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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle PORTS 12 - The Daily Utah Mb Beckman giving the U the physical presence it desperately needed "The kids who play on the guard line have some big shoes to fill," said Utah women's coach Elaine Elliott before the season started. That's what anyone would have said. Alii Bills and Julie Krommenhock were the Utah offense last season. There wasn't a way to replace them, n but everybody looked for a offense. And while the new Ute backcourt has done an admirable job, it has had some unexpected help from another set of big shoes on the floor. Freshman center Lauren Beckman wasn't the one with the pressure to perform this season. She wasn't replacing the two best players ever to come through the Utah program. She wasn't at Utah last season, a year where the post wasn't as productive as it should have been. Beckman is a freshman and second on the depth chart in her position, one that has never been the heart of the Utah game. So if she played only a few minutes per game, scored a couple of points and then sat back down, nobody would be surprised. It would be what was expected. After all, nobody expects a guard on the San Antonio Spurs to be a major factor; they score from the inside. And Utah scores from the outside. But people arc surprised. Surprised to see a freshman center third on her team in scoring and leading the WAC in blocked shots. Surprised because opponents don't plan on guarding her carefully, and they pay for it; 10.8 times a game they pay for it. guard-drive- VP Surprised that she still comes in off the bench. Beckman herself isn't surprised. She was just hoping to get some minutes. "I've played a lot more than I thought I would," she said. "I've just been lucky, I guess." Yeah, right, lucky. Beckman's talents on the floor don't seem to be as unusual to her as they are to everyone else. Of course, she's had them longer than the U has. An eighth grade basketball class got Beckman interested in hoops. Then she made the junior high team (no wonder, she was already 6 feet tall). In ninth grade, Beckman began her career as a varsity basketball player. Clinton High School in Clinton, Miss., was the first institution to benefit from having Beckman in the middle. You can bet it was a sad day when the Beckman family packed up and moved to San Jose Utah l'' all-sta- te touch with Beckman during high school, and began to recruit her as soon as her senior year started. "We felt she wasn't going to be easy to get," said Elliott. "We also felt that other people would wish they had her." see beckman page (14-2- Clifford Martinez(12-- 4 1 14 Freshman Lauren Beckman has provided muscle in the paint for the Utes this season. ) for Big Beefy Basketball Bids Winn(10-6- ) '"y, . Elko, Nev. At Elko High, Beckman led her team to the state championship game her senior year. And she won a stack of personal awards. On the court, she averaged 13 rebounds, two blocks and 20 points per game, earning her two first team selections, two team MVP awards and one state MVP. "We had a great program at Elko," said Beckman. "The girls' basketball program was given anything and everything we needed to win." That everything included trips to Ute basketball camps in the summer, where Utah coaches first began to take notice. The Utes kept in Last Week's Winner: Gayle Hanson THE WEEK'S GAMES Wednesday, January 20,1999 Brandon Winn, Sports Editor: winnchronicle.utah.edu Chronicle B&D Pick the winners, rip this out of the Chrony and turn it into 240 Union by 5 p.m. Friday. The best basketball bidders will benefit bodaciously by being bestowed a big and beefy B&D burger. Burgers Waliy(11-5-) Green(9-7- ) Coles(9-7- ) Hancock Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah (11-5- ) (12-4- Swinyard ) (11-5- Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Fresno St. at Utah (W) Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Duke Duke Duke Duke Duke Duke Duke Duke Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina N.Carolina Michigan St. Indiana Indiana Michigan St. Indiana Indiana Indiana Michigan St. St. Fresno St. Utah St. John's Auburn N. Alabama Wake Forest Carolina Michigan Indiana St. '" Duke UCLA Louisville UCLA UCLA Louisville UCLA Louisville UCLA Louisville UCLA Iowa Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Iowa Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Minnesota Ohio St. Minnesota Minnesota Ohio St. Minnesota Ohio St. Minnesota Ohio St. Ohio St. S. Carolina Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse S. Carolina Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Wyoming Colorado St. Wyoming Colorado St. Colorado St. Wyoming Colorado St. Colorado St. Colorado St. Colorado St. Hawaii Hawaii San Diego St. Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii UNLVTCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU Tulsa Rice Tulsa Rice Tulsa Rice Rice Rice Rice Boston Boston Boston Hartford Boston Hartford Boston Hartford San Diego Hartford Name. St. Hawaii Rice Boston (W) Phone. Tiebreaker Pick the Score of Michigan St. Indiana ) Winners (14-2- ) |
