12—The Daily Collegian Thursday, Dec. ICI, 1981 Lady Lion hoopsters streaking, travel to Lady Techster Classic By TONY SMITH Daily Collegian Sports Writer Unlike the weather here in Happy Valley, the women's basketball team is hot. Like a hit record that burns up the charts, the Lady Lion squad is burn ing the cords of the net; burning other teams by using an effective fast-break offense. Yes, the team is hot! Nevertheless, the Lady Lions (3-0) face a stiff challenge today through Saturday as the likes of McNeese State and top-ranked Louisiana Tech will try to put them in the freezer at the Lady Techsters Dial Classic in Ruston, La. Penn State starts the opening round today against McNeese State at 5:30 p.m. EST. If the Lady Lions overcome ,that obstacle, they will meet the winner of Illinois State-Jackson State tomor row, with the winner of that game probably earning the unenviable right to play the host team, Louisiana Tech, on Saturday. Although the Lady Techsters are favored to take the tournament, the 20th-ranked Lady Lions could make it interesting, but first they will have to rope some cowgirls, namely the Cow girls of McNeese State. The Cowgirls, a 2-4 team before Tuesday night's game with Lamar, are led by 6-0 forward Pat Jean, who is averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds a game. According to Lady Lion coach Rene Portland, the Cowgirls may be a better team than their record shows. The Cowgirls have won both of their games by one point, with a 75-74 victory over Louisiana State and a 76- 75 win over Southeast Louisiana. But they have also lost to 14th-ranked Georgia, 92-74. From that, one can conclude that they are not incredibly good. Or one could conclude that they do have a talented team, but also have a suici dal schedule. But one thing that can be universal ly agreed upon is the fact .that the Lady Lions are on fire. Consequeptly, MqNeese State will have to play a lot better than it did against the Lady Techsters if it expects to kill the flames. Let's face it; Penn State has played outstanding basketball. The closest game of the year to date was the first one: a 71-66 defeat of Connecticut. Since then, the Lady Lionshelmed Boston University, 90-69,. and were downright unpatriotic in their 101-42 walloping of American University. True, the level and quality of com- sCorner of 0441474. College 4 Allen ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SPAGHETTI WiThBREA,' ONLY $2.50 EVER Y ThURSdAy FROM 5 - 8 p.m. petition have not been high, but the Lady Lions have appeared awesome lately, and after the victory over American, coach Rene Portland went so far as to hint that this may be the best team she has ever coached. "We're like a family; we have real ly worked well together," Portland said. "And we have a lot of depth. In the first 'couple of games, I figured we were six or seven deep, but now I think we could be 10 deep." The bench is loaded with talented players, as the American University team found out. Penn State's sixth through 10th players outscored their opponents, 45-42, and were led by 6-3 freshman center Kahadeejah Herbert (nine of 10 from the field, 20 points, 17 rebounds). Other contributors from the bench included seniors Robin Lombard (11 points) and Debbie Christman (two), and freshmen Carol Fultz (10) and Brenda Scheffey (two). • Probable starters for the Lady Li ons today are sophomore Cindy Da vies (16.3 ppg, 7.3 rebounds) and juniors Cheryl Ellison (10.3 points, seven rebounds), Annie Troyan (12.3 points, 12 assists), Carol Walderman (17 points, 10 assists) awl Louise Leimkuhler (10 points, 6.7 rebounds). Eagles bracing for fray with Dallas PHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadel phia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil practi cally conceded the Eastern Division to the Dallas Cowboys the other day, but both he and his team know that winning the division doesn't get anybody in the Super Bowl. "Hey, it's going to be tough to win the division. He (Vermeil) knows that," said cornerback Herman Edwards. • , "So what are we going to do? Pack our bags and go home? I'm not ready to Christmas shop. I'm ready to press on," said Edwards. The Eagles have dropped three straight, and ,suddenly the neck-to-neck battle to the divisional wire with the Cowboys seems like a replay , of what happened last year. Dallas, 11-3, is two games ahead of