By Rusty Simmons sports editor The TCU women's basketball team focused its game plan on trying to shut down the twins in the St. Mary's (Calif.) front court. But the St. Mary's squad could not stop the Frogs' twins in the back court. Junior guards, Jill and Amy Sutton, combined for 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the 62-51 win over the St. Mary's Gaels Monday night in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. While TCU's twins helped with the Frogs' win, head coach Jeff Mittie said the team's execution of the interior defensive game plan was the key to the preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament first round victory.
The TCU defense held the Gaels' twins, Jerkisha and Jermisha Dotsy, to 10 points, 10 rebounds and one assist. The Frogs also held the Dotsy duo to 3 of 11 shooting in the first half. The poor shooting from the Dotsys in the first half was contagious throughout Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. St. Mary's shot 36 percent from the floor, while connecting just 25 percent of the three-point attempts. The Frogs recorded a 30 percent first-half tally in the opening half, and they hit 18 percent from behind the arc. The Gaels' head coach Kelly Graves said the sub-par shooting in the first half was a matter of first-game nerves. "It is kind of natural in the first game," he said. "There's a little more at stake when you play a game like this than there is in an ordinary away game." But the Frogs shook off the anxiety first. After St. Mary's capped a 10-point run by scoring five points to open the second half, TCU responded with a run of its own. The Frogs scored 16 consecutive points to take a 10-point advantage, 39-29. The run was keyed by senior guard Diamond Jackson, who netted nine points during the span. Amy Sutton added five points during the span. She also hit one of her three three-point buckets after St. Mary's ended the TCU run with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. St. Mary's cut the Frogs' lead to two points when guard Brianne Jolley scored six straight Gaels' points before the eight minute mark, but the Frogs scored eight unanswered points in transition. Mittie said Jackson's defense on West Coast Conference Player of the Year Tracy Morris was impressive. But Jackson said her teammates helped her to play a good defensive game. "My teammates were saying all kinds of things about (how good Morris is)," Jackson said. "That really motivated me to go out there and play hard." Sophomore Karen Clayton pitched in her four points during the stretch, and the Frogs never rescinded the lead. The Frogs' win earns them a spot in the second round of the WNIT. TCU is awaiting the outcome Nevada-Las Vegas versus California-Santa Barbara to find out where the game will be played. If UNLV wins, the Frogs will host the game, and if California-Santa Barbara wins, TCU will play there.
Rusty Simmons
By Steven Baker staff reporter Two senior runners will compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships after two top-20 finishes Saturday at the NCAA South Central Regional Championship. David Lagat will become the first TCU runner to make consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships, after a ninth-place finish (31:28) in the 10,000-meter race in Denton. Adrian Martinez makes his debut at the championships because of an 11th-place time of 31:38. "It is an unbelievable accomplishment for both Lagat and Martinez to reach the championships," said Dan Waters, head cross country coach. "For Adrian this is huge because he has been shooting for it for such a long time. David did a good job of keeping himself in position to qualify running with an ankle injury." Martinez said he ran conservatively for the first couple of miles that put him in the position to pass other runners like Solomon Kandie from Tulane toward the end of the race. So, Monday when Rice received an at-large bid, Martinez filled the space that was left by Rice runner Lachlan McArthur. Under NCAA Division-I rules, the top four individual finishers following qualifying teams will run in the championship race. "When coach Waters told me to pass the Tulane runner, I heard his voice crack," Martinez said. "It was a very emotional race since Waters had been coaching me so long. It comes down to a lot of hard work and a little luck. I have put in the work." Lagat said a reoccurring ankle stress fracture did affect his race. "I don't think I had too good of a race, but I am pleased with the outcome," he said. "I went through three miles running great, but in the last part of the race it really began to hurt." The men's team did not qualify to place in the regional, because junior Ryan Womack failed to complete the race when he became sick. The women's team will not have any runners at the NCAA Championships, with only one runner placing in the top 20 in the 5,000-meter regional race. Sophomore Katie Singleton finished in 18th place, 18:02, leading the team to an eighth-place finish. "It wasn't a bad race for me, I just didn't run the race aggressively enough," Singleton said. "One race will not define our season. We had a great season. We were racing against five of the best schools in the nation." Neither TCU teams had beaten Arkansas all season, who won the competition in both the women's and men's team competitions. Lagat said the men had a good season, but they could have done better. "As we got into more races we started to compete and practice more as a team," he said. "Everyone in the race ran hard. We did better than a lot of people gave us credit for at the beginning of the season." Singleton said the experience the women take from the race will not only help them as they prepare for next season, but also for the upcoming indoor track and field competitions. "We will remember this race as we prepare for next season, but in 10 years no one will remember what happened," she said. "I will wake up each morning preparing to run the same. I ran better this year than I did last year."
