1995_03 Insight March 1995

              Sports
MARCH 8,1995
March Madness begins early for Bulldogs
WAC tournament title not a
likely scenario for men fs hoops
♦ Four straight Fresno
State wins mean a berth to
the NCAA tournament
By Robbie Miner
Sports Editor
Gary Colson's Fresno Stale
dogs will face their last action
1994-95 season this
weekend — unless
they can pull off a major upset.
Nine teams will
travel lo Thc Pil in Albuquerque, N.M.. for
thel2th-annualWAC
men's basketball tournament. New Mexico.
ihe I Oth team in the
conference, has a
much shorter voyage
ahead of it. The Pil is
the home court of the
Lobos. a place where
they have won 44 of
46 games prior to this
season.
A Fresno Stale win
Wednesday, followed
by three straight upsets, however, would
mean an automatic-
berth lo thc NCAA
tournament. At 7-11,
anything less would mean an ei
cation. Thc Bulldogs, seeded i
haven't been to the Big Dane
years. A return trip is unlikely,
Hull-
of the
the Wacky WAC anything's possible.
"In a four-day tournament, anyone
can win," BYU coach Roger Reid said.
Colorado Slate coach Stew Morrill
added. "There's a lot of teams playing
well. It's really a toss-up for the title."
In last year's WAC tournament, it
was lhc University of Hawaii that
WAC Men's Notes
WAC teams listed by seed
1. Utah- Keith Van Horn led 6. Colorado State- The Rams
the league in scoring (21.9) and     lost their final game by 17
rebounds (10.1) per game. points to No.9 seed SDSU
nament anyway. For the No.2 seed,
Fresno Slate, it meant playing in the
National Invitational Tournament instead of experiencing the real March
Madness.
"I was pleased for Hawaii last year,"
Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "But
I felt bad lhat Gary |Colson| put together a strong late-season surge and
still was neglected a
spot in the NCAA
2. BYU- After averaging 15.8
ppg in the first 1? WAC games,
Russell Larson averaged 24.3
points over the next four.
3. LfTEP- Antoinc Gillespie
surpassed Tim Hardaway as the
Miners' all-tunc leading scorer
with his 1,587th point.
Saturday.
7.Hawaii- Center Tony
Maroney ranks second in the
conference in rebounds (9.7)
and third in field goal percentage (.540).
8. Fresno State- The "Dogs are
last in the WAC in rebounding,
yet they are the only team with
i  in ii.      d  nut two players in the top five
4. Wyommg; Theo Rath £  • McCulloch fourth-
ranks ,n the oP 5 nationally in f f h
blocked shots, and on Thursday                         J
surpassed Shaquille O'Neal for     9. Air Force- Otis Jones and
third place on the all-time              Chris Loll (39.8 ppg) arc the
NCAA list                                        highest scoring WAC team-
, .,     ,, ...      mi.-,     mates in an games this season
5. New Mexico- Marlow White "
has averaged 23 8 ppg over the       10. SDSU- Marc Carter leads
lasl 10 games                                   the team with 12.5 ppg.
ulyva
;ighih.
Since the tournament's inaugural
year in 1984, three
No. 4 seeds have
claimed the title. No
team ranked lower
than fourth has won.
On the other hand,
only two No. I seeds
have won. UTF.P in
1984 and BYU in
1992. Consequently,
in both of those finals,
the game was played
at the home court of
the winners.
If New Mexico wins,
ihey will become the
lowest seed to win the
WAC tournament.
That makes little difference to the confer-
When you look
Photo by Kori Rianda/lnsight
ip-seed    their home-court record. 1 think New    Sophomore guard Matt Stock looks for an open man under the basket as New Mexico's Charles
~;''.._...,...,«,«.,« -    Smith applies the defensive pressure.
See MEN'S HOOPS, page 7 rK r
Emotion drives injury-plagued women into tournament
Photo by Kori Rianda/lnsight
Tanisha Huddleston shoots over two San Diego
State defenders for two of her 23 points Friday.
♦ Despite several injuries, women's
basketball's playing its most inspired ball
of the season
By Jefferson Beavers
Staff Writer
Bruised but not beaten, the Fresno State women's basketball team remains optimistic about ils post-season
chances.
With three players oui of the lineup due to season-ending injuries, the Bulldog women will have only eight roster players as the WAC tournament opens March 8 in Albuquerque. N.M. ,
From a team that had a promising 7-4 record going into
WAC play in early January, Fresno Slate has fallen victim to a plague of injuries that has cut the 11 -player roster
to as low as seven.
Sophomore guard Michelle Vielledent was the first casualty on the injury list, fracturing her hand in practice in
early December.
With Vielledent out and the Bulldogs' guard corps thin,
senior point guard Krisii Fulton then saw her Fresno State
career come to an end Jan. 21 against New Mexico when
she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
The loss of Fulton forced freshman Michele Anderson
into the lineup at the point. Anderson filled the spot for a
month until she suffered a severe ankle sprain in practice
Feb. 22.
Anderson's replacement. Mariann Sjotun. continued the
domino effect. Sjotun started one game against Utah. Feb.
23. before tearing the same ligament in her right knee
during practice the day before the BYU game, Feb. 25.
Sjotun's injury left Fresno State with only seven players
to face BYU and San Diego State in ils final two regular
Scott Sailor, director of women's athletic training services, said that thc
ligament tears sustained by Fulton
and Sjoiun arc the
most severe of the
four injuries.
Sailor said Fulton
and Sji
taci
12
months of rehabili-
guard. Siaci Oddo. joined Kari Jorgensen in Ihe Fresno
Stale backcourt for the team's final two WAC games in
an ad-hoc lineup.
"This is as bad as il could gel." Oddo said. "Knock on
wood."
Oddo said that despite the desperation caused by the
rash of injuries, the team has not lost faith in itself on the
eve of thc WAC
tournament.
WAC Women's Notes
WAC teams listed by seed
No. 1 SDSU vs. No. 8 New
Mexico — The No. 21 Aztecs take
a 16-game win streak into the
opening round against the hosts.
No. 3 Wyoming vs. No. 6
Fresno State — Wyoming's Amy
Burnett leads the WAC in points.
No. 2 Utah vs. No. 7 BYU — No. 4 UTEP vs. No. 5 Coloradt
Utah's freshman guard Julie State — Guard Terri Pcdregon
Krommenhoek leads the league in     and the Miners will try and stop
For Fulton, who
had never been injured, perhaps the
most difficult part
of the past month
has been watching games from the sideline.
Fulton said she has tried to keep her teammates from
taking ihcir time on the court for granted.
"You never know when your playing time will be taken
away." Fulton said. "I hope they leam to be thankful for
what ihey still have."
Wilh four players lost, lhc Bulldogs' lone remaining
Rams forward Teresa James.
"The
injun
big
shock." Oddo
said. "We're very
disappointed thai
everyone has gotten hurt.
"But we have to
eon
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Sailor said
Anderson should
be ready lo return
to the Fresno
Slate lineup for
the WAC tournament, which would al least give the team
two natural guards to battle the conference's seven other
Looking at the conference. San Diego State and Utah
have clearly emerged as the teams to beat at the touma-
See WOMEN'S HOOPS, page 8
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