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Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Monday, February 2, 2004
Still winless
\Cold shooting leads to second-half letdown as
ggies fall to No. 18 University of Texas
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By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
The clock has already begun ticking on
exas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins’
enure as men’s basketball coach.
Eight and counting - that’s the num-
r of consecutive Big 12 conference
osses Watkins’ Aggies have suffered
hrough dating back to last season. One
wild have to travel all the way back to
anuary of 2002 to find the last time
&M won consecutive Big 12 games.
The No. 18 Texas Longhorns added
o A&M’s woeful streak Saturday as
hey defeated the Aggies 69-59 in front
f a near-capacity crowd at Reed Arena,
t marked the Longhorns’ (14-3,5-1 Big
12) 10th consecutive victory over the
ggies (7-10, 0-6) in College Station.
Texas was led by a front-line rota-
jtion that kept the Aggies out of the paint
id, once again, out of the win column.
Big men reserves Brian Boddicker and
ason Klotz combined to score 21
ints and grab 12 rebounds.
“They were bringing everybody to
he goal,” said A&M senior Nick
nderson of the Texas front line. ‘They
ake Klotz out and bring Boddicker in -
|they’re huge.”
As in its other Big 12 losses this sea-
n, A&M was able to hang with Texas
or a good portion of the game, even
(taking a 48-43 lead off of a Marcus
Watkins jumper with 12:41 remaining
in the second half. That, however,
would be the last field goal the Aggies
would make all afternoon, as the
Longhorns responded with a 20-1 run
that put the game out of reach.
Once again, a second-half letdown
was more than the team could overcome.
“We played 20 minutes of basketball
today,” Watkins said. “And obviously
you have to play two halves to win it."
For the first time this season, it was
n’t the defense that lost the game for
A&M. This loss can mostly be attrib
uted to offense, or the lack thereof.
Facing a 2-3 zone for most of the sec
ond half, the Aggies just couldn't hit
their shots. After the jumper by
atkins, A&M went 0-13 from the
ield, scoring their last 11 points from
|P Beato III • THE BATTALION
A&M head coach Melvin Watkins shows his frustration during the Aggies' 69-59 loss to No. 18
Texas Saturday Watkins' Aggies have lost six straight games and are in last place in the Big 12.
the free throw line.
This scoring ineptitude prompted a
group of Longhorns fans to start the chant,
“Worse than Baylor.” Coincidentally.
Baylor is the last Big 12 opponent the
Aggies have managed to defeat.
“Some nights (shots) don’t fall for
you, and that’s what I think happened to
A&M a little bit.” said Texas head coach
Rick Bames. “They had some pretty
good looks because we did break down
a few times when they had some good
things going for them offensively, but
the shots just didn't go for them.”
Whether its struggles on offense or
defense, the Aggies can’t seem to find
a way to win. and disappointment is
obviously mounting.
“It’s really getting frustrating,”
Anderson said, head buried in arms. “It’s
just terrible, it’s getting so frustrating.”
One thing is for certain: The sched
ule is not going to save the Aggies.
Next up, the Aggies have to face the
only Big 12 team that has been able to
defeat the Longhorns this year - the
Oklahoma State Cowboys.
With the losses mounting, the pres
sure for Watkins to get his team to come
together and perform has never been
greater. His last chance to prove him
self may have already passed.
Lady Aggies drop eighth
straight to stay in Big 12 cellar
Super Bowl 2004
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
Iowa State head coach Bill
Fennelly said Texas A&M women’s
basketball team played hard in its
game against the Iowa State
Cyclones Saturday at Reed Arena.
But playing hard just wasn’t good
enough as the Aggies lost another
Big 12 game, 66-58.
“This playing hard is not work
ing,” said A&M head coach Gary
Blair. “Play smart and hard, and it
will work.”
Iowa State (10-8, 3-4 Big 12) shot
54.5 percent against the Aggies'
aggressive man-on-man and press
defenses. Iowa State's zone defense
held the Aggies to 35.7 percent.
“They got open looks and knocked
their shots down,” said A&M senior
guard Toccara Williams. “We knew
they had a great shooting team.”
A&M (7-12, 0-8) went on a nine-
point run late in the game to come
within two of the lead, but an Iowa
State lay-up, followed by a missed
three-pointer by A&M gave Iowa State
the breathing room it needed to last
through the final minutes.
“What we tried to do is not let their
three-point shooters get to the basket,”
Fennelly said.
A&M junior guard Mindy Garrison
has hit 33 of 99 three-pointers this
season but was held to zero on
Saturday, as was junior guard
Charlette Castile who has hit 20 of 55
three’s for the season.
Williams, who is zero-for-six on
the season from three-point land, was
the only Aggie to hit a shot from
behind the three-point arc connecting
three times on Saturday.
“When (Williams) goes three-for-
four from the three and the rest of them
goes (0-7), that is hard," Blair said. “We
needed somebody else to step up.”
Williams had another four steals,
bringing her to within nine steals of the
Big 12 record of 418.
