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Show tti l DAILY THE I CHRONICLE UTAH Men Will Wage War Women Looking to Attempt to Take Conference Lead Retain Undefeated MWC Record Vs Y ERIC WALDEN Chronicle Sports Editor RANDALL HARRINGTON game." Chronicle Sports Writer Ewcrt Utah's ivp defensive stopper will be expected to shut down the Cougars' top scorer, sophomore In Battles between Utah's and BYU's athletic teams are usually entertaining enough solely on the merit of the rivalry factor, but throw a conference championship in the mix, and you've got all the ingredients for a classic bat- "Hate" is a strong word. It's defined as feeling a great hostility or animosity toward an object of detestation. So, without further ado, grab the chips 'n salsa and get ready as another h rivalry will chapter in the be written this weekend. The first stanza will be composed by the women tonight, when the No. 13 University of Utah women's basketball team travels south to Provo, putting its winning streak and unbeaten Mountain West Conference record on the line against Brigham Young Uni- the Utes' and Cougars' men's basketball teams battle it out this Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center. The teams have been virtually evenly matched throughout their respective histories, and this season has been 1 victono exception. With BYU's ry over the U in Provo back on Jan. 29, the Cougars moved ahead on the hisd torical ledger, Aside from giving them bragging rights, however, that win was significant for the simple reason that it gave the Y the advantage in the season series. Now, with both teams tied atop the MWC's leaderboard with identical 3 league records coming in, Saturday's game not only puts one team on top of the conference standings, it also plays a big part in solving potential Watching a Utah women's game latelyAas been more painful than sit-ting through an Eminem performance i at the Gramrnys. I It has not been painful because Utah is not good, but rather because the 3 nationally ranked Utes are too good 1 outplaying their conference foes to the point it is painful to watch the other 2 team getting beat like a drum. Last month, however, BYU played 5 Utah tough, losing only by 10 points. '"Well, no matter what's happened in the past, we stili want to kill them," said senior guard Amy Ewert. "Even uj 115-11- 4. j 8-- hoops, page 10 Ksvifi Sradisy and the Utes get a rematch with BY? on Saturday. gymnastics powers collide tonight at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center as the No. 3 Utah Utes (6-host the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines Two 1) (8-5- ). The Wolverine gymnasts present the biggest threat of the season to the home winning streak owned by the U. Not that the streak is on the mind of the Utes. "We'd rather not deal with the streak. It's great, but not that important in our minds. We can only control how we do, that's all we can focus on," said senior Theresa Wolf. Utah has been doing just fine lately. The Red Rocks convincingly protected the streak last week with a 197.900 to 196.100 drubbing of No. 11 Arizona State. "We definitely can win if we perform like last week. We're capable of UtaH at Arizona 223-2- 5 Tucson, Ariz. v IPs. said U gymnast Shannon Bowles. But Michigan is clearly superior to the Sun Devils. The Wolverines are coming off their best performance of the year, a 197.225 to 190.850 spanking of SouthEast Missouri State. Top U.S. Sydney Olympian Elise Ray is Michigan's star gymnast Ray is ranked seventh nationally on the floor anu bars, with averages of 9.920 and 9.910, respectively. Against SEMS, Ray and senior Bridget Knaeble recorded k perfect 10.0s. also possesses something Michigan the Utes do not lots of experience this year. Of the Wolverines' 13 opponents, 10 have been ranked, compared to just four for Utah. In addition, eight of those 10 teams were ranked withfn the top 10 nationally. And it only gets tougher for Michigan. Following the meet in Salt Lake City, the Wolverines host No. try to he!p the win streak. "f fr; Mm' 1 "fe i back-to-bac- big-me- et 2 JUS. 1 ?T?if" 1 UCLA. Michigan, ranked No. 3 in preseason that, but we can also improve on the little mistakes we made last week," BASEBALL Keisy Stireman wiSi Utes build on an mag ymnast s' Streak Threaten RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor 10 versity. 69-6- see UZH'S see WOMEN'S HOOPS, page BYU-Uta- tle. Such is the scenario when head-to-hea- though we beat them the first time, we want to beat them every time. We can't stand them. "It is all up to us. If we come and we bring what we can, wc are a better team and we will win," she added. "We have no problem getting up for a BYU see gymnastscs, page 11 The Utes' 22-ye- ar WOMEN'S HOOPS GYMNASTICS UtaTT Michigan vs Utah at BYU 223 7 p.m. S Provo, Utali CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR regular season home winning streak couSd end tonight against No. 7 Michigan. INDOOR TRACK "Utah 223 Huntsman Center ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN at MWC Meet 223-2- 4 Fort Collins, Colo. MEN'S HOOPS UtaTT BYU at vs Utah Western Regional 223-2- 224 4 581-704- p.m. Huntsman Center Brcckcnridge, Colo. EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU 3 1 1 |
