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Show StatesmanSports Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 Page 11 Aggie women keep road momentum going strong at NAU By TAVIN STUCK! staff writer Any coach will tell you it is hard to win on the road. With their 80-75 overtime win against Northern Arizona, the Aggies have accomplished that feat in each of their last three opportunities. After being down by as much as 12 in the second half, USU used defense and rebounding to force their way back into the game and get to within one with 14 seconds left in regulation. A steal and subsequent layup by Lumberjack guard Amy Patton put Utah State down by three points with just five seconds remaining. After a timeout, sophomore guard Devyn Christensen hit a 3pointer to send the game into overtime. Aggie head coach Raegan Pebley said Christensen's trey had great impact on the game. "She just came off a play we practice for special situations just like that," Pebley said. "She was really aware of the time and ended up with space. She can hit deep threes.' During overtime, the Lumberjacks jumped out to an early lead with a couple of field goals to go up 74-70 in the first 1:15 of overtime. "(NAU) scored off of our turnovers in the first few minutes of the second half," Pebley said. "They'd go on runs where they get like a 5-0 run and we were able to turn them over and go on a run ourselves. It felt like a game of runs." Freshman guard Jennifer Schlott got things going for the Aggies with a steal and a layup to cut the lead back to two points with three minutes remaining. Utah State took its first lead in overtime two minutes later when Christensen made a layup to put the Aggies up by two. From there, Utah State was able to ice the game from the foul line. "I think in general just our confidence that we can still score and get stops," Pebley said of how her team managed the win. "We were able to follow through. We shot free throws and rebounded." Junior forward Ashlee Brown had a double-double and led all scorers with 26 points and 10 rebounds. She also had five of the final eight points in the game. "A lot (of her points) came off foul shots hitting big free throws," Pebley said. "That was a great effort on her part." USU went 15-24 from the charity stripe in the game, compared to NAU's 11-21. During overtime, the Aggies hit 6-8 to the Lumberjacks' 1-6. Schlott had a career high with 13 points. The 5-foot-6 true freshman from Mesa, Ariz. added three steals, three rebounds and an assist. "Jenn Schlott had her career high in like 15 minutes," Pebley said. "We had big threes hit by guards off the bench." Schlott and Christensen combined to hit five 3-pointers, playing an average of 19 minutes of the game between the two. Patton, who came into the game as NAU's leading scorer, was held to 14 as Utah State forced the Lumberjacks to spread the ball around to their other players. Our kids believed," Pebley said. "We knew with the type of offense and personnel they have that they were going to get quick shots no matter what." Pebley said the game definitely came down to who could rebound best. USU has won the battle of the boards for the second straight game, outrebounding the Lumberjacks 46-41, including 9-6 during the overtime. "If you want to win on the road you have to rebound," Pebley said. "It was an absolute grind. As a coach, you would love to have a game like this in the preseason to give your team confidence and experience for when you head into conference play." Utah State will begin a four-game homestand beginning with the University of San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. —tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu UTAH STATE FORWARD ASHLEE BROWN goes up for a shot during a home game earlier this season. Brown, an Arizona native, had 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the Aggies' overtime victory against Northern Arizona Saturday. CARL RWILSON photo Auburn and Oregon set to play for BCS National Championship EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Change is coming to the national title game, though it has nothing to do with any of those BCS busters you heard about all season. Southeastern Conference champion Auburn and Pac-10 champ Oregon each will be making their first trip to the BCS title game, a rarity for the biggest showdown of the bowl season. The top-ranked Tigers and No. 2 Ducks will bring perfect records and potent offenses to Glendale, Ariz., for their Jan. 10 matchup. "It will be a night of fireworks in Glendale," Fiesta Bowl president John Junker said. All the Bowl Championship Series pairings were made official Sunday night, but the championship game announcement was just a formality after Auburn and Oregon completed their unbeaten runs through regular season Saturday. Oregon players gathered with friends and family in a lounge at the athletic complex on campus to watch as the BCS lineup was revealed on television. There wasn't a peep in the room when Oregon (120) popped up on the screen at No. 2 in the final BCS standings behind first-place Auburn (13-0). It was typical Ducks: all business. "There was no surprise to anybody that we were going to be one or two," defensive tackle Brandon Bair said. "I think you'd have had a great response if you'd seen us down there four or five." Across the country, Auburn linebacker Craig Stevens had trouble putting his emotions into words. "It's just an amazing feeling," he said. "We've put in all that hard work (to) see our dreams unfold." Those outsiders from TCU and Boise State were closer than ever before to playing for college football's