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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1999)
Sports Page 7 • Friday, February 26, 1999 <M ggies prepare for season finales lOleHVf men travel to Lincoln to face University of Nebraska lollars. aantsl insecuM nds wte MIKE FUENTES/rin: Battalion guard Chris Clayton will play his fi- gular-season game for the Aggies theA&M men face the University [Nebraska Saturday. BY SANTOSH VEN KATARAIVIAN The Battalion The Texas A&M Men’s Bas ketball Team travels to Lincoln, Neb. for the season finale to morrow afternoon against the University of Nebraska. The game is set for a 12:45 p.m. tip- off and will be televised live by ESPN Plus. The Aggies (12-13, 5-10 Big 12) are coming off a home win over the University of Okla homa while Nebraska (17-11,9- 6 Big 12) has dropped three straight conference games. Both teams are preparing for the upcoming Big 12 Tourna ment in Kansas City, Mo. A&M could finish ninth, 10th, or 11th, while the Cornhuskers will like ly finish as the fifth or sixth seed. Nebraska will be playing its final home game of the season at the Bob Devaney Sports Cen ter. The Huskers are led by se nior forward Venson Hamilton, a candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year. The 6-foot-10 Hamilton is in the top 10 in the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. His 15.6 points per game is good for sixth-best while his 10.6 rebounds per game lead the conference. Hamilton also is a candi date for All-Defensive honors. as is teammate Cookie Belch er. The 6-foot-3 Belcher leads the league in steals with 3.0 per game, one spot ahead of A&M junior guard Clifton Cook. Nebraska redshirt fresh man Cary Cochran is the best three-point shooter on the team, having made a team- high 38 percent. Nebraska lost its last game on Wednesday at Kansas State University, 62-45. The Huskers were held to 17 second-half points. Hamilton scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds in the first half but only managed three points and three rebounds in the second. The Huskers are 9-5 at home and have won five out of their last six in Lincoln. Nebraska has been to post-season play the last eight seasons under coach Dan ny Nee. The Aggies’ win over Okla homa was the third straight win for A&M in its season home fi nale. A&M has never won in Lincoln, dropping all three con tests there. The 24 points by ju nior guard Jerald Brown at Ne braska on Jan. 11, 1997 were the most ever scored by an Aggie player against Nebraska. A&M lost last year’s meeting, 75-58, in College Station. Guard Michael Schmidt scored 15 points while forward Shanne Nebraska Points leader: V. Hamilton (15.6) Rebound leader: V. Hamilton (10.6) Assists leader: Cookie Belcher (4.7) Jones scored 10 points in the de feat. Nebraska has won both meetings between the schools in the Big 12 Conference. The men’s basketball team had four players named Acad emic All-Big 12 this season, tied for the best in the confer ence. The four players are ju nior Jason Boeker, sophomore Aaron Jack, sophomore Michael Schmidt, and fresh man Andy Leatherman. Boeker and Jack were named to the first team while Schmidt and Leatherman re ceived honorable mention. Jomen host Colorado Buffaloes in final home game of season BY TRAVIS HARSCH The Battalion :he Texas A&M Women’s basketball team be looking to stop a couple of streaks Inst Colorado on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the | Same this season at Reed Arena, he Aggies have not won a conference [eat home this year and have also dropped it straight, with their last win coming on [27 in Manhattan against the Kansas State , Jcats. mspwill 6 are never satisfied with losing,” A&M ' n^riiAM 1 Pe §8' e Gillom said. “We want to win nparticberv game.” he game will also be the final regular-sea- contest for seniors Brenda Beard, Kerrie ecruitmtytson and Kim Tarkington, who will be AdminisW re(:l before the game, manRsy 6 Aggies (7-18, 2-13) will play in the Big rch Pai' i >* ournam ent next week in Kansas City, and 5pOItali® 8 ° int0 the tourney as the number 12 s, Serfff;. w iH most likely play Oklahoma in :e j flunc ^ although Baylor or Nebraska ortOC L S ', de int0 the hhh spot depending on the eGr#l hlSWeekend - i fart At Alexander was named to the first-team innnla»®n? 1llC All-Big 12 team this past week, one rproanis® 1 ^ t 'f , ° P la y ers selected who had a 4.0 , 0 L: 0 P'' l °more Brandy Jones was named to I empuiehonorable mention list. . . j s com ing off a 95-69 loss to the Soon- lScK fmilL t ^° rrnan on Wednesday. The Aggies gra n Eit ° S u 0re in the final 3:15 of the first half, Eng Mr t shootin g over 50 percent from the sWe ,Mh_T° Vers were again an Achilles heel ess coi; irn Aggies, as the Sooners converted 15 tl \f tEle ^ rSt * nto a point lead Colorado (13-12,6-9 Big 12) Points leader: Linda Lappe (10.8) Rebound leader: Britt Harshorn (5.9) Assists leader: Linda Lappe (3.8) Pi ;an “That was just an old-fashioned butt-kick ing,” A&M coach Peggie Gillom said. Prissy Sharpe had 23 points, well above her average of 18.5 per game, and 11 rebounds, again bet tering her season average of 9.2. Oklahoma lost to the seventh-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sunday at home despite a balanced attack. The Buffaloes were led in scoring by Nikki Weddle with 16, Linda Lappe with 14 and Kami Carmann and Melody John son with 12 points apiece. Lappe leads Colorado in scoring, averaging 10.8 points a game and is also tops in the as sist column with 3.8 an outing. Britt Harshorn leads the Buffaloes on the glass, with 5.9 boards a contest. MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Sophomore