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Women's basketball opens home
schedule with a win
By Mark
Brockett
The UIS women’s basketball team
used its aggressive defense and hustle to triumph over
Lindenwood, 67-62, in their first home game of the 2004-2005
season.
The small yet quick line up for
the Prairie Stars, according to head coach Wanda Nettles, is
what will spark this team in every game this season. “We are an
undersize team so we are going to use our quickness to our
advantage,” said Nettles. “We may not be the most talented team
but these girls know that we will be the most physical and well
conditioned team.”
Right off the bat, the team
opened the game with a 21-9 advantage using their strengths.
Despite Lindenwood’s best efforts to make a comeback, the Stars
kept on track by forcing 21 turnovers on defense. With some
clutch free throw shooting, the Stars sealed the deal late in
the second half.
Defense wasn’t the complete story
of the game. The Stars helped themselves offensively with
contributions from five players in double digit scoring. Leading
the way was senior Zabrina Harper with 17 points, followed by
Chikayla Moss with 15 points, Kelly Beyer with 13 points and
LaTrice Nettles with 12 points. Ashley Barton led the Prairie
Stars with 10 offensive boards and tallied 15 rebounds on the
night to solidify the team’s victory.
Overall the Stars shot 44.1% from
the field, 37.5% from the free-throw line and 50.0% behind the
arc.
The team is currently 2-1 overall
heading into last Monday night’s game against Quincy
University. The Stars will be traveling to Elgin, IL this
weekend for the Judson College Tournament and will return home
November 30 to play Illinois Wesleyan.
UIS whips IIT 107-80
By Jason
Stuebe
For the second straight night,
the UIS men’s basketball team put triple digits on the board and
demolished a non-conference opponent, as they defeated the
Scarlet Hawks of the Illinois Institute of Technology 107-80.
A relentless defense put up by the Stars held the Scarlet Hawks
to only 2 of 14 shooting in the first 11 minutes of the game.
If not for the Hawks’ talent at the free-throw line, their
dismal 27-9 deficit would have been much deeper, if not more
humorous.
The lopsided start
of the game left some to wonder whether the IIT offense was just
that bad or the UIS defense was just that good.
“They took a lot of
quick shots and we were getting the rebounds,” said UIS head
coach Kevin Gamble. “As far as them being that bad or us being
that good, I would say it was a little of both.”
If IIT thought their
shooting was bad, they had to look no further than the end of
the stats sheet to see something worse: their 12 first-half
turnovers. UIS capitalized on nearly all of these, scoring 13
points off turnovers.
With the tone of the
game set, the teams headed to the locker room at the half with
UIS up 47-28.
When the teams came
out in the second half, UIS continued their strong offensive
performance, going up by as much as 35 points at one point.
There was simply no chance for IIT to make a rally.
By the end of the
battle, UIS’ strength was headlined by their inside play as they
scored 54 points in the paint compared to the Scarlet Hawks 20.
The Stars were led
by Johnny Tate and Antonio Puckett, who had 28 and 17 points
respectively, while Aaron Anderson pulled down a team high seven
rebounds.
UIS shot 34.6% from
the field, 33.3% from the charity stripe, and 70% from behind
the arc.
“We didn’t know what
to expect going into it,” said Gamble. “We stuck to our game
and played really strong.”
The Stars are now 2-1 on the
season heading into last night’s game against the Peacocks, yes
that’s right, the Peacocks of Upper Iowa University.
Stars sweep Hannibal in first round of AMC
tournament
By
Mark Brockett
The UIS women’s volleyball team
showed Hannibal LaGrange for third time this season why they are
one of the top three teams in the American Midwest Conference.
In front of a big crowd in the UIS gymnasium, the Stars swept
the match 30-19, 30-21 and 30-22.
The victory did not come without
some minor bumps in the road, however. Hannibal stayed in all
three games by capitalizing on some Prairie Stars’ mistakes, but
the play didn’t shake the confidence that head coach Joe Fisher
has in his team. “Overall, we played pretty well,” said Fisher.
“We had our ups and downs, but we knew coming in that Hannibal
plays really scrappy and we handled it well.”
 The
Stars were led in the match by sophomore middle hitter Audra
Roach, who had 14 kills. Also contributing in the match was the
outside hitting combination of Danielle Crossen with 11 kills
and Lauren Sanders with 10 kills.
The victory put the Prairie Stars
at a .500 mark of 18-18. Fisher credits the team’s fine play
down the stretch to consistent and aggressive volleyball. “We
are .500 this late in the season, something that this program
hasn’t had in quite some time so we are happy about that and
look to improve.”
The win also sent the Stars to
the AMC semi-final held in Columbia, MO, last Friday night where
they faced and wound up falling to the rival Bearcats of
McKendree. For complete game coverage, see this week’s edition
of Snapshots.
