Photo by Sherri
Lady Lion Sue Martin goes airborne over a Cheyney State. Rec Hall. Martin scored 14 points to pace the Lady Lions,
defender in Penn State’s 53-52 loss Saturday afternoon at whose record dropped to 15-6 with the loss.
Dan Desiderio's career | Walker does everything well in Wolves' win ?
best sparks
By CHUCK RUSS
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
Injuries almost ruined the gym
men’s perfect meet record, but the
Lions clawed their way to a win over
three Big Ten teams this weekend in
Columbus, Ohio. ~
Ohio State, Illinois and Minnesota
were ready to take advantage of the
situation, but Penn State still had too
much talent as it downed the Big Ten
trio by scoring 215.60 to Oh’io State’s
213.30, Illinois’ 212.35, and Min
nesota’s 209.40.
The key injury was to senior all
arounder and team leader Bob
Desiderio, who sustained a back
injury. The other injured Lion was
floor and vaulting specialist Tom
Gray, who hurt his Achilles tendon.
Both hope to be ready for this
weekend’s Southern Illinois meet.
“Bob (Desiderio) received a deep
muscle bruise on the right side of his
back,” Coach Karl Schwenzfeier
said. “The muscle got stretched when
he was warming up on the parallel
bars 45 minutes before the meet. The
back started to spasm, so we decided
not to take any chances and we rested
him for the meet.”
It almost cost the Lions. Going into
their final event, the vaulting horse,
the gymmen were trailing Ohio State
by .6. However, the Lions hit the
vaulting horse extremely well and
went on to a not-so-close two-point
win. Dan Desiderio hit a career-high
on the event when he scored a'9.5.
Plays in 100th game for State
Lions' Jefferson Mr. Consistent
By JON SARACENO
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
His teammates know him by C.J.. Rec
Hall diehards call him Dr. €.. But the
record books will remember Penn
State’s Carvin Jefferson as Mr. Con
sistent.
When Jefferson took the floor against
Navy Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall, he
became only the second player in Penn
State basketball history to compete in
100 games. The 6-8, rail-thin senior
received a standing ovation for the feat,
spurring him on to his best effort of the
year.
Jefferson, averaging a mere 3.2 points
a game, captured game scoring honors
with 11 points and had seven rebounds as
he effectively bottled up Navy’s top
scorer, Kevin Sinnett, holding him to
seven points and two rebounds.
The senior co-captain’s seven
rebounds also makes him the Lions’
fourth all-time leading rebounder with
699.
But it was the Tom Wilkinson to Jef
ferson alley-oop show that really ignited
the sluggish Lions, who scored only eight
Collegian sports.
the
daily
gymnasts
It was, in fact, Dan Desiderio who
had the type of meet that saved the
Lions’ skins. While everyone else was
performing below par, Desiderio had
the best meet of his career, scoring a
45.3 in only five events. Although he
still cannot compete on the rings, the
younger Desiderio was the star of the
meet. It was a turn-around from last
week, when Desiderio was one of the
few Lions unable to perform up to his
ability.
"That was the best meet he’s ever
had,” Schwenzfeier said. “He hit all
five events extremely well.”
The same cannot be said for the
rest of the gymmen. Paul Simon,
although winning the all-around title,
is still not performing up to his
capabilities. The 54.10 score he
recorded was his best recently, but
after the fast start, (he had a 55 in his
first dual meet this year) he has
slowed down considerably.
“I don’t know when he will come
around,” Schwenzfeier said, “but he
will. He did win the all-around, which
was good. Still, we don’t want to press
him too soon. There’s still time to
work on his problems.”
The other two AA’s had similar
problems. Pat Besong had a rough
meet, as did Kurt Weissend, who was
thrust into the fourth AA spot with the
injury to Desiderio. The “hit ratio”
for the meet was not good as the Lions
missed one out of every three
routines as compared to last week’s
one out of every nine.
points in the game’s first 13'minutes.
“We don’t even practice it in prac
tice,” Jefferson said of Wilkinson’s two
key lob passes, the first of which broke
up a scoreless tie during the game’s first
two minutes.
