Sports
The Battalion
Page IB • Thursday, February 6, 2003
Aggies upset No. 24-ranked Oklahoma team
Win over Sooners ends five-game losing skid
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
It was a night of milestones as the
[exasA&M women’s basketball team
[hocked the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners
|>9-61 in front of 1,593 at Reed Arena.
Just 1:27 into the game, junior
foccara Williams rewrote the Aggie
lecord books as she overtook Lisa
pnch as the career leader in steals
Wh 310. Williams finished the night
jvith five steals, which equals her
Jiation-leading average.
“I’ve tried to put the record as far
ehind me as possible," Williams said.
It’s great though, (Branch) is a great
llayerand 1 have much respect for her.
[Defense) is my main focus. I’m all
[bout defense."
Junior Lynn Classen also had a
emorable night as she scored a career
23 points to lead the Aggies to
|ictory. Classen also added five
ounds and four blocks, one less than
[ercareer high.
“We were trying to get the ball
Inside because they couldn't defend
Inside,'’ said Aggie Head Coach Peggie
pilloni. “Lynn was on tonight so she
wanted the basketball.”
The Sooners never could accoma-
date for Classen in the low post. She
shot 57.1-percent from the field on the
night as she scored at will over
Oklahoma senior center Theresa
Schuknecht. Classen also went seven
of 11 from the free throw line.
“We came in with a lot of motiva
tion,” Classen said. “Oklahoma was
talking like they would never lose to a
team like Texas A&M so that fired me
up. You don’t talk disrespect like that.”
This Texas A&M win avenges a 77-
39 loss Oklahoma handed the Aggies in
Norman earlier this season.
Oklahoma opened the scoring with
a bucket 52 seconds into the game by
sophomore Dionnah Jackson. The 2-0
lead was the largest lead for the
Sooners all night.
Jackson, Oklahoma’s second lead
ing scorer, got into early foul trouble
and was a non-factor as she played
only 26 minutes compared to her aver
age of 33.2.
“We’re so thin already,” said
Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale.
“Dionnah is the only one on the floor
that even resembles a leader and to
lose her for the majority of the game
is tough.”
The Aggies jumped out to a 25-17
lead with 7:41 left in the first half
behind eight early points from Classen.
Oklahoma fought back to tie the game
at 36 at halftime.
The second half stayed tight as nei
ther team took more than a five point
lead for the first 18 minutes.
With 1:51 left to play, the Aggies
seemed destined for a victory.
Junior forward Janae Derrick was
double-teamed behind the three-point
line with time ticking down on the shot
clock. After seeing that only one sec
ond remained by looking at the clock at
the opposite end of the court. Derrick
threw a three-point shot over her shoul
der in what resembled a hook shot. The
ball fell in the basket and the Aggies
took a 62-58 lead.
“All I could say was thank you,”
said Aggie head coach Peggie Gillom.
“I don’t know what it was, but it was a
good shot.”
The three by Derrick sparked an
11-3 run to close out the game and the
Aggie victory.
It was the first Texas A&M victory
over Oklahoma since the Aggies beat
the Sooners 91-83 on January 21, 1998
in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
•THE
ALISSA HOLI.IMON
Aggie guard Sabrina Mitchell drives past Oklahoma defenders in Wednesday
BATTALION
s game.
&M softball team pummels UTSA
By Jeff Allen
THE BATTALION
ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
Outfielder Sherah Atkins hits a homerun in Wednesday's game.
The No. 24 Texas A&M softball
team’s bats finally came out of hid
ing last night at the Aggie Softball
Complex in a 9-1 win over the
University of Texas at San Antonio.
The Aggies sent four long balls
spread amongst eleven base hits
sailing over the left field wall en
route to their third straight win to
start off the young season.
The offensive explosion for the
Aggies was exactly what Head
Coach Jo Evans was looking for
after sweating out two close games
earlier in the week.
“We hit the ball real well,”
Evans said. “I was pleased with (the
performance) and that just- about
everybody had a good at-bat and
several had several good at-bats. I
thought we were patient (today).
Yesterday we were pretty excited
and were a little impatient.”
It took a no-hitter to get the
Aggies to the win column Tuesday.
Wednesday, Aggie junior starter
Lindsay Wilhelmson had a bit more
room to work with.
A&M grabbed the early lead,
capitalizing on two errors by the
Roadrunners in the first inning,
capped off by a two-out single by
senior Selena Collins. The timely hit
by Collins set the tone for the night
as the Aggies went on to plate runs
five times with two outs in an inning.
Senior shortstop Crystal Martin
took control at the plate for the sec
ond night in a row. Fresh off late
inning heroics less than a day
before, Martin stroked a two-out
double into the gap in left field
plating what would prove to be the
winning run in the game. The hit
was followed by another double,
sailing over the Roadrunner short
stop off the bat of sophomore left-
fielder Jana James.
With the early lead in hand,
Wilhelmson was able to settle down
and preserve the Aggie lead with
little drama. Despite not having her
best stuff, the Aggie starter earned
Aggie swimmers
play host to SMU
By Marcus White
THE BATTALION
See Softball on page 3B
en’s tennis team visits Sunshine State
By Jeff Allen
THE BATTALION
The No. 12 Texas A&M
men’s tennis team has reached a
crucial point in its young sea
son. After a promising opening
day, easily sweeping a triple-
header, the men have come up
against much harder times. After
suffering their first loss of the
season to No. 11 Texas last
weekend, the Aggies are now
faced with a daunting road trip
to the Sunshine State, where two
major challenges await them.
A&M will have to face the No.5
team in the nation, Florida, and
then on Sunday visit another
solid underrated team, the
University of Miami.
