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Show /Friday, March 3,2006 Take Note: The lacrosse team will host Boise State Saturday at. 7 p.m. in the Stan Laub Center. 797-1761 sports@statesman.usu.edu Women's tennis drops one at home BY UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Media Relations The Utah State women's tennis team fell to 5-7 on the spring season with a 43 loss to Nevada in Logan on Thursday afternoon. In doubles action the Aggies took the doubles point winning two of its three matches. At the No. 2 spot Jill Smith and Lauren Monson defeated Myriam Bouchlava and Nawchali Desilva 8-5 which gives Smith and Monson a 5-7 record at the No. 2 spot in doubles. At the No. 3 position Dee-Dee Nelson and Courtney Anderson defeated Fiorella Velez and Bachlan Pham 9-8. The win puts Nelson and Anderson also at a 5-7 doubles record this spring. Utah State won two of the six singles matches winning at the No. 2 and 3 spots. Senior Jill Smith took the No. 2 spot defeating Kristen Davenport 6-4, 6-4 improving her record to 6-6 this spring season. Courtney Anderson improved her record to 10-2 which leads the Aggies in singles defeating Nevada's Myriam Bouchlava 6-1, 6-2. "We played with a lot of effort and confidence, but sometimes I thought we got too confident and then didn't pull out with a win," said head coach Christian Wright. "We know we need to keep playing with a lot of energy and momentum for this weekend's matches." The Aggies head to Salt Lake City on Sat. March 3 to take on the University of Utah. The match will begin at 5 p.m. Utah State women's tennis will play again on Sun., March 4 in Salt Lake against Portland also at 5 p.m. Lacrosse team to face rival BY G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY Staff Writer USU men's lacrosse team will host rival Boise State Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Romney Stadium. The game represents a dramatic upgrade in terms of venue over the Stan Laub Training Facility, where the squad is 1-2 this year, and also a chance to even their record. Head Coach Matt Polytyka said Boise State has been a big rival since he's been involved with the program. "They left our conference and went to another conference so pretty much we just want to kill them," Polytyka said. An intriguing subtext to Saturday's game will be how the team fares without star player Kent "Doughnut" Arnold, who Polytyka said is still suspended. Last Saturday against Northern Montana State Arnold was involved in a fracas which caused six penalty flags to be thrown. Tickets to the game are three dollars with a student I.D. and will be available at the game. -graham@cc.usu.edu Back on track Down I Line Gymnasts to Five Ags in double figures with win over Bulldogs compete in All five Aggie starters Cedar City scored in double-figures as BY BRYAN HINTON Assistant Sports Editor the Utah State men's basketball team beat the Fresno State Bulldogs 87-77 in the Spectrum Thursday. Nate Harris and Jaycee Carroll both scored 18 points, David Pak 15, Cass Matheus 12 and Durrall Peterson 11 while Harris and Matheus both grabbed 10 rebounds. "That was a good win for BY UTAH STATE UNIVFRSITY Athletic Media Relalinns Utah State's gymnastics team (5-10, 0-5) will travel to Cedar City Friday, March 3, where they will meet Southern Utah (4-5,1-1) at 7 p.m. The Aggies are currently the third-ranked team in the Western Athletic Conference and the 3Oth-ranked team in the nation while Southern Utah leads the WAC and is ranked 27th in the country. The meeting will be the second for the Aggies and Thunderbirds this season. In their first meeting in Salt Lake at the University of Utah the Thunderbirds beat the Aggies, 193.175-192.675. Overall, the Aggies are 1-4 on the road this year and 04 on the road against WAC opponents. Fridays matchup concludes a four meet homestand for Southern Utah, during which they have posted three straight scores in the 194 range. Last week against Michigan they posted a 194.125 after scoring a 194.700 against West Virginia and a 194.825 against Brigham Young. Overall the Thunderbirds are 2-2 at home this year. Game Over UTAH STATE 8 7 FRESNO STATE 7 7 us," head coach Stew Morrill said. "They were hard for us to guard. They missed enough shots that we were all right." The win was the 20th of the season for USU, marking the seventh consecutive year in which the Aggies have reached that