A OI Behrend Beacon C m
I February 19,2010 I J
" ** I www.thebehrendbeacon.com
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Lady Lions annihilate Hilbert in last home game, 87-23
AMANDA STETZ
SEAN NEELY
senior reporter stall writer
The last home game of the
year for the women’s basketball
team was a memorable one for
everybody in Behrend’s 87-23
victory over Hilbert College.
The game started with an
emotional moment as the Lions
honored Christine Krankota,
the lone senior on the team.
“It was a little emotional
knowing a great four years is
about to come to an end,” Kran
toka said. “I've learned so much
during my time here about life
on and off the court from
Coach Fornari and from team
mates both past and present,
and I’ll always cherish those
things. The memories, experi
ences, and friendships I’ve cre
ated here are priceless, but I
know there are still many more
to come. With the talented team
we have and the way we are
playing now, I truly believe we
have a lot of basketball left to
play.”
Behrend took control of the
game from the onset. The
Lions’ sharp defensive play
forced Hilbert to turn the ball
over frequently in the first half.
As a result, Hilbert was get
ting into early foul trouble.
The Lions took off on a 12-
point run, and it wasn’t until
there was 12:48 remaining in
the first half that Hilbert would
break it.
It was smooth sailing for
WINTER OLYMPICS
USA racking up the medal count in
Vancouver Olympics, lead in gold
NICK BLAKE
sports (‘(lltOI
Team tlfito a great
start in the 21st Olympic Winter
games.
Through the first week of
competition, the United States
leads the overall medal count
thanks to outstanding perform
ances by a number of athletes.
One of the top stories for
Team USA is the gold medal
performance by downhill skier
Lindsey Vonn.
In the 2006 Games at Torino,
Vonn was favored to win the
downhill event, but a devastat
ing crash during training kept
her from competing.
Four years later, top-ranked
Vonn’s ability to compete was
questioned again after suffer
ing a deep bruise in her shin.
Even with extreme pain in
her right leg, Vonn would not
miss out on this chance to win
Olympic gold, and she suc
ceeded, taking gold in the
downhill event.
Vonn tore down the hill and
took turns on one leg when
possible and won the downhill
event by over half a second.
Teammate Julia Mancuso
would take the silver in the
same event.
Vonn collapsed and broke
down in tears after seeing that
she took the gold.
“It’s one of the most incredi
ble moments of my life,” said
Vonn. “When I crossed the fin
ish line and saw my name in
first and Julia’s [Mancuso] in
CURRENT U.S. COLD MEDAL WINNERS
SnAIJN WHITE: SNOWBOARD - MEN’S HALFPIPE
LINDSEY VONN: ALPINE SKIING LADIES' DOWNHILL
HANNAH KEARNEY: FREESTYLE SKIING - LADIES' MOGULS
SHANI DAVIS: SPEED SKATING - MEN'S IOOOM
SETH WESIGOTT: SNOWBOARD - MEN'S SNOWBOARD GROSS
fi
Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon
Junior guard Kelly Nowacinski (32) started for the Lions and racked up 15 points in 34 minutes of play against Hilbert College.
Behrend the rest of the first
half.
Behrend would hold Hilbert
scoreless for 10 minutes and
enjoyed taking a 47-7 lead to
the locker room at halftime.
In the first half, junior Amy
Oldach had nine points, while
junior Kelly Nowacinski and
freshman Holly Borquin added
eight points each.
second, it was just the coole:
thing."
In the Nordic Combined
crpss'qpuntrvj | ever
Jdhhrty~smi/lahe tooStne silv<
medal, earning the Unitf
States its first ever medal in tl
event.
Also shredding the snow wi
snowboarder Shaun White. Thi
favorite going into the men’
half pipe, White did not disat
point.
White is revolutionizing thi
sport and did not even need hi
second of two runs in the final
to win gold.
White scored 46.8 out of 5'
on his first run, besting the fin
and second runs by every othi
competitor.
Although his second run wa:
completely unnecessary, Whi'
took it as a victory lap, and ui
veiled a trick that the sport hi
never seen before: the Doubk
McTwist 1260, which combines
three rotations and two flips,
earning White a score of 48.4
out of 50.
Inside on the speedskating
tracks were sport favorite
Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis.
Davis was the first black ath
lete to win an individual gold
medal in the Winter Olympics
when he took the top spot in
the 500 m in Torino in 2006.
Davis also won a gold medal in
the 1000 m at those games.
Davis snatched the gold
again in the 1000 m, becoming
the first man to win back-to
back gold medals in the event.
Ohno also saw success, tak
ing silver in the 1500 m short
To open the second half, the
Lions would open up another
scoring run.
Behrend continued their
dominate defensive play, and
Hilbert never had an answer for
it the rest of the game.
“We carried the same mental
ity into the second half that we
did at the start of the game,”
Krantoka. “We wanted our de-
Beat.bodoglife.com
Lindsey Vonn (right) and Julia Mancusa (left) celebrate their one-two
finish in the women's downhill event last Wednesday.
track event. With the place
ment, Ohno tied the record for
most medals by a Winter
Olympian. With three events
still to compete in, Ohno is
poised to become the most dec
orated Winter Olympian in his
tory.
The women’s hockey team is
cruising through the prelimi
nary round with a 2-0 record.
