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Show FORT UtSss inn: mm h U Utah ra30css sgacjisft BYU to Hake HM3 aim by John YouBgren Chronicle stafT PROVO For a minute there, they had 'cm. The Lady Utcs mounted a tremendous charge to ultimately tie the championship game of the Copper Classic up, 53-5And against BYU, to boot. But wait, stay 8. tuned. Because what did the Cougars do? Promptly reeled off a dozen quick points in a 12-- 2 scoring surge that left Utah recoiling. The Utes, realizing time was winding down, were left at the bottom end of a sudden 70-6- 0 deficit with just over five minutes left in the game. And what did the Utcs do? They came back again. It wasn't really something you might depend on every game and it wasn't really something Ute Coach Elaine Elliott would admit to planning, but Utah turned around when down 70-6-0 and proceeded to knock down some points of their own, in a 10-- 2 scoring burst that looked a whole lot like, hey, those darn Cougars. The second comeback put Utah right back in the game, down only 72-7- 0 with three minutes left. It also would be the key in the Utes continuing the momentum and stealing the game away from the Cougars who had led through the entire contest, by margins as large as 12 points to clinch Utah's sixth Copper Classic championship since the tournament's inception in 1978. and the Some pressure Utah fact the Cougars couldn't put anything together enough to get off a shot with the 1 1 seconds they had left was enough final score: Utah 77, BYU 75. Elliott said after the game she felt both of the Ute comebacks were different. "Our defensive pressure was the key in the first free-thro- ws Fswo, drive, where our transition game m the offense was the second," she said. Fflintr hreelf had dprtord tfe fjn,garc the favorite in the seventh classic and following DYlTs 97-5- thrashing ofWeber 6 State's Wildcats in the first round it appeared as though she ought have been right. But Utah served notice of its own with a sound 93-5-6 thump of Utah State to create the meeting of the two rrvak for the Central to the Ute effort was keeping BYU center Tresa Spaulding from using her dominant size to control the game underneath. "We fed we match up with them wdl at every position other than at center,' Elliott said before the game. But Utah adjustments and forceful play by Ute center Lcshia Lee and forward Anne Handy made Spaulding conten-dabl- e. Handy ended up leading the Utes in scoring, with 23 points, while Lee came in a 6-fo- ot-7 second, with 21. And, most importantly, they controlled perhaps Spaulding in the second half, when she was silent for the final eight minutes. "We kept the ball out of Spaulding's hands (down the stretch)," Elliott said. "It made a big difference in that second half." "She was so big that we ended up not-so-dist- ant shoving her up high, where she was a little bit out of her range and couldn't be as effective, Handy said. Utah started the game behind from the first hoop of the evening, which BYU forward Cindy Battistone put in before anyone, else could blink.. From the 2-backset they hung tough, staying within two or three points of the Cougars for most of the first half. Early turnovers and fours for the Utes kept them from mounting too much of a charge, however, and the half continued on page ten 3 jf Luc" 1 Utah 1- -1 I t ' 0,; J V'- jj; senior Anne Handy prepares to pass in recent Ute action. The Lady Utes 5 on Friday night to capture the Copper Classic defeated BYU championship, as Handy poured in 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on her Ute 77-7- way to becoming the tournament MVP. intheWAC Defensive Miners blister Utes by Mark Saal Chronicle staff While many strategists claim that the best defense is a good offense, the Miners of UTEP taught the Runnin' Utes a valuable lesson to be remembered: If you've got a good defense, who needs an offense? After trailing the Utes by as many as seven points in the second half, the Miners employed a tight man-to-m- an pressure defense which completely strangled the home team's offense and allowed the visiting Miners to roar past the Utes on the way to a 78-6- 7 Western victory. "The loss gives Utah a Athletic Conference mark going into a Thursday contest at San Diego State. Utah is 6--8 overall. "Ill tell you the whole key to the game," Archibald said following the loss. 'Their pressure took us out of the game . Why did it take us out? Because we got to standing around and got a little confused. We could make all kinds of excuses, but the main thing is that they just pressured us and defensed us well.' After fighting to a 33-- 3 1 halftime lead, the Utes came out in the second half to extend that margin to 47-4- 0 at mark. At this point UTEP Coach Don the Haskins clamped on the defense, and the 1 1,691 fans in the Events Center saw the Utah Special five minutes without a the next squad go through basket. By the time Manuel Hendrix hit a baseline jumper from the right side at the 10:10 mark, UTEP had taken the lead and wasn't about to give it up. The Utes were then faced with playing catch-u- p, and the Miners slowly upped the lead as they sank the free throws that Utah was unable to down the stretch. "Sure, it would have helped if we hit our free throws and they missed theirs, but the whole key was that great pressure I don't mean good pressure, I mean great pressure. Archibald said, who took the blame for some of it. "When they started pressuring us, I should have spread the offense out and looked far the easy basket. But their Quickness rattled usahttle. They farced us to take hurried shots and did a great no on the boards. That's definitely the quickest lean we've 1- -1 played all year. Utah's only offensive output came from Kelvin Upshaw, who led all scorers with 31 points and five assists. Other than that, the Utes couldn't get anyone else in double figures. Tim McLaughlin and Hendrix had eight points each, while Greg Dodd and Jerry Stroman added seven each. "That's been a problem the whole year," Archibald said of the lopsided scoring on the team. "I don't think we've had three guys in double figures in a game this season." Although the Utes outshot the Miners from the field (55 percent to 47 percent), UTEP converted on 24 of 30 free throws, compared to 19 of 26 for Utah. But many of continued on page ten Aztecs on top early man-to-m- an 15-min- ute man-to-m- Jk? IXcHia Ugalaw (with man-to-m- an bs3) (Classes) acts far 11 an by United Press International San Diego State University had an unusual taste of victory on the road last week, defeating Western Athletic Conference basketball foes Wyoming and Air Force to double the number of triumphs on last year's road record of Colorado State, also 0 in WAC play, did well by and Air Force staying at home, defeating Hawaii 69-58 the first week of league action. during San Diego took its place as conference leader with a 7 victory over Wyoming Thursday and clobbering Air Force 88-7- 3 on Saturday. San Diego is 10--2 in all games this season, slightly better than Colorado State, which stands at 9--3. The CSU Rams, tied with San Diego State with a 0 record in WAC play after the wins over Air Force and Hawaii are off to their best start since 1971. Fourth-ranke- d New Mexico downed Brigham ranked Young, sixth, 0 at Provo. The triumph marked the first time the Lobos have beaten Brigham Young on their homecourt since 1973. In other league action last week, Wyocucgdefccrd Hawau 63-6- 3 in Laramie, despite 22 turnovers tht 1-- 8. 2-- 8, 67-5- 60-5- 2-- 76-7- cpimc uamoows witxun strains |