Philadelphia, 9-5, with two games remaining. ' The most important is this Sunday, when the Cowboys host the Eagles. "Right now, they're laughing at us down there in Dallas," said wide receiver Rodney Parker. The Cowboys hold a 24-7 edge over the Eagles in the series since 1965, including a 17-14 win here earlier this year. More pertinent, the Cowboys are 14-1 against the Eagles in Dallas and 15-1 overall in December at Texas Stadium. "Hey, it's not over yet," said the ever optimistic Edwards. "It's going to be a dogfight down there. But it can be done. We just have to win a game." The Eagles have to win one of their last two to ensure themselves a spot in the playoffs, beating either the Cowboys or 10-8 10-6 12-5 State College: Hills Plaza South Atherton St. (Rt. 322 E) & Branch Road. Store Hours: 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Sunday 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil is feeling ambivalent this week. He concedes that the Dallas Cowboys have the NFC Eastern Division title locked up, but he's still hungry to snap a three-game losing streak' Sunday in Dallas. St. Louis, who have come to life since a 52-10 thumping by the Eagles five weeks ago. "Hey, if we get to the playoffs nobody will remember that we didn't win the division," said Edwards. "Just like no body remembered we won the. division last year when we, lost the Super Bowl. The playoffs are a new ballgame." "The last three losses have just been uncalled for," said linebacker Frank 't R ~ ~<~;: ~ ~.. rK EMBIEB LeMaster. " "We have beaten ourselves more than the other teams have beaten "We - can't start feeling sorry for oun st , selves," said Edwards. "Hey, are 27 other teams feeling sorry for us? We go down there to Dallas and they're going to try to murder us. They're going to try to knock the nails in the coffin." "Going to Dallas you have to earn your victory," Vermeil said. AP Laserpholo - 4'‘ - Buffie: A Hoosier from way back By SHARON FINK Daily Collegian Sports Writer In his three previous years of play ing basketball for Penn State, senior Craig Buffie has played in regular season and tournament games in Alas ka, Oregon, Vermont, Nebraska,-Syra cuse, Alabama, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Dayton, Ohio. But tomorrow and Saturday, when the Lions play in the Indiana Classic in , Bloomington, Ind., Buffie will be play ing on the university campus where his father teaches classes in the school of education five days a week. He'll be playing games in the Hoo siers' Assembly Hall, a five-minute walk and drive from the house he grew up in, and in front friends he's known for several years, including those who stayed "home" to attend KJ. • • After a college career of playing in every section of the country for a school that's a plane ride away from home, Craig Buffio 'will get to play in , his hometown Of Bloomington. "It's a great thing for me personally to go home and play where I grew up against a team that I watched for so many years," he said. "I'm very excit ed. It's gonna be great (to) see a lot of people, and it's a great place to play basketball. I expect there'll be 15-, 16-, csf ii)dat Alb SHOO V'tkl PSJ 4 A dig it Alexander's at the Holiday Inn 1450 South Atherton St. ' 238-3001 Under New'Ntanagement iptin Exciting-New Happy Hours & Raw Bar featuring oysters & clams on the rpm half shell. Live entertainment with • Rick Jones! With the dawn comes dEtii; Collegian 17,000 ' people there (in Assembly Hall)." In his senior year in high school, Buffie was an all-state"guard at Bloo mington's South High School, and he was a member of Penn State coach Dick Harter's , first recruiting class. Harter approached Buffie about com ing here after Indiana coach Bobby Kntght recommended Buffie to Harter. That situation •may seem a little incongruous at first Knight telling another coach that a hometown all state player is worth recruiting. It's not that Knight himself hadn't shown any interest in Buffie. For a while in 1977-78, Knight was after both Buffie and Indiana's other all-state guard current Hoosier Randy Wittman, who played for Ben. Davis High School in Indianapolis. But when Wittman signed a letter of intent to play for Indiana, Knight's interest in Buffie wained. Hence, the , reference to Harter, who offered Buf fie the chance to play for the program he was , building. It seems like a rather strange