team.
“It’s not how I pictured it to
end,” Tucker said. “But I want to
look at the positives and how I can
help my team without being out on
the court. It’s still about being a
leader, just in other ways.”
Throughout her four-year ca
reer, Tucker posted impressive
numbers, solidifying her place in
A&M history.
Tucker, who ranks as the sev
enth all-time points producer at
A&M (1,045), is only the 12th Lady
Aggie ever to exceed 1,000 points.
She ranks as the eighth-best three-
point shooter (32.9 percent) in
school history.
From the charity stripe, Tucker’s
72.4 shooting percentage ties her
for seventh all-time in the Aggie
record books. She also has posted
154 career steals, ranking seventh
all-time, and has dished out 236 as
sists good for 10th.
Tucker said she considers herself
fortunate to have played for so long.
“It’s disappointing that I didn’t
get to finish it out,” Tucker said.
“But then again, it could have
happened five games into the sea
son. I feel really fortunate to have
played this many games with my
sister (Natalie) and this team.
“I’ve enjoyed playing with this
team probably more than any I’ve
ever played on. We all got along so
well. That’s something I’ll remem
ber more than my injury.”
Tucker said looking back over her
career, her most memorable mo
ment was winning the 1996 South
west Conference tournament.
“It’s the last conference tour
nament and the last SWC trophy,”
Tucker said. “Beating Texas and
Texas Tech in two days was a great
accomplishment for our team. We
pulled together when we needed
to and just got it done.”
A&M looks to send
Bears into hibernation
By Jamie Burch
The Battalion
Harvey
With three games remaining, the
Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Team
(9-14 overall, 3-10)
makes its final
road trip of the
season Saturday
afternoon to Bay
lor University (11-
12 overall, 4-9).
The Lady Aggies,
2-7 on the road
this season, are
coming fresh off of
a 94-84 overtime
victory last Satur
day over Oklahoma State University.
Head Coach Candi Harvey said
she was thrilled with the team’s re
siliency against OSU.
“This is one of my most memo
rable wins as a coach at A&M,” Har
vey said. “The players finally under
stood about dealing with adversity.
For the first time we felt like, as a
team, they grasped a lot of the things
we've been working on all year long.”
A&M lost to Baylor 82-67 at G. Rol
lie White Coliseum Jan. 8 in the first
meeting of the home-and-home se
ries. A&M trailed by just four at the
half, but was outscored by 11 after the
intermission. The Lady Aggie defense
allowed four Lady Bears to post dou
ble figures in scoring in addition to
losing the battle of the boards, 47-36.
Sophomore Stacy Sykora, who
was not with the team for the first
meeting, said the Lady Aggies are a
different team now.
“The team is definitely different
without Lana,” Sykora said. “Lana’s
leadership as a senior and a captain
is not there for us now. Baylor did
beat us by 15, but we’re a new team
with a new look.”
A&M will have to once again com
bat the same offensive attack from
Baylor. Sophomore center Kacy Mof-
fit, who torched A&M for 10 points,
five boards and one block in the
team’s first meeting, leads the Lady
Bears in scoring (10.5) while grabbing
4.1 rebounds per game.
On the defensive side, junior for
ward Tasia Wright, who posted 11 re
bounds against A&M in the last
meeting, is averaging a team-lead
ing 6.1 rebounds per game. Sopho
more guard Toya Ellis leads the Lady
Bears in steals with 49 on the season.
A&M freshman guard Natalie
Tucker said confidence is the key
to beating Baylor.
“Our confidence is on the rise,”
Tucker said. “We know we can beat
Baylor. We’ve just got to go out there
and play with confidence — the way
we know we can.”