1996_02 The Daily Collegian February 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Monday, February 12, 1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Brian R. Fisher
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
BULLDOG
SPORTS
* If a Fresno State athletic
event has or will happen on
campus, you'll find it here
SCORES
MENS BASKETBALL
FRESNO STATE 76
Hawaii 96
WOMEN'S BASKETBAL1
Colorado Slate 67
FRESNO STATE • 46
MEN'S TENNIS
' (@ National Individual
Indoor Championships)
F. Giers—Fresno St. 1   2
E. Abaroa—Kansas      6 6
BASEBALL
(Sunday's game)
FRESNO STATE 5
Fullerton 6
(Saturday's game)
FRESNO STATE 3
Fullerton 5
(Friday's game)
FRESNO STATE 2
Fullerton 17
TODAY'S GAMES
• Baseball @ UNLV, 3 p.m.
TOMORROW'S GAMES
• Baseball @ UNLV, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14
• W. Tennis @ Cal, 1:30 p.m.
BULLDOG BRIEFS
Giers loses first round
match at National Indoor
Championships
DALLAS— Fresno State's
only competitor in the 1996
Rolex National Intercollegiate
Indoor Tennis Championships in
Dallas' Brookhaven Country '
Club, third-ranked Fredrik
Giers, "was upset on Friday 6-1,
6-2, by Kansas' Enrique Abaroa.
[ y-Abaroa is ranked No. 13 in
^the country.
Giers, the No. 3 seed in the
tournament, recently came off a
6-4,4-6,6-4 victory over the
tournament's top seed, Stanford's
Ryan Wolters, during a dual
match last week.
The loss drop Giers' overall
record to 18-7 this season (15-5
in individual tournaments).
'Dogs run out of tricks, lose to Hawaii
By Matt Croce
Sports Writer
The Fresno State men's basket¬
ball team has made a habit of get¬
ting off to a sluggish start.
They have been coming out flat
at the beginning of their last few
games, only to kick it into high gear
in the waning minutes of the game,,
in hopes of pulling out a win.
Saturday night, however, the
hole was dug too deep. And even
the biggest of backhoes couldn't
have gotten them out.
The Hawaii Rainbows made it
no secfet that they had to shut down
the Bulldogs' backcourt duo-of
Kendric Brooks and Dominick
Young. That mission was accom¬
plished, and the route was on.
Hawaii raced out to a 50-35 half-
time lead, stretched it to 70-45 nine
minutes into the second half, and
cruised to a 97-76 victory at the
Special Events Center in Honolulu.
The victory was the Rainbows'
third straight on their home court,
and upped their record to 7-13 over¬
all. 4-8 in WAC play. The loss
dropped Fresno State to 15-8, and
9-4. The Bulldogs maintained a slim
half-game lead over third-place
New Mexico (8-4). Conference
leader Utah won Saturday night,
I and stretched
Brandon Bakke recently back
from a sixteen game suspension,
scored 18 points, but more impor¬
tantly, shut down Brooks, Fresno
State's leading scorer at 20 points
per game.
Whitlock blanketed Brooks, and
limited him to just 11 points on four
of 12 shooting. Young finished/with
14 points and II assists, bu^ was
five for 18 from the field, includ¬
ing three for 14 from three point
land.
"That's the best we've played
since Thanksgiving," Hawaii coach
Riley Wallace said. "Tes did an ex¬
cellent job on Brooks. Young didn't
take over the game like he did in
Fresno."
Rainbow forward Justice Sueing
had a big game, as he led all scor¬
ers with 25 points on eight of 10
shooting from the field, and nine of
11 from the free throw stripe. He
added a game-high 10 rebounds.
Hawaii's offense was clicking.
The, Rainbows' 58.6 percent
shooting from the floor was the
highest the Bulldogs' defense has
allowed all season.'Five Hawaii
players scored in double figures.
Fresno State Head Coach Jerry
Tarkanian wasn't happy.
"That's the worst defense we've
played all year," Tarkanian said.
"We couldn't' op them at all. They
broke us down everywhere. We had
no reflexes."
The Bulldogs Trailed 76-46 with
10:24 left when they found a little
bit of rhythm. They ran off a 26-10
scoring streak to cut the Rainbows'
lead to 14 with 2:24 left.
This time there was no amazing
comeback, like at the San Diego
State game on Thursday. Brooks
and James Gray fouled out, and the
Bulldogs could get no closer.   .
Young and center Rahsaan
Smith led the Bulldogs with 14
points each. Smith pulled down
nine rebounds. Gray added 10
points on five of nine shooting.
Reserve Brandon Bakke came in
when Brooks fouled out and
chipped in with a season-high 10
points, including two three-point-
Fresno State turns game over to CSU
By Matt Personale and Brian
R. Fisher-
Sports Writers
In basketball, hirnovers can cost
a team the game. The way the
Fresno State Women's basketball
team has turned the ball o,ver as of
late, it can be said that they have
cost the team its season.