biggest prize. But the third-ranked Horned Frogs, the nation's only other undefeated team, couldn't overcome playing in the lightly regarded Mountain West Conference and will have to settle 4 for a trip to the Rose Bowl to play No. 4 Wisconsin, the Big Ten co-champion. "I think we've done a lot, not just what TCU's done, but non-automatic qualifying schools," TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said. "We still have one more game, and we'll go out and prove how we play and hopefully people will see that." As for Boise State, one loss was one too many, and the Broncos ended up out of the BCS and in the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas, playing No. 20 Utah. The other BCS matchups announced Sunday were: Arkansas and Ohio State, which also won a share of the Big Ten title, in the Sugar Bowl; Big 12 champion Oklahoma taking on Big East co-champ Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl; and No. 5 Stanford playing ACC title-winner Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. While teams from the power conferences will play for the biggest prize of all, the Tigers and Ducks still represent a changing of the guard in their own way. Since the BCS was born in 1998, its title game has almost always been stocked with college football's blue bloods and programs with championship pedigrees. Auburn has one national title to its credit — and it came in 1957. That's one more than Oregon has. In fact, the Ducks are just the second team in the 13-year history of the BCS to reach the championship game looking for the program's first national title. Virginia Tech was the first in 1999. Also, this title game will be just the second, not including the inaugural BCS championship in 1998, with two teams that have never been there before. The other was in 2001, when Nebraska and Miami — not exactly a couple of upstarts — played for the crystal ball. Another first: Never before have two teams that started the season ranked outside the AP top 10 played for the BCS title. The Ducks began the year ranked 11th in the AP poll, with questions at quarterback after Heisman Trophy hopeful Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the team. The Tigers were even further back, second in their own state to Nick Saban's defending national champions at Alabama and No. 22 in the nation. Plus, they were breaking in a junior college transfer at quarterback. Oregon never missed Masoli as coach Chip Kelly simply plugged Darron Thomas into his fast-paced spread offense and watched his team lead the nation in scoring. The fashion plates of college football, thanks to the ever-changing uniforms provided by alum and Nike founder Phil Knight, Oregon reached No. 1 in the rankings for the first time this season and emphatically replaced USC as the Pac-10's team to beat with its second straight conference title. As for Auburn, that JUCO transfer turned out to be the story of the year on and off the field. Cam Newton has been peerless as a player, the nation's top-rated passer and its 15th-best runner. "I think Cam Newton can play for anybody, including the NFL," Kelly said. "He can throw it and he can run it. He's the top football player in the country." By the time he gets to Arizona, Newton will most likely have the Heisman Trophy to prove it. "There were several moments (this season) where we said this guy is going to be different from most," second-year Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. It's just as likely unanswered questions about an NCAA investigation into Newton's recruitment will be following the Tigers to Glendale, too. The NCAA determined Newton's father, Cecil, tried to peddle his son to Mississippi State for cash, but said there was no evidence Cam or Auburn knew about it. So when the ruling came down last week, Cam Newton avoided punishment and the sports governing body let the QB play on. He denied any wrongdoing after the SEC championship game Saturday. While the NCAA will keep on looking into the pay-to-play scheme, there's no reason to believe his status will change between now and the championship game. With Newton on one side and Ducks tailback LaMichael James, another Heisman hopeful, on the other, this has the makings of one wild championship. Who says defense wins? The Ducks are averaging 537.5 yards per game and 49 points. James leads the nation in rushing in an offense that is simple yet breathtaking. Kelly, who five years ago was offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, has taken high-speed football to a new level. In their season-ending, 37-20 victory against Oregon State on Saturday, none of the Ducks' six scoring drives lasted longer than 2 minutes, 43 seconds. Newton and the Tigers like to play fast, too. "We're different but I think we have some similar philosophies," Kelly said. "They obviously run their quarterback a whole heck of lot more than we do." Auburn's spread averages 498 yards per game and the Tigers are averaging 43 points. They were never better than Saturday at the Georgia Dome. Newton threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores in a 56-17 demolition of South Carolina to win the Southeastern Conference championship. As has become customary, the SEC champion moves on to play for the national title. The Tigers will try to make it five straight BCS titles for the country's best conference. The Ducks will try to become the first Pac-10 team other than USC to finish the season No. 1 in both the AP and coaches' polls. • 61720 0/16 61(r64711 ti • I ra(11 61,1eelf/1)11/ 930 N. Main Logan, Ut 435.753.9755 www i emcksfinejewelry com Put a Little ROMANC k Into Your Life |