Steven Baker
By Matt Welnack staff reporter It was a day of records and firsts, but by looking at the score and the opponent, one would not think so. The Frogs defeated the University of North Texas Eagles 27-3 Saturday, but after TCU's first scoring drive, it was a game of personal highlights. Freshman quarterback Casey Printers threw for 189 yards on 10 of 15 passing and a career-high three touchdowns. Printers owns the freshman record for passing yards with his current total at 1,083 yards. He has thrown a touchdown in six consecutive games. With his 8-yard touchdown reception on the first drive of the game, senior receiver Mike Scarborough moved himself into a tie for second place for the TCU single-season touchdown reception record. He is tied with Stanley Washington with eight touchdowns and is two away from tying the record set by Mike Renfro in 1977. Scarborough has caught a touchdown in five consecutive games. Senior receiver Royce Huffman, who caught Printers' last touchdown in the fourth quarter, had a couple of highlights of his own. The reception for the touchdown was the first of his career, coming from a player who has done it all in his college career. He has thrown, caught, ran, punted and returned kicks for the Frogs. "It was nice to come down with the ball," Huffman said. "I had dropped one earlier in the game so the catch for the touchdown to put us up by even more was nice." Huffman, who took over punt return duties in place of junior LaVar Veale, set a personal best in punt returns with his 29-yard return in the third quarter. "I just got a couple of good blocks," Huffman said. "I'm not the fastest guy on the team. I just made one cut and then I was up the sideline." Senior kick returner Reggie Hunt set a TCU single-game record for average yards per kickoff return with 57.5 yards per kick. In the first quarter, Hunt took a kick down the left sideline and was run out of bound at the 7-yard line, a 79-yard return. The return set up a Chris Kaylakie 37-yard field goal. Hunt also had a 36-yard return to begin the second half. "We put ourselves in good position and we got them backed up, and we got a punt return or two," head coach Dennis Franchione said. "Obviously, our kickoff return game was good. The kicking game was a big factor in getting us out of that slowdown game that (North Texas) played." Hunt broke his previous record for average return yards of 52 yards set in the Frogs' loss to Fresno State in the Western Athletic Conference opener Oct. 2. Franchione said the kicking game also hurt the Frogs because the defense spent a lot of time on the field in the first half. The defense racked up five sacks against the Eagles, two by junior strong safety Cody Slinkard. The North Texas offensive line had only given up five sacks previously this season. "The defensive line dominated, and I didn't have anybody coming out to block me," Slinkard said. "I had the easy job, I was just cleaning up." Saturday's Homecoming win was Franchione's 125th win of his career, putting him 14th on the list of winningest active coaches, three wins ahead of Florida's Steve Spurrier.
Matt Welnack
By Joel Anderson staff reporter In all likelihood, North Texas' offensive players worked up more of a sweat during pregame drills than during the actual game. That tends to happen when you generate only 164 yards of offense, 76 of which came in the fourth quarter when TCU was well on its way to a 27-3 rout of the Eagles Saturday. "The difference in the game was our inability on offense to make anything running game-wise," North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey said. "They've got a very good defensive front, and they just flat-out whipped us."
Of North Texas' 14 offensive possessions, seven were three downs long. The Frogs were so defensively dominant they held the Eagles to 28 rushing yards on 39 carries, their worst rushing performance in more than three seasons. "We couldn't get anything going and we didn't do anything right," North Texas offensive lineman David Morgan said. "It's probably the most frustrating game I've ever had. We couldn't keep them away from the quarterback, and we couldn't drive them to gain any yards." TCU head coach Dennis Franchione said he was pleased with the Frogs' play on the defensive line. "Our defensive line is playing very well," Franchione said. "They have the ability to take control of the game. They dominated the line of scrimmage, and they pressured the quarterback." True freshman quarterback Casey Printers had no such troubles. Printers had an impressive evening, which was devoid of avoiding opposing defensive lineman. Printers finished the evening completing 10 of 15 pass attempts for 189 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. "I feel that I've become very comfortable with the offense," Printers said. "It's not easy being a true freshman and learning the system while playing, but my teammates have helped me out. We've made the best of the situation." One of those teammates was senior wide receiver Mike Scarborough, who had a 52-yard reception on the Frogs' first offensive play of the game. Later that drive, Scarborough had an 8-yard touchdown reception, the fifth game in a row that he has caught a touchdown pass. "We're finally starting to get the ball to him," Franchione said. "There are very few players like him. I call him my ultimate warrior because he's hurt all the time, but he keeps going." Scarborough possibly fractured a rib during Saturday's game, but Franchione said the senior receiver will undergo more X-rays to come to a conclusive decision. Junior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, who entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading rusher at 155 yards a game, was bottled up by a North Texas run defense that ranked 108th - out of 114 major-college teams - in the nation. Tomlinson sputtered to only 75 yards on 21 carries, but had a second-quarter 40-yard run to the North Texas 10-yard line nullified by a 15-yard illegal blocking penalty. "(North Texas) was playing their script very well, and we hurt ourselves with penalties like that," Franchione said. "They played a very smart game plan, played just like I knew they would."
