The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 5

SPORTS The Spectrum Sunday November 5 2000 B5 Basketball Conference Previews Associated Press Bob ChlldAP REE Checking REE Windshield! REE DINNERS! MEMBER also lost key personnel after winning 25 games a school record Scoring leaders Angela Lackey and Tatum Brown and all conference pick elecity Willis have moved on Stanford will miss the lead ership of point guard Milena lores Arizona State lost its top four scorers and Oregon lost point guard Shaquala Williams the league's player of the year promotion to try to become the first conference to draw a million fans Three Big 12 teams ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance last season: Texas Tech (2) Iowa State (4) and Texas (10) '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Oklahoma Texas Tech Iowa State Texas and Kansas WNIT Colorado and Missouri MOUNTAIN WEST '00 CHAMPION: Utah (regular season and tournament) Home Office Sunset Office Red Cliffs Office Hurricane Office Cedar City Office Milford Office No matter what you lifestyle or money needs may be Southern Utah ederal Credit Union has a checking account that will enhance your financial health Tarascos Mexican Restaurant Si Gturgt Only UConn's Svetlana Abrosimova moves in to score against a Swedish all star team during an exhibition game on riday Cteckfag ewtcei ol All Yow toMttal Needi! last season to a torn ACL BACK: Although lores is gone Stanford is loaded with returning player? and is favored to dethrone defending champion Oregon The Cardinal need better rebounding from 6 6 Carolyn Moos who averaged only 55 per game last season Washington returns two of the league's top scorers Loree Payne (174) and Megan ranza (172) and hopes to improve on its 8 22 record The Huskies also return their three other starters Oregon is counting on the return of veterans Angelina Wolvert and Brianne Meharry to help offset Williams' loss WHAT'S NEW: Nicole Kaczmarski UCLA's No 2 scorer as a freshman last season is sitting out the fall quarter for personal reasons The Pac 10 will begin a postseason tournament to determine its NCAA representative in 2002 Caren Horstmeyer is the league's only new coach moving from Santa Clara to replace Marianne Stanley at Cal Three Division I transfers will help at Arizona State Nikki Swagger and Melody Johnson came from Colorado and Amanda Levens from Old Dominion Washington's Hec Edmundson Pavilion built in 1927 underwent a $39 million remodeling and is now called Bank of America Arena '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: Stanford Oregon Southern Cal and Arizona State WNIT Arizona UCLA and Washington SUN BELT '00 CHAMPION: Louisiana Tech (regu lar season and tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky WNIT Arkansas State WHO'S GONE: Louisiana Tech lost 38 percent of its offense and almost all of its ballhandling with the departure of guards Tamicha Jackson and Betty Lennox The pair averaged 33 points and took 40 percent of the team's shots Western Kentucky also lost its starting backcourt Jaime Walz and Jamie Britt combined to average 