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Show MONDAY • JANUARY WWW.NETXNEWS.NET AI2 • 2006 Buzzer beater JC Transfer Wesley is hero to snap losing skid Morgan Vance Sports Editor Utah Valley State overcame a horrendous 1-21 start from the field to start the second half, as well as a double digit North Dakota State lead to stun the visiting Bison after Tika Wesley tipped in the game winning bucket as time expired. The thrilling 67-65 finish did more than just send Wolverine fans in a frenzy, the home victory also snapped UVSC's five game losing streak. Tied at 65 apiece after NDS's Ben Woodside connected on only one of two free-throws, Pierre Thomas came out of a timeout eating up the remaining clock and penetrating the lane. His hanging shot was Freshman give hope for bright future Of any basketball team that starts four freshman, you can usually go ahead and pencil in a 5-10 record at best midway through the season. And though well below where Cathy Nixon wants her girls to be. the future seems neon bright for a program that just last season lost 18 more times than they won. After saying goodbye to two seniors and possibly their best overall players from a year ago, you would think this season's outlook wouldn't appear much brighter; but due to the arrival of an almost brilliant freshman class, Nixon, no doubt, is now beginning to twirl the fruits of a successful recruiting pitch. Youth dons this year's roster; and any Division I coach realizing he/she is working with a total of six freshman and three sophomores is, believe me, more than enough to drive them right out of the business. But there's something else this team has; that being both bred offensive talent and a boatload of potential. The other night against Idaho State, this group of freshman, along with senior forward Miriam Palkki, ripped right out of the locker room by scoring a total of 15 points during the game's first three and a half minutes. As a whole, this group is averaging 20 more points a contest than they were by the end of '05. In November of '04, the Wolverines traveled to Spokane, Washington and got beat by 46 points. A little under 14 months later, Nixon took her girls back up to the same exact spot and upset the Bulldogs by six this past December 30th. Brace yourselves- that's a differential of 55 points. To say Gonzaga was facing a better bunch would be an understatement. The new crop starts with 6'1 low post player Robyn Fairbanks, who may have slipped through the cracks a little bit seeing that she comes from a small town in southern Alberta, Canada. In short, Fairbanks is a headache for defensive strategists, and no doubt coaches across the western United States are kicking themselves they didn't reserve a plane ticket labeled Air Canada to see this gem for themselves. Against ISU, the Bengals had absolutely no answer for the daughter of a seven-time CFL Offensive Line Player of the Year, as she ended up with t o o hard off the g l a s s , but cuad ciark/N«xN.-wi Wesley was there to clean it up. Ben Woodside pulls up for a shot against Utah Valley. Woodside led all scorers with 26. "We drew up the play for the point guard to dribble around and get a good shot," said Wesley. "I just went to the offensive rebound and got a hand on it, tipped it in and watched it roll in forme." "Tika played on the scout team this week," said UV head coach Dick Hunsaker. SppR-Ball .A10 Get 20% off at (PK and use the money you save to buy books. Or cheesecake. See RANT-AID price watch Since January 8th, former UVSC standout Ronnie Price has played a total of 36 minutes through seven games for the Sacramento Kings, In that time, the 6'1 guard from Friends wood, Texas scored 15 points on 5-18 from the field to go along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. As a team, Sacramento has failed to meet expectation by managing just a 17-21 record on the year. Price returns to Utah to face the Jazz at the Delta Center on Friday, February 3rd. Visit the California Pizza Kitchen at Orem's University Mall, and we'll give you 20% off your bill when you show us your student ID. That's 20% off on our one-of-kind pizzas, pastas, salads, appetizers and desserts. Isn't college life great? Show your student ID and receive 20% off your CPK bill. I; • 1/26 Men's B-Ball v. Texas A&M-Corpus ChrisK !;@7:0OPM „ ..;". t • 1/28 Men's W a l l v. Texas Pan American @7:00 PM •;: • 1/28 Lacrosse @ BYU @6:00 PM % • Contact the UVSC intramural* office in SC108h, or email them at intramural* ©uvsc.edu to find out what ; sports or events they have x : UNIVERSITY MALL 575 East University Parkway - Corner of University Parkway and State Street 801.765.1777 Dine-in, Take-out and Curbside Service www.cpk.com |