situa tion. Buffie grew up watching the Hoo siers win Big Ten championships and a National Collegiate Athletic' Associa tion in 1976, with players like Scott May, Quinn Buckner, Kent Benson and $8.95 Served From 5:00-10:00 p.m. Wayne Radford. All the while, Indiana packed capacity crowds into the 17,357- seat Assembly Hall. Buffie instead came to Penn State, land of the independent, Jeff Miller and Randy Meister and sparse crowds, as one of five Harter recruits who were willing to build a program. Of those five, only Buffie and Mike Edelman are left, co-captains in their senior year. The program has made advance ments in the last three years, and Buffie has been a big part of them. He's never racked up impressive sta tistics, but his presence on the court has been more important than num bers. He's patient with the younger players, always encouraging and shouting instructions. Although Buffie has a nice shooting touch from 15 feet on in, it's his defense that has been a key part of his value to the Lions. Hd plays guard and small forward and is usually among the first two or three players off the bench when the Lions need settled down, or an opponent's shooter needs shut down or Harter needs someone to give a clinic in hustling for loose balls something Buffie has turned into a fine art. Even though Buffie's main contribu tions for the Lions have been off-the- V 3 OFF 15% OFF ALL STUDENT-CUT LEVI'S AND LEE AND BOYS SIZE JEANS CORDUROY JEANS DENIM AND CORDUROY FOR MEN AND WOMEN Expires 12-12-81 Ex • ires 12-12-81 15% OFF $3.00 OFF ALL SWEATERS ALL LEVI'S SHIRTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN Expires 12-12-81 Expires 12-12-81 • 15% OFF $3.00 OFF ALL CHINOS ALL DENIM JEANS FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR MEN AND WOMEN Expires 12-12-81 Expires 12-12-81 bench ones, but he has started several times, including the first game of his freshman year in the first round of the 1978 Seawolf Classic (now the Great Alaska Shootout). Against Indiana. When asked about this corning week end, Buffie smiled slowly, and the look in his eyes would have told anyone that he's been waiting for a chance like this for a while. He said what it meant to him but also gave equal time to the Lions' first round competition tomorrow, Southern Methodist. Then he tried to shrug the next comment off as part of the sentence, the "one-game-at-a-time" philosophy. But he smiled widely at the thought of what could come after a 'win over SMU. His parents will make the five min ute walk to watch him play. And his father will be sitting on press row keeping track of players' fouls and team's time-outs during the tourna ment games. He does that for all the Hoosiers' home games. After living practically in its shadow for most of his life, Craig Buffie will get his day inside Assembly Hall with Bloomington's Hoosiers. CHEAP THRILLS CHRISTMAS GIFT COUPONS Coupon must be presented with purchase "SMU's really good," Buffie said Photo by Robert Hammer Craig Buffie ally Collegian Thursday, Dec. 10, 1981—.13 Stoudt returns to the Steelers; not yet activated PITTSBURGH (AP) Backup quar terback Cliff Stoudt worked out with the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday for the first time since he broke his throwing arm on a mechanical punching bag four weeks ago. Meanwhile, Cincinnati made plans to start Jack Thompson at quarterback against the Steelers on Sunday, in a game crucial to the playoff hopes of both tea ms. Ken Anderson is still hobbled by a hyper-extended big toe. Pittsburgh made no official decision on activating Stoudt as a backup to the inexperienced Mark Malone, who was thrust into the starting job after Terry Br.idshaw broke his hand Monday night. Stoudt had his cast removed at 9 a.m., two days ahead of schedule. He took snaps from center and ran plays in practice while lobbing some passes on his own. "It's a little tender where the break was," Stoudt said. "The arm is not as strong as it was, but I can throw the football. The only thing I have to do is build the strength back up in the arm. "I'm not going to come right out of a cast and be 100 percent. But it's better to have a guy in there who knows the system like I do. I just wish I would have been there Monday night. That's where I blew it," he added after a snowy workout at Three Rivers Stadium.
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