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Show m - Tfce Daily VUk - CHRONICLE TP . Is All Up to Fehlberg Now Is there anything that can stop Utah's Alii Bills? Many have tried. Chronicle Utes (11-- rate knee surgeries could haw sidelined her, but Bills shrugged them off. Then Mother Nature herself tried to get into the act But not even she could stop the Utc point guard. . Early Monday morning, Bills, Julie Krommenhoek and Laura Ross awoke to what Bills described as "a rain forest - Brighara Young University's athletic director in 1995, you inherited a men's basketball team that had hit a rough patch. Coach Roger Reid's squad had missed a couple of recruits, had a couple of missions and had a couple of unfortunate injuries. In your first year on the job, the Cougars settled at fifth place in theWAC. That wasn't good enough for you, of course. You're a winner. You're a three-timWAC champion wrestler. In 1972, you placed fifth at the in their apartment It seems that during the night, the water pipes in the trio's apartment froze and burst, flooding the place with over four inches of water. "There was a river running down (Jut hall,'' joked Ross. Coming off a week without sleep, running water or any sense of order, frustration had to be setting in "I couldn't find my books until yesterday (Wednesday)," said Bills. "All of our stuff was thrown into a big pile. I didn't know where anything was." With all the craziness and confusion, e NCAA championships, and For you were an short-termedieven you, ocrity is unacceptable. So this year, when Reid lost one would have guessed the three m recruit-of-the-decad- O - . assignment of guarding the WAC's ' leading scorer, Emma Wilson. While Wilson did have 18 points, they didn't come easily or prettily. .... '. Wilson only had two good looks all night while under the constant pressure of Bills. She nailed both open shots --but you can hardly fault Bills, as both came from 25 feet out The rest of Wilson's points came either from the foul line or off crazy running that onc-handc- The Utes hit 1 the second half, many this December by losing to Boise State and Houston, it was time for you to become great The fans were howling. The media was slobbering. The boosters were palpitating. a winner-cou- ld you-owhat had to be done, nly .see ' Only do "Beacham" on page 11 ; ? ( ft shots during of which came Cmunxu htoto Jeff Backstrantf on breakaway layups after turnovers see "Women" on page 11 Chronicle Assistant Sports Editor - ? It's a good thing the Utah Jazz signed Ruben Nembhard to a new contract Thursday morning. It's also a good thing it was only a Instead, the Jazz fed off the inspired play of the former Weber State Wildcat and defeated the Phoenix Suns Thursday night 95-9- 1 Nembhard finished with 12 points in 19 minutes. He had something to Lisa Thueson shoots up and over TCU1 Jennifer Hickman. beat TCU 7746 to remain unbeaten in WAC play at - ' prove. . No. 9 Utes Start Slowly, Dump SMU ,. "I didn't expect to play that many minutes, but I was ready he said. His coach, at least until Jan. 26, liked what he saw. ; "Ruben gave us a tremendous lift," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "It's great to see some energy out These Runnin Utes are such teases. It's indecent, there." 3 record, acquired - end of the bench and signaled Nembhard. He knew this was his chance. " "They stuck me in, and I just wanted to show them what I could do " Nembhard said. With the rookie on the court, the J run. In fact, it Jazz went on a $ was Ncmbhard's three-poin- t play with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter that gave that Jazz a ' lead. It was a lead they would never . relinquish-b- ut they sure tried. Utah went into the locker room leading 4945 and. built that margin up to as much as nine in the third quarter. However, the streaky shoot- ting 34-3- 1 y 2 ing of Wesley Person and Kevin Johnson kept the Suns close. With the Jazz's recent track record, any- h thing was possible. Sure enough, Utah started to come apart at the seams with five! minutes remaining. "We started to hang our heads a bit, like, 'Oh my gosh, here we go again,'" Sloan said. ' Utah was leading 93 91 with 10 . seconds remaining in the game, but a