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Show Monday, March 31, 2008 StatesmanSports Page 9 Fifth: USU ends season in Boise Dl continuedfrom page 8 AGGIE J U N I O R BRIDGETTE S T R I C K L A N D returns the ball during a match against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club in Logan. Utah State beat the Roadrunners 6-1. CAMERON PETERSON photo Tennis: Aggies beat Dixie State and Bakersfield over the weekend Dl continued from page 8 Utah State claimed the doubles point over , Bakersfield with victories of 8-2 in both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles match-ups. The Roadrunners' No. 1 doubles team of Kati Lynott and Kaydee Graham avoided the sweep in doubles with their 8-2 victory over Utah State's Strickland and Harris in No. 1 doubles. In singles play, two Aggies put forth dominating efforts, while two others finished their matches in more dramatic fashion. Utah State's Swenson defeated Ashley Thorneycroft 6-1, 6-0 in No. 2 singles, while Johnson posted a 6-0, 6-0 win in No. 6 singles over Bakersfield's Leslie Begley. Strickland won the first set of the No. 3 singles match-up, 6-3, over the Roadrunner's Graham and appeared to be comfortably on her way to a straight-set victory midway through the second set of the match. Graham battled back to force a tiebreaker in the second set, where she then fell behind again 6-2 in the tiebreak. Graham came back once again to bring the tiebreaker to a 6-6 tie before Strickland took control one last time to win the tiebreak, 9-7, and the second set to seal the win in No. 3 singles. Harris, a sophomore for the Aggies, capped off the Aggies' team victory by taking the No. 1 singles pairing with a furious comeback win. After dropping the first set 6-3 to Bakersfield's Lynott, Harris fell behind 0-5 in the second set before staging her comeback. "I started playing a smarter game against her style," Harris said. "I just changed the strategy, I guess." Harris won the next six games to take a 6-5 lead over Lynott before dropping the next game to send the second set to a tiebreaker. With a crowd of several dozen behind her, Harris won the tiebreaker to claim the second set. Harris said, "I think (Lynott) was intimidated by the crowd a lot. Each point they'd go crazy and it kept me going." Harris capped off the comeback effort by winning the third set, 6-4. The Aggies have now won four of their last five matches since breaking a seven-match losing streak earlier this season. The Aggies will take liif court again Tuesday at home against Idaho Stale. The Aggies won their last meeting with the Bengals 6-1 in Pocatello, Idaho, earlier this season. -matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.eiiu place on beam, with a 9.825. Felley, Minion, Heinrich and freshman Nicole Simoneau earned secondteam honors. For the third rotation, the Aggies found themselves at the bottom of the six-team standings at the halfway point of the meet. USU migrated to floor for the fourth sequence, as senior Ana Rickard-Whitfield started things off with a 9.675, followed by Boone with a 9.800. Minion later logged a 9.800, preceding a 9.700 from Felley, then Tschida . completed the rotation with a season-best 9.925, USU's highest score this season not only on floor but on a single event overall. The Aggies notched a 48.900 as a team on floor, tied for the third-best posting of the year in the event. The announcements for who qualified for the North Central Regional Meet on April 12 at Minneapolis, Minn., will be made this week. Several USU individuals are expected to be selected. "I'm extremely pleased that the high scores on every event came in the last five meets," N I C K I FELLEY performs her floor exercise during a tn-meet against the University of New Hampshire and Brigham Young University in the Spectrum on Feb. 19. TYLER LARSON photo Corn said. "It was just simply unfortunate that we were unable to replace the necessary six scores (to have quali- Affordable Dental insurance RATE: $48/YEAR fied tor rcgionals)." -canilici'.sa/hhiess(a)tiggiennnl.usu.edu Western Wats Western Wats has increased wages, and we are still willing to work around your schedule. We still offer weekly pay, a fun work environment, and we'll give you time off for school events, tests, and holidays. Call Cody 753-1303 or apply online at surveynetwork.com/application. ORTHO/COSMETIC INCLUDED NO WAITING PERIOD Denise_Abbott@us.af lac.com 435-757-7834 National Guard COLLEGE FIRST Enlistment Option nil .;.