By Matt Stiver Assistant Campus Editor When the TCU men's basketball team runs out onto the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum floor Saturday for its first match up of the season with Southern Methodist University, it will see something familiar. Two seasons ago, TCU entered its first SMU game having won five in a row and was on its way to sweeping the Western Athletic Conference schedule. The Frogs ran to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament that year. SMU, on the other hand, would struggle to finish 16-16. This season, the two teams have switched places. When TCU and SMU meet at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, it will be SMU, not TCU, who will enter Daniel-Meyer having won 12 of 14 games. It will be SMU, not TCU, who will be looking to move into a first-place tie in the WAC.
"This is an interesting year for us," Carroll said. "We've had a lot of distractions as a team." SMU head coach Mike Dement said he sees the Frogs as a threat, despite their 2-3 WAC record. "I think every coach in (the WAC) knows that TCU is going to get it together and explode," Dement said. "I just hope they don't do it on us." Dement said SMU must shoot the ball to have a chance to win. "(TCU) is a great shooting team, and we have to be able to match them," Dement said. "We will not be able to rely on a 22-6 advantage in offensive rebounds." TCU men's basketball team head coach Billy Tubbs said the Frogs must respond and rebound well on defense. This season, TCU averages two more rebounds more per game than its opponents. "That's probably the biggest factor in the game," Tubbs said. "The best thing they do is offensive rebounds." Flyers across campus have advertised the match up as a battle between Carroll and SMU guard Jeryl Sasser. But Carroll said he does not see things that way. "It's kind of funny," Carroll said. "There's not really a big rivalry as far as I'm concerned. The rivalry is more TCU and SMU, not Ryan and Sasser. If he goes out and scores 50 points, and I score 2, but we win the game, then I'll be happy." Carroll said the team needs students to show up at the game. Dement said SMU will bring seven bus loads of students to the game. "I think it is key for us to have our fans at the game," Carroll said. "(The fans) are like a sixth man for us on the court. If the crowd's behind us, we play better defense. It is definitely to our advantage to have more fans at the game." Tubbs agreed that fan support is important. "I'd really like to see our student body come in here and give us some great support," Tubbs said. "We need our fans to come in here and be pumped up and ready to go."
Matt Stiver
By Chris Gibson staff reporter The TCU women's swim team ran into a wall Wednesday night as they lost to Southern Methodist 143-61 at Perkins Natatortium. TCU failed to win an event in the Western Athletic Conference contest but managed to place many swimmers in the top three in their respective events. "We knew it would be tough to challenge SMU as a team, so we tried to focus more on individual events," head coach Richard Sybesma said. The Mustangs started the night off by taking the top two spots in the 200-yard medley relay. TCU's team of sophomore Marisa Schenke, sophomore Laura Holt, freshman Kate Swearingen and freshman Andrea Stevens placed third in that event with a time of 1:49:74. SMU continued its dominance with a sweep in the 200-yard freestyle. SMU's Lotta Wanberg took the top spot with a time of 1:51:70. Stevens grabbed a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25:10, and sophomore Jamie MacCurdy finished second in the 400-yard individual medley. MacCurdy also took a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. "We had many swimmers who swam well: MacCurdy, Schenke and junior Bridget Nelson all did what we asked them to do," Sybesma said. "We're really looking forward to next week against Fresno State where we can really battle them as a team." The women's swim team continues action 7 p.m. Feb. 5, in a dual meet with Fresno State and North Texas in the Rickel Building.
Chris Gibson
By Chris Gibson staff reporter The TCU men's swim team is set to face No. 14 SMU in a conference meet to be held Friday at 7 p.m. in the Rickel Building. SMU comes into the meet ranked nationally by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. The Mustangs are coming off a weekend in which they swept both the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Southwest Missouri State University. "We're going into this meet prepared to challenge SMU as a team," head coach Richard Sybesma said. "They have three or four really strong swimmers but we feel like we can swim with the rest of them." Although sophomore swimmer Josh Pipes said the rivalry may not be as strong as other sports, the team wants to swim their best. "It's important for us to have a strong showing," Price said. "SMU is one of the better programs in the country and that just means better competition for us, which makes us better in the long run." The season has had its ups and downs for TCU but Sybesma said his team understands its role every week. "We've tried to go into each meet with the idea that we're preparing for the WAC meet," Sybesma said. "There are times when we wanted to go for the win, but our season goal has been to prepare well each week and win the WAC title."
Chris Gibson
By Danny Horne staff reporter The TCU Lady Horned Frogs look to end a 17-game losing streak to Southern Methodist when they face off on Saturday. TCU (11-9, 2-3 Western Athletic Conference) has not beaten the Mustangs since Jan. 5, 1991, and has not won in Dallas since Jan. 3, 1990. "We are going to need to play a very consistent game," head coach Jeff Mittie said. "(SMU) is easily playing the best basketball in the conference right now." The Mustangs (11-5, 4-0 WAC) come into the game having won eight games in a row.
TCU is led offensively by junior guard Diamond Jackson's 12.8 points a game and sophomore guard Tricia Payne's 11.5 points a game. Junior guard Jill Sutton, who averages 9.5 points a game, said the team needs to be more aggressive. "If we get an open shot on the outside, we need to take it," Sutton said. "(Freshman) Kim (Walter) has been playing so well inside, we should be able to get more looks from the outside." Sutton said the Lady Frogs plan to use Walter as a way to control the game. Walter has scored in double figures in three consecutive games - averaging 19 points a game. "If we control the inside, we feel we can control the pace of the game," Sutton said. "As a team we want to get the ball inside and force (SMU) into foul trouble." Sutton said getting the Lady Frogs to the foul line more often is another way to control the pace of the game. The Lady Frogs shoot 72 percent from the line but have attempted 50 fewer free throws than their opponents. Payne leads the team in free throws made (55), free throws attempted (67) and free throw percentage (82 percent). The SMU offense is led by the scoring of junior guard D-dra Rucker and senior forward Karlin Kennedy. Between the two, they average over 30 points a game. SMU averages almost 73 points a game as a team. "We feel that if we can stop Rucker and Kennedy; we should be able to stop SMU," Sutton said. The rivalry that is usually present in games between TCU and SMU has not been there for the women's basketball team, Sutton said. "Everyone says it's a great rivalry, but we need to beat them once before it can become a rivalry at all," Sutton said. "If we can pick up a big win this weekend, it would do wonders for our confidence."
Danny Horne |
Junior guard Ryan Carroll said the Frogs
have had difficulties with injuries this season.
During that streak SMU has allowed just 49 points a game.
That trend may not bode well for a TCU team that has had some offensive
problems lately, Mittie said.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |