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Show Miwaukee 115,Orlando 108 Phoenix 84, Philadelphia 71 LA. Lakers 104, Washington 9t @ GOLF: KELLY LEADS TPC D-2 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS @ JAZZ: LOSS HURTS DIVISION CHANCES D-6 CLASSIFIEDS D-8 MARCH24,2007 = 2001 NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Utes Hope Offense Comes to Defense Scoring onIrish, not defending them, is the focus for Utah BY PATRICK KINAHAN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE DENVER — The two Sweet 16 combatants are built on defense, each yess te than 55 points a game. ly, Utah coach Elaine ee cites Saas as the keyto tonight’s Midwest Region semifinal gamebetween No.5 seed Utah and No. 1 Notre Dameatthe Pepsi Center (6 p.m., ESPN). In running up a program-best 28 wins, the Utes usually stifled opponents with a smothering defense, a fact that the Fairfield and Iowa coaches mentioned after Utah beat their teams in the NCAA Tournament’s first two rounds. But Elliott does notenvision the samething happaneer one ofthe nation’s best you don’t go into a gamelikethis it’s all about holding them under50,” Elliott said. “We are going to haveto score atthis level. You're not going to be able to win because you defend. “You'll win because you defend and find a way to score. Sometimes Notby a longshot. Notre Dame(30-2) is in the midstof its best season. Four points separate theIrish from perfection. Elliott concedes that in a 10-game series, Notre Dameassuredly would win th® majority. But the NCAA Tournament is about only 40 minutes. Ina winner-take-all format, maybe the Utes have a chance. “Anything can happen,” said Ruth Riley, Notre Dame's All-America center. “We're not overlooking anyone.” After polishing off Michigan last Monday, the Irish gathered around thetelevision to watch the Utes han- throughout the season, we could just defend andstill beat people because die Iowa. Utah’s defensive intensity we were better than them. We're not was noticeable. Coach Muffet McGraw compared better than [Notre Dame].” the Utes to Rutgers, which beat Notre Dame54-53 this seasol “Obviously,it’s nine to be a challenge for our offense,” said McGraw, the national coach of the year. “Welike to score, and we're a pretty good offensive team. “Our defense is as good. I'm more ofa coach thatlikes to see an offensive game.” McGraw also is concerned about TONIGHT Utah vs. psychological factors. Notre Dame Where: Notre Dame, ranked No.1 for sev- eral weeks this season during a 23game winningstreak,is splattered all Pepsi Center, over national television. The Irish Denver also are Sweet 16 regulars, making their fourth appearance in five sea- When: 6 p.m. TV: ESPN Radio: sons. They also reached the Final Four in 1997. KALL-AM (910) See UTES,Page D-5 2001 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune Russia’sIrina Slutskayais in first place after a strong performance in the short program Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia. Technically, Slutskaya on Road to Gold Bulldogs can’t keep pace with defending champion Spartans THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA — Michigan State no longer Russian leads Kwan heading into final showdownfortitle BY KATHY STEPHENSON ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE | | | | 5.8s and two5.7s. receiving lower —Rosetia,D-3 time defending world cham- However, Kwan,the three- pion, beat Slutskaya in presentation, we three 5.9s, five 5.8s and one5.7. “I did everything I wanted to today,” said Slutskaya, even after a technical problem with her music at the beginningof the program. “I was shocked,of course,” she said through an interpreter, adding it was the first timeit had ever happened to her. Slutskaya said she recognizes and appreciates the contrast between herselfand her American rival. “Our styles our totally different,” said Slutskaya. “Michelle has a more lyrical style. | have upbeat national championship.” Top-seeded Michigan State (27-4) was simply too big, too quick and too deep for No. 12 Gonzaga (26-7), which led 44-41 with just under 16 minutes remaining. When the Spartans turned up the defensive pressure, Gdénzaga had trouble even finding the rim. The Bulldogs went 8:02 without a field goal, throwing upatleast three airballs during that span and missing badly sev- INSIBE ee pera Arizona eal Ole Miss D7 Mi Temple buries Penn St. D7 bounds. The6-foot-3 Bell also sneaked inside the bigger players to grab 10 rebounds, costume, performed the sameshort programto “East of Eden,” the musi¢ she used in winning the U.S. See SKATING,Page D-3 BY MICHAE! LC. -EWIS THE concerned, that's French for “saved our hides.” That's because without Canadian freshman Veronique Leclerc inserted into the all-around lineup barely 30 minutes before the meet thefifth-ranked Utes might have seen their unprecedented 22-year home winning streak come crashing to an end against rival Brigham Young at the Huntsman Center on Friday night. Instead, they tied Jason Richardson had12 points and seven rebounds. Zach Randolph added10 points, “Until somebody knocks them off, they're the champions,” Gonzaga coach MarkFew said. “We made run after run at them. But they kept coming at us, coming at us, comingat us.” Hutson epitomized the UT LAKE TRIBUNE Veronique? Magnifique. And