"We saw it when we first started
playing together and we’ve been using it
ever since. Tommy is a great assist man
and I give him a lot of credit for it,” said
Jefferson, who also ranks as Penn
State’s career field goal percentage
leader.
Wilkinson, on the verge of breaking
Ron Brown’s career assist record at
Penn State, said that before thecontest,
the Lions dedicated the game to Jef
ferson in the locker room.
“Today had some of type of sen
timental value for Carvin,” Wilkinson
said. “The coach said before the game,
‘Let’s get this one for C.J.’, and it fired
us up.” Wilkinson, who dealt out six
assists, called Jefferson’s two first-half
stuffs “inspirational.”
“It got us revedup. It’s a timing thing;
an instinctive play that comes with
knowing each other’s moves. From the
The Lady Lions’ loss to Cheyney State Saturday was a
matter of inches - height-wise, that is.
One of the v players who came through for the Wolves
was 6-1 forward Valerie Walker.
Walker finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds
against Penn State, second only to teammate Stacey
Rhoades, a 5-10 senior.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Walker led the Wolves with
an 18.7 points per game average. Walker and Rhoades,
a forward, also paced Cheyney with 10.05 rebounds per
game.
But, more importantly, Walker led both teams in
Gymwomen post nation-high
By DARLENE HROBAK
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
The score the Lady Lion gymnastics
team brought home from its Saturday
meet at Louisville speaks for itself
142.3.
Because not only is it the highest total
Penn State has posted this season, it’s
also the highest total any team in the
nation has posted this season.
“We have known all season long that
the team could perform that way,” Lady
Lion head coach Judi Avener said. “We
just had trouble getting them to do it.
They finally did it.”
Exactly what they did do was to beat
Louisville 142.3-135.7, upping their
record to 6-0. More importantly, they did
it with only three major breaks in the
meet, the same total Penn State had
when it won the national title last year.
They also came back from a two-week
period in which Judi and Marshall
Avener were throwing around phrases
like “lacking determination” and
“showing no spirit.”
“Finally they just caught fire,” Judi
first couple of times we played together
as freshmen we saw it. Carvin’s big-play
type of game is inspirational for all of
us.”
Sinnett came into the game averaging
20 points and 8 rebounds. However,
Jefferson frustrated Navy’s 6-6 forward
with his long reach and quick footwork,
before Sinnett fouled out with 1:20 left in
the game on an offensive charge.
“He was overplaying me a lot,” said
Sinnett, who played high school ball
against Jefferson in Washington, D.C.
“He denied me the ball and played a real
good ball game defensively; It was tough
getting the ball inside to me.”
But for Jefferson, who received more
criticism than praise during his four
years at State, his career is almost over.
Outwardly, Jefferson harbors no bit
terness and certainly no regrets.
“All I can say is that Penn State was
the best choice for Carvin Jefferson,” he
said. “I never regretted coming here.
Who else would get the chance to play at
Penn State and break a record? I’ve
been very fortunate my whole career.”
Lady Lion cagers close,
but Cheyney St.
By DENISE BACHMAN
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
So close but yet so far. That’s the story
of the women’s basketball team as it fell
short of knocking off No. .8 Cheyney
State, 53-52, Saturday in Rec Hall.
The Lady Lions, 15-6, were unable to
compensate for the Wolves’ height and
quickness. Cheyney State, for the most
part, shut down Penn State’s fast break,
and Lady Lion coach Pat Meiser knew
that if her team could not utilize its fast
break, it would run into problems.
“Cheyney’s pressure was very good;
they were quick with everything,”
Meiser said. “We’re used to teams that
are quick with just their legs and feet,
but Cheyney used their arms and hands
very well, too, and we’re not used to that
kind of pressure.”
Besides effectively shutting down the
fast break, Cheyney also kept Jen
Bednarek in check the entire game. Val
Walker, a 6-1 forward who blocked six
shots, did not allow 5-7 Bednarek to take
many clear shots. In the first half,
Bednarek made just four of 13 shots, and
in the second half she was one for five,
finishing the game with 10 points, well
off her 21.9 average.
