12 I WEDNESDAY, March 16, 2005
Five keys for success in the women's tourney
By Justin Kunkel
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jak44o@psu.edu
There is not a single factor that one
can pinpoint when trying to decide what
college basketball teams, men's or
women's, will have success in the NCAA
tournament, but there is nothing wrong
with giving it the old college try.
The coaches of the Big XII Confer
ence, who represent seven of the 64
teams in The Big Dance, gave their
input, and if their responses pan out on
the basketball court Penn State has a
chance to be dancing deep into the
night
According to the coaches, one of the
key components to tournament success
is a concept that has become almost
cliché during the lion-esque phase of
March and that is:
Guard play
"In tournament play particularly, it's
all about the guards and half-court exe
cution," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale
said.
WOMEN'S TRACK
Penn State
preparing
to compete
outdoors
By Andrew Staub
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I aes2sB@psu.edu
T-minus 58 days to the Big Ten
Women's Track and Field Champi
onship held at Ohio State University.
Even though the Penn State women's
track and field team has just started
practicing for the outdoor season, Penn
State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan
already has set her team's sights on the
conference meet. After finishing an
unexpected fourth at the Big Ten
Women's Indoor Track and Field Cham
pionship, Alford-Sullivan is confident
that her team will be an improved ver
sion heading into the outdoor Big len
meet.
She said that the improvement will
be the result of the added events in the
outdoor season, such as the discus,
javelin, 4xloo-meter relay, 400-meter
hurdles and 10,000-meter run.
"The events that we add, we have
some strength and depth in," Alford-
Sullivan said. "We're excited about it. It
makes our team much stronger."
Specifically, the return of senior dis
tance runner Molly Landreth, who red
shirted during the indoor season, will
provide a much-needed boost to an
area in which the Nittany Lions strug
ged mightily-
At the Big Ten meet held last month,
Penn State failed to score any points in
the distance events. Landreth is in an
NCAA qualifier in the 10,000-meter run
and a 2003 All-American in the steeple
chase.
Raving Landreth back on the track
will add some veteran leadership as
well as take some pressure off of junior
Macey Brauksieck.
"Molly's been a big factor in our pro
gram," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're
looking to line her back up. It'll be
great."
Looking at the throws, Penn State's
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College basketball in general, and
particularly the women's game, has
been dominated by guards for most of
the last decade, and this year should be
no different. Connecticut's recent
dynasty was built around guards Sue
Bird and Diana Taurasi. This year's No.
1 seed, LSU, is paced by Wooden Award
favorite Seimone Augustus. If strong
guard play does in fact correlate closely
to tournament success, then Penn State
should be sitting pretty since the Lady
Lions' backcourt of Jess Strom and Tan
isha Wright is one of the best in the
country.
Depth
"I think [success comes easier] when
you can have a bench and you can have
more players that can contribute," Bay
lor coach Kim Mulkey-Robinson said.
"Depth is so important throughout the
NCAA tournament. You have to have
depth."
If in fact Mulkey-Robinson, whose
Bears beat Penn State 91-70 on Dec. 11,
is correct, and a deep bench is a prereq
Jim Creighton/Collegian
Megan Burke and the women's track team are ready for the outdoor season.
already solid group of throwers will be
bolstered by the addition of senior Ash
ley Colley in the javelin, an event in
which she earned 2003 All-America
honors. The Lions also are looking to
see some significant points from junior
Christen Clemson in the discus. Last
year, Clemson placed second in the
event at the Big Ten meet.
Senior throws captain Kate Johnston
and junior Jennifer Leatherman, both
indoor NCAA qualifiers, will again pro
vide strong leadership in the throws as
both are expected to have outstanding
outdoor seasons in the hammer throw.
Not all of Penn State's main contribu
tors will be upperclassmen, though.
During the indoor season, freshmen
Dominique Blake, Gayle Hunter and
Shana Cox, and sophomore Kamilah
Salaam paced Penn State's sprints
corps.
Alford-Sullivan said that she expects
her young athletes to continue to
impact the team during the outdoor
season.
"Our freshmen have been a key fac-
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uisite for tournament success, then the
Lady Lions could find themselves in
deep trouble.
Coach Rene Portland's January deci
sion to move sophomore Jen Harris to
the bench has improved the scoring
from the second unit but after Strom
and Wright the offense drop off is a
steep one.
Freshman Amber Bland is an excel
lent defender but has not contributed
much at the offensive end during her
freshman campaign, and Hazel Joseph
is a non-factor.
Experience
"If I had to pick one single thing, I
would say experience. I would say
teams that have been there and done
that are the teams that usually have
success," Texas Tech coach Marsha
Sharp said.
This is another factor that Penn State
has going in its favor. The Lady Lions
have valuable postseason experience
after three straight trips to the Sweet 16
and last year's foray into the Elite Eight.
tor in the quality of this team and the
quality of the program," Alford-Sullivan
said. "We recruited them with that
premise that they would come in here
and make a big difference, and to see
them pulling that off is really exciting."
Even after Cox and Hunter had an off
day at the NCAA meet, Alford-Sullivan
said said she was impressed with how
well the two handled themselves and
believes that they will be just fine in the
outdoor season.
While the freshmen should provide
an interesting future, the team will
presently rely heavily on the veteran
leadership of Johnston and sprints cap
tain Brooke Robinson, both seniors.
Each will look to have an outstanding
final run with the Nittany Lions.
"They stepped up and had an indoor
season that was their best on their
record," Alford-Sullivan said. "That
momentum will carry over to the out
door [season]."
And Penn State needs all the
momentum it can get right now. After
all, the countdown has already started.
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"If I had to pick one single thing, I would say
experience."
Marsha Sharp
Texas Tech women's basketball coach, on keys to winning in the postseason
Good fortune
"You have to be concerned with
injuries, and you have to hope that
nobody gets in foul trouble," Texas
coach Jody Conradt said.
Keeping players out of foul trouble is
not completely a matter of luck, but
there is nothing a team like Kansas
State can do when it loses a player as
important as Megan Mahoney on the
eve of the tournament. Penn State has
not had a serious injury all season, but
the Lions have battled foul trouble from
time to time.
The lack of depth in the post has often
gotten forward Amanda Brown in foul
trouble early, and as the long season
and massive amount of playing time
have taken their toll on Wright she has
Armstrong acknowledges
being behind on training
By Jerome Pugmire
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PARIS Lance Armstrong
acknowledged yesterday he is behind
schedule in his preparation for a sev
enth straight Tour de France title and
he may have made a mistake by com
peting in the recent weather-affected
Paris-Nice cycle race. Armstrong, in
Paris to collect a Sports Academy Th)-
phy at the foreign ministry in recogni
tion of his sixth straight Tour win last
summer, said he hopes to recover his
form in time for July's Tour
"I'm going to try and get in shape. I
have to admit I'm a little bit behind,
more than I would normally be," Arm
strong said. "I picked Paris-Nice for a
lot of reasons that were decided
before. Perhaps I shouldn't have start
ed with a race like Paris-Nice.
"It was a very hard, fast, intense
race with bad weather."
Some stages at the Paris-Nice were
shortened severely due to heavy snow
fall, meaning Armstrong who even
tually pulled out with a sore throat
had little chance to accumulate dis
tance on his bike, a crucial part of his
preparation.
"The body quickly wore down and
got worse. Then I got sick. Next thing
you know I go home," Armstrong said.
"When you consider race conditions,
the thing you can't emulate in training
is the speed. When you shorten the
stages by two-thirds the speed goes up
and the time goes down. I was not
ready for that."
However, nothing will stop him from
trying to win his seventh Tour "other
than injury or illness or some other
external problem."
"I don't know that I'll win but I'll be
on the start line," he said.
Upon receiving the Itophee de EA
eademie des Sports, awarded to the
athlete with the best achievement the
previous year, Armstrong said he was
humbled.
"I have to say it is an honor to be
here," Armstrong said. "I don't nor
mally get too choked up about things
like this normally but this is special.
Wmning six Tours is something beyond
my comprehension."
The American, accompanied by rock
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
occasionally picked up some avoidable
fouls. When she does, Penn State strug
gles.
A stud scorer
"I believe that a great leader and a
great player on the perimeter is a par
ticularly vital element," Kansas State
coach Deb Patterson said. Sharp
agreed, saying: "Teams that have a
clear-cut, go-to, I'm-gonna-make-plays
for-you presence have an advantage."
Wright has developed into one of the
best pure scorers in the country and is
more than willing to take the big shot
with the game on the line.
This could prove to be a distinct
advantage against teams that may be -
deeper but lack the presence of a true
star at the offensive end.
Lance Armstrong feels he is behind on
his preparation for the Tour de France.
star girlfriend Sheryl Crow, also com
mented on the 2012 Olympic bid, reaf
firming his love for New York and
also his fondness for Paris.
"As an American my heart has to be
with New York City, and I have to sup
port the bid for New York City," he said.
"But you also have to be fair and say
Paris has a good bid. Are they deserv
ing cities for the Olympic Games?
Absolutely. They're great cities, leg
endary cities, historical cities.
"Perhaps I wasn't strong enough
when I said my vote was for New York
City. Since it wasn't strong enough they
said 'He's a traitor. He's a weasel."'
Armstrong said he was upset by the
media outcry and took a swipe at some
of the publications that rose against
him.
"It's the first time I've ever been
called un-American. So, I tried to
resolve it. I spoke to the city, to the
[New York 20121 organizing commit
tee," Armstrong said. "I sent messages
to the mayor. It was amazing how a
one-minute interview became world
wide news.
"Some of the tabloid papers, they let
it rip. They took the gloves off. But
c'est la vie, as they say."