By Danny Horne staff reporter The Lady Frogs basketball team has taken to the road again to face one of the winningest teams this season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (15-5, 7-1 WAC) have won six consecutive games entering today's contest against TCU. The streak began Jan. 15 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum against the Lady Frogs. Hawaii beat TCU 70-62. "We are not thinking of the last game," Lady Horned Frogs head coach Jeff Mittie said. "We will use the first meeting as a guide, but we cannot focus on that loss." In the first meeting, the Wahine were lead by sophomore guard Kate McMeekan Ruscoe's 22 points, but for the season she averages 4.6 points a game. The two main sources for the Hawaii offense this season have been senior forward Raylene Howard and junior forward Kylie Galloway. Howard and Galloway combined to score 37 points against TCU in January and accounted for half of the shots taken. For the season, they average 31 points a game together. "Those two girls are great players and we obviously would like to keep them under control," Mittie said. "The problem is that when you try to focus on one or two players, you open the door for someone else to step up. They have the players who can step up and create offense when Galloway and Howard do not produce." Mittie added that the Lady Frogs will need to be more physical on the inside which was something they were missing in the first meeting. "[Hawaii] got too much penetration from everybody last time," Mittie said. "We need to be able to cut off the dribble and be more physical to keep them out of the lane." The Lady Horned Frogs offense recently has centered around the play of junior guard Jill Sutton. In her last four games she is averaging 16 points and is coming off a season-high 21-point performance against Tulsa. Junior forward Janice Thomas has become more comfortable with the offense, Mittie said. It shows in the fact that she has averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds over her last five games. Junior guard Diamond Jackson has posted double figures in scoring in each of the last six games averaging 11 points. In the previous meeting with Hawaii, Jackson was held scoreless. "She got into early foul trouble and never really found her shot," Mittie said. "We look for her to be more of a factor offensively on Thursday." One difference for the Lady Frogs this time around against Hawaii will be the absence of junior guard Amy Sutton. She went down with a fractured right fibula late in the game against the Wahine in January. "We have missed Amy in every game she has not played," Mittie said. "She is still not expected to return until the end of February, but more likely the beginning of March." Both teams enter the game on a winning note. Hawaii is coming off a comeback victory on the road against Fresno State, 48-44. The Lady Horned Frogs beat Tulsa last Saturday at home 80-58. A 1-6 record on the road this season does not faze the Lady Frogs, Mittie said. "We know we have not played as well on the road, and Hawaii is a good team on their home court, but that cannot affect how we play," Mittie said. The game is set to tip-off at 11 p.m. CST today at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
Danny Horne
While grasping for ideas about what Valentine's Day might actually mean, much in the way I used to struggle with the reasons behind Rush Limbaugh's acclaim, I came to believe the day is about appreciation. When broken down to its core meaning, chocolates and flowers notwithstanding, the whole convoluted event is just an opportunity to show regard for something or, preferably, someone. I write this just days after Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Thomas died of cardio-respiratory arrest while recovering from a car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Thomas, who was heading to St. Louis for an NFL playoff game, was in a car that flipped over on the icy roads of Kansas City on Jan. 23. The wreckage claimed the life of Thomas' best friend and the use of legs that carried Thomas to nine Pro Bowl appearances. But the best days of his life weren't spent on the gridiron. Thomas was named the NFL's Man of the Year in 1993 and two years later won the Whizzer White Humanitarian Award from the NFL players association for his service to the community. He was No. 832 among President George Bush's thousand points of light. He began the "Third and Long Foundation," an inner-city reading program in which he read to children at local libraries every Saturday before the Chiefs' home games. In short, Thomas sought to live a life that demonstrated his appreciation for the greater glories in life. He didn't have to go about proselytizing or sanctimoniously appraising the lives of others. His testimony was apparent to all those who cared to notice. Which brings us to St. Louis Rams Pro Bowl wide receiver Isaac Bruce. Bruce, who was recently involved in a similar automobile accident to Thomas, but suffered no injuries, caught the game-winning touchdown in this year's Super Bowl by flashing his world-class skills by the Tennessee Titans' defensive backfield. In the aftermath of the Rams' thrilling 23-16 win, Bruce would say, "That was all God. I knew I had to make an adjustment on the ball, and God did the rest. "(The opposing defender) fell on his face, and by the grace of God, I finished the play." Right. As if God didn't have enough to do, he also directly intervened in the outcome of this year's Super Bowl. While giving thanks to God is definitely an honorable thing to do, insinuating God influences the outcome of games seemingly borders on blasphemous. Do we really assume God cares about the results of athletic contests when there are children in the world who go hungry and neglected every day? Apparently, there are some of us who believe as much. But let's hear more from Bruce, who was asked by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly if he ever thought about the then-hospitalized Thomas and wondered if he could be the one recovering from the residual effects of a car accident. "Oh, no, not at all," Bruce said. "Because as I was flipping, I threw my hands off the wheel and called Jesus' name." Huh? Reilly continued prodding Bruce, asking if Thomas, Payne Stewart, a professional golfer who died in a plane crash in October, and Cassie Bernall, one of the 12 slain Columbine High students, had intoned the name of Jesus Christ in each of their tragic episodes, could they have been able to prevent their eventual deaths. "Oh, definitely," Bruce said. From this dialogue, I have to assume Bruce doesn't quite get it. He doesn't quite appreciate the benediction bestowed upon himself and his girlfriend, who was also involved in the accident, but suffered no serious injuries. Of course, Bruce isn't necessarily a bad guy. Just one who doesn't appear to have perspective about what could happen if the coin, nay the car, was flipped on the other side. Thomas, unlike Bruce, didn't have the luxury of reflecting on another's misfortune just days after the pinnacle of his professional career. In the years before meeting tragedy along the icy highways of Kansas City, Thomas showed his appreciation for life and love for God, not by lip service, but by deeds. Bruce would be advised to do the same. If there is a next time, he might not be afforded a second chance.
Joel Anderson is a senior news-editorial
journalism major from Missouri City, Texas. |
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