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Women’s team defeats Kosice in exhibition game By Kelly Morris After the women’s basketball team won it first exhibition game 80-44 on Friday against Delta Kosice, head basketball coach Jeff Mittie said the game itself was far more important than the win. “It’s nice to get a victory,” Mittie said. “It’s more important to play someone else and see where we’re at as a basketball team.” Although the team connected on 11 of 24 three-point shots and shot 52.9 percent for the game, Mittie said he was worried about his team’s inability to get to the foul line. “(Going to the foul line) was an area of emphasis that we made early in the year,” Mittie said. “We needed to go to the foul line more than our opponents, and the first game out of the box we went seven times and (Kosice) went 20. I did, however, like the fact that we worked inside out. “With our great shooters, we’re going to have to be a good three-point shooting team because that’s a strength of ours.” With eight players returning from last year’s team, which earned a school-record-tying 16 wins, and six new recruits, senior guard Jill Sutton said this year’s team has been blessed with good players and good team chemistry. “We’re expecting all good things out of the (recruiting) class which is ranked 22nd in the nation coming into this season,” Sutton said. “Our athletic newcomers give us something that we didn’t have as much of in the past. You never know what to expect going into one of these (exhibition) games, but we all played well and had fun. “We’ve improved every year, and if everything falls together, we’re hoping to win the Western Athletic Conference.” The new class includes junior forward Kati Safaritova and junior guard Ashanti Nix, freshman forward Tiffany Evans and freshmen guards DeeDee Favors, Ebony Shaw and Catriece Webster. Mittie said the team, which is expected to finish third according to a preseason poll of WAC coaches, must utilize this depth to have a successful season. “We’re so much deeper than a year ago,” Mittie said. “We have a lot of players that can give us some different things during a game.” Sutton, senior center Karen Clayton and senior forward Janice Thomas led the team in scoring Friday with 12 points each. The game marked the return of senior guard Amy Sutton, who suffered a fractured fibula Jan. 15. The Frogs’ final exhibition game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Kelly Morris
Coming out on TOP Volley Frogs defeat Tulsa, tie all-time record for season wins By Colleen Casey Putting an end to their five-match losing streak and tying a record in the process, the Volley Frogs came out on top of Tulsa Friday at the Rickel Building. The 3-1 win improved the Frogs’ overall record to 13-14 and tied this season’s squad with the 1997 team for the all-time record of most wins in a season. “We knew we could beat (Tulsa),” junior middle blocker Allison Lynch said. “We really played as a team and covered for each other.” TCU was also able to set statistical records for assists and kills in a season. They surpassed the 1999 total of 1,355 assists and now have 1,401 this season. Their 1,580 kills surpassed the 1,561 kills accumulated in 1998. The Frogs still have six matches left in their regular season, five of which are against Western Athletic Conference opponents. “We all still believe we can win the remaining games,” sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Watson said. “We’ve been recommitting to our goals.” The win over Tulsa allowed the Frogs to bump up from fifth to fourth place in the WAC standings, with a conference record of 5-6. The current Frogs’ five conference wins also tie the 1999 season’s team for the most conference wins in a season. Tulsa, despite being 17-8 overall, now sits in eighth place in WAC standings with a conference record of 3-8. The Golden Hurricane have lost in all eight of their WAC road matches. Both teams battled for the lead in game one, until Tulsa was able to hold the marginal lead long enough to take the first game, 15-12. TCU came back strong in the second game and scored 12 points before Tulsa could do anything to reverse the Frogs’ domination. The Frogs ended the fourth game with a 15-13 win. “Our confidence level was good,” Lynch said. “We really wanted to put (Tulsa) in their place.” The last game of the match was one of high energy for the Frogs, as they played a focused and intense game, Lynch said. TCU led the Golden Hurricane throughout the fourth game. “When we leave our heart out on the court, we know it will work out,” assistant coach Barbara Kovacs said. Colleen Casey |
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