A&M sophomore forward Tamea
Scales put up impressive numbers with
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
A&M sophomore forward Tamea Scales
battles for a rebound in the Aggies' 66-58
loss to Iowa State Saturday at Reed
Arena. Scales contributed 1 8 points and
15 rebounds in the losing effort.
a double-double, scoring 18 points and
pulling down 15 rebounds. Ultimately,
Williams and Scales were the only
ones producing for the Aggies. They
had a combined 44 of the 58 total
Aggie points and 23 of the 42 total
rebounds.
Scales’ 15 rebounds was the highest
of either team, and overall, the Aggies
won the battle under the basket with 42
rebounds to Iowa State’s 31.
Blair said Scales is likely to start the
rest of the season and possibly next
year as well.
“(Scales) doesn’t play with a
woe-is-me attitude, she plays with an
energy level out there that we need
some of our other kids to step up and
have,” Blair said. “Until this season
ends (Scales) will be in that starting
line-up.”
Iowa State led by only two at half
time thanks mostly to Cyclones redshirt
See Basketball on page 9
Terry Gilliam • KRT CAMPUS
Aggie men fall to No. 8 Duke
The No. 9 Texas A&M men’s tennis team
fell into its first losing streak of the young
season by dropping its match to No. 8 Duke
University 5-2 on Saturday. The loss marks
the Aggies' second straight defeat after los
ing to No. 1 Illinois, 4-3, last week.
Duke was able to set the tone for the day by
sweeping the doubles match. In the premier
match-up of a No. 1 against a No. 2, it took a
tiebreaker for Duke’s No. 2 doubles team of
Ludovic Walter and Jason Zimmerman to
squeak by the Aggies’ top-ranked team of
Lester Cook and Ante Matijevic 9-8 (4).
After capturing the ever-important doubles
point, the Blue Devils went on to win four of the
six singles matches.
“Duke was pretty good today,” said A&M
head coach Tim Cass. “I take responsibility for
the way our guys played. I’ve seen better
efforts from Aggie tennis teams.”
Despite his first doubles loss of the season,
Matijevic, ranked No. 19 in singles, was able to
defeat Walter in singles action later that day.
Walter, who is ranked seventh nationally, is the
highest-ranked opponent Matijevic has defeat
ed in his collegiate career.
Aggie women drop two of
three to open tennis season
The No. 25 Texas A&M women’s tennis team
lost two of three matches this weekend in
Lexington, Ky., as it began the 2004 season.
The Aggies fell to No. 13 Kentucky, 4-3, on
Friday, defeated Maryland, 4-3, on Saturday,
and fell to No. 9 Duke, 5-2, on Sunday.
In the loss to Kentucky, A&M came out
strong by taking the doubles point. The Aggies
then lost four of six singles matches as
Kentucky took the overall match. A&M sopho
more Nicki Mechem and freshman Anna
Lubinsky played well in the loss, combining to
win their doubles match over Kentucky’s Kim
Coventry and Christine Simpson, 8-5.
Mechem and Lubinsky also won the only two
singles matches for A&M.
A&M rallied after a slow start against
Maryland, but eventually defeated the
Terrapins on Lubinsky’s 6-3, 6-1 victory over
Maryland senior Chloe Chavardes. After losing
the doubles point, the Aggies won four of six
singles matches to take the win. Mechem,
senior Jessica Roland, and junior Helga Vieria
all had key wins in singles matches.
The Aggies fell to Duke to conclude the
weekend’s action. A&M lost the doubles point,
then four of six singles matches. Roland and
Lubinsky earned wins in singles.
No. 13 Aggies outswim SMU
The No. 13 Texas A&M men’s swimming and
diving team continued its winning ways this
weekend as it easily defeated the Southern
Methodist University Mustangs 144-94
Saturday in Dallas.
With the defeat, the Aggies (8-1) finished the
season undefeated on the road, which is only
the third time they have accomplished that feat
over the past 20 years. The Aggies have now
defeated the Mustangs four years in a row,
making it the second-longest consecutive win
streak against SMU in A&M swimming history.
It is also only the third time the Aggies have
defeated SMU at their home pool since the
teams began meeting in 1933.
The Aggies won 11 of the 13 events and
claimed the four fastest freestyle times.
Junior Alfredo Jacobo earned a win in the
breaststroke event, extending his streak to
eight consecutive first place wins in the event.
The Aggie men finish their regular season this
Friday at the A&M Student Recreation Center
Natatorium against No. 4 Texas at 3 pm, fol
lowed by the Aggie women who will face Rice
University at 6 p.m.
A&M track and field has
good showing in Louisiana
This weekend in Baton Rouge, La., Texas
A&M track and field ran away with seven gold
medals and four silver medals. The strong
showing in the Bayou Bengal Invitational was
led by senior thrower Josh Ralston.
Ralston threw 56-4.75 in the weight throw and
55-11.25 in the shot put, placing first in both.
Freshman Monique Lee placed first in the
women's 200-meter dash with a time of 24.76.
Freshman Katie Hummel earned her gold in
the women's mile, running the race in 5:02.35.
Coming in first in the women's 3,000-meter
run was senior Melissa Gulli.
Redshirt freshman Brian McKinstry also won
two golds by placing first in the 3,000-meter
and 1,600-meter relay race.
Freshman Jennifer Matthews placed sec
ond in the pole vault, while junior Justin
Sutton placed fifth.
The Aggies will travel to Ames, Iowa, to com
pete in the Iowa State Classic Friday.