OCR Text |
Show StatesmanSports Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Page 9 TouchBase UCONN Huskies headed home with hardware Softball postpones twinbill against UVU BY USU ATHLETICS LOGAN, Utah — Expected snow and wet field conditions have led to the postponement of Utah State softball's doubleheader with Utah Valley in Logan on April 6. The Aggies and the Wolverines are looking to reschedule the games for, May 9 at 1 p.m. Utah State returns to the diamond on April 5 for a doubleheader against Weber State in Ogden at 2 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for March 22. Following the games with the Wildcats, USU will remain on the road for a three-game Western Athletic Conference series against San Jose State. The Aggies will begin the series against the Spartans with a single game on April 8 at 4 p.m. (MT). Utah State softball (5-30, 0-6 WAC) looks to snap a 17-game losing streak this week. The Aggies are led by freshman Kassy Uchida who is hitting .307 this season. Fellow freshman Krista Bava has come on of late and is hitting .288 for the Aggies, including hitting her second home run of the season last weekend against New Mexico State. Weber State is 5-19 this season and has yet to start Pacific Coast Softball Conference action. Weber State took two of three games against North Dakota last week in Ogden. The Wildcats are led by Erika James who is hitting .362 this season with 25 hits. In the circle, Weber State has had four different start this season. Kelsie Vallies has the most starts with 10 and holds a 0-8 record. The Aggies hold a 27-9 overall series record against the Wildcats. Last season, Utah State swept Weber State in Logan, 11-1 in five innings and 9-3. The doubleheader in Ogden was cancelled due to inclement weather. AggieSchedules Women's Soccer HOUSTON (AP) — Seen as little more than a one-man novelty, Connecticut wasn't given much chance in the brutally tough Big East. A national title contender? Please. With a bruising finish to an improbable run, the Huskies have a message for all the doubters: Shhh! Connecticut wrapped up its third national championship Monday night, pushing Butler around for a 53-41 victory to secure a spot in history for coach Jim Calhoun and star Kemba Walker. "In the beginning of the season, we were hearing a lot of negativity: too young, all we have is Kemba Walker, no true post presence," sophomore forward Alex Oriakhi said. "With this team, we just worked hard. I'm happy the hard work has paid off and we were able to prove people wrong when they said we couldn't." The doubt started in the preseason, when Connecticut was picked 10th in the Big East and an afterthought in the polls. Calhoun wasn't even sure what he had in this group of mostly underclassmen, joking before the Maui Invitational he was still trying to learn everyone's name. Walker raised the Huskies' profile — not to mention his — with a carry-on-his-back performance in Maui and did it again in the Big East tournament after 9-9 run through conference nearly derailed their season. The Huskies (32-9) were a nearly unstoppable combination of star power and grit in the NCAA tournament, riding Walker's scoring bursts and body-bruising defense into the program's fourth Final Four. Connecticut capped it off with two eye-of-the-beholder defensive gems, swarming Kentucky in the national semifinals, followed by a body-blow takedown of Butler in the title game, holding the Bulldogs to a championship-game low 18.8 percent shooting. "We were unstoppable. That's why we're national champions," said Walker, who fought through a tough shooting night to lead UConn with 16 points in the final. "We're the best team in the country." UConn's run rejuvenated Calhoun after one of his most difficult seasons in 39 years as a coach. Coming off a trip to the Final Four the year before, Calhoun looked worn down in the 2009-10 season, the toll of an NCAA investigation and the death of his sister-in-law and college roommate exacerbating the difficulties his team had on the court. But, after missing the NCAA tournament for one of the few times in his career, Calhoun seemed to have the bounce back in his step this season, pulling off one of the best coaching jobs of his career. Relying on his entrenched basketball wisdom, Calhoun always seemed to know what move to make and precisely when to make it. He handed the reins of the offense over to Walker, his coaching extension on the floor, and brought the young players along with his own brand of tough-love nurturing. When it was over, Calhoun had won his third title since 1999, joining John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as the only coaches to cut the final nets of the season three times. Ready: Turbo-powered legs continued from page 8 This year, Turbin will not have to be on the sideline to make his teammates better. His on-field example inspires his fellow Aggies to perform better. "Every time that I am out there, I just look at him to get better," Marshall said. "Looking at him is like a blessing in disguise, because while he's doing his thing, it feels like I'm out there doing it. Whatever he does, it just motivates me to do better as well as the other guys. We just look at him to bring us along because he is a veteran. He knows what he is doing, and he