PSLypporte Gmce By MARUJA ROSARIO Editor in Chief MXR3OO@PSU.EDU As Penn State prepares to play the Tennessee Volunteers in the Outback Bowl on January 1, 2007, I wanted to reflect on the amazing rebuilding season we just had. However, instead of regurgitating statistics and big plays, I am going to do it through my own experiences. I had the ability to watch one Penn State game on television, Penn State vs. Akron. I remember being snuggled in my blanket on my couch watching the new Lions taking their opponent. The game was not a clean one, but it was a victory all the same. This would prove to be the slogan of the season. “It wasn’t pretty, but we still won.” After that game, I spent the rest of the season with my cellphone tucked up in my bodice waiting for the vibration that indicated I had a text message. (I work at the Renaissance Faire, so don’t get any ideas.) I had registered for text message updates about Penn State sports late in the summer, and within 30 seconds of the game’s end, a text message would be sent to me telling me the final score. Side note: The service also alerts me to traffic delays up at University Park. So it was with anticipation that I awaited the text message that would tell me the score between Notre Dame and Penn State. Even though I knew it was bleak, I was still banking on the theory that greater comebacks have been made in sports history. That loss cost me a lot of dignity at work, as I had talked up the Lions for weeks. Ohio State was next, and I looked forward to the challenge. We lost to Notre Dame, but we could take Ohio State. For whatever reason, I managed to get home to see a bit of the game, and almost cried. That was when I realized that I did not care for Anthony Morelli as quarterback, and that Ohio State could go fornicate under the consent of the king themselves. Next, I went up to my first Penn State game ever, Penn State vs. Northwestern. To actually see the Lions take the field and play under my very nose was the most amazing moment in my long Penn State history. It was also a good thing that JoePa wears khaki pants; otherwise I would have never spotted him from as high as we were. A few more text message game updates later and I was at the crowning moment of the season. I had purchased season tickets because there had been this great plan for all my friends to go up to as many games together as we could, but in the end only I got the tickets. I sold a few of them to people, but the Michigan ticket was mine. It took some convincing from Matt Sarver, but I finally decided to go instead of giving him my ticket. I rode up with my boss and his brother and we did a bit of tailgating in the frigid, bitter State College weather. That was a White Out game, so we all had our white on. I walked to my standing seat with the seniors and shook my white pompom with joy. I went alone to the section but left making friends with the people around me. We lost that day, but I still learned what Penn State is really about. Coming together over your love of Lions. It seems like just yesterday I was dancing over getting my tickets in the mail, and now here we are, getting ready for the Outback Bowl. Though the season wasn’t as glamorous as we would have liked ( and our revenge on Michigan has yet to be exacted), we still kicked ass and we can still be proud. And as our fight song says, “We’re ever true to you, dear old White and Blue.” PSH basketball takes the court By MEGAN RESSER Sports Reporter MKRIS7@PSU.EDU On Nov. 14, the PSH women’s and men’s basketball teams played in their first home double-header of the season against Lancaster Bible College. The Lady Lions began their game with an incredible level of intensity, holding their opponents scoreless throughout the first five minutes of the first half. By the time the first ten mins, of play had gone by, PSH was winning 21-2. Seniors Jamie Brindle and Brooke Conjar led the scoring for PSH in the first half with 13 and 12 points, respectively. PSH was winning the game 51-8 at halftime. During the 2nd half, PSH never let up, playing with the same high level of intensity until the last buzzer sounded. This first home game allowed the ladies to showcase their great propensity to work well together as a team with five players scoring in the double digits. Conjar finished with 22 points, Brindle finished with 19, senior Nicole Adams had 16, freshman Jamie Bissot had 12, and grad student Amanda Mentzer chipped in 10 points of her own. The final team score was PSH-92, The women's basketball team gave their all during the Lancaster Bible College game, winning 92 to 26. Lancaster Bible College-26. The PSH men’s team hoped to duplicate this success as they took the floor for their own game, but this, unfortunately, was not going to happen for them that evening. Lancaster Bible College took the lead and never looked back. The score was PSH-26, Lancaster Bible 76ers get stomped by Minnesota Timberwolves By DAN GELSTON Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t even need Kevin Garnett in the fourth quarter. The way Ricky Davis and Mike James were taking turns knocking down clutch shots against the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota’s superstar hardly had to worry about making a contribution. Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and Gamen added 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a 95-84 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night. “We knew coming into the fourth we wanted to make a bigger push, take the lead and be aggressive,” said Garnett, who didn’t score in the final period. Minnesota did all three, and the Sixers were left with their fourth straight loss. James and Davis combined to lead the Timberwolves’ push, combining to score 23 of Minnesota’s 27 fourth quarter points to help them get a road win for only the third time in nine games. James finished with 20 points and made three 3-pointers in the quarter. “When someone comes up and plays big in the fourth, that’s what we need,” Davis said. The Sixers had no answer down the stretch after a tight first three quarters. Allen Iverson, fined last week for skipping a bowling event, led the Sixers with 26 points. Samuel Dalembert had 15 points and nine College-38 at halftime. Despite strong performances from junior Abe Hitz and senior Nealy Rawlings, the PSH men couldn’t quite match the excellent passing and shooting of the Lancaster Bible squad. The final score ended up being PSH-61, Lancaster Bible College-76. Hitz finished with an impressive 30 points, and Rawlings was close behind with The men's basketball team just played their first home double-header this season. Although they suffered a loss, they hope to improve and win the game against Wilkes- Barre on Dec. 6. 22 points of his own. The men and women both traveled to respective tournaments the weekend following these games. The women suffered an incredibly tough 59-60 loss in the semifinals to Wilkes College and then didn’t quite look like they were ready to play in the consolation disappointing results at these tournaments, the teams turned right back around on Nov. 21 and both won decisive victories over visiting Penn State Worthington Scranton in the second home double-header of the season. The men’s team then lost a tough away game to non-PSUAC Div. II opponent, Millersville, on Nov. rebounds, and Chris Webber 11 points and nine rebounds. The Sixers have lost 11 of 13 since starting the season 3-0 “I don’t have any answers for what’s going on,” Iverson said. “We’re not having no fun out there on the basketball court. That has a lot to do with losing.” This time, it was Davis’ turn to extend Philadelphia’s misery. When Davis wasn’t jawing with taunting front-row fans, he was knocking down baskets from all over the court to boost Minnesota’s lead early in the fourth. He opened the quarter with an 18-footer, hit his first 3-pointer of the game, and sank two free throws for a 75-67 lead. Davis enjoyed the give-and-take with the Philly faithful. “Yeah, it was nice,” he said. “It got me going a little bit and I appreciate it.” When Davis converted a three-point play late in the fourth, he gave the Timberwolves something to really appreciate, their first double-digit lead, 83-73. Iverson and Garnett carried their teams for most of the first three quarters in a tight game where neither team could build a lead larger than six points. Davis sank an 18-footer in the final minute of the third to help put the Timberwolves ahead entering the fourth. “This is not the way it was supposed to be,” Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. “It’s not what 1 envisioned. Our effort on the floor tonight wasn’t good enough. We’re still searching for an answer.” 27, and both teams faced off against PSUAC foes Penn State Hazleton in another home double-header on Nov. 30. Unfortunately, the Lions from Hazleton came out on top in both contests. The PSH women lost by a close 77-71 score and the men’s team lost the second game of the night by a score of 71 -61. On Dec. 2, both teams traveled to Mont Alto for PSUAC contests. The PSH women division record to 1-2. By the time this issue is printed, the men’s team will have played a home contest against Penn State Wilkes- Barre on Dec. 6, and both teams will have traveled to tournaments on Dec. Bth and 9th. Both teams return home for a double-header against Penn State Abington on Dec. 11 with the women playing at 6pm and the men following around Bpm. Before the end of the fall semester, the men have a home game at 7pm on Dec. 13 versus Penn State Dußois, while the women travel that evening to Northampton Community College for a 6pm start. Dec. 16 will be the last opportunity of the semester to watch both teams at home when they play a double-header against Wilkes University with the women starting at Ipm and the men starting around 3pm. game the next day, losing to Mt. Aloysius 91-73. The men also