Team USA did not just beat
the teams they played, they dis
mantled them. In the team’s
first game against China, the
(As of 2-IV-10) GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL
’ >• ‘•••5 ~
UNITED STATES S 5 t 17
OEIdIAIVY 4 I 3 11
iJh 0"
NORWAY .1 .1 3 x* 8
CANADA a ,T 1 7
FRANCE 2 1 4 7
5V5 BASKETBALL CHAMPS
Men* Cwnpcttttv* Unguc:
Men's RewMjfhwl IWljpWfli'acketl.'
>
Mens Recreational U49m(SIIv«/bracket):
OfcTNyi
Baby VboPown
ilr. ft.
fensive intensity to cause
turnovers, and we wanted to
capitalize on the turnovers we
created.”
Throughout the rest of the
game, Behrend limited the
scoring chances for Hilbert and
continued to force turnovers.
In fact, with only 4:15 left in
the game, Behrend led by an
astounding 68 points.
U.S. posted a 12-1 victory. The
U.S. women upped the ante in
their second game, defeating
Russia by a score of 13-0.
The men’s hockey team is
also off to a great start in pre
liminary play. The men post a 3-
0 record, the most recent
victory coming against Team
Norway. The U.S. won easily by
a final score of 6-1.
Team USA leads the way in
the overall medal count and
Germany is in close pursuit
with a week left of competition.
Behrend finished the game
just as they started it and would
defeat the Hawks by 64 points
with a final score of 87-23.
For the Lions, this win con
tinues to build their momentum
going into the AMCC playoffs.
Behrend has now won five
straight games, and have high
confidence going into their last
regular season game at Altoona
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bound for AMCC's
In the last home game of the season , the
Behrend men took control of their court
ALEC ITALIANO
sports rditor
The Hilbert Hawks were a
shot down last Wednesday by
the pink-clad Penn State
Behrend men's basketball team
by a score of 85-71, as the team
played their final home game of
the season.
Breast
awareness was
reason for the
Lions’ pink
warm-up shirts,
teaming up
with the cheer
leaders who also
wore pink shirts
for the evening.
cancer
It was also senior
night at the Junker
Center, and seniors
Adam Potter, Adam
Kaiser were honored
before the game for
their dedication to
the program.
The game did not
start out ideally for
the Behrend men,
succuming to a few
quick baskets by
the 3-20 visiting
Hawks.
The team
bounced back,
however, tying
the game before
going on a 14-6
run to build a
temporary six
point lead
The Hawks flpjf JfiSn their last
then sparked regular sea
another come- Pm*44pMll son home
back to tie the match in the
game before a win over
shooting sprawl j Hilbert, but
from beyond the ' / _ the Lions are
arc by Behrend i back on the
cemented a 30-11 I I court Satur
run to close out ; gf day to take
the first half. * j ,1 on rival Penn
The Lions fin- ' | u £f. State Altoona
ished the half Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon before play
with eight of 18 3- junior forward Chris Saltzman ing in the first
pointers and a 47- Had 22 points in the game against round of the
28 first half lead. r mhcrf AMCC tour-
Starting the niiDeri. nament on
second half out hot, the Lions Tuesday,
built up a 24-point lead at the The tournament concludes
11-minute mark. on Saturday, Feb. 27 where
Behrend surrendered the their NCAA Division 111 touma
lead down to eight to the ment life will be decided.
Hawks with only eight minutes Hpad Coach Dave Niland has
to play as they turned it into a coached the squad to its 15th
shootout coming down the consecutive winning season,
stretch. and are looking to repeat their
The Blue and White were AMCC championship win from
able to clamp down visiting last season.
orts
this Saturday.
“Altoona plans to be a tough
game,” Nowacinski said, who
finished with 15 points against
Hilbert.
“I feel that we are playing our
best basketball right now, and
we hope to come out on top
Saturday night.”
With the end of the season
approaching, Behrend is fifth in
the standings, but the Lions
look to come out on top in the
post-season.
“At this point in the season, 1
believe we are playing our best
team basketball of the season,
and we don't see any signs of us
slowing up,” Krantoka said.
“Dealing with adversity this
year has made us a more expe
rienced and more resilient
team, and we can certainly use
those qualities to our advantage
heading into the AMCC post
season.”
Head coach Roz Fornari is
noticing the strong play coming
from her team and is impressed
by the elevation in defensive
play, especially the full court
press. She is confident in her
team as playoffs are fast ap
proaching.
“We are playing really well
right now,” Fornari said. “Our
defense has gotten a lot better,
and our strong full court pres
sure is helping our defense gen
erate offense. You can see
everyone’s enthusiasm, and
they are all believing in one an
other. They are peaking at a re
ally good time.”
Hilbert College though, accu
mulating an eventual 14-point
win after making seven of the
team’s last nine shots from the
field.
Junior Chris Saltzman turned
in a double-double for the Lions
as he finished the game with 22
points and 10 rebounds. The
seniors combined for 26 points
on the night and mopped up six
rebounds off the glass on their
rmance.
Other double-digits
Lions were junior Justin
Kovac with 13 points,
and fresh
man Nick
Dvorsky with
11.
“It’s always
good to play
and win in the
Junker Center,”
said assistant
coach Jimmy
Sutton.
“Hopefully
we can
continue
this push
heading
into our
final con
ference
game
and next
week
AMCC
playoffs.”
The
men’s bas
ketball team
wrapped up