knows how the system should be ran. It's a good thing to have (Turbin) back out there." With more than 140 days before he will take the field against defending national champions the Auburn Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 3, Turbin has a lot of time to prepare. Already a force to be reckoned with, Turbin is looking to improve each and every day. "As an individual, the thing I want to focus on the most is being consistent. We have 15 practices in the spring, and I want to make sure that I am better on day 15 than I was on day one," he said. —w.mangum@aggiemaiLusu.edu CONNECTICUT'S KEMBA WALKER HOLDS the net after his team won the men's NCAA Final Four college basketball championship game against Butler, 53-41 April 4, in Houston. AP photo Butler's run gives hope Another in season the books, another 345 dreams that didn't come true, and another year that the little guys came up short. The View from Section F I know it probably seems brutally redundant at this point for me to still be talking about the hopes and dreams of the midmajors, but it is important to know that all of the emotion poured into hoping to see the other mid-majors of the world like Butler succeed is based around the hope that Utah State will be the team in that position. Would I be content with back-to-back losses in the national championship game? Probably. Would I be forever haunted by the idea of "what if?" Of course. Regardless of that though, the ride to get to even one Final Four or championship game would be one hell of a rollercoaster, and it's a ride I would get on every time. Yes, Butler fans had their dreams shattered on the final day of the season once again, but don't think for a second that they won't remember these past two years for the rest of their lives and tell stories about the players whose names will undoubtedly go down as legends. Don't think that the memories for those fans won't live on forever and don't think that the students who were there through the thick and thin of the past two seasons won't be forever bragging that Butler's best year (I assume) came while they were packing student sections. It's almost unfair to future Butler players because chances are Bulldog fans will forever compare them to the likes of Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward, no matter how accomplished of a career they put forth shy of actually winning the title game. Not to make Butler fans sound fickle or anything, but it seems to be a universal idea carried throughout humanity that "things just aren't as good as they used to be." Regardless, it's been an amazing past two years for Butler, and even though I shouldn't be writing them off for next year just yet, losing Howard and Mack alone should be too much to put together another Final Four run. Then again, who knows? Maybe head coach Brad Stevens just instills that sense of mental toughness that gets teams through March, which his teams have demonstrated each of the past two years? Either way, the right group of players came together for Butler and made all the right plays at all the right times to put together two incredible back-to-back seasons. And for everyone scoring at home, Butler has the best average finish of any team in the country over the past two years with two straight second-place finishes. Utah State is currently on that same fringe of big time success that Butler was on just three or four years ago. Not to say back-to-back Final Fours will happen for USU anytime soon, but carving out their own unique and exciting story of NCAA Tournament success doesn't seem too far off for the Aggies. Two years ago we thought that it would be the likes of Gary Wilkinson, Jared Quayle and Tai Wesley elevating their names to household status much like Hayward, Howard and Mack have for Butler, but USU came up just short. Now all three of those players' careers in an Aggie uniform are finished, and that epic story of March Madness has yet to show itself for this USU team. With this college basketball season officially over, and the past generation of staples in USU's starting lineup graduated, it's time for the next group of guys to take their shot at writing Utah State's success story just like Butler has had written for them. Brockeith Pane, Brady Jardine and Preston Medlin, it's your turn now. Matt Sonnenberg is a senior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu. SATURDAY APRIL 9 USU at BYU Outdoor Tournament USU at Dixie State, 12 p.m. USU at Utah, 4:30 p.m. Men's Tennis FRIDAY APRIL 8 OMANC USU at Idaho, 3 p.m. Moscow, Idaho SATURDAY APRIL 9 USU at Hawaii, 10 a.m. Moscow, Idaho USU at Fresno State, 6 p.m. Moscow, Idaho rad (6/ketioie Women's Tennis FRIDAY APRIL 8 USU at Gonzaga, 2 p.m. Moscow, Idaho SATURDAY APRIL 9 USU at Idaho, 9:30 a.m. Moscow, Idaho Track We are proud to introduce our Romance Bridal Collection... inspired selections, created with stunning quality & relentless attention to every detail. So celebrate your timeless love with the lasting gift of exquisite diamonds. APRIL 7-9 Sacramento State Invitational, all day Sacramento, Calif. Women's Rugby SATURDAY APRIL 9 USU at UVU, 11 a.m. Orem, Utah Football WEDNESDAY APRIL 6 USU Spring Practice, 2:45 a.m. Logan, Utah 6,7776W c).41126 930 North Main Street Logan, Utah (435) 753-9755 eW66/y- |