“We knew we had to shut down Jen if
we wanted to win,” Cheyney coach
Vivian Stringer said. “So we put a 6-1
forward' on her and she blocked the
shots.”
Cheyney’s defense is not the toughest
defense we’ve seen,” Bednarek said.
“They’re just big and spread out, and
we’re not used to playing against that.”
Cheyney’s height advantage was also
evident on the boards. The Wolves
outrebounded the Lady Lions, 45-32.
Stacey Rhoades pulled down 18 and
Walker grabbed 13. High rebounder for
Penn State was Mary Donovan with 13.
another category Saturday blocked shots. Walker
had six of Cheyney’s seven blocked shots.
“Valerie is a shot, blocker,” Cheyney coach Vivian
Stringer said. p « *
"The team is relatively young,” Stringer said.
“Valerie is extremely calm and poised. She’s not
playing like a freshman.”
Cheyney used a zone set-up in the first half but soon
switched over to man-to-man after intermission.
Walker had the task of guarding Penn State’s leading
scorer, Jen Bednarek, who entered the game with a 21.9
points per game average. Walker held Bednarek to 10
Avener said. “We were more relaxed in
our attitude towards the competition.
There was an incredible amount of team
spirit, and every single girl was in there
fighting.”
Penn State had only five all-around
competitors, because Joanne Beck
didn’t compete on the uneven bars due to
a back injury that was troubling her.
Ann Carr, doing extremely watered
down routines, competed to fulfill the
rule that states she must compete in four
all-around competitions to be eligible for
Nationals. None of Carr’s scores, which
were predictably low, figured into the
final State total.
Marcy Levine won the battle for the
all-around title with 36.3 points, which
included a 9.4 uneven bar routine. t Lisa
Ingebretsen was second in the com
petition with 35.5 points, but it was third
place finisher Debbie Alston who won
the praises of the day.
“Debbie really stood out and she came
through like a champ,” Judi Avener
said. "It was the best meet she’s ever
had in her college career and, by far, the
Cagers
By RON WENIG
Daily Collegian Sports Writer .
The Penn State basketball team
doesn’t play artistic basketball
games. But beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, and nobody is going to
complain about Saturday’s less-than
sensational 43-40 win over Navy.
The 9-16 Lions committed a total of
16 turnovers, but still managed to
hang on at the end, thanks to some
clutch foul shooting from Mike
Edelman, Tom Wilkinson and Carvin
Jefferson. Each of those players hit
both ends of crucial one-and-one
shotting situations in the last minute
of play to secure the victory. .
“I think the number of good plays
we made balanced off the number of
bad plays,” coach Dick Harter said.
“I don’t think the team was as ready
to play as we would have liked.”
Navy was held 30 points below its
seasonal average of 70 points per
game.
Did it fall prey to Penn State’s style
of play?
“Our glaring weakness was our lack of
board work,” Meiser said. “They were
bigger • than us height-wise and across
the body, and this intimidated u& on the
boards.”
The Lady Lions took a slim 28-27 lead
at halftime and both teams exchanged
leads throughout the beginning of the
second half.
Cheyney State knotted the score at 42
with 7:03 remaining in the game, but
Penn State came back to take the lead,
48-44, at the 4:46 mark. Once again,
though, the Wolves fought back and tied
the score, 48-48.
Schwinge quickly repeated what
happened minutes earlier by sinking two
buckets and putting the Lady Lions back
on top, 52-48, with 2:45 left.
At the 1:13 mark, Cheyney’s inside
gun, Rhoades, scored to put the Wolves
on top to stay, 53-52.
Penn State did have two opportunities
to score in the final minute of play, but
failed. Its first chance arose when the
Wolves’ Alicia George missed her first
foul shot in a one-and-one situation and
the Lady Lions grabbed the rebound
with 33 seconds remaining. But Penn
State could not penetrate Cheyney’s
stingy defense, and as the 30-second
clock wound down to eight seconds, the
Lady Lions threw the ball out of bounds.
