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
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