The challenges are not com
ing at the most opportune time
for the young Aggie team.
Recently a big question mark
has raised the Aggies’ ability to
put away the crucial doubles
point by winning two out of
three of the matches. Last week,
weakness factored in to the
Aggies’ first loss of the year, and
it could prove to be even more
crucial as they head to
Gainesville to face a strong
Gator squad, which will be look
ing to redeem itself after being
swept 7-0 by No. 2 Illinois.
“I really thought we played
pretty good at the one and two
(doubles teams),” said Head
Coach Tim Cass. “But at three
we didn’t play very well. We’re
going to have to figure out com
binations and experiment some
this month to see what’s the best
way to get the doubles point.”
In recent years, the Aggies
have had a good deal of success
against their coming opponents,
having swept the past three
years against Florida and win
ning at least five in a row over
Miami including a 4-1 win last
year at home in College Station.
Last year against Florida makes
the Aggies’ weakness in the dou
bles competition all the more
glaring as the match was decided
by the single tie-breaking dou
bles point, which the Aggies
earned by sweeping the Gators
in the three doubles matches.
The situation will become
even more crucial as the Aggies
head deeper into their schedule,
one which doesn’t show much
hope of getting any easier any
time soon. The importance of
the tie-breaking point will
become even more glaring if the
Aggies hope to stay in the
national tennis scene, and
defend the position they have
earned in the past few years.
This weekend’s actions will
not only push the Aggies’ dou
bles play with trial by fire, but it
will test the entire team. Last
week, the team expressed con
cerns about its level of play in
the match against Texas, things
that Cass and the Aggie team
will be looking to address, first
in the match against Florida and
then Miami.
“We look at Florida and
Texas basically the same. There
are things that we didn’t do well
enough to win the match at
Texas,” Cass said.
The Aggies are hoping to
step up and do the things against
Florida that they were unable to
do against Texas and to earn
their spot in the nation’s Top 20.
“We hope to win them both
(Florida and Miami),” said Cass.
“Our expectations are to go out
there and earn our spot and get
our own identity.
Right now our identity is in
the past, the reason we are
ranked No. 12 is based on what
we did in the past, and this team
is going to have to earn whatev
er they are capable of earning.”
The Aggies are hoping to
learn what they are capable of
this weekend. They will be tak
ing on the Gators Friday in
Gainesville Fla. and then mov
ing on to Miami to take on the
Hurricanes on Sunday.
The Texas A&M men’s
swimming and diving team will
host Southern Methodist
University in its last home meet
of the season Thursday at the
Student Recreation Center
Natatorium. The dual meet will
be the Aggies’ last before head
ing to the Big 12 Championship
in Austin, Texas.
In its last outing, A&M (3-2)
defeated Louisiana State
University, 186-104, taking 12
of the 14 pool events on its way
to the largest margin of victory
ever between the two teams.
The performance propelled the
team up five spots to No. 16 in
the College Swim Coaches
Association of America
(CSCAA) dual meet poll.
SMU (5-3) is coming off the
Texas Quad Meet, where it
faced some of the top teams in
the country. The Mustangs lost
to No. 5 Texas and No. 13
Arizona State, but defeated the
No. 15 University of Arizona
Wildcats. SMU Head Coach
Eddie Sinnott called the meet
good practice for the team.
“Anytime you beat a nation
ally ranked opponent, it’s good
for the team and the university,”
Sinnott said.
A&M and SMU account
for one of swimming and div
ing’s best rivalries, with
A&M taking 19 of the 57
contests between the two
teams. Last season the Aggies
and Mustangs faced off in
Dallas at Perkins Natatorium.
The Aggies placed first in the
competition’s final relay race to
narrowly win the meet 122-119,
capturing A&M’s first away
victory in the rivalry’s history.
“There’s a lot of great his
tory between these two teams,”
said A&M Head Coach Mel
Nash. “That was the first victo
ry we had at SMU’s pool since
the 1940s when the rivalry
began. They should be coming
back down here this year with a
lot of intensity.”
The meet should produce
some great match-ups as both
teams are near championship
form. Nash looks forward to a
possible showdown in the 50-
meter freestyle between A&M’s
Matt Rose and SMU’s Jonathon
Newton, two of the NCAA’s
premiere sprinters.
Newton, a junior transfer,
posted a 20.06 in the 50-meter
freestyle at the Texas Quad
Meet, taking first place in that
event for the Mustangs. The
former Big 12 swimmer will
use Thursday’s meet to prepare
himself for the NCAA
Championship, Sinnott said.
“(Newton) transferred here
from ISU, so there are some lin
gering Big 12 rivalries,” Sinnott
said. “(Newton) is going to go
out there and try to break 20
seconds. Hopefully, the compe
tition can help him do that.”
Rose, A&M’s junior All-
American, posted a season-best
20.19 in the 50-meter freestyle
against LSU. Nash knows the
last dual meet of the season is
critical to the team’s success
and is eager to see a possible
Rose and Newton face-off.
“When Rose and Newton go
at each other, it’s definitely fun
to watch,” Nash said. “Coach
Sinnott and I both enjoy watch
ing what it brings out in them.”
Both teams will use the meet
to fine tune before the end-of-
season championships.
“You use the competition in
the pool to get you where you
want to go,” Sinnott said. “At
the end of the day, the only
question that matters is ‘did
we help ourselves for the
championship (meets)?”’
Nash agrees with Sinnott.
“By the end of the season,
it’s about the meet,” Nash said.
“But it’s also about being pre-
pared mentally, physically, and
emotionally. It’s about being
ready to race.”
The Aggies and Mustangs
square off Thursday at the
Student Rec Center Natatorium
at 6:30 p.m.
AqqieAthleticsJcom]