*r o Up to two years of non-deployment following completion of Initial Active Duty Training ' ] * Up to a $20,000 Enlistment Bonus Rutgers, UConn, A&M pick up wins GREENSBORO, N.C (AP) - Rutgers got the big early lead then held on when George Washington made its run. Now the Scarlet Knights can look forward to another matchup with Connecticut — this time with a Final Four berth at stake. Essence Carson scored 25 points Sunday to help the Scarlet Knights beat the Colonials 53-42, sending them to Tuesday's Greensboro Regional championship for a third meeting with their Big East Conference rivals. Epiphanny Prince added 12 points for second-seeded Rutgers (27-6), which handed the Huskies their only loss in early February. Connecticut, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, avenged the 73-71 defeat by winning the rematch by 20 points earlier this month. Jessica Adair scored 16 points to lead the sixth-seeded Colonials (27-7), who fell to 1-3 in regional semifinal games in the tournament. George Washington hasn't won in the round of 16 since upsetting top-seeded North Carolina in 1997. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Patrice Reado scored all 17 of her points in the second half and Texas A&M overcame the loss of standout Danielle Gant to beat Duke, giving the Aggies the school's first berth in the regional finals. Takia Starks added 15 points for secondseeded Texas A&M (29-7), which extended its winning streak to 12 games and will play either top-seeded Tennessee or fifth-seeded Notre Dame on Tuesday for berth in the Final Four. Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said before the game that the Aggies would prefer to keep the score in the 50s or 60s against a high-octane Duke team. Third-seeded Duke (25-10) helped the Aggies with that strategy, committing 19 turnovers and never managing to get into offensive rhythm against a team that led the Big 12 Conference in scoring defense. Chante Black, who had a career-high 26 points and season-high 13 rebounds in a second-round win over Arizona State, led the Blue Devils with 17 points and 12 rebounds. o $20,000 Student Loan Repayment (must have pre-existing loans) o Basic Educational assistance of $317 per month Montgomery G.I. Bill Selective Reserve (MG1B-SR) • Additional Educational assistance of $350 per month - MG1B Kicker (in addition to the MGtB-SR, and is available to those enlisting in a critical MOS and assigned to a qualified unit) EARN OVER $3,000 PER HOHTH • 100% College Tuition Assistance, up to $4,500 per year : • State Tuition Assistance (varies by State) College First is for You! The College First program is a new Army National Guard enliscmenc option, which makes it possible for you t o reach college goals while serving in ihe Guard. This option provides qualified high school graduates and graduating seniors, wich no _. T prior military service, the opportunity co complete up to two years of full-time °Jjp'M schooling, uninterrupted by deployment, while serving in the Guard. 1-800-GO-GUARD - www.1-800-G0-GUARD.com USU Students: Check with SFC Matt Blake, Cell: 801-633-7731 Office: 435-797-6904 • matthew.blake@usu.edu. He's on campus & can answer your Questions. ') "' • Connecticut 78, Old Dominion 63 GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The NCAA * tournament isn't supposed to be this easy for ; Maya Moore — even if it always seems that way for Connecticut. The Huskies' star freshman had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her second straight 20point postseason performance, leading topseeded UConn past Old Dominion. Renee Montgomery added 13 points for the Huskies (35-1), who never trailed, shot 47.5 percent and put the game away with a 20-1 run early in the second half. They earned their 14th straight victory and claimed their third straight berth in the round of eight. Next up for coach Geno Auriemma's powerhouse program is Big East rival Rutgers. Tiffany Green had 15 points and 10 c rebounds for Old Dominion (31-5), which went ' 6-plus minutes between field goals and used a too-little-too-late rally to make the final score respectable in its first regional appearance since 2002 — when UConn beat the Lady Monarchs in the Mideast Regional finals. Oklahoma City Regional Texas A&M 77, Duke 63 Bogan, 0/76432/ 435-733-4370 DUKE'S JOY CHEEK, LEFT, A N D KETURAH JACKSON, RIGHT, struggle for control of a ball with Texas A&M's Morenike Atunrase, center, in the second half of an NCAA Women's Oklahoma City Regional semifinal basketball game, Sunday, in Oklahoma City. AP photo (OCrtfio Tertian 1737Jftir/eypriue ,3$) $3202 208-236-9700 K ..'V |