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Show ChaoNicU Paqe FaidAy, January Ten 22, 9M SPORTS Qymis set to me hoop. court off face U. No. 2-ran- sr' i ii ked Louisiana Tech s, W., if""- - O uplit After dropping two out of three on their last road trjp to California, things for the Lady "Utes" don't appear to get any easier this weekend. Saturday night, Utah will be matched against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La. The game marks the first-evmeeting between the two schools. It's a first game that maybe Utah would have been wise to schedule a few years down the road. Maybe 20. Here's a few of the reasons why. Louisiana Tech is currently ranked second in thenation and is boasting a 14-- 0 mark this season. The Lady Techsters have advanced to Final Four seven times in the last NCAA fthj nine years. They were also the 1987 runner-u- p in - and beat them by 30 points." Elliott said it is good for Utah to play teams like the Lady Techsters. And playing the good competition will help Utah once conference play begins. teams the-Weste- rn Watkins "Boo" Singletary led Utah with 15 points and almost ly kept the U. in the game at the beginning of the second half. to give Singletary hit a three-point- er Utah a 0 lead. It was its only lead of single-handed- 1982. Finally, Louisiana Head Coach Leon Barmore boasts a 310-3- 5 record since taking the job at Louisiana Tech. You probably get the picture.Despite all this, Utah Coach Elaine Elliott is excited for the game and feels it will be a good experience for her team. "We don't go into a game like Louisiana Tech concerned about winning or losing," Elliott said; "They consistently play Top 10 ALBUQUERQUE, N:M. One of the toughest road trips in Athletic Conference got off to a sour start for Utah Thursday night in The Pit as New Mexico defeated the U., 55-5- 0. Behind Hunter Greene's 17 points and center Rob Loeffel's 10 rebounds, the Lobos took a 30-2- 8 halftime lead and then hung on to win moving their conference record to 2. Utah dropped its first WAC game of the season and fell to 41 in the conference and 12-- 4 overall. Although Utah kept it close the entire game, two stats told the story in this one. i Free throws and offensive rebounds. Utah went to the line three times (3 for 3), while New Mexico had 12 charity tosses (9 for 12). Then there was the rebounds. Overall, the Lobos, behind Loeffel's strong play, outrebounded Utah, 2316. But the U. could only muster two offensive boards. "Our kids played a great basketball game but if there was one thing we could have done is screen thera off the boards a Archibald said. ck the road. Special to the Chronicle little better," Utah Coach Lynn the NCAA tournament (they lost to Tennessee in the championshipgame). Louisiana Tech also won back-to-banational championships in 1981 and 3). WAC win 3-- er 91-6- hard-foug- ht 5 By Kent Condon Chronicle staff writer Louisiana Tech has been ranked in the Top 10 every week since the 1979 season. The Lady Techsters have led the nation in attendance for the past three years and are averaging more than 3,000 spectators so far this season. J, They have defeated three Top 20 teams 'already this year by a total of 68 "points Georgia 79-5- 9 and Washington 70-5- 0, Two of those wins came on UNLV for 55-5- 0 w LVVfSOsP Lobos hold off U. 31-3- the second stanza. After that. New Mexico went on a 0 run, capped off by a Greene dunk on a fast break. ' back came to hit two free Singletary throws at the mark (Utah's first free throws of the game) and followed that with an jumper to cut the to four, margin 9-- 3-o- Chronicle photo by Guy Elder Utah guard Gina Butters is coming off a hot shooting night against San Diego where she didn't miss a shot from the field. She'll need to be hot Saturday night Louisiana Tech. when Utah plays No. n-l I3-min- ute 18-fo- ot 39-3- 5. "We schedule teams like Louisiana Tech for what we can gain from them," Elliott said. "I feel it is valuable to play the top teams in the nation." For Utah to make this one interesting, the Lady "Utes" will need a good effort from all their players. Senior Tiffany Roger-Krame- r, back who battled a in back the starting lineup. injury, is currently leading Utah Rogers-Kramin scoring with a 14.8 average, and is second best in rebounds grabbing 5.2 per contest. Utah will need a good performance from the other two front court players, Leslie Neebling and center Donna Holzwarth. The mid-seas- on is er Lady Techsters field one of the most powerful front courts in the nation. Louisiana Tech's frontcourt consists of center Venus Lacy, forward Erica Westbrooks and Nora Lewis. All three average double figures in scoring, and Lacy and Lewis both average 10 rebounds per outing. Another obstacle facing Utah is the fact this game will be played on the Lady Techsters' home court the ThomasAs-sembl- y Center. Louisiana Tech impressive opened. 