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Show WWW.NETXNEWS.NET MONDAY • DECEMBER 4 • 2006 Best start ever Webster's Wisdom Ben Webster Sports Editor Jazz lead league The NBA season is a marathon not a sprint but, with just under a fourth of the games out of the way, the Utah Jazz shocked everyone and find themselves at the top in the league standings. In the race that the NBA season is. the Jazz sprinted out to a 13-4 record with two wins over Phoenix, a win over San Antonio and a win over the Lakers. Their record alone stands as a surprise, but the way they have done it recently is also mind blowing. The Jazz came from being down double digits in the wins over Phoenix, in the win over Toronto, Sacramento, the L.A. Clippers and the Lakers. More often than not, the spark this year and in tnose key wins was a rookie or a young guy. Coach Jerry Sloan has never been a guy who likes to get the youngsters involved; just ask the third overall pick from last year, Deron Williams. He only started See WISDOM-B7 This week in sports Women s basketball against Southern Utah 7:05 p.m. Mens basketball against Utah State 7:05 p.m. Women s basketball against BYU Women s basketball against UC Riverside 3:05 p.m. James Warnick Sports Writer UVSC women's basketball team beat the visiting Boise State Broncos Wednesday night at the McKay Events Center, 81-66, to add to their best-ever season start of 61. UVSC top contributors Robyn Fairbanks and Sandy Marvin led the way. It was a record breaking night for the two Wolverine superstars as Sandy Marvin had a career high with 28 points and shot a perfect 13-for-13 from the foul line and 3for-3 from behind the three-point arc. Robyn Fairbanks pulled down 20 rebounds, setting a school record as well as leading the game with 29 points. Fairbanks was recently named the Division-I Independent Player of the week. After, she averaged a double double, 24 points and 12 rebounds per game, over the Thanksgiving break. Fairbanks also led the Wolverines to a 3-0 record that week beating San Diego State, Southern Virginia and New Mexico State all at the McKay Events Center. "I'm just glad she's on our team," Coach Cathy Nixon said, "I wouldn't want to have to figure out how to stop her; she's just very good. She is working to get better and getting better enables her to be successful." Boise State had an early 6-4 lead over UVSC in the opening minutes of the game, but the Wolverines scored 14 unanswered points to go up 18-6 early in the first half. Boise State showed that they were a contender by bouncing right back from an early deficit to get within a point, with the score 3332 towards the end of the 1st half. Great backcourt play from Asumi Nakayama and Sandy Marvin proSee B-BALL.B8 Chad Clark/NetXNews Robyn Fairbanks is dominating this year. She scored 29 points and grabbed 20 points against the Broncos Hockey team making strides in second year Ben Webster Sports Editor UVCS hockey Coach Matt Beaudry isn't going to let UVSC hockey fall away like it did in the past; in fact, he is turning his program into one of the best in the state in only the second year. After a 8-29 season last year, things have improved dramatically. The team returns only six players off of last year's team and the difference has been tremendous in the 8-6 start. "We are a better team, there is no question about it," Beaudry said. "Last year our guys played their hearts out. We are more talented, we are faster, we have enthusiasm and we are having success." Coach Beaudry deserves a lot of the credit for the improved squad. He was in recruiting mode right when the season ended last year. Beaudry recruited in Russia, Canada and all over the U.S. He said he was out aggressively recruiting every week. "The next season begins the day after the last. We are out to make this a powerhouse program and that takes getting guys who know the game," Beaudry said. UVSC is already proving to be one of the better teams in the state with three wins over the University of Utah and the biggest win for the program over BYU. Beaudry doesn't just credit recruiting for the teams improvement-he stressed the importance of recruiting guys with character. Many of last year's players complained about the tough no drinking, no smoking no messing around rules that Beaudry laid down. The difference is on the ice. Forward Ryan Moore said, "Last year, guys didn't care about following the rules; they were here for themselves. But after some complaining in the beginning, guys on the team this year have been willing to make the sacrifices and we are benefiting from it." Beaudry said, "My number one goal in recruiting wasn't recruiting for talent. I placed character first-that was the over-arching goal." Beaudry may have not said that he recruited for talent, but without question, the biggest Jamie Teerlink/NetXNews change this year is the talent level, as Beaudry said. The play- DJ Strader is one of the guys from last year enjoying the improved ers echoed that when they were play. He gets ready for a faceoff against Utah earlier this year. asked about it. "The biggest difference by have near the talent that we have This far is the talent level this year," now. It was just a bunch of guys V ear t h i n S s a r e l o o k i n S Bryan Larsen said. "We didn't that thought they would play good for the team. 1 |