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Show 6 SPORTS Thursday, March 3, 2011 13° / 9 a.m. 22° / 3 p.m. conditions & weather from utahskiweathercom Packed powder on trail, areas of soft snow and bumps off trail. TODAY'S SKI REPORT Alta www.dailyutahchronicle.com Brighton 21° / 9 a.m. 25° / 3 p.m. Canyons 26° / 9 a.m. 310 / 3 p.m. a.m. Deer Valley 26° 310 I/ 39 p.m. Snowbird 21° / 9 a.m. 25° / 3 p.m. Solitude 21° / 9 a.m. 25° / 3 p.m. NATHAN SWEET/The Daily Utah Chronicle Johnson marks senior year with career highs Kelsey Price STAFF WRITER None of them were particularly life-threatening, or even particularly serious. There were no torn ligaments or serious orthopedic injuries that required surgery, no knees that gave out on a bad vault mount or tears of the Achilles tendon on beam missteps, and no physical therapy regimen that was six to eight weeks long. There were smaller injuries that, at times, kept Jacquelyn Johnson out of Utah's lineup. A concussion after a nasty spill on the bars left her sidelined for two weeks earlier this season. Junior year, a nasty case of appendicitis forced emergency removal and also left her out of the rotation. Sophomore and freshman years were filled with sprained fingers, sprained ankles and a broken foot. Whatever it was, little things kept inhibiting the senior from becoming one of the Utes' most prominent gymnasts. This year, Johnson is proving that senior years can end with a bang, as she has set career highs in every event this season, and she competed in the all-around for the first time as a Ute last week at Utah State. Johnson has become a consistent and shining star for the Utes in re- cent weeks but has never assumed the role of a four-event—let alone three-apparatus—gymnast until her senior season. Scoring a 39.225 in her all-around debut, Johnson has quickly assumed the role of a team leader, proving that hard work can lead to great things in the gymnastics arena. "Jacq has become so much more self-directed this year," said co-head coach Greg Marsden. "Not only has WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL Close call against Rams ends in victory for Utes U defense falters in second half UTAH: 61 CSU:59 )) NEXT GAME: UTAH @ UNLV Saturday at 4 p.m. Las Vegas, Nev. UTAH: 65 CSU: 78 Bubba Brown STAFF WRITER After the Utes blew a double-digit halftime lead in their first game against Colorado State this season, they understandably felt they had blown a big opportunity. They didn't have to deal with similar regret after the rematch Wednesday night, as they came back to dispatch the Rams 61-59 after blowing a 12-point second-half lead on Senior Night at the Huntsman Center. Trailing by one, Iwalani Rodrigues made three consecutive free throws with barely more than three seconds left to give the Utes their final lead. The Rams had a chance to tie it after their inbound pass, but Miexandra Porter missed a short, off-balance jumper as time expired. Rodrigues had a game-high 23 points for the Utes, and Michelle Plouffe chipped in with 17. As it turned out, Rodrigues had extra motivation to sink the game-winning free throws. See WOMEN Page 9 )) NEXT GAME: UTAH vs. UNLV Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Huntsman Center Jake Bullinger STAFF WRITER SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Iwalani Rodrigues had 23 points and 6-for-10 3-point field goals during the game against Colorado State University. Utah suffered a second-half meltdown as Colorado State (19-1o, 9-6 MWC) cruised to an easy 78-65 victory Wednesday night in Fort Collins. The game began to spiral out of Utah's control early in the second half. A 15-4 CSU run began with 19 minutes 27 seconds remaining and ended when Andy Ogide drilled a baseline jumper that gave CSU a 49-35 lead less than io minutes later. CSU struck again with a six-point spurt that gave it a 63-36 lead with 6 minutes io seconds left. It was the largest lead of the night and ended any chance Utah had of staging a comeback. "Defensively is where we struggled," said Utah head coach Jim Boylen. "I thought we were tentative defensively at the beginning of the game, and they got into us a little bit." Ogide led all players with 24 points and io rebounds in CSU's final home game. "He was hitting some crazy shots," said Jason Washburn. "He was hitting turnaround See MEN Page 10 she been healthy, but that drive has helped develop her leadership on the team. She's a great example to the younger girls of how hard work and perseverance can really pay off. She's worked hard to overcome her weakness—for others to watch her do that and how determined she's been and to accomplish that and to work herself in a position to be in the See JOHNSON Page 8 UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS FRIDAY: Baseball Utah vs. Texas A & M 3:30 p.m. Houston Gymnastics Utah vs. Florida p.m. Huntsman Center 7 Track NCAA Last Chance Qualifier TBA South Bend, Ind. SPORTS WORLD Davies dismissed from BYU team SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—BYU officials confirmed Wednesday that starting forward Brandon Davies wasn't involved in anything criminal that resulted in his dismissal from the team. University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said an honor-code review is under way to determine if the BYU sophomore will be allowed to remain in school, as well as his status with the team next season. BYU's honor code requires students to live a chaste and virtuous life, be honest, abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse, and attend church regularly. The school announced the dismissal Tuesday night after being made aware of the violation Monday—the same day BYU vaulted to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll. Davies had started 26 of 29 games and averaged ILI points and a teamleading 6.2 rebounds. |