85-- 2 is an there since the facility was After New Mexico scored baskets to take a 43-3- 5 advantage, Chris Fulton hit a three-poi- nt play and was fouled by Rob Robbins. Fulton converted the free throw for a rare, four-poi- nt play making the score 43-3- 9. But New Mexico held the U. at bay the rest of the night although Fulton had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. back-to-ba- His three-poi- nt ck attempt fell short, however. Fulton finished with 10 points. Utah now heads to UTEP for a Saturday evening game with the Miners, an loser Thursday night to BYU. 81-7- 1 Dirk Facer All you Layden haters, adjust your Twins hats When a coach starts listening to the fans, he soon starts sitting in the stands. Since when did everyone in Utah become an expert on professional basketball? Lately, the central debate centers on Utah Jazz Coach Frank Layden and the concern of many that Layden is responsible for the Jazz's sub-pperformance this season. Layden has served as skipper of the Jazz since December of 1981. Until Layden took over as coach, the Jazz had never been in the playoffs or for that matter had a winning season. The 1983-8- 4 NBA Coach of the Year has led the Jazz to a division title and four straight playoff appearances. In fact, over the past four years the 6 Jazz have been winning. Their record is the 10th best in the league over that period. Last season, for example, the Jazz recorded a 44-3- 8 mark the second best record in franchise's history. All this has happened while Layden has exhibited a strong loyalty to both ar 172-15- the Jazz and Salt Lake City. This was first displayed when Layden replaced Tom Nissalke as the coach of the Jazz. At that time, Layden was serving as general manager of the strapped Jazz. He accepted the coaching position at no additional cost to the team. And more recently, he turned down a lucrative offer to coach the New Jersey Nets in order to remain with the then-financia- lly Jazz. Even when the franchise was almost sold to a Minneapolis group a couple of years ago, Layden said he would leave the organization and remain in Utah rather than move to Minnesota. . Layden has given his all to this community and to the Jazz organization. His numerous charitable acts and dedication are almost unheard of these days.. - When you think about it, some of these things are just as important as winning or losing. But for those ignorant "fans" who insist on a change, let me point out a few facts. Since 1980 the only teams to reach . the NBA finals are Boston, Philadelphia, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers. You can have the best coach, but you won't win a championship without a surplus of talent. This can be backed up by Bill Russell, new coach of the Sacramento Kings. At Boston he led the Celtics to several NBA titles as both a player and as a coach. But All he's doing at Sacramento is losing. This year, the Jazz have only two steady performers Karl Malone and John Stockton. If you disagree, try matching Mark Eaton, Thurl Bailey, and Kelly Tripucka against Kareem Abdul-Jabba- r, James Worthy and Magic Johnson. Utah is a ood team, not a great one. A trip to the playoffs beats a trip to the lottery drum. Layden has never said the Jazz are ready to challenge for the title. But the team is becoming a consistent winner. And I'm not saying Layden is totally blameless, either. But he is no longer the general manager and more importantly he is not the one who misses the layups and plays defense the way Barney Fife protected Mayberry. United they stand, divided they fall. When a team loses, it's everyone's fault and not just the coaching staff. Sure he has made some mistakes, but he has also made some great decisions that have led the Jazz from obscurity. To those "experts" out there, sit back and relax. Adjust your Minnesota Twins hat, tune in the Lakers game and get ready to purchase your Super Bowl sweatshirt of the team which wins, of course. True fans support their teams through thick and thin. Afterall, Frank Layden has received and deserves better treatment from the Jazz "fans." By the way, with Layden home suffering from the flu Wednesday night and assistant coach Jerry Sloan guiding the team, the Jazz still lost to Detroit in the Salt Palace. But the Pistons were just lucky, right? |
