14—The Daily Collegian Friday, Nov. 10, 1995 Jordan Center may hurt Lady Lion home-court advantage By CHRISTINE L MILLER Collegian Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS— Come January, when the Lady Lion basketball team moves into the Bryce Jordan Center, ten Big Ten coaches will breathe a collective sigh of relief. Yesterday at the Big Ten women's basketball tipoff luncheon, all of the coaches expressed their frustra tion for playing in the storied Rec Hall atmosphere. Well, all the coaches except one. Lady Lion Coach Rene Portland stood alone on this issue, of course. The sour looks on her colleagues' faces distanced them from her. Portland relentlessly promoted her team's new 15,000-plus seat facility with her usual upbeat flavor. Swimmen kick off Big Ten season with dual-meet vs. Purdue, Indiana By KATE BLASCHAK Collegian Sports Writer With only a Blue-White meet and a Villanova victory behind it this season, the men's swimming and diving team will embark into Big Ten competition this week end. In its first ever dual-meet with both Indiana (1-0) and Purdue (1- 0), the Lions (1-0) will not only be diving into foreign Hoosier waters, but also into an unfamil iar situation. Instead of competing with Indiana today and Purdue tomor row, all three teams will be rac ing at the same time. Each team will have two lanes available to its swimmers. Events will consist of an exhibition heat followed by a second heat that will be scored. Because the meet will span two days, more events will be includ ed than exist in normal dual-meet competition. Regardless of the new format, the Lions are treating this con test the same as any other. Swim ming Coach Peter Brown said his swimmers are just going to con centrate on one day at a time. "We'll just have to see how things go on Friday first," Brown said. "We have to be in a certain position then to even think about things on Saturday." 5 0 ° /0 I 1 OFF WITH COUPON I (RIC $39.951 6,4 cr.i.A.&,,,.../...4.44 PENN Cr I .i 4 N ''‘. '-- ,o ° ' t I I _. -3 *Al' I ' P c: e/ CP C tt 1 OF WO' I I 300 S. WEN $T • owe AWARD lO WINNING HEART HEALTHY Plus Now Available Daily: ip Vegetarian Vegetable Soup IP Steamed Vegetables with Tomato Basil over Pasta 1 Hour Free Parking Minnesota Coach Linda Hill-MacDonald has a strong opinion whemit comes to discussing her team's performance in Rec Hall. One month after defeating No. 7 Penn State, 71-56, on the Golden Gopher's home court in January, her players traveled to University Park with repeat on their minds. No such luck as unranked Minnesota dropped to their opponents, 87-73, on the Rec Hall hardwood. The coach is delighted Rec Hall is closing its doors. "I hate it," Hill-MacDonald said. "It's like a love hate relationship. You love it because of the height women's basketball has reached, but you hate to go in there because Penn State plays so well." The comfortable home court has been good to the "Its going to be a matter of our big guns going up against their big guns." Peter Brown men's swimming coach Brown added that the Lions are going to have to perform to their potential because of the middleman position they appear to be in on paper. Last season the Hoosiers finished fourth in the Big Ten, with the Lions grabbing the fifth-place spot, and the Boil ermakers close behind with a sixth-place finish. In order to hold off Purdue from taking their spot and bump Indiana down a notch, the Lions must execute a flawless perfor mance. "It's going to be a matter of our big guns going up against their big guns," Brown said. "We are going to have to do well across the board." Junior Lion Alex Cunha echoed Brown's sentiments, but added that what teams look like on paper can be very misleading sometimes. WILD ° PIRIT ENJOY ICE COLD AS A SHOOTER Swirl with ice • Shoot "You never can know what (the other teams) are doing in the water," Cunha said. "There really is no way of telling what they can do. We only know what we can do." This weekend will also see some changes in format for the Lion divers. Instead of perform ing on both boards in one day, they will do the 1-meter today and the 3-meter tomorrow. Diving Coach Craig Brown said he is expecting a good week end of tough competition, but added that he is anticipating more from Indiana than Purdue. "Purdue doesn't really have anybody, and they have a bad home facility," Brown said. "On the other hand, I think it's going to be a pretty good dogfight between us and Indiana." The Lions' No. 1 diver, sopho more Drew Jackson, will be most challenged by Hoosier redshirt freshman Mike Collier, who made it to the 1995 Senior Nationals, unlike Jackson. Brown said Jackson may have a tough time overcoming Collier. "(Collier) is well-schooled and he does a real difficult list of dives," Brown said. "But where Drew doesn't have the difficulty, he makes up for in consistency. I'll be really happy if they split on the boards." The early pioneers of America enjoyed a special recipe of strong spirits, natural wild herbs and a touch of fire-brewed cocoa. Here is that drink of the frontier. Lady Lions, who have accumulated a 199-33 record Hill-MacDonald can understand the part about find there. ing something not to like. She and her team under- Purdue Coach Lin Dunn said she understands Port- went a transition two years ago in the reverse route of land's desire to shoot hoops in a larger arena. But, she the Lady Lions. prescribes