as far as the Utah gymnastics team is eral other times. theyare so differentfrom each other.” keep my nerves down andnail thetriple flip at the end andstay solid,”shesaid. Kwan, dressed in a new mandarin-orangecolored Freshman fill-in helps fend off BYU upset Michigan State, which kept on winning despite losing Cleaves and Peterson from its title team, got another balanced effort. Andre Hutson had 19 points and 10 re- lively programs. It is very hard to compare because Kwan was pleased with her results, despite having “nicked” the ice when landinga triplelutz. “I was little off on one jump, but I was able to Leclerc Rescues The Utes thinking we could win another techni marks from all but oneof the nine judges. Utah's Theresa Wolf tied for first place on the beam Friday night at the Huntsman Center. get this far, but we cameinto this season Kwan x in ae insiaE ‘Slutskayawillbetough ‘o beat in Salt Lake Evenso, the Spartans still havethe look of a champion. Charlie Bell scored 21 points and led a stellar defensive effort by the defending national champions, who moved within one victory of getting back to the Final Four while ending another memorable NCAA Tournament run bytiny Gonzaga. Michigan State overpowered the Bulldogs 77-62 on Friday night in the South Regional semifinals, advancing to meet Temple for a chance to play in Minneapolis. “It’s been a long year and we're just happy to be playing another game,” Bell said. “A lot of people didn’t think we could John Bazemore/The Associated Press blue-collar Gonzagaforward Zach Gourde reacts during second-half play against Michigan State at the NCAA South Regional semifinals at the Georgia Domein Atlanta. See SPARTANS,Page D-8 the school record with a score of 197.925 and handed the Cougars their 90th straight regular-season loss in Salt Lake Ci And while the 12th. BOYS SOCCER: BINGHAM 2, KEARNS 0 Miners Take Control in Region 2 BY PETER RICHINS DeMill also gave accolades to the Miners’ second. string defenders, THESALT LAKETRIBUNE SOUTH JORDAN — It took less thana minutefor Binghamto show which was the dominant teamin Friday's boys soccer gameagainst Kearns. After thefinal whistle, the Min. ers also had shown whichis the teamto beat in Region2. Bryan Rodgers got the quick tally for Bingham (4-0), and the Miners becamethe only unbeaten teamin Region 2 with a 20victory over the Cougars. “We came out real fired up and just happened to havea coupleof pretty good chances,” Bingham coach Lynn DeMill said. “I don't know if we started quick or if they started slow, but whatever it was madethedifference.” Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune ‘Todd Goeckeritz added another tally before thefifth minute, hitting “I don't think same starters [on defense) yet this www. .tribphoto.co com 1 Soccer roundup a 20-yarderfrom D4 the left cor: ner of the penalty box and demoral izing the Cougars (3-1) before they could get off a shot “It hurt us alot; we got frustrat ed,” Kearns coach Don Knappsald. “Weweresurprisedat the level that Binghamwas ‘TheMiners controlled theaction than11 guys that areall the same caliber, andtheyall contribute.” Knappwaspleasedwith Kearns’ second-half effort, even thoughthe Cougars were unableto score. voke upa little bit oe Knapp said. “If we played like that the whole gam wouldhavebeen more competitive At least in the second half, we had some pride.” Kearns’ offense had some prom: poping ising shots in thesecondhalf, but much of Bingham's success, saying starters Tyler Ackerman, Mike Bingham's defense held. While DeMill was pleased with the win, he acknowledged the Min. ers have room for improvement. “We play hard, and it’s nice to be throughout the first hal the ball in Kearns’ territory and connecting smart passes on offense. DeMill credited the defense for Doney, Scott Smith and any Bringhurst stood out in the match. > | | | ' VANCOUVER,British Columbia — For skating difficulty, Russia's Irina Slutskaya wins. Forartistry, the leader is Michelle Kwan ofthe United States. The onethat prevails today during the women’s finals of the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships gets gold. After the women’s short program Friday at General Motors Place, Slutskaya was in first place because of her top technical marks. Last year’s world silver medalist earned two5.9s (of a possible6.0) four has Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson. lucky every once in a while,” he said. ranked Cougs scored their own school: record with a197.375, they were not quite good enough even with a school record on the balance beam to keep up at the nd. “Wedi 197.375 s well as wecould coach Brad Catterhave done ‘And I'm happy with mole said. that.” Imagine how Utah's Greg Mareden feels. ‘Thecoach knew before the net ga hat injured junior e n Deidra Graham would te out of every event except the uneven bars. But then Annie Medcalf, the freshman who was to replace Gra. ham onbeam, hurt her neck inafall during warm-ups, and Marsden had to shuffle his lineup again, Theresult was thefirst career all-around at tempt for Leclere, who finished ninth at the Canadian Olympic Trials last summer ‘This time, Leclore finishedfirst. Shescored 9.968 on the vault and floor exercise on her way to winging the all-around with a 99,678 ethe Sce GYM, Page D-5 |
