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Show I Monday, March 27,2006 Take Note: The softball team hosts Harvard on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the LeGrand Johnson Field. 797-1761 sports@statesman.usu.edu h-place finale Patriots overcome Huskies BY JOSEPH WHITE The Associated Press WASHINGTON - George Masons players stood on the press table, waving their jerseys to the crowd. Coach Jim Larranaga walked around with the nylon net around his neck. It won't be the same old schools from the same old conferences at this year's Final Four - certainly not top-seeded Connecticut. Buoyed by a partisan crowd and playing some 20 miles from their campus, llth-seeded George Mason overcame huge disadvantages in size, athleticism and history Sunday to stun the Huskies 86-84 in overtime, ending a stranglehold that bigtime programs have enjoyed for 27 years in college basketball's biggest showcase. Improbable as it may seem, the powers-that-be are going to have to make room for a suburban commuter school from Fairfax, Va., that was a dicey choice to make UTAH STATE'S BRITTANY PRICE competes on the balance beam Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum during the VVAC gymnastics championship. The Aggies finished fourth overall. AGGIE KATIE OMANN RUNS to the vault during the WAC gymnastics championship Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum. She finished 24th overall on the vauilt with a score of 9.650. , . . Gymnasts finish . 8 points behind first BY VIVIANA RAMIREZ AND ANHRI-A EDMUNDS SUiff Writers WAC V0 O O Gymnastics fM Championship Despite its home-court advantage the Utah State women's gymnastics squad finished fourth Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum at the WAC Gymnastics Championship. The Aggies were only eight-tenths of point behind first-place Sacramento State. But the Ags didn't have the best performance and walked away several places behind Sac State. "I honestly thought that we had an opportunity of winning this," Utah State Head Coach Ray Corn said. Boise State finished in second and Southern Utah University finished in third, while San Jose came in at fifth and Cal State Fullerton rounded up the meet in sixth place. Corn said this performance was a repeat of every other meet this year, where the team would either make a mistake in every event or have a major disappointment in one or two of them. However, despite the mistakes and disappointments, Corn said the team did do well on the vault and floor. The Aggies started the night off on the beam where they ended up with a 48.025. Meagan Lewis was the lead scorer for USU at 9.725. Megan Tschida also helped the team out with a 9-650 and a solid routine. Final Results I.Sacramento State 2. Boise State 3.SUU 4. Utah State 5. San Jose State 6. CS Fullerton 193.950 193.775 193.600 193.100 192.800 192.600 James khultz/sdiuttzQxcusu.edu ^ FINALE UTAH STATE'S MEGAN TSCHIDA performs her floor routine at the WAC gymnas- seepage 10 tics championship Saturday afternoon in the Spectrum. Golf team swings to 14th place at tourney Individual Results BY SFTH R. HAWKINS Staff Writer s ! Brandon Ehlers ; 79-75-75 - 229 Jake Blair ! 75-81-79 - 230 [ Preston Otte I 74-7979 - 232 ! Brett Black I 78-79-75 - 232 I Brad Morrison I 86-82-77 - 245 The Utah State men's golf team finished 14th posting a score of 921 in the Cuesta Vista/ Cal Poly Intercollegiate 15-team tournament in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Friday. Cal State Bakersfield led the way throughout the two-day tournament and won, posting a final score of 857. Head Coach Dean Johansen said he was happy with the team's performance more than the finish. He said the biggest challenge for the team has been wintertime. The team has had to practice on mats during the winter which puts them at a disadvantage, Johansen said. "We weren't as sharp mentally. We made a lot of mistakes. It's hard to come out of four months of wintertime and expect them to be as sharp mentally and physically," he said. The Aggie team was led by sophomore Brandon Ehlers who posted consistently at 79-75-75 for a total of 229. Ehlers tied for 47th place overall for the tournament. Junior Jake Blair scored a 74 on Friday and finished in a tie for 51st place. The team struggled after two rounds on Thursday finding themselves in last place. Friday's performance by Ehlers, Blair and Brett Black moved the team up to 14th place. "We've got kids that are starting to step up and mature and how to play on the road. It's a different game all together on the road than in Utah," Johanson said. The men's team posted scores of 306-314-301 - 921 for the three rounds of the two-day tournament. The next tournament for the Aggie golf team is the Wyoming Cowboy Classic April 10-11 in Scottsdale, Ariz. British Columbia finished second with a score of 871, with Western Kentucky close behind at a score of 872. Fellow Western Athletic Conference team, Idaho, placed fifth posting a score of 876. As for the next tournament, Johansen said, "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be more prepared for that. We've played it fairly well in the past." -sethhawkins@cc.iLsu. edu £> RELATED STORY, PAGE lU the NCAA tournament as an atlarge team. "I was kidding with one of my assistants," Larranaga said, "We're not just an at-large team, we're an at-extra-large. And if we win today, we're going to be an at-extra-double-large. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having." The Patriots overcame their deficiencies with heart and tenacity. They were never rattled, even when they trailed by 12 late in the first half and nine early in the second. They hit six straight 3-pointers in the second half, shot 5-for-6 in overtime and outrebounded UConn 37-34 even though the Huskies have three starters taller than any of the Patriots' frontcourt players. There was also motivation from Larranaga, who fired up his team during timeouts by telling them that UConn's players didn't even know which conference George Mason is in. "That's a little bit of disrespect," guard Tony Skinn said. "Coach told us the CAA stands for 'Connecticut Assassin Association.'" Of course, as more people are learning, CAA stands for Colonial Athletic Association, a league that has never had a team get this far before. The Patriots (27-7) are only the second double-digit seed to make the Final Four, matching LSU's run, also as an 11th seed, in 1986. They are the first true outsider to crash the quartet since Penn and Indiana State both got there in 1979. George Mason next plays No. 3 seed Florida in Saturday's semifinals in Indianapolis, This marks the first time since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that no top-seeded team advanced to the Final Four, and the second time in tournament history. The Patriots' at-large selection was roundly criticized by many, including CBS commentator Billy Packer. George Mason's fans chanted Packer's name in the postgame celebration. "I think it's been working for us, calling us Cinderella," Skinn said. "We were not supposed to get into the tournament, we got into it. We were not supposed to beat Michigan State and we beat them. Weren't supposed to beat North Carolina and we beat > UPSET see page 7 7 |