forward Prissy Sharpe looks for an open teammate against Baylor University. oftball team heads to West Coast for tourney Texas A&M Softball Team will P 0 California this weekend for JfCSB/Easton Invitational fJt^Barbara. ex# BY BEN WESTBROOK The Battalion The Texas A&M Women’s Softball Team will head west this weekend to compete in the UCSB/Easton Invita tional in Santa Barbara, Calif. The women will look to improve their 10-4 record and rebound from last weekend’s 2-3 showing at the Aggie Invitational. The softballers will try to compensate for the loss of their lead off hitter and leading base stealer, Hollee Hayden, who is out for approximately six weeks after breaking her arm last weekend during the win against Penn State. Coach Jo Evans said the women will be facing some tough competition this weekend, MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion “All ** of the teams in this tournament are good. Virginia has good pitching. Santa Barbara is a good hitting team, and Cal Poly is very athletic,” Coach Evans said. “We will be really tested, and each team will throw something different at us. We know we are going to have to play well in order to do well.” Amy Mining and Jordana Barrack will handle pitching duties for A&M this weekend. The pair have combined for a 0.87 earned run average this season. The women will be looking for more run support for the two pitchers at the tournament. The Aggies boast a .305 batting average, while their opponents have posted a .222 average, but they are having trouble getting the hits when they need them. “Offensively we continue to hit the ball well, but we just need to get more timely hits,” Coach Evans said. The women will begin tournament play at 9 a.m. against Virginia, who is 4- 2 on the year. Virginia, like A&M, has faced No. 24 Illinois-Chicago, losing to them 14-2. A&M lost to ICU 3-1. Next up for A&M will be 3-6 Cal Poly, who are being outhit .286 to .257 this season. Cal Poly’s pitchers are posting a whopping 4.80 ERA for the year. The final team to face A&M will be host UCSB. UCSB is 5-5 on the year and have already played and defeated an other Big 12 team, Texas Tech. Evans said good pitching and good defense are key for A&M. “We want to get solid pitching all the way through the rotation. The pitchers need to hit their locations and mix up the pitches,” Evans said. “We need to be more consistent on defense and do our best to play error free. It is important for us to play with confidence.” TERRY ROBERSON/Tiii Battalion Junior Lisa Dingwall and the Texas A&M Women’s Tennis Team will try to bounce back from last weekend’s loss to the University of Houston when they face Texas Christian University Friday. Women’s tennis to take on TCU, OSU BY JASON LINCOLN The Battalion The Texas A&M Women’s Tennis team will start off a grueling week end of some of their toughest com petition yet this spring, when they face Texas Christian University on Friday. The Aggies look to recover from their first loss of the season at the University of Houston where the Cougars handed them a 5-4 loss. The women’s team remains a dominant force in the Omar Smith Varsity Tennis Center, holding a 4- 0 record on its home courts. The doubleheader will put a strain on that record as the Aggies not only will be fighting for Big 12 ranking as they face Oklahoma State on Saturday, but will be battling TCU which defeated the Cougars earlier in the season. Both teams rely on being con sistent throughout the singles line ups, with no weak links in the low er ranks. The teams follow up with strong doubles play, which has been A&M’s weakest point early in the season. “It is going to be a tough week end,” coach Bobby Kleinecke said. “We’re going to have to play better at every position.” Saturday’s match will feature the Aggies’ second Big 12 oppo nent in a repeat of last year’s 8-1 victory for A&M. Against TCU, the Aggies scraped away with a 5-4 win with every point a struggle. “There is always a good rivalry between the teams,” Kleinecke said. “Year in and year out, it is al ways a very competitive match.” Against Houston the Aggie women showed strong resilience and powerful play against the top of a strong Cougar team. Lisa Ding wall and Martina Nedorostova won in singles Tuesday in wins that kept the Aggies in the match to the very end. “We’ve been playing good at the top of the line-up,” Kleinecke said. “It is a great addition to the match and helps us a ton.” The tennis begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday against the Horned Frogs, with the match against the Cowboys starting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Men’s Tennis Team to battle University of Miami Saturday STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS The No. 14 Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Team will travel to Coral Gables, Fla. on Saturday to take on the University of Miami at 10 a.m. The Aggies had last weekend off after traveling to Oklahoma two weeks ago and defeating the University of Oklahoma and Ok lahoma State University, moving their record to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play. Saturday’s match against the Hurricanes will feature the Ag gies’ first ever No. 1 ranked dou bles team — sophomores Du- mitru Caradima and Shuon Madden. The doubles tandem won the Rolex National Intercollegiate In doors tournament in Dallas, which is the third leg of the col lege tennis grand slam. The match will be a home coming for Madden, who is from Venezuela but played high-school tennis in Miami. The Aggies defeated the Hurri canes last year in a match played in College Station.