The Bulldogs (3-7 in WAC. 10-
12 overall), losers of four straight,
turned the ball over to Colorado
State early and often, in a 67-46
defeat.
In the first nine minutes of the
game, the 'Dogs turned the ball over
ten times. Junior forward Lori
Brown committed four turnovers
and freshman guard Jessie Farias
had three during that span.
Colorado State (7-2,17-4) made
the most of the Bulldogs' 24 mis¬
takes and took a 10-point lead into
half-time.
However, even if Fresno State
had been able to hang on to the ball,
the game's outcome might have not
been much different.
The Rams shot a remarkable
eight for ten from behind the three
point line, with freshman guard
Becky Hammon leading the team
on four of six shooting.
"She [Hammon] is one outstand¬
ing player," Fresno State Head
Coach Linda Wunder said. "She's
only a freshman and we'll have to
play against her for the next three
years."
Hammond finished the night
with 26 points.
Her teammates, Teresa James
and Katie Cronin had 18 and 16
points respectively. J
The Bulldogs also had trouble
Steve R. Fujimoto —The Daily Collegian
Making lite difficult. Colorado State freshman Becky Hammon
plays aggressive defense against Fresno State's Staci Oddo.
with the Rams' transition game.
Every time Fresno State missed
a shot, a Rams player was down at
the other side of the court with no
Bulldog in sight.
In addition, the Bulldogs were
out-rebounded 42-26.
Fresno State showed signs of
getting back into the ball game mid¬
way through the second half when
Brown hit a three pointer, cutting
the Rams lead to 46-38.
But Colorado State countered
with 13 consecutive points and the
Bulldogs never had a chance again.
Despite her early turnover
trouble, Brown scored nine points.
She collected seven rebounds.
Fresno State senior forward
Corry Carter scored 13 points and
had six rebounds.
But the Bulldogs did not quit and
they made it interesting in the sec¬
ond half.
Please see TURNOVER, Page 7.
ers, in 11 minutes of play.
Fresno State hopes to rebound
with a three-game homestand. Air
Force comes to town Saturday night
Feb. 17. The Bulldogs play Utah
Feb. 22, and BYU (to be televised
on ESPN) Feb. 24.
Hawaii 97, Fresno St. 76
Fresno State (9-4.15-8)
Smith 5-9 4-4 U.Tcrdenge 0-1 0-0 0.
Bakke 4-7 0-0 1 O.Austin 0-0 1-2 1.
Young 5-IS 1-2 14. Stamps 1-1 0-0 2.
Stanley 1-4 3-3 5. McCulloch 4-8 1-4
9. Brooks 4-121-611. Gray 5-9 0-1
10. Totals 29-69 11-22 76.
Hawaii (4-8,7-13)
Whitlock 4-10 7-11 18. Krocgcr 0-1
0-0 O.Smith 6-10 4-4 18. Harris 7-15
2-2 17. Furlong 2-4 2-2 6. Sueing 8-
1Q9-11 25. Sundberg 5-5 3-3 13.
ToUas 32-55 27-33 97.
3-point goals— Fresno State 7-24
(Bakke 2-5. Young 3-14.McCulloch
0-1, Brooks 2-4), Hawaii 6-13
(Whitlock 3-8. Smith 2-3. Harris 1-2).
Fouled Out—Fresno State Brooks.
Gray. Hawaii Sundberg. Rebounds
—Fresno State 37 (Smith 9). Hawaii
30 (Sueing 10). Assists — Fresno
State 15 (Young 11). Hawaii 24
(Whitlock 11).
9
Top ranked
Titans
sweep 'Dogs
By David Johnson
Sports Writer -
This past weekend, the
Fresno State baseball team,
ranked 17th in the pre-season,
visited the top-ranked Titans of
Cal State Fullerton.
The 'Dogs (3-5) found the
defending national champions a
tough opponent, as the Titans (5-
1) swept the three-game series
capped off by a 6^5 win yester¬
day.
The Titans put on a tremen¬
dous offensive display over the
weekend. They outscored the
Diamond '.Dogs by a collective
score of 28-10. They also fired
off 34 hits against the Bulldog
pitching staff, 18 for extra bases.
Sunday's game, however,
showed an improvement in Bull¬
dog team play from the 17-2 loss
Friday night, and the 5-3 loss on
Saturday.
The Bulldog offense blew
several early chances to jump
ahead, as it stranded five runners
in the first two innings.
The remainder of the game
was a see-saw battle.
Bulldog starter Jeff Weaver
(1-1) attempted to contain the
ignitable offense of the Titans,
while Titan starter Matt Wise
fought the Bulldog's bats
through five innings.
Fullerton jumped out to an
, Please see SWEEP, Page 7.