As soon as Cheyney got possession,'
Martin fouled Walker. But history
repeated itself as she, too, missed her
first shot in a one-and-one situation and
Penn State got the rebound. In one last
attempt, Bednarek put the ball up at the
buzzer, but it would not drop.
“In the last 30 seconds we were looking
to go to Jen and use the clock,” Meiser
said. “With Peg and Mary in there we
thought we could get some perimeter
development. Then we turned the ball
best she’s had this season.”
Alston’s solid performance was
punctuated by an 8.7 vault, an 8.75 bar
routine, 8.95 on the beam and an 8.95
floor exercise routine. Those scores
added up to a 35.35 total for the day.
Alston wasn’t the only Penn State
gymnast that stood out Saturday. Jan
Anthony hit a Yamashita vault with a
full twist that netted a 9.25 out of a
possible 9.5 points. And Ingebretsen
successfully completed her back somi
into a back walkover, a move that has
been giving her trouble all season, on her
9.25 beam routine.
But the Louisville team, especially
fourth place all-around finisher Bobbi
Ann Hunt, didn’t exactly cringe when the
Lady Lions roared. Louisville, ranked
No. 9, had the highest total score of any
team Penn State has faced this season.
“They were really good,” Judi Avener
said. “They had some trouble on beam
but, other than that, they were a
challenge to us. We walked into the gym
and saw then) preparing and that was
one reason we got better.”
hang on to win
“Who hasn’t?” questioned
Hamilton. “If you try to run against
them, you’ll just get beaten worse.
We had no intention of being held to 40
points today.”
Hamilton should have gotten a good
inkling about the pace of the game at
half-time when his team trailed Penn
State by four, 23-19. Navy had led 15-
12 at one time before the Lions went
on. to score 11 of the last 15 points of
the half.
Led by the shotting of guard Chuck
Greene, Navy stayed close in the
second half and finally pulled to a 31-
31 tie with 11:23 to play in the game.
Baskets by Brickowski and Edelman
restored Penn State’s lead to four, but
the Midshipmen were not done yet.
Speedy guard Bruce Grooms hit a
three-point play to bring Navy within
one and, after Edelman hit two foul
shots, Grooms hit another shot to
once again narrow the lead to one
with 4:06 left to play.
With 52 seconds left, Edelman hit
both shots of a one-and-one situation
[onday, Feb. 12. 1979 —’lo
prevails
over. We need to get ourseives unden
control in the last minutes of play.” f
“We’ve never played in 'front of this
many people, and it was a factor early,”
Stringer said. “But it' was 'good to see
how calm and poised we played. We held
up well, but we didn’t .reach our
potential.” • y
“We have the ability to beat any
team,” Bednarek said. ‘[Things just
didn’t fall for us today. We’ll get them
next time, no problem."
This game was critical for the Lady
Lions because of the impact it had on thif
tournament seedings. Cheyney extended
its record to 19-0, remaining the only
undefeated team in Region 1-B, and
virtually locked up the top bid in the
regional playoffs.
“Unless things fall apart, they are tMP
top team in the region and, possibly the
East,” Meiser said. “This loss doesn’t
bother me that much because we’re still
on the up and up with Rutgers, and I’d
just as soon not play Maryland (the team
that will probably play Cheyney should
they be seeded No. D.”
Graves
Rhoades
George
Glover
Walker
Wilcher
Blackman
TOTALS
Bednarek
Schwinge
Donovan
McGuire
Adams
Gabriel
TOTALS
IlaUlime score: Penn Slate 28, Cheyney 27
Attendance: 2,500
points. ,J
“I heard she was an excellent shooter,” Walker said.
“I was told to apply tight defense on her.”
Walker did apply the pressure. However, ti|b
mismatch was evident. Walker is half a foot taller than
the 5-7 Bednarek.
“We’re a much bigger team,” Stringer admitted. “I
think the key was we were able to play a man-to-man
defense.”
