The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 1985 Page: 16 of 20
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Owls looking sharp; fitness, experience to be strengths
by Steve Nations
James Naismith, the creator of
basketball, was a wise man. He put
the baskets at ten feet, he put five
players on a team and he decreed
that basketball season should
come between football and
baseball. Well, football is almost
over, baseball is still a couple of
months away, and the Lady Owls
begin their 1985-86 basketball
schedule tonight at Autry Court.
There will be no unfamiliar faces
on the court at tip-off. All five of
the players who will start tonight
were starting last year as the season
drew to a close, and that, of course,
can mean ony one thing. "This
team has a little more experience
and court maturity," remarked
head coach Linda Tucker. This is
still basically a young team,
though, with three juniors and two
sophmores on the starting squad.
The leader on the court this year
figures to be junior forward Holly
Jones. This summer Jones played
for the South team at the National
Sports Festival in Baton Rouge,
where she helped her team win the
gold medal. That experience will
be an invaluable asset to the team
this year. "Holly has developed
into real a leader on the court,"
notes Tucker, and as we all know, a
team without a leader is like a foot
without a big toe: it's harder to
kick some ass that way.
Also on the starting roster
tonight will be Angela Phea, junior
guard; Dodra Brantly, junior point
guard; Glenda Jensen, sophomore
forward, "a good outside shooter";
and in the middle of it all is Edith
"Lemme" Adams, a 6'3" center
who is the anchor of a good inside
game.
Offensively the Lady Owls
should be strong this year. Don't
look for too many 100-point
games, but the women will have a
balanced offensive attack.
According to coach Tucker, the
inside game should be very
effective, with Adams and Jones
controlling the paint. But in the
world of college basketball and the
zone defense, a good inside game
just isn't enough. When the zone
collapses into the middle, an
effective long range bomber is a
must. Jensen is the bombardier.
She has the ability to bust the zone,
or to get the good shot when Jones
%
Holly Jones crashes the boards
is double (or even triple) teamed,
as she may be much of the time.
The ball handlers, Brantly and
Phea, are both experienced
guards, and they should keep the
offense running like a true
basketball machine.
The defense, on the other hand,
still needs some more work. "The
defense is not where I would like it
to be," said Tucker, and she noted
that the team needs to be a little
more intense on defense. The Owls
will gear the defense to their
competition, and thus will not play
a pure zone or pure man-to-man
defense this year. If the defense can
catch up to the offense by the time
Southwest Conference play rolls
around, the Rice women will
certainly be a force to be reckoned
with.
The recruiting picture this year
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deeper than in recent years, and all
eleven players will contribute this
year, making for a very exciting
season.
Having sidestepped the issue up
to now, it's time to go way out on a
limb and predict the conference
race. Inside sources tell me that the
fiasco surrounding Tito Horford
has spilled over to the women's
program at Cougar High, and the
University of Houston should
occupy the cellar of Southwest
Conference. Close behind should
be, in no particular order, Baylor,
Arkansas, Texas Christian, Texas
Tech, Texas A&M and Southern
Methodist.
That leaves Texas and Rice to
battle for the title. Sure, UT is
ranked number one in the nation
by every sports authority in the
world, but overconfidence can be a
deadly vice. That can only mean a
tremendous upset is in store for
them, and Rice is just the team to
deliver. They have talent, heart,
determination, and experience.
Dr. Naismith would have been
proud of this team.
CROSS COUNTRY
Runners capture fourth
Commenting on the whole season,
Straub said, "I was veiy pleased,
proud at the effort and proud of
what we accomplished this year.
We also know we can do better. If
we learn we can profit from our
experiences. We're only losing one
person (senior Gawain Guy) and
we plan to bring in one more
runner. Next year we should be a
lot better."
looks good, with three new players
having been added to the roster.
