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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2003)
AGGIELIFE E BATTALION wz A Sports The Battalion Page 5 • Wednesday, January 15, 2003 n" has all theele- itypical family, me slot. [Aggies head to Nebraska seeking Big 12 win Basketball team showing evidence of improvement Nishat Fellini J Sunday WB s Oak Park hools diculous real it} tool Reunion." school reunion n the real world hool issues, location, com- d element vital ms. Each with a ridicu- 1 “ or "The ? the audience nic and hormon- ad spin off of school" in its you were ever World" and m this is the e show: one ; ample of exactl; zh school. Ni.slmt Fatim aint dry ^commercials By Dallas Shipp THE BATTALION The Texas A&M men’s basketball team is trying to change its recent history this sea- on with a new look and a new attitude. The Aggies are going to need that change on Wednesday when they travel to Lincoln to face the Nebraska Comhuskers. The Aggies have not fared well on the road in the Big 12, posting a 2-6 record last year in conference play, A&M has never beaten Nebraska on the road, com piling an 0-5 all-time record - at the Devaney Sports Center. “(The Comhuskers) play very well at home,” said A&M head coach Melvin Watkins. “Anytime you go on the road in the Big 12 it’s going to be tough." Nebraska knows about tough games on the road. The Huskers are coming off a 92-59 throttling by Kansas in their Big 12 opener. Watkins isn't throwing in the towel yet and said he is looking forward to the oppor tunity to get back out on the court after a dis appointing Big 12 opener at home against Oklahoma State. “It’s a different feeling with these kids,” Watkins said. “They feel like we let (the game against OSU) get away as opposed to ‘we can’t play with these guys’ and that’s very important.” While the Aggies are aware of past disap pointments on the road, they are hoping that things will be different this year. The 2002- 2003 Aggie squad has not been forced to deal with the problems off the court that last year’s team went through after Watkins released two players from the team. Three of the newcomers this year, junior guards Leandro Garcia-Morales and Kevin Turner and freshman forward Antoine Wright are the top three scorers for A&M and have quickly made their presence felt. Legendary Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton told Watkins after the Cowboys win over the Aggies that A&M was getting better. “Eddie Sutton told me after Saturday’s game, ‘Now you’re getting more soldiers’” Watkins said. “Now we are getting some of the good players like the other good teams in the Big 12." No one has made a bigger impact on the Aggies so far than Wright, who leads the team in scoring, edging out senior guard Bernard King by less than a point per game. That’s quite an accomplishment for first- year player Wright as he watches King inch closer and closer to becoming the all-time Big 12 scoring leader. King needs just 1 14 points in his final 15 games as an Aggie. If he averages his current 16.9 points per game, he would break the record against Texas on Feb. 8, in a game televised on ESPN2. Junior guard Kevin Turner, who trans ferred to A&M from Fullerton College in Fullerton, Calif., has made a big impact for the Aggies this year as well, leading the Aggies in three-point percentage. Turner will have to work to find an open shot against a tough Nebraska defense. “You have to get up on (Turner) and make sure you don’t give him good looks,” Watkins said. “If he continues to (look at three-point shot and then penetrate) and get his midrange game going he still can be very effective.” “We can all learn from that,” he said. “We don’t have to settle for the contested three when you can show the basketball and get within 15 feet.” The Aggies are 8-2 when shooting at least 43.2 percent from the field. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on 96.1 FM. JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION Bernard King takes a jumpshot during the second half against OSU on Saturday night. The Aggies lost the game to the Cowboys. Women’s basketball looks to upset 20th-ranked Longhorns By Michael Crow THE BATTALION When the Texas A&M women's bas ketball team faces the University of Texas tonight at Reed Arena, there will be more than an instate rivalry at stake. The Aggies (8-5, 1-1 Big 12) will be looking to gain their second straight onference win, following a 69-54 A&M victory against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. The win against OSU broke a three- game road losing streak for the Aggie women. Junior guard Toccara Williams put up 18 points and added six steals to her national lead versus the Cowgirls. “1 get mad when I don't get my steals,” Williams said. “1 want to get every ball that comes my way. I get frustrated when I can’t get every ball." Williams has been aided thus far by freshman guard Natasha Summerville, who has averaged 9.8 points per game. Summerville’s 24 points versus the Charlotte 49ers earlier this month set the top individual mark for an Aggie this season. “(Natasha has) given us a lot of scor ing punch,” said A&M head coach Peggie Gillom. A variety of Aggies will need to make offensive contributions in the game versus the Longhorns, a team that outscores opponents by an average of 21.5 points per game. After entering as a preseason All-America candidate, UT junior Stacy Stephens has lived up to the hype, leading all Texas women in points and rebounds for the third con secutive season. “Stacy’s hard work and leadership, along with her playing USA Basketball for the second consecutive summer this year, have really helped her become one of the premier players in the col lege game,” said Longhorns’ head coach Jody Conradt. Conradt is no stranger to such recog nition either. The four-time national coach of the year was named one of the top seven coaches in women’s basket ball by ESPN. In the Longhorns’ most recent out ing, Conradt coached her team to a 70- 59 win against conference foe Missouri. Not surprisingly, Stacy Stephens posted top-scoring honors, hitting all eight of her free-throw attempts and finishing with 18 points. After a tie for ninth place in the Big 12 last season, Gillom is optimistic heading into this season’s conference schedule. “I think there’s a window of oppor tunity for a lot of teams to get into that upper bracket,” Gillom said. “I think there’s a window for us and for many other teams in the Big 12.” No Experience Necessary Thursday) Attend an orientation clinic * January 21 « 7:00 pm « rm 281 Making money has never been more fun! TEXAS A&M 'iSr er ^llmE V recspoftsJmi/.eefa SPORTS ce ta 'titltict f ar In ■-t s ' t Lit 4 ' Rudder Theater at 8pm In the basement ALL NIGHT LONG Free with Wristband p ree Howling Presented in conjunction with the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference & the African American Student Coalition Free Billiards II Come Be a Star Free Dance Dance Revoititioii must be present to win Free &Soda 8c win $150 for 1st Prize in our Karaoke Contest from 9:30 til 12:30 in the flagroom jiSI rts Enjoy all the pizza you can eat in the 12th Man starting at 9pm Must Show A&M ID at Check-in show your checkers Tournament Strategy , in our from 10pm till midnight in the basement Ior,,mp,re,,,iiifo,rni(iti()n ctmLl,£,1845-1,.5,1,5 around the MSC Friday, January 17 9pm - 1am In the MSC