“I think they’re a really strong team,” Lady Lion
point guard Nancy Kuhl said. “We didn’t get enough
inside shots.” —by Nancy Bauer
score of 142.3
Another reason could have been the
ghost of Cal State-Fullerton. Fullerton?
prior to Penn State’s Saturday meet, had
the highest score in the nation with a
142.15. The Lady Lions were out to beat
that score.
Due to a broken rail that had to be
repaired, the uneven bars was the las
event of the meet. Judi Avener said the
gymnasts knew what they had to do to
beat Fullerton’s score, and they did it.
As for the pending national com
petition, Marshall Avener said: “We
know now we can do it. What we just
was reposted that nation’s highest score
with half a team.” - ;
SCORES: Vaulting —1) Jan Anthony (PSi (i. 20 2i
Laurie Salvaggio (L) 8.95 3) Lisa Ingebretsen 'PS>
8.75 Uneven Bars —1) Marcy Levine (PSI 9.4 21 Cuidj
Trahan (L) 8.95 3) Ingebretsen (PS) 8 85 Ralui|fr
Beam —1) Ingebretsen (PS) 9.25 2) Levine anti
Debbie Alston (PS) 8.95 3) Bobbi Ann Hunt iL> 8 7
Floor Exercise —1) Levine (PS) 9.3 2) Hunt (Ll 4 15
3) Alston (PSI 8 95 All-Around —1) Levine (PSi ,il> 32)
Ingebretsen (PS) 35.53) Alston (PS) 35.3541 Hunt U.i
35.15 5) Anthony (PS) 35.0. i
to give the Lions a three-point lead, 1
39-36. It turned out to be the margin of i
victory. *
Owens
Jefferson
Wood
Wilkinson
Kuhn
Buffie
Brickowski
Edelman
Solic
Korkowski
TOTALS
Stumborg 26 1- 3 4- 4 0 1 6
Sinnett 30 2- 6 3- 4 2 2 7
Geshay 33 3- 6 0- 2 4 1 6
Grooms 30 3- 5 1- 1 5 0 7
Greene 32 5-13 0- 0 3 1 10
Kuzma 15 1-1 0- 0 0 1 2
Anston 8 o- o o- 0 0 1 o
Cotherman 10 o- o o- 0 1 o 0
Burlingame 7 0-1 o- 0 0 0 0
Myers 9 1-20-0102
Smith 0 0-0 0- 0 0 0 o
TOTALS 16-37 8-11 17 7 1(1
Halftime score: Penn State 23, Navy 19
Attendance: 3,112
CHEYNEY 53 2
Min FG-A FT-A R A ’TP
26 1- 2 0- 0 1 0 2
40 8-18 .1-2, 18 OM7
19 0- 8, 0- 1 3 3, > 0
14 1- 3 1- 1 3 0' 3
40 8-19 4- 6 13 0 16
28 0- 2 0- 0 0 0 fj,»
26 5-10 3- 4 7 2,”j
7 1- 2 0- 0 0 o', 2
22-61 9-14 4.) 3" 53
PENN ST ATE —52 1
40 5-14 2- 2 7 41>12
38 5-14 4- 4 5 2,/14
39 s*lB 0-0 2 0 10
28 4-10 0- 0 3 0 |)
36 4-9 0-0 12 l :l
14 0- 2 0- 0 3 0"i
2 0- 0 0- 0 0 0
3 0- 1 0- 0 0 oft0 ft 0
23-68 6- 6 32 7^52
PENN STATE—I 3
FG-A FT-A It A TP
18 1-2 0-1 1 0 2
10 0- 0 0- 0 3 (I (I
34 4- 5 3- 4 4 011
15 1-4 0-0 1 I) 2
37 2- 5 4- 5 2 6 II
10 0-0 0- 0 0 I) II
26 0- 1 0- 2 3 0 II
17 2- 2 4- 4 4 0 tl
20 3- 5 4- 4 2 0 10
8 1- 2 0- 0 0 0 2
5 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
14-27 15-20 21 6 13
NAVV—ltl