Joel Anderson
By Matt Welnack staff reporter In its final exhibition game, the men's basketball team defeated Athlete's First 101-66 Friday night at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Senior forward Marquise Gainous led the Frogs with 22 points and eight rebounds and junior Ryan Carroll added 20 points as the Frogs ran away in the second half with a 21-2 run. "I thought the first half especially, (Athlete's First) really challenged us," head coach Billy Tubbs said. "This one was real like what we are going to see in Alaska with some real tough physical players. I thought there was a lot of things that we learned out there (Friday night). All in all, it was another good team effort."
Despite outscoring Athlete's First by 24 points in the second half, Tubbs said defense was the key for the Frogs. "Maybe we wore them down in the second half, but I thought they hung with us in the first half," Tubbs said. "Basically, our defense really turned the trick more than our offense did. I was a little disappointed in that we never really got anything going offensively that we could sink our teeth in." Freshman forward Bingo Merriex, in his first start at TCU, scored all of his 12 points in a five-minute span during the second half. Junior guard Estell Laster scored 12 points, handed out five assists and had two steals. "(Laster) looked like the only guy we really had running," Tubbs said. "He was all over the place, getting rebounds, pushing the ball down the floor and really running the floor well. I think he's going to play better than that, but I think he had a really good game." Athlete's First outshot the Frogs in the first half, 52 percent to 51 percent, but shot 32 percent for the second half. Guard Chad Wilkerson led his team with 21 points, however, he only scored two points in the second half. Tubbs said shutting down Wilkerson in the second half was one of the key adjustments the Frogs made. "Wilkerson's a really good player," Tubbs said. "He kicked us pretty good last year (22 points, 14 rebounds). We talked about it during a time-out that we had to shut him down. I thought that might have been a turning point. "I like the way we finished, meaning we played a lot better in the second half and that's what your objective is always." Laster said changes in defensive schemes helped shut down Athlete's First. The Frogs switched from a man-to-man defense in the first half to some zone defenses in the second half, Laster said. Tubbs said he was impressed with the play at the point guard position by juniors Thomas McTyer and Larry Allaway. The two combined for 13 points, seven assists and only two turnovers. "I think our decision is made at point guard," Tubbs said. "I think we've got two guys playing very well at the point guard. I'm pleased with Larry and I'm pleased with Thomas." Allaway missed three days of practice because of a thigh bruise and played 18 minutes Friday. Junior forward Vladimir Jaksic, who only saw 10 minutes of action after scoring 22 in the first exhibition game, left in the second half with a left ankle injury. Tubbs said he doubts Jaksic will play against California. Freshman guard J.R. Jones will also miss the Alaska tournament with a broken wrist. Gainous, who suffered a split lip in the second half, said Athlete's First was a physical team, something the Frogs did not see in their first game against MBK Odessa Ukraine. "It was real physical inside," he said. "We knew we had to come out and play hard no matter how physical they were." The Frogs opened the game with a 7-0 run, but Athlete's First took the lead 9-8 after a three-pointer by Wilkerson. Wilkerson hit another three-pointer with 11:12 remaining in the first half to give Athlete's First a 16-15 lead, but Gainous countered with a jumper and the Frogs never lost the lead.
Matt Welnack |
"I thought they executed the game plan very well,"
he said. "That's all great when you draw it up on the chalk board,
but players make plays. The players executed it to a tee."
The Horned Frogs' defense, which now ranks 12th in the nation
in total defense, put on a clinic for Saturday's homecoming crowd of 27,133,
holding North Texas to just six first downs and tallying five sacks. Coming
into Saturday's contest, the Eagles had given up only five sacks all season.
TCU travels to Fairbanks, Alaska for its season opener against
California, the defending National Invitational Tournament champion, in
the Top of the World Classic Thursday.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |