Mike Bello, Sports Editor
The Behrend Beacon
Calendar of
Events
Behrend
Athletic
Events
Saturday
Women's Basketball
Penn State Altoona
Junker Center
2 p.m.
*TV Game
Men's Basketball
Penn State Altoona
Junker Center
4 p.m.
*TV Game
JV Basketball
Penn State Altoona
Junker Center
6 p.m.
Sunday Dec. 16
Women's Basketball
@ Sun Desert Classic
Las Vegas, Nev.
Through Dec. 20
TBA
Monday Dec. 17
Men's Basketball
@ Thiel
7:30 p.m.
Saturday Dec. 29
Men's Basketball
@ Wilmington Tournamen
vs. Waynesburg
3 p.m.
Sunday Dec. 30
Men's Basketball
@ Wilmington Tournament
vs. Wilmington
3 p.m.
Wednesday Jan. 2
Men's Basketball
@ Allegheny
7:30 p.m.
Saturday Jan. 5
Women's Basketball
@ Buffalo State
2 p.m.
Men's Basketball
Westminster
Junker Center
8 p.m.
Wednesday Jan. 9
Women's Basketball
Lake Erie
Junker Center
6 p.m.
*TV Game
Men's Basketball
Lake Erie
Junker Center
8 p.m.
*TV Game
*Can be seen on Image
Sports Network
Intramurals
Schedule
Friday
Intramural 5 vs. 5 Basket
ball: Men's and Women's
Teams
(Play begins in Spring)
All entries must be at the
intramural office
by 4 p.m.
on the scheduled date
Lions fall to Pitt-Bradford, drop to 4-3
PHOTO BY KRISTIN RODGERS
Sophomore Casey Ponsoll looks for an open teammate as junior
Steve Merrill gets ready to set a pick against Grove City on Nov. 20.
by Zoe Rose
staff writer
The men's basketball team began
its league schedule on Wednesday
with a disappointing 61-49 loss at
Pitt-Bradford. The Lions' defense
was unable to shut down
Bradford's offense, as the Panthers
shot 48 percent from the floor, in
cluding seven of 15 from 3-point
land.
Sophomore Randy Conley led all
scorers with 14 points on seven of
11 shooting. Junior Steve Merrill
contributed nine points, while
sophomore James Curren added
eight points and a team-high five
rebounds.
On Sunday afternoon at the
Junker Center, sophomore forward
Casey Ponsoll scored a game-high
29 points, and added nine rebounds
This week's
senior athletic profile
Christine Charnock: Making the
grade while making the hoops
I by Kate Levdansky Petrikis
I assistant sports editor
Christine Chamock, a Behrend senior
basketball player, would possibly not be
playing basketball if it were not for her
older sister Kim.
"I wanted to try out for the cheerleading
squad when I was in fourth grade because
all of my friends were," said Chamock.
"Since my sister played basketball, she
told me that if I tried out for cheerleading
instead of basketball that she would never
talk to me again. After that, I tried out for
the basketball team.
"My family is very close. My little sis
ter, Lou, is my biggest supporter. My fam
ily tries to come to every game."
Chamock started playing basketball,
thanks to Kim, on a team when she was
in fourth grade, but she remembers shoot
ing hoops in the backyard way before that
Chamock looks up to basketball player
SPORTS
Friday, December 7, 2001
and one blocked shot to give Penn
State Behrend a solid 82-75 win
over Carnegie Mellon. The win
came a day after the Lions downed
Fredonia on its home court 61-45.
The Lions have a busy schedule
in December. Behrend plays a tele
vised home game against Penn
State Altoona Saturday, and plays
a non-conference game at Thiel on
Dec. 17. Shortly after the holiday
season ends, the Lions will strut
their stuff at the Wilmington Tour
nament Dec. 29 and 30.
When asked what Behrend needs
to focus on, Merrill said, "defense,
rebounding, and just flat out work
ing harder and outplaying our op
ponents."
In their game against Carnegie
Mellon, the Lions led 34-29 at the
half. They dominated the courts
soon after the beginning of play in
PHOTO BY MIKE BELLO
Angie Potthoff, an Erie native who played
basketball at Penn State and is now in the
WNBA.
"I met her once. She came to one of our
practices and I was speechless," said
Chamock. "I was so excited and nervous
all at once, that I froze. I could not even
remember any of our plays, or even talk to
her. I was really embarrassed. She is a
forward, like I am.
"In high school I was a forward, but I
played more like a guard by shooting a lot
of jump shots. When I came to Behrend,
my coaches told me that I needed to play
with my back to the basket, post my girl
up, make a move, and score the inside shot
on her, as opposed to shooting a lot of out
side jump shots. All of my coaches at
Behrend have really helped me to improve
at becoming a post player."
Chamock credits her coaches, who have
helped her train in some very unorthodox
manners.
the second half to increase the lead
to 14 points at the five-minute
mark. Along with Ponsoll, lead
ing the Lions were Merrill and
sophomore forward Marty Timm.
The trio pumped up the crowd
with excitement as Merrill had 16
points on five of six shooting, five
assists, six rebounds and one steal.
Timm had 14 points on eight of 15
shooting with four rebounds.
Randy Conley added seven points,
while James Curren added six.
