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Show 9 U T A H **" S T A T E S M A N MONDAY, FEB. 28,2005 Contact: Take Note: 797-1761 sports@statesman.usu.edu Gymnastics squad takes on Texas Tuesday on the road. 1 • i "• in, USU thumps Irvine BY ANDREA EDMUNDS Assi>t<int Sports Editor In the first five minutes of the Utah State men's basketball game against UC Irvine Saturday night in the Spectrum, it was Jaycee Carroll 12, Irvine 10. Carroll hit four 3-pointers in a row to start off the game for the Ags after the Anteaters got an early five-point lead over USU. The Aggies won the game 87-49"He kind of saved us," Utah State Head Utah State Coach Stew Morrill said. "We were having a heck of a time. After the first five or six minutes they kind of caught us off guard with their energy level with how hard they were playing and how aggressive they were. After that we dug in and played pretty good." UC Irvine Led by 17 first-half points from Aaron Fitzgerald, the Anteaters hung with the Aggies for the first 15 minutes of the game. After that, the Aggies had control of the game and went into the locker room up by 14 at the half. "First half, they played pretty well and we didn't play as well as we should of," Aggie Spencer Nelson said. "Right before the half we got a little fire under us. We came in at half time and knew what we needed to do in the second half." In the second half Utah State came out firing. The Ags opened the half with a 10-0 run and increased their lead in the first 10 minutes going 25-3 over the Anteaters. "The start of the second half was kind of the difference in the game," Morrill said. "They had a hard time scoring and we made a few shots and all of a sudden we had a pretty nice lead. In the second half, Utah State outscored Irvine 43-19. "We came out in the second half, pushed the ball on the break, got stops and made our run in the first five minutes, 10 minutes and then the game was pretty much over," Nelson said. Nelson finished the game with 21 points and five rebounds. Carroll was the only other Aggie in double digits, leading all scorers with 22 points, 18 from behind the 3-point line. "I was really excited for this game/' Carroll said. "We talked a lot about enthusiasm and excitement. I had a lot of fun tonight playing and good things happen when you Ye having fun." After a dominant first half, Irvine's Fitzgerald was 0-1 in the second half and finished the game BY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS Utah Stale University 87 49 SiAHr.HTFR Ryan Ta\bo\Jnalbot@cc.usu.edu UTAH STATE'S NATE HARRIS tries to split two UC Irvine defenders Saturday night in the Spectrum. Harris had nine points and seven rebounds in the Aggies' 87-49 win. See Page 77 Women Ags drop second straight BY A A R O N FALK Sports Editor For six of the final eight minutes in Saturday's game against UC Irvine, two Brittany TYessler free throws were all the Utah State women's basketball team could muster. After orchestrating a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead over the Anteaters midway through the second half, USU's offense went AWOL and Irvine outscored the Ags 20-14- in the game's final seven minutes to win 81-74. For the Aggies, freshman guard Taylor Richards notched a career-high 20 points, but committed eight turnovers. Head coach Raegan Pebley said a lack of intensity and focus was the cause of her team's loss. "We really had a lack of focus tonight," Pebley said. "Most of our turnovers weren't forced. The lack of focus ended up contributing to our inconsistency." In all, USU committed 24 turnovers Saturday, including 11 UCI steals. Behind eight points from Richards, USU jumped out to an early seven point lead in the first half, but Irvine hung tough and took a onepoint advantage into the locker room - 33-32. The Aggies started the second half strong, outscoring the Anteaters 11-6 in the first five minutes of the period. UCI put together a 10-2 run of its own, but the Aggies answered with seven straight to reclaim a 60-59 lead. On the ensuing possessions, Ashley Biggins hit a jump shot in the lane for the Anteaters and Kimberly Fon John Z$\ray/jzsiray@cc.usu.edu JS See Page 7 7 USU'S KAHLIE QU1NONES Aggie gymnast almost BYU game perfect in USU victory gets ugly Kohler scores a 9.9 on the floor BY VIVIANA