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Show Sports 'Cats season comes to an end MONDAY MARCH 19 2012 Basketball falls to Loyola Marymount 84-78 in final game By Nathan Davis editor-in-chief I The Signpost PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Darin Mahoney blocks Portland State University's Renado Parker in the Big Sky Championship Tournament. WSU played and lost in overtime to Loyola Marymount University Sunday afternoon 8478 in the Collegelnsider.com Tournament. WSU's final record on the season was 25 7. Despite a comeback attempt, the Weber State University men's basketball team fell on the road to Loyola Marymount University in the Collegelnsider.com Tournament, 84-78 in overtime. Head Coach Randy Rahe said he was proud of the way his team fought back, and was let down the team came up short. "I felt what we saw today is what this group of kids is all about," Rahe said, "and what this program is about." Rahe said he felt LMU was the better team, but said the Wildcats were able to keep it close thanks to a strong team effort. "Tonight, to be honest, we were overmatched talentwise," Rahe said. " ... But together we really had a chance to win the game . . . I'm sick to my stomach that we didn't finish it off." The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead, but after going up in the early stages of the half, the Lions cut the deficit to two points, making it 12-10. Then LMU went on a nine-point run, jumping ahead. WSU tried to keep the score close for much of the half, but the Lions controlled the game for the greater part of the half. For much of the half, LMU led by 10 points or more. LMU also outrebounded the Wildcats in the first half. Just before halftime, GelaunVVheelwright hit a three to make the score at the break 41-31. Wheelwright played well for WSU in the first half, racking up eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers. In the second half, the Wildcats started slow, and struggled with turnovers early in the half, but were able to find their stride and cut the lead to seven points with 15:21 left to play. Damian Lillard then hit a jumper to cut the lead to five. Lillard converted three quick field goals to keep WSU in the game. LMU quickly put the lead back to nine points with two quick buckets of its own. Throughout the game, WSU was plagued by many See Basketball page 7 - WSU swept in home opener WSU falls to Dixie State 1 -22 and 4-2 on Purple My March Madness confession Corie Holmes • By Corie Holmes sports editor I The Signpost The Wildcats have been on the road for more than month. During Spring Break, the Weber State University women's softball team played at home for the first time. However, the home field did not give it an advantage, as the team fell to Dixie State College 1-22 and 2-4 in a doubleheader last Tuesday. "We just feel like we disappointed everyone," said Erika Dixon, team captain. "We were really excited to play on our home field and we didn't show that." The Red Storm won the first game 1-22 in five innings, putting up 15 hits and capitalizing on five Wildcat errors. WSU's pitching staff had a mere four strikeouts after facing 35 batters. Freshman catcher Janel Cunningham was a positive note in the first game for the Wildcats by going 3-3 at the plate. "We came out flat," said Tina Johnson, head coach. "We didn't make the adjustments we needed to and our pitching staff didn't come out throwing great. If we are going to be successful. our -Ditchers have to Playin' The Signpost columnist got their jobs done, and that was big for our team, because we know we can call on them when we need to," Dixon said. Johnson agreed with Dixon that the pinch hitters were a bright spot in the day. This is not your typical March Madness column. March Madness is the NCAA finals. Everyone should know that. This is one of the biggest and most anticipated sporting events in the country. It's right up there with the World Series and the Super Bowl. Here is the thing about me and March Madness: I. Do. Not. Care. Yeah, you read that right. People expect me to watch it, predict it and love it. I am not going to watch it. I don't have time to watch it. It's getting closer to the end of the semester. Between the massive amounts of homework, my three jobs and the new coaching gig I have, my free time will be spent working out and doing homework. I can't predict the games ii I have not watched any other college games besides the Big Sky Conference. If I were to fill out a bracket, I would pick the teams that (A) have cool mascots, (B) have cool colors (most definitely a team with purple in See Softball page 7 See Purple page 7 PHOTO BY CORIE HOLMES I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Morgan Allaband pitches the ball in the second game against Dixie State College Tuesday. WSU lost the doubleheader games 1-22 and 2-4. WSU will continue to play at home Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Wildcat Softball Complex. keep us in games. We just didn't bring our A-game today." The second game was much more competitive for the Wildcats, as they fell by a closer 4-2 margin. WSU played seven full innings and committed only three errors. Freshman Mor- gan Allaband started the game on the mound and pitched five hit-free innings. WSU had four pinch hitters step up in the last inning, earning WSU's two runs and four hits. "Our pinch hitters came in and they stepped up big and |