They are Leslie Tassin, a point
guard from Kenner, Louisiana,
Cindy Guetterman, a center from
Shulenburg, Texas, and Marci
Zajac, a forward from Walling-
ford, Connecticut. Zajac is another
good shooter, and according to
Tucker possesses good, solid
fundementals. Guetterman, at
6'3", will be the center of the future,
and Tassin at guard can supply a
solid backup if the need arises.
Because of the new October 15
rule, that date being the first day
for women's practice, the team has
only five and a half weeks to
prepare, but that doesn't bother
Tucker. "The attitude of the team
is excellent," she notes, and there is
a lot of unity on the team.
Talentwise, this team is much
by Anthony Wills
The men's cross country team
closed out its season at the
N.C.A.A. District VI meet held in
Georgetown, Texas. The Owls
finished fourth for the second year
in a row. Senior Gawain Guy led
the Owls, finishing 19th in 30:31.32
on the 10,000-meter course. Other
Owls to place were Tony Martinez
(21st in 30:32.68), Jon Warren
(23rd in 30:46.61), Simon Pease
(35th in 31:29.36) and William
Barrett (48th in 31:43.70).
Coach Straub admitted the team
had higher expectations. Straub
stated, "From a coach's
standpoint, there were some very
good reasons that we didn't run
well that you can put a finger on
and define. Going into the meet it
was stated that we needed to keep
Jon Warren and Gawain Guy
healthy. Any injuries to our top
five guys would make us a second-
division cross country team
because we don't have much
depth." Straub added, "I'm not
making excuses. We accomplished
a lot this year and had a very good
year cross-country-wise. The
runners gave a very good effort at
the meet. They prepared well
mentally and physically."
Tony Martinez, a solid
performer all year, said, "Overall
we had a good year. We started the
year knowing Jon, Gawain and I
would be the top runners. The
fourth, fifth and sixth runners were
questionable, but as the year
progressed we really improved."
Looking back over the season,
Martinez said, "Personally, I was
kind of disappointed. I started out
strong, then had some minor
injuries which slowed me up a bit.
However, 111 have some time to
rest up and get a better base forthe
upcoming indoor season."
Recapping the harriers' season,
the Owls finished no lower than
fourth in all seven of their meets.
They won the Texas A&M
Invitational and the Aggie
Invitational, while finishing
second in the Rice Invitational.
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Sophomore sensation Pam
Klassen did it again, leading the
women's cross country team to a
fourth-place finish in the N.C.A.A.
District VI Cross Country Meet in
Georgetown, Texas. Klassen
finished fourth with a time of
17:24.6 in the 5000-meter course,
fast enough to qualify her for the
National Collegiate Athletic
Association Championship Cross
Country Meet to be held in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Other runners to place in the top
twenty were freshman Kirsten
Aure (16th in 18:11.0) and
sophomore Catherine Spradley
(19th in 18:21.3).
Asked how she felt about being
the only Owl (male or female) to
qualify for the N.C.A.A. meet,
Klassen replied, "I'm excited. This
will be my first N.C.A.A. meet. It's
gonna be real hard and from what
others have told me it will be the
most intense race I've ever run."
In preparing for the race,
Klassen stated, "I want to stay
mentally tough for the race." She
added, "My ultimate goal is to
become an All-American."
The sophomore can foreseeably
attain this accomplishment by
placing in the top twenty-five at the
NCAA meet. Coach Victor Lopez
had no doubts Klassen would
qualify. He said, "It's a
tremendous achievement. It's the
first time we have qualified
someone for the N.C.A.A. meet.
She has a real good chance to
finish in the top twenty-five."
Lopez also stated that the team
as a whole ran well throughout the
whole year. The District VI meet
proved to be the race that brought
it all together for the young Owls.
He added, "It is a significant factor
that we have young people. If they
stay together, we will continue to
improve tremendously as a team
and be a contender for the
Southwest Conference crown in
two years. I was satisfied (with
District VI results) because
everyone improved theirtimes. We
accomplished our objective, to
finish in the top four."
The Rice Thresher, November 22, 1985, page 16
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Snyder, Scott. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 1985, newspaper, November 22, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245621/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.