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Show TMJRDEREM) UTAH UNIVERSITYDMONDAY JANUARY THE THUNDERBIRDDSOUTHERN 28, 1991 PAGE 8 Team average is up BY BRIAN HOWARD Thunderbird Staff Writer . The most important thing about Saturday night's gymnastic d meet against the Utah State Aggies is not that the Lady Thunderbirds lost. More important is that after three meets Southern Utah is averaging 180.65 points as a team, up from 176.45 at this point last season. Utah States 189.30-181.3was the highest point total for the Aggies so far this year, but SUs total was lower than last weeks 181.55. The improvement has been overshadowed by the injuries that have cut into the teams depth. Ankle sprains to Mika Whiddon and Julie Aguirre did not keep them from competing Saturday, but both registered lower scores. We competed with a lot of pain, but nothing incapacitating, said Coach Brent Hardcastle. The latest two ankle injuries are minor in comparison to the rash of serious ailments that have hit the squad this season. A recurring shoulder injury put Lisa Selby in a sling for the Utah State meet. Team captain Jenny Neilson is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that she suffered in the open-nmeet, and Becky Stonebrink went down with a knee injury last week at San Jose State. Utah States team total was a Centrum record, and the Lady Aggies set a school record on the floor exercise with 48.35. For SU Cris Becker set a personal best on the floor with a 9.35, and Kim Francis 9.4 was a new high for her as well. But the Lady Thunderbirds were locked out of the top three spots by Utah States Julie Ryan, who scored a 9.85, Barb Zahl with a 9.7 and three other Aggie gymnasts whose performances merited scores of 9.6. Zahl took the with 38.3 points. Aguirre was the top SU gymnast in the with 36.95 points. llth-ranke- 5 FR )V K I Mika Whiddon fought a sp'ained ankle again si Utah State Saturday, but her 9.0 on bars was second best for SU. Thunderbirds miss free throws, miss win at Wright State BY BRENT RICHEY Thunderbird Sports I ditor SUU makes the road in college basketball, coaches always say they want to play close enough to have a chance to win down the stretch. Saturday night Southern Utah played Wright State close enough to have a chance to tie down the stretch but didnt. The Raiders held on to beat SUU 96-9- 3 and improved to 10-- to take over the top independent spot, as the Birds fell to 11-SUU is home Wednesday night to take on Chicago State at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays loss was the second in a to lose 96-9- 3 OrT 6 row after Morehead State blew the Thunderbirds away in the second half of a contest Thursday to win 88-7- Against Wright State, the did almost everything they needed to do to win. They shot 57 percent from the field, spread the scoring around, kept turnovers nearly even. The glaring weakness, the one that could have put SU over the top, was the free throw line. The Birds were only 17 of 27 from the charity stripe. Tracksters better at Battling against other teams in the Beehive state and Idaho, the Southern Utah track squad packed it up to Provo Saturday for the BYU Indoor Invitational. The Birds continued to improve as predicted by Coach Paul Maggio, with higher finishes and better times than last week at Utah State. The men kept up their success in the 400 meters with Norman Burns in 53:03 for eighth, followed by Derek Bohne and Greg Collins in 12th and 13th with 54:91 and 54:94, respectively. Shawn Wright finished ninth in the 200 meters in 23:20. Gary Hamblin only 17 of 27 shots from the line to the Raiders on the road Saturday BYU marked a 1:59.68 in the 800 meters. For the women, Mary Cribble finished fourth in the 3000 meters at 10:43.13, more than 10 seconds faster than her time last week in Logan. Jennifer Englestead finished sixth in the triple jump (321K), and ninth in the long jump with (159K). In the 200 meters Denise Boyer finished in 28:48, Cheryl Lenzer in 30:15, and Nicole Smith in 30:45. k The team now takes a furlough in preparation for the Mountain States Invitational, Feb. 9 against host Idaho State. one-wee- 8-- Except for the missed free throws, I think this is the best game weve played so far, said Head Coach Neil Roberts. Dana Achtzehn topped his career best, previously set against Chicago State three weeks ago, exploding for 34 points and 16 rebounds. Achtzehn is SUs leading rebounder at 8.3 a game. In the last 10 games he has pulled down an average of 12 a contest. SU took an lead with 3:57 to play in the game on a Rod Dixon 85-8- 4 layup. Then with :58 remaining and WSU up 94-8Rex Brimhall made a layup, and the Birds put Marcus Mumphrey, who had 19 points, on the free throw line with 33 seconds to play. He made one to make it Dixon then hit another layup. Mark Woods made a foul shot to make it a three-poigame, and SUU had the ball with 23 seconds left, but Wade Wyatt missed a trey to tie. Thursday night against Morehead DaVor Marcelic scored 28 points, and Rex Brimhall added 16, as SU moved halftime lead. But the out to a in the Birds were outscored second half. 95-9- 43-3- 2 56-3- 2 Ladies lose consolation" The word consolation lost its meaning for the SU women cagers over the weekend. After Coach Gordon Kerbs watched his team come up short to 3 Sacramento State Friday night in the first round of the Hornets tournament, he expected to play Northridge in the consolation game. But Portland State, who beat up Northridge in the opener, has played its limit of Division II teams and 78-6- couldnt face Sac State. So, stuck with PSU, SU got stuck 105-6SU got beat at the line the first night, sending CSUS to the stripe 39 times, but SU committed 60 turnovers in the two games. The kids arent playing relaxed right now, said Kerbs. Sometimes Im a little negative, and they play tight, afraid of making mistakes. will face Southern Utah Northridge on the road Saturday. (3-1- s |