RAMIREZ Staff Writer Senior night could not have been better for the Utah State gymnastics team as it beat No. 34 Boise State in the second straight meet 195.45-194.2. "It was a great meet," senior cocaptain Katie Rutherford about senior night. "I wanted to make it a good one [because] my mom and sister are here watching me for the last time." Rutherford and co-captain Rachel Ropelato are the only seniors on this years team. Teammates, Ashley Barr and co-captain Alex Martin presented Rutherford and Ropelato with flowers and a photograph. "I am so glad [senior night] is halfway through the year," Jessica BY BRYAN HINTON Senior Writer The Utah State hockey clubfinishedits regular season with an 8-2 loss to the Weber State Division-I team Saturday after beating the Provo IceCats 6-1 Friday. Aggie Aaron Burrell, who was six goals short of 200 for his career going into last weekend, scored three against BYU, but was shut out against WSU tofinishwith 197 in his six-year career at USU. Burrell is the Aggie's all-time leading scorer. "Numbers really don't matter when it • comes down to it," a teary-eyed Burrell said. "It's about the memories and thefriendsyou meet along the way." USU's effort wasn't enough Saturday as the Wildcats scored seven unanswered goals to bury the Aggies. Head coach Jerry Crossley said he was pleased with USU's play in the first two peri- Parenti said. She also said that the seniors will be missed. The team started on the vault, where Rutherford got a season high of 9725. Jackie Fogli led the way with a 9.85 followed by fellow freshman Katie Omann with a 9-775. After the first rotation Utah State led the way 48.700-47.475. On the uneven bars, USU looked determined and pulled off many season highs. New season highs included Barr, Martin. Parenti tied her season best. Martin led the way with a 9-8. "We've got a really comfortable line up going" Rutherford said. The team has struggled with the bars the most this year. "Its worked out Ryan Talbot/rtj/bo(@cc.usu.cdu See Page 7 7 All-Century team now complete AGGIE L1ESEL KOHLER UCLY See Page 7 7 Current standout Spencer Nelson, and former teammates Marvin Roberts and Nate Williams were the final three players named to Utah States All-Century basketball team. Entering his senior year this season, Nelson has been a two-time Big West Conference Hustle Player of the Year and a second-team all-league selection. The forward from Pocatello, Idaho led the Big West in rebounding as a sophomore and entered the year 17th on the school's career rebounding list. He is also listed high in career blocks andfieldgoal percentage. He currently is the only player in the nation averaging at least 15 points, eight rebounds andfiveassists per game Roberts was an AllAmerican for the Aggies during his playing career from 1969-71. He stands as the fifth-leading scorer at USU with 1,844 points and ranks as the third-leading rebounder with 997- In his junior year he set a school record with 13.9 rebounds per game. Williams played just two seasons at Utah State before leaving school early to play for Cincinnati of the NBA in 1971- He scored 1,080 points in just two seasons and his 608 points in 1970 were the 10th most in school history. Hulbert sets new school record NAMPA, Idaho - Utah State's Reece Hulbert set a school record in the heptathlon en route to a secondplace finish in that event at the Western Athletic Conference TYack and Field Championships Thursday night. Hulbert, who led the •men's heptathlon after the first day, fell to second place on the second day. Ryan Lang of Idaho tallied 5,081 points, while Hulbert finished with 5,015, just 66 points off the pace. Kenny Murdock also competed for USU in the event and finished in sixth place with 4,355. On the women's side three Aggies competed in the pentathlon. Carrie Yost finished third, Lacy Schroeder was fourth and Dayna Barrett was seventh. Utah State gets another 20 wins With its 87-49 win against UC Irvine Saturday night, Utah State has now won 21 games. This is the sixth-straight season and the 20th time in school history the Ags have had 20-plus win seasons. As of Feb. 25, Utah State is one ofjust 10 teams across the country to win at least 20 games in each of the last six seasons joining Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Syracuse. |