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Show ---- - --- - - ------ - ---------~- - ---- .•- I 'BIRD SPORTS mE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY• FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1996 1111 Utes shut down 'Bird attack outscored the 'Birds 19-4 over the next six minutes. Van Hom made four free throws and a reverse layup JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR and was also aided by two driving layups by Andre Miller. Making their first trip to Salt Lake City to face the "We came in with a good game plan and nationall y ranked Utcs, the 'Birds let their poor defensively played well, but we didn 't rebound and shooting damper the occasion as Utah cruised to a had some costly turnovers, " said Tarvish Felton 60-40 win in the Huntsman Center Wednesday who scored I O points. night. Don Faux once again led the 'Birds with 13 points, The 'Birds managed to shoot but 29 percent for the but only man aged eight rebounds as he spent most game against one of the best defenses in the of the time on the bench due to fo ul t rouble. country. The Utah lead stayed within 11 points for mo!it of All-American Keith Va n Hom scored 14 points the second half until the big outburst that gave the and had 15 rebounds, but was.hot much of a factor Utes a24-point lead. The 'Birds were able to Limit t hroughout the ga me as he only scored three field the Utes second chance basket s in the second half, goals. but again were unable to convert baskets of their Brad Bodi ly \Vas praised by SU Head Coach Bill own a·$ they shot just 28 percent. Evans fo r the great effort in guarding Van Horn. When asked whether Utah had viewed film of "The whole team guarded well, but we just didn't SUU before the game, Ute Head Coach Rick score," said Evans. "Offensively, we just couldn't Majerus said, "We had not prepared as much for score, but we're playing against one of the best SUU the last couple of days as we did worry about defensive teams in the country." • the University of Utah. If someone told me you 've The 'Birds held the Utes to 35 percent shooting for .got to win these games by 30 points, I'd approach the night, but were outrcbounde'd 51-35. More · them-differently. importantl y was the fact that the Utes were able to "I was pleased with our effort," said Evans. "We pull down the offensive boards and convert on had guys that were shooting well, but were missing second chance points. way to many open shots. We need to spend more "We needed to take care of the ball and rebound," . quality time shooting the ball. " said Eva ns, "and we just didn't do that." The Utes were probably one of the best t eams the The Utes jumped to a fast 5-0 lead, and it looked 'Birds will face ail year, and were a great test to to be a long night for the 'Birds.Van Hom and prep.are them for their upcoming games. • Michael Doli ac dominated the boards in the first The 'Birds will travel to Missoula, Montana half, helping th e Utes to a 14 point lead with two tonight to take part 'in the KYLT-Coca-Cola-Classic. minutes left in the half. Their first opponent will be Oral Roberts, who will Although their poor shooting kept them out of the be joining the 'Birds next year in the Mid-Continent ga me in the first, the 'Birds did manage to pull Conference. Depending on the outcome of the game within 11 before the break. SU will either play American U. or Montana T he second half was more of the same as both tom orrow night. Tipoff is set for 6:35 and can be teams continued to struggle offensively, as both heard on KBRE(945,? ). Jason Essex tries to go over Ute defender Hanno Mottola in defenses shut each other down. The next home game will occur on Dec. 16 Wednesday's loss to Utah. Essex was cold shooting 0-8 in a Leading39 -3 1 with 8:27 remainig, the Utes whenNorthem Arizona comes to town. gam e where the 'Birds managed only 29 percent from the floor. By CHAD LAMB Women head to Mississ'ippi tourney to~ight T he road adventures continue this weekend as the Lady 'Birds travel to the Papa John 's Lady Rebel Classic hosted by the University of Mississippi. The 'Birds will square off against Ole Miss in Oxford in t he opening ro und of the tournament tonight. Ole Miss was an NCAA T ournament participant last season and tonights meeting with the Lady Rebels will mark the third tourney team the 'Birds have faced this season. It will also be the second time SU has faced a team from the Southeastern Conference this season, with Arkansas being