cosdy. turnover by Antoine Carr Omtftu fnato Chad CnnHt gave the Suns possession and a shot Utah's John Stockton pushes the ball up the court in the Jan's 95-9-1 to win the game. ' Phoenix wasn't thinking overtime. victory Thursday night He finished with 12 points and nine assists in a forward Cedric game the Jazz barely hung to win. ' . . . nee "Jus" (m page 11 rVr. Newly-acquire- d mostly of drunks gathered up from park benches, and you're hosting Utah in your first game against a ranked oppo- " ! C" ; through beating teams consis- 33-1- 9 'AT real- - Imagine you're part of the Southern Methodist men's bas- kctball team. You have a 10-- 26-1- 6 y The Utes 4--0. With Utah trailing and only two minutes remaining in the first quarter,- Sloan pointed toward the like that one bit. tournament , "e contract; otherwise, the Jazz probably would have been starting i another losing streak. ; JAMES EDWARD one senior and more chemistry problems than Ned Brainard got off to a 14 start,.you heard the grumblings loud and clear. Just an hour up the road, Utah basketball is in a lengthy renaissance.. The Runnin' Utes have titles. They have tournament berths! They have a nicer building. They're not losers-a- nd Cougar fans don't m V found their way home somehow. did a good job taking away the things they like to do on offense," said Utc coach Elaine Elliott "We really did a job defensively tonight" Offensively, the Utes dominated in the second half. After shooting only 34 percent in the first half, including a stretch that saw them go from the floor, the Utes came out on fire in the second half. 10-da- y -- a team with eight freshmen, BYU fans aren't losers, either. They want rcsults-a- nd many think the best way to get them would be to hire another athletic director. You knew the basketball team wasn't your fault, but they didn't. They wanted your head. They wanted Danny Ainge. They wanted a real winner. But that's you, isn't it, Rondo? You couldn't be the problem. So it must be Roger. He had the best career winding percentage in WAC history. He averaged 22 wins a season. He won three WAC tides and two WAC Tournaments. It's not enough. He's not a winner. You know winners. When Reid's Cougars finished fourth in their own four-tea- , Nembhard Carries Jazz to Win Chris e Burgess to Duke, when Bryon Ruffner was caught with his hand in the Jell-- mold, when the school bully. r Bills filled the bully's role nicely, putting together 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, five steals and only one , turnover. On defense, Bills had the 44WAQ. Opponents have tried gimmick, defenses; Bills ate them up Two sepa- You are moving closer to your destiny every day. You are doing what others only dream about. You're the man now. You're the one. When you took over as . every other aspect of the game'. Afterwards, TCU coach Mike Petersen was left slumped over looking like a kid who just had his lunch money stolen by Nobody has succeeded. When Bills and her teammates were done with Texas Christian Thursday night, the Utes had an easy 7746 win, and the Lady Frogs had 12 headaches caused by the Utah point guard and her Sports Editor Congratulations, a) would have come into last night's game a little disoriented. One would have - been , wrong. '." Instead, they put on a clinic on playing defense, team offense and about BRANDON WINN Chronicle Sports Writer Greg Beacham Rondo dreams fnr4 Utah Weathers Storm, Beats TCU BYU's Basketball Future TTk ' nent. You're nervous, but you've got the home crowd behind you at Moody Coliseum. When the game begins, you" score. You score again, You score again. You're up The crowd makes with the tonsils. You're on top of the world You extend the lead to 187. The Runnin' Utes ain't so , tough. This game is easy, Ninety minutes later, you're sitting in the locker room wondering how Utah beat you 7 and remained unbeaten in the WAC. Now you have issues, you have to get a thera9-- 2. , 74-5- pist, you're talking to total strangers on the bus, you're going to female-bonding movies.. at isn't pretty. The Runnin' Utes sneaked up on the young Methodists; Utah went on a 24-- scoring run in the first half and hung tie at around to force a halftime. See "Men" on page 11 : 8 37-3- 7 |