 It's
time
By Jason Stuebe
Anyone remember back to
the 1992 veep debates between Dan Quayle and Al Gore? Remember
when Al Gore pointed to his watch and created the catch phrase
“It’s time for them to go?”
Fast forward 12 years and
change the topic to Illinois Football and there are probably
35,000 people pointing to their watches and telling Ron Guenther
that its time for Ron Turner to go.
I know how important
loyalty is to the University of Illinois, it’s practically a
principled moniker. I believe in loyalty, I believe in
weathering the storms. Heck, I have my Illinois Loyalty wrist
band reminding me of these principles making me feel guilty in
the process. But there comes a point when the cold hard facts
nullify loyalty.
This week the Illini head
into Northwestern’s Ryan Stadium as 13 point underdogs with a
dismal 1-6 Big Ten record; this is Northwestern people, we are
13 point underdogs to a team that epitomized the slogan bottom
feeders!
Remember the glory days
of 2001? Remember that magical 10-2 season? Remember a BCS
berth? The Sugar Bowl? It was surreal; everything leaving Kurt
Kittner’s hand was golden in Brandon Lloyd’s – the Illini were
finally a team to be dealt with.
What a difference only
nine or so months made.
In the three year’s since
that last hoorah in N’awlins, what do we have to show for it
now? A 9-25 record? Outside of the Illini’s defeat of fellow
low-baller Indiana, the previous wins came at the hands at of
two I-AA school and a school that didn’t even know existed. Put
another way, heading into this week’s game, 50% of the Illini’s
wins in the past two seasons were against I-AA opponents.
At this rate the Illini
couldn’t make it to the Nobodycaresaboutyou.com bowl if they
paid THEM to play in it.
Every year we always hear
that the team’s ready to turn around. Last year’s motivational
slogan for the team was “coming together.” Coming together for
what?
There’s an old saying
“act as ye have faith and faith ye shall receive.” I’m sorry
but the Illini can’t even fake it anymore, so how are they going
to make it?
Illinois football isn’t
the Chicago Cubs. We shouldn’t be saying “wait till next
year.” This is the team of Grange, Butkus, and Halas.
What absolutely befuddles
me is the players’ yearning for coach Turner to stay. While he
may be a great person and a great leader for them, the results
just aren’t there to give good reason why he should stay.
According to a poll by
chicagosports.com only 11% of respondents agreed that Turner
should stay. Eleven percent! Granted the poll wasn’t scientific
but Alan Keyes polled better than 11%.
I hate to be the jerk,
but it’s time for Turner go. Yes, go, go away, go coach at
Northwest Alaska Igloo Tech. As always, Go Stars!
Prairie Stars of the Week
UIS Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin
Gamble didn’t know what he was getting when 6-foot-2-inch junior
guard Johnny Tate came on board for the Stars’ third season.
 “You
don’t get to see his full potential in practice,” said Gamble,
“he’s a game player, and he’s been phenomenal these first three
games.”
The one thing Gamble and company
did know was that Tate had good scoring ability. “Give him an
open court and the ball and he will get the basket.”
Saying he’s phenomenal might
even be an understatement as Tate has torn up the court leading
to the Stars fast 2-1 start.
Tate’s stats speak for
themselves: 18 points, three boards, and 4-6 shooting from the
charity stripe in the drubbing of St. Louis College of Pharmacy,
and 28 points and four rebounds he pulled down in the Stars’
crippling defeat of the Scarlet Hawks from the Illinois
Institute of Technology.
Following Wednesday night’s
game, Gamble had nothing but praise for the work that Tate has
put in to this year’s squad. “He knows the game; he’s strong,
and has the ability. With those qualities he’s great both
offensively and is coming around defensively.”
After watching Tate drive past
everything that IIT put in his way last week, returning to
Prairie Star of the Week normalcy was an easy decision for the
UIS Sportswriters and Broadcasters’ Association as we award
Johnny Tate with the accolades and honors of a grateful Prairie
Star nation.
Snapshots
Women’s Volleyball
AMC Tournament – Columbia,
MO
UIS vs. McKendree
The UIS women’s come-back
season ended after a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to second seeded
McKendree last Friday night in the AMC semi-finals 21-30, 34-32,
26-30 and 26-30.
The loss marked the third
time that the Stars fell to the Bearcats in a 3-1 show down.
McKendree went on to face
top-seeded Columbia and fell handily 3-0. Both Columbia and
McKendree will advance to the Region V Tournament.
The loss dropped the
Stars to 18-19 on the season, the best record for the Stars in
several years.
Men’s Basketball
UIS vs. St. Louis College of
Pharmacy (St. Louis, MO)
The Prairie Stars rolled
the Eutectics (we’re still trying to figure out what those are)
in a stellar 107-53 victory last Tuesday night.
The Stars were led by
Johnny Tate who racked up 18 points while Aaron Anderson and
Antonio Pucket had 15 and 13 points respectively.
Collectively, the UIS men
amassed an astounding 64.7% shooting from the field, 47.1% from
behind the three-point line, and 72.7% from the free throw
line.
Women’s Basketball
UIS vs. Quincy University
(Quincy, IL)
The Stars fell 83-52
Monday night to the Lady Hawks of Quincy University.
The UIS women were led by
Ashley Barton who had 13 points and eight rebounds. The Stars
shot only 35.7% from the field, 16.7% from three-point land, and
75% from the line.
The women are now 2-2 on
the season heading into a rematch with Lindenwood University in
St. Charles, MO next Tuesday.
Men’s Soccer
2004 AMC Awards
UIS’ Michael Hutchinson
and Bojan Milicivec were named to the American Midwest First
Team All Conference team, while junior Todd Pierce was named to
the AMC’s Honorable Mention All Conference team. Hutchinson was
also named the newcomer of the year.
Never forgetting that
their here to learn first, UIS also had eight of its student
athletes named to the AMC Academic All Conference Team. Those
honored were: Andreas Barcenas, Michael Hutchinson, Kenny
Jackson, Mauricio Lora, Curt Miller, John Petri, John Ryan, and
Andy Simmons.
Campus Rec Sports
INTRAMURAL
SPORTS
The Basketball
Shooting Contests were held this past Sunday. Congratulations
to the winners. In the Men’s Division, Mike Moriarity won the
3-Point Shot with a total of 9 and the Super Shot by making the
lay up, free throw and the 3-point shot for a total of 6. Matt
Riedle was the winner of the Free Throw Contest with 18 points,
and the Speed Shooting Contest with 11 points. Grazia Silvestro
was the winner of the Free Throw contest with 16 points for the
Women’s Division. Melanie Cain won the 3-Point Shot with 10
points. Christine Olson took the Speed Shooting contest with 10
points. Rebecca Alberts won the Super Shot contest making the
lay up and the free throw for a total of 3 points.
Congratulations
to IM Badminton Singles champion Anica Malabanan for
winning the women’s division this year. Anica was undefeated in
both matches played.
INFORMAL OPEN
RECREATION HOURS FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK
The Rec
Facilities will be open on Wednesday, November 24th
from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. The Rec will be closed Thursday,
November 25th through Saturday, November 27th
and will re-open on Sunday, November 28th at 4 p.m.
until 8 p.m. Regular hours return on Monday, November 29th.
Stay posted for changes during final exams week as well as the
Christmas/Semester break.
FITNESS &
INSTRUCTIONAL
The UIS Fall
Miler’s Club ends this Sunday, November 21. All exercise
slips need to be turned into the CRS Office by 11pm Monday,
November 22 in order for the mileage to be counted toward your
goal.
Toning &
Conditioning
classes will continue through November 22 in the UIS Gym on
Mondays and Fridays from 12:10-12:50pm. The Monday, November 22
class is the scheduled make-up class for the previously canceled
October 29 meeting.
LOST & FOUND
Have you lost
an article of clothing, jewelry, books, shoes, glasses, etc. in
any of the recreational facilities (Gym, Fitness Center, Tennis
Courts, outdoor fields)? If so, you might want to check out the
Lost & Found boxes located in the Campus Recreational Sports
Office. Chances are good we may have found it for you. Our
boxes are overflowing!
SPORT CLUBS
The Men’s
Club Volleyball team is practicing Mondays and Thursdays
from 7-9pm and Fridays from 5-7pm in the UIS Gym. Any male UIS
student interested in competing extramurally with other college
or USVBA men’s club volleyball teams is welcome to join. Male
students may be undergraduate or graduate; full time or part
time. If interested contact Club President Jim Brower at
jbrow16s@uis.edu.
The Frisbee
Enthusiasts Club practices Sunday from 3-5pm at the Sport
Club Rec Field east of Kiwanis Stadium. The club participates
in Ultimate Frisbee as well as Frolf (Frisbee Disc Golf). If
interested contact Club President Colin Cook at
ccook04s@uis.edu.
HOW CAN I LEARN ABOUT CAMPUS REC SPORTS NEWS?
(1) Send an
Email to RecSports@uis.edu
to be included in the 2004-2005 Campus Rec Sports News List to
receive personal up-to-date information about future events and
activities. (2) Click on “Public Folders>All Public
Folders>UIS>Announcements>Campus” on your UIS e-mail account and
read the e-mail announcements sent out by UIS Campus Rec
Sports. (3) Check out the website at
www.uis.edu/recsports/. (4) Contact the Campus Recreational
Sports (CRS) Office located in the Fitness Center (SLB 118) or
call 206-6658. |