the first as the women played them last Friday. Mississippi is 2-1 after wins over Middle Tennessee and Southwest Texas. Ole Miss suffered its lone loss again st Tulane, 69-54, Saturday in N ew Orlean s. The Lady Rebels feature a three-guard, outs ideoriented attack that is averaging l 7 three-poin t field goal attempts per ga me and a re hitting on 37.3 percent of trey attempts. Guard Lisa Miller is the leading scorer at 17.0 ppg and has hit on 5-of-12 three-pointers and is shooting 61.8 percent from the floor. The other top three-point threat is guard Regan Seybert. Head Coach Joe Hillock is excited for this weekend's tournament, and will look to use their height advantage when the take on the Rebels tonight. "We've been taller than a lot of the teams we've played, but like Arkansas, Mississippi will try and use quickness to their advantage," said Hillock. "They're a fin e club, no doubt about it." The women, depending on the outcome of tonight's game, will take on either Appalachian State or Mississippi Valley State Saturday night. Appalachian State has scored wins over East Carolina and Wake Forest, while falling to North Carolina State. The Mountaineers' lack of size, the • • • • • • - .. • • • .,.. ...- • OIi • ~ • • • ••-., . _.,. _ . , _- - - ~ . . ~ - - ~ _. . tallest player being 6-2,is reflected in its rebounding margin. They arc being outreboundcd by an average of nearly 12 per game. However, ASU has compensated with an aggressive defense that is forcin g 25.3 turnovers per game, while taking care of the basketball them selves. In ASU's victories, the Mountaineers committed less than 20 turnovers, while turning it over 25 times in their loss to NC State. The Mountaineers are defending champions of the Southern Conference. Mississippi Valley State is 2-1 after splitting a pair over the weekend. MVSU knocked off Florida A&M 72-63 on Satu rday and fell to Central Florida 81-80 in double overtime on Friday. The Devilettes other victory was against Arkansas- scoring 50 points in five games. Jessica Littlefield has also helped out averaging 8 points a game and 5.6 rebounds. The 'Birds have been outscored 404-280 by their opponents, and allowing their opponents an average of 80 points per game. The women are yet to play at home, but will host BYU this Tuesday in the Centrum. Brigham Young is 1-2 after losing to Colorado and Toledo and defeating Loyola-Marymount. BYU is nearly even with its opponents in almost every statistical category. The Cougars are averaging 71.0 ppg and allowing 71.7 ppg. They are shooting 41.5 percent from the floor, holding the opposition to 42.9 percent and are even with their opponents in rebounding at 41.3 pg. Renae Hansen is the Cougars' top scorer at 13.7 ppg and top shooter at an even .500 from the floor. Freshman reserve center Jill Adams is the top rebounder at 7. 7 rpg. BYU hosts Montana State on Saturday before traveling to Cedar City Tuesday. Tuesday will be the eighth meeting between the Thunderbirds and Cougars. BYU has won six of the seven previous meetings, including the last three. Baptist. MVSU has four players averaging over 10 BYU won last year 76-68 in the season opener at points per game led by Tenicka Strawn and Sherri Portland, Ore. in the Portland Invitational. The last Sumey with 16.0 ppg. MVSU is shooting 37.7 percent meeting in Cedar City was on Jan. 4, 1992, when BYU from the field, but are holding opponents to 35.7 scored a 85-72 win. SU's only win was on Dec. 9, 1988, percent. when the 'Birds edged the Cougars 85-82 in Provo. LaSeodia Baker is leading the Devilettes on the "We're really excited," said Hillock about next boards with 10.3 rebounds per game as MVSU is week's game. "The players are going to go around averaging 54.3 per game as a team, yet they are still town knocking on doors to try to get a crowd. We being outrebounded by over four per game. MVSU is a want to t ry and get one of the largest crowds ever to m ember of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. watch a women's basketball game in the Centrum and This year the go to person for the 'Birds has been try to make it a fun time because we don't have a lot Mandi Shaheen who is averaging 10 points a game, of home games." ~ - . . - . '°'-..• • i• . ., •"' •.• •.•.• •,. • . . - • ._""' ~~1,rr-•-.1e.,.._,,..~ ,,..~n- '.._ "-' _.._,-..~'- -...--... ........ ~ - • • . • • .- ._.- • A-.,. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,. . _ -..! &-&. ., • • • ' • • • • • • • • • • • • .,. • • • |