milestone. Just before halftime, Aggie Chris Huber took an elbow to the face and did not return. Peterson, who normally plays small forward, was moved to point guard to fill for Huber. "Obviously, we were in trouble at the point," Morrill said. "Huber had a headache and a stiff neck. They don't mess around with that stuff anymore." Peterson said he was comfortable at the helm. "I had to play a lot of point in junior college and in high school," he said. "It's in my roots." Morrill said he was pleased with the intensity that Carroll brought to the game. "He's like a wild colt sometimes," he said. "He has a lot of energy. He has some defensive breakdowns at times because of it, but I'd rather have a guy with Wickard places 19th in nation BY UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Media Relations >WlN see page 8 IylerLorson/tfntorson£<(.tisu.edu USD's JAYCEE GRROLL shoots over a Fresno State player Thursday night in the Spectrum. The Aggies won the game 87-77. Marchant scores 17 in loss to Bulldogs age. Her line for the night included four of six shooting from the field, nine of FRESNO, Calif. -Ali 10 from the free throw line, Marchant scored 17 points seven rebounds, two blocks and had seven rebounds, and one steal in just 18 but Utah minutes. State's "Ali was women's playing basketball with attiteam suftude," USU fered its head coach fourth Raegan straight Pebley told UTAH STATE 5 2 loss, falling KLGN at Fresno radio after FRESNO STATE 7 0 State 70the game. 52 here "That was Thursday the Ali night. Marchant basketball that With the loss, the we have been missing and it Aggies fell to 3-22 overis what we have needed." all and 2-13 in Western The Aggies got off to a Athletic Conference play. rough start in the first half Fresno State, the second and trailed by as many as place team in the league, 17 points at 35-18 with 2:02 improved to 21-6 and 13-2. left in the half. USU shot Marchant's 17 points just 30 percent in the first were the most she has stanza, while the Bulldogs scored in 15 games. The senior post player has been USU's leading scorer this • Loss season with a 9.4 aversee page 9 BY UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Media Relations Game Over Ags prepping for final game BY BRYAN H I N T O N , • A.ssibtant Sports Editor In its final home game of the regular season, the Utah State men's basketball team will face the struggling San Jose State Spartans on Saturday. It will be the final game in the Spectrum for seniors Nate Harris, Cass Matheus, David Pak and Chris Huber. WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Head acoach Stew , Morrill said he hopes the fans will come see them off. "These seniors deserve a packed Jiouse," he said. H I hope we have one." After falling 83-60 to Nevada Thursday, the Spartans fell to 6-23 on the season and only 2-13 in the Western Athletic Conference. That's no reason to expect an easy win for the Aggies, Morrill said. "San Jose has competed night in and night out," he said. "They can step up and beat somebody." Morrill said this is an important game for USU. "We have a chance to win two games at home Utah State track performer Justin Wickard had used up his eligibility for indoor track and has spent the winter running unattached getting ready to rejoin the Aggie program for his final outdoor season this spring. Last weekend, the senior from Scottsbluff, Neb., went to Boston, Mass, to compete in the AT&T U.S.A Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 60-meter hurdles against Americas top professionals and amateurs. He entered the event with a personal best time of 7.76, a time which ranked 14th in the country. In the event he ran a 7-93 and finished an impressive 19th place, considering the company he was racing against. Wickard said that he was one of four collegiate athletes competing against 20 professional hurdlers. Among the professionals were United States Olympians Terrence Trammell, Dominique Arnold, and Ron Bramlett. Standings WAC Men's Basketball W L PCT W L Nevada Utah State La-TechNMSU Hawai'i Fresno Boise San Jose Idaho 11 10 10 10 9 8 5 2 t 3 5 5 5 5 7 10 12 1-1 .9-11 .529 .-138 .938 .500 .375 .375 .375 .250 ->1 see page 8 5 .923 20 7 .482 18 11 -158 15 n 16 9 .560 15 12 .423 .7-11 13 U .-100 6 i i 4 23 .373 . RECENT RESULTS THURSDAY, MARCH 2 INAL PCT. Utah State 87, Fresno State 77 Nevada 69, San Jose State 62 Hawai'i 60, New Mexico State 56 .37S |