had a tough time in their tournament, losing to Elizabethtown College in the semifinal game and DeSales University in the consolation game. The women’s team will have their first game of the spring semester at Lancaster Bible College on Jan. 18 with a 6pm start and the men’s team will have their first spring semester game at home versus Penn State McKeesport at Ipm on Jan. 20. Full schedules can be found by following the Intercollegiate Athletics link on the Penn State Harrisburg website. Please come out and support your PSH Lions! Despite came out on top with a decisive 70-21 victory, bringing their overall record to 3-3 and their division record to 2-1. The men’s team then lost a tough game by a score of 79-71, bringing their overall record to 1-6 and their / m .. : 'lt* Capital Times rieecte sports writers. Please see Maruja Rosario and Matthew Mahoney In 126£ Steelers bruise the Browns and break records in the process PITTSBURGH (AP) - The weather was nasty, windy, miserable. For Willie Parker, it was a record cold night. Parker broke the Steelers’ single game rushing record with 223 yards, a game better than either Franco Harris or Jerome Bettis enjoyed, and Pittsburgh excelled as usual in inferior weather by roughing up the offense-less Cleveland Browns 27-7 Thursday night. Parker, the first player in Steelers history to have two 200-yard games in a season, broke John “Frenchy” Fuqua’s record of 218 yards against Philadelphia in 1970, two years before Fuqua was the intended receiver on Harris’ famous Immaculate Reception against Oakland. Parker broke Fuqua’s record early in the fourth quarter and might have approached 300 yards if the game had been closer. Because it was a Browns-Steelers game in December it wasn’t, no surprise there. The Steelers (6-7) withstood temperatures in the teens, a wind chill that was below zero in the second half and an occasional snow flake to win their seventh in a row against their Rust Belt rival, following up a 41-0 rout in Cleveland last December and a 24- 20 comeback victory last month in Cleveland. Pittsburgh is one of the NFL’s best clubs when the weather gets bad and the games usually are more important, going 21-6 past Dec. 1 since 2001. For the Browns (4-9), this time of the year simply is a case of going from bad to worse. Assured now of their fourth consecutive losing season, they are 2-11 in December the last three seasons. Parker went over the 1,000-yard mark for the second season in a row on Pittsburgh’s opening drive and kept on going, following up his 213- yard game against New Orleans on Nov. 12. He had been limited to 129 yards in his last three games, but there was no stopping him Thursday as he helped lead the Steelers’ two longest drives of the season. Parker, a non-drafted free agent Hey PSU Sports fans! Do you tike going to watch PSH sports events? Do you think you have something to say? So scream it! By ALAN ROBINSON Associated Press three years ago, ran for 26 yards on five carries during a 97-yard drive ended by Ben Roethlisberger’s 49- yard TD pass to Nate Washington that made it 7-0 during the first quarter. Later, Roethlisberger (11-of-21, 225 yards) finished off a 91-yard drive with a 2-yard bootleg TD run, crossing up a Browns defense that was expecting Parker to get the ball. Cleveland never did find a way to slow down a Steelers running game that only two weeks ago was limited to 21 yards in a 27-0 loss to Baltimore. Pittsburgh gained 304 yards on the ground for the night, the Browns just 18. Parker also had a 3-yard TD run on a 74-yard drive during the third quarter as the Steelers continued to wear down the Browns. Cleveland appeared to be headed toward its second shutout loss in three weeks until Derek Anderson, making his first NFL start for the injured Charlie Frye, threw a 45- yard TD pass to Braylon Edwards with 5:20 remaining. Anderson couldn’t replicate his dramatic debut Sunday when he threw two TD passes to lead a 31-28 overtime win over Kansas City. Until then, the Steelers hadn’t allowed a touchdown on defense in nine quarters, or since the second quarter in Baltimore. Pittsburgh beat Tampa Bay and its inexperienced quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski, 20-3 on Sunday. The only trouble with this latest Steelers late-season surge is it apparently comes too late to save a season that was all but over after the Super Bowl champions lost six of their first eight. Fittingly enough given Parker’s big night, it was this week a year ago that Bettis, in one of the most memorable runs of his long career, ran through Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher during a 5-yard TD run on a snow-covered field. That score keyed a 21-9 Steelers victory that began their drive to the Super Bowl. The announced crowd of 55,246 was about 10,000 below Heinz Field’s capacity, and there weren’t nearly that many fans around even by the third quarter.
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