a different game plan. Unsatisfied with the under-attended, 15,000-seat "If I were Rene, I wouldn't leave Rec Hall," Dunn Williams Arena, the Gophers picked up and moved to said. "I always though it was worth ten or fifteen the Sports Pavilion. extra points." Their new home holds 5,700 people. It suits them The last three times the Boilermakers paid a visit to better, Hill-MacDonald said, because of its intimate Happy Valley, they could have used some padding on setting much like Rec Hall. the scoreboard. Penn State prevailed on all three occasions by at least three baskets. Portland, too, has her opinion on the topic. "They're not going to like the Jordan Center either," she said. "That's the nature of the beast with coach es— to find something they don't like." New women's hoops coaches looking for wins By GEOFF MOSHER Collegian Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS Women's basketball head coach es Angie Lee and Theresa Grentz will enter the realm of Big Ten head coaches for the first time this winter, both sharing one common goal winning. "I want to win," Grentz said. "And I know how to do that." Grentz and Lee will get the chance to revive their programs that have recently plummeted to the bottom of the Big Ten. For Lee, the opportunity to be a head coach symbolizes the dawn of a new era. After the departure of legendary Hawkeye coach C. Vivian Stringer, the window of opportunity opened wide for Lee, Stringer's assistant. Lee, a former lowa player, expects to carry on the winning tradition brought about by her predecessor. "The one thing people have to realize is that I worked for a coach who is very successful," Lee said. "Why go away from something that works? Obviously, a lot of my coaching style is going to be right out of the book of Vivian Stringer. But on the same note, I need to forge my own path and implement some of my own ideas." As an assistant coach, Lee's strongest facet appeared in recruiting, as lowa's recruiting class ranked in the top 10 nationally throughout her seven year tenure as top assistant. In becoming head coach, Lee is the first Big Ten player to return to coach her alma mater. After spending seven years beside Stringer, Lee said she is ready to accept a new challenge. Hawkeye fans have given her a warm welcome. "The change has been good," the rookie coach said. "I've been overwhelmed by the amount of support that I have gotten from all walks of life. From our community, from my colleagues and coaches, from all across the country and obviously the administration. The biggest statement they made was to take a chance on an assistant who has not been a head coach." The other Big Ten coaches have no doubt that Lee will be as successful as Stringer. Northwestern Coach Don Perrelli said lowa is still a force to be reckoned with, and he has complete confidence in Lee. All interested seniors who would like to learn more E & J Gallo Winery's Management Development Program are invited to attend an information session Monday, November 13th about opportunities in the 7:00 - 8:15 P.M. HUB Gallery Lounge THE WINERY OF E. 8t J. Gio.L.LO Uncork Your Potential For graduates with an intense desire to go far, there is a career with far-reaching opportunities. Sales management with the E. & J. Gallo Winery. But Portland is still excited about her new destina tion. She suggests everyone get past all the fuss and just play ball. "Who cares?" Portland continued. "(It is) good for our sport, and we should put it in perspective— the more fans, the more appealing it is." "I want to win. And I know how to do that." Theresa Grentz Illinois women's basketball coach "Angie is going to be her own person, " Perrelli said. "She will incorporate a lot of things Vivian had. She's going to put her own coaching ability and style into her program. If I had to worry about any one team, it would be lowa." Not may coaches were worried about Illinois. After losing 15 of their final 18 games and finishing with an abysmal 10-17 record, Coach Kathy Lindsay resigned, leaving a vacant spot for Grentz to fill. Grentz left Rutgers after a successful 19-year reign and came to Illinois because of her adoration of the Big Ten and her chances to win. Grentz is no stranger to winning, never having a losing season as a head coach. At Rutgers, Grentz never lost more than 13 games and never won less than 17. She collected 16 20-win seasons and nine NCAA berths. This year, Grentz's spot will at Rutgers will be filled by Stringer. Grentz admires the concept of one state against another in the Midwest, which is found in most Big Ten competition. After coaching in New Jersey, Grentz said that rivals were located in the same state, leaving out any interstate rivalries. "On the backside of my career, I want to be where I think the core of the action is," she said. "That is in the Big Ten." Starting off the season, Grentz wants the Illini to concentrate on the defensive aspect of the game, a philosophy held by many Eastern coaches. Grentz said former college basketball coaches like Seton Hall's P.J. Carlesimo and St. John's Lou Carnesecca influenced the style she uses today. When the skeptics label the Illini a "sleeping giant," Grentz simply responds "Sleeping giant, well I'm a morning person." Similarly, Grentz finds her strength in recruiting She knows the value of having good players.
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