The Lions shot 47.2 percent from
the field (26 of 55) and held the
Tartans to 40 percent shooting (26
of 65). Behrend smashed Carnegie
Mellon in the three-point zone,
with the Lions making 12 of 18
three pointers (.666) to the Tartans
eight of 25 (.320).
Along with the incredible three
pointers, Behrend won the basket
ball game at the line, hitting 18 of
24 free throws (69.2 percent) com
pared to Carnegie Mellon's 15 of
24 (62.5 percent) mark. Weighed
against the last few games, one can
say for sure that Behrend was solid
on the boards.
The 82 points were the highest
scored all season for the Blue and
White. Ponsoll said the team is
coming together.
"I think that team chemistry or
unity is one of our greatest
strengths," said Ponsoll. "I've only
played with or known these guys
for about a year and a half now but
I feel like I've been playing with
them for years."
Ponsoll helped Behrend increase
its advantage in the second half as
he netted a majority of his 29
points during the final 20 minutes.
practice we split up into guards and
forwards, and do drills," said Chamock.
"One of my favorite drills is when the
coaches get the red pad out, and beat us up
with it when we are trying to score the bas
ketball. The logic behind the drill is if we
can make our shots when they are using
the pad, then we'll be able to make our
shots when we are getting fouled in the
game."
Basketball season starts the second
week of school with open gyms, and the
season does not end until the beginning of
March. It is the longest college season.
"Basketball is extremely time consum
ing," Chamock said. "Managing my time
is difficult, but is works."
She also practices everyday for two
hours, either 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. or 5:30 to
7:30 p.m., depending on the day. Plus,
Chamock referees intramural games when
she has time in her busy schedule. In her
spare time Chamock likes to play and
watch other sports.
also like to go out and celebrate our
wins with my teammates," she said.
Chamock is a quad captain with the three
other seniors, Kate Costanzo, Erin Phillips,
and Katie Weigold.
"We have been close friends since our
freshmen year," said Chamock. "We have
stuck together for the past three years, on
and off the court. We believe that shots
are shots!"
The Lions did not start the season off
strong, but despite their sub-. 500 record,
Chamock still sees the light at the end of
the tunnel.
- The team was off to a rocky 1-4 start,"
said Charnock. "Three out of the four
teams we have lost to went to the NCAA
tournament last year. So, we are playing
some strong teams. We (were) a good 1-4
team. Now, we are 3-4. I think we'll fin
ish 22-4."
In order to prepare for the games,
Chamock reads over her scouting report
and thinks about what she needs to do in
order to stop the other team from scoring.
She also thinks about how she can score to
get her emotions rolling.
"I try and get a spark in me so that I can
"I was just having one of those
games where it seemed like every
thing I was throwing up was going
in," said Ponsoll about his incred
ible second-half shooting streak.
Sinking three 3-pointers at the
I 2-minute mark, Ponsoll boosted
the Lion's lead to 53-40. The Blue
and White cemented their lead
from that point on, as the Tartans
never came within 13 until 1:28 left
in the game. The Lions outscored
the Tartans 48-46 after the inter-
mission
Ponsoll leads the Lions with 11.3
points per game, tallying 68 points
so far this season. Merrill follows
PHOTO BY KRISTIN RODGERS
Sophomore forward Marty Timm looks to drive the net in Behrend's
win over Grove City on Nov. 20.
get fired up, and fire the other girls up,'
said Charnock.
Chamock said her two strongest char
acteristics are standing up for what she
believes in and her attitude.
It is attitude, more than anything else,
that will affect a successful outcome," said
Chamock.
After college Chamock will have a full
time job with Alcoa. There she will use
her major in Management Information
Systems.
"When I was a sophomore, I still had
no idea what I wanted to major in, and
they made me pick a major," said
Chamock. "Luckily, I picked a good one,
and I really enjoy the major now."
Chamock is very exciting about the
coming Christmas break. The Behrend
basketball team leaves Dec. 16 fora tour
nament in Las Vegas over the holiday.
While they are there, the Lions will play
in two tournament games at UNLV.
When Chamock was a freshman, they
also attended this tournament in Las Ve
gas.
"It was a lot of fun. We got to see some
interesting things like casinos, a UNLV
men's basketball game, Coca Cola World,
and New York, New York", said
Chamock. "Over the last three years, a
lot of things in Las Vegas have changed,
so we are all excited to go back. It will be
really fun, and hopefully some of us will
come back with lots of money that we
won in the casinos!"
Chamock has a lot of memories from
her playing days at Behrend, but there's
one that will always stand out.
"The best memory of basketball at
Behrend is cutting down the net in Erie Hall
when we won AMCCs my freshman year.
Each one of us got to climb up a ladder,
and cut a piece of the net down," said
Chamock. "I had never experienced any
thing like it before. I still have my piece of
the net and will keep it forever.
"Cutting down the net is something that
I would really like to share with everyone
else on this team. It is something that you
will remember forever. Plus, it would be
the first net cut down in the Junker Center
as well."
SECTION B
behrcolls@aol.com
with 10.7 ppg, 3.2 rebounds per
game, and a solid .500 field goal
percentage (15-30). James Curren
is hitting 9.5 ppg and grabbing 7.7
rpg as well.
The strongest key area for the
Blue and White this season has
been their ability to have a strong
inside presence, triggering high
performance from the arc.
"We always make it a key to the
game to play inside then outside
and to out rebound our opponents,"
said Merrill. "We were able to ac
complish both of those and that is
why I feel we won."