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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2002)
Sports SECTION Tuesday, March 5, 2002 THE BATTALION SPORTS IN BRIEF {Williams offers {condolences FLEMINGTON, N.J. (AP) - iFormer NBA star Jayson [Williams offered "heartfelt Icondolences" Monday to [the family of a limousine [driver he is accused of killing /ith a shotgun blast at his Irural estate. The former New Jersey Net spoke briefly after leaving the [Hunterdon County court- [house, where he appeared for a 5-minute hearing on the case. Williams is charged with second-degree manslaughter jin the shooting death of [Costas Christofi. "Me and my wife would [like to send out our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Christofi's [family," Williams said. He declined to comment [on the case on the advice of jhis lawyer. Williams, 34, did not enter [a plea. Enron items selling well for Astros . HOUSTON (AP) - Enron [Field may be history, but there is apparently some value left in artifacts that carry the Enron Field name. Business is booming at the Houston Astros' souvenir store at what used to be known as Enron Field for anything that has "Enron Field" on it. "This memorabilia will never be produced again," aid Bobby Mintz, vice presi dent of Tri-Star Productions. herefore, it does have the potential to appreciate." Ags face OSU in tourney Teams to duel for third time By Kevin Espenlaub THE BATTALION The Texas A&M women’s bas ketball team will meet the Oklahoma State Cowgirls for the third time this season at noon to open the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The contest will be a rematch of the final regular season game that took place at Reed Arena last Wednesday in which the Aggies (IS IS, 5-1 1 Big 12) showed one of their poorest perfonnances of the season in a 62-49 loss. *Tt was a very, very ugly game,” said A&M head coach Peggie Gillom. “1 was disappointed in the outcome because I think the girls just thought they could show up and be ready to win without putting any effort into it.” The Aggies shot a season-low 27 percent from the field and were dominated by the career-high 30- point performance of OSU’s Trisha Skibbe. Skibbe scored 23 of her points in the second half, only two points shy of the entire Aggie team’s 25 points in the same period. “The difference in that game was that Oklahoma State managed to play a little prettier than we did,” Gillom said. “Neither team played very well, but they had [Skibbe) who pretty much buried us by herself.” The victory earned a season split for the Cowgirls (15-14, 7-9) after a 70-65 defeat in Stillwater by the Aggies Feb. 5. The Aggies were led in the contest by the game-high scoring performance of junior for ward Meg Banahan. Banahan scored 23 points to help the Aggies earn their first win against Oklahoma State since 1999. JOHN LIVAS• THE BATTALION Junior forward Kim Moore and the Texas A&M women’s basketball team open the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City on Tuesday against Oklahoma State. “A&M is one of the most athletic teams that we’ve faced all year,” said OSU head coach Dick Halterman. “They're constantly in your face the entire game with a defense that leaves you looking over your shoulder all the time. They do things that make you want to get rid of the ball instead of trying to run your offense and do the things you're used to doing. They disrupt our offense more than any other team in the conference.” It is unlikely the Cowgirls will win again if they repeat either of their perfonnances from earlier this season against the Aggies. In Wednesday’s game, the Aggies held the lead at halftime despite shooting only 22 percent in the first 20 min utes and forced 31 turnovers in the contest. “I don't think I've ever had a See Big 12 on page 2B Buckeyes take lead in Bryan By David Morrison THE BATTALION Hosting a tournament on your home course nor mally translates into low scores and very high con fidence, but the Texas A&M women’s golf team did not have a normal day at the 9th Annual Verizon ‘Mo’Morial Tournament at the Briarcrest Country Club on Monday. Morning frost delayed the tournament, ulti mately eliminating the first round of play and shortening the 54-hole tournament to 36 holes. After being delayed, the Aggies struggled to finish in the top five of the 18-team field. Ohio State University took the top spot with a team score of 307, with Texas Christian University and Michigan State rounding out the top three with scores of 315 and 317, respectively. A&M was led by freshmen Nicole Melton and Liv Briggs. Melton’s round of 77 and Briggs’ score of 78 helped the Aggies finish only six shots out of third with a team score of 323. The Aggies felt like their home course was very untrue to them, as the greens played much harder and faster, and the wind blew more than normal. “It (the course) played harder, the ground was harder and the ball rolled farther than it usually does, and the wind blew stronger in most places,” Melton said. “Everyone has to play in these conditions, so you can't really blame the conditions,” said A&M senior Jennifer Cates. Even though the Aggies struggled during Monday’s round, they are still in the thick of things heading into day two of the tournament. A&M head coach Jeanne Sutherland said the Aggies know they are capable of putting up lower numbers and hopes that a new day will bring new success. “We have shot really good scores on this golf course, so everyone on this team knows that they can do it,” Sutherland said. How well the Aggies adjust to Tuesday’s weather will be important to jump into the top three. “We need to do a little bit better at making adjustments,” Sutherland said. “We are not used to playing this course this hard and fast. Any good athlete adjusts quickly, and we were a little slow adjusting. Anything can happen, and we are defi nitely not out of it.” got pop 44,000 Aggies can choose the next U.S. Congressman from College Station. Or 30,000 non-Aggies can choose for us. Which would you prefer? STAND UP. BE COUNTED. VOTE TODAY. MSC 146 PDA n P A PT^M *QO COP O^^KI^JPCOO PRO-TAX CUTS | PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT | PRO-FAMILY | PRO-DEFENSE Political ad paid for by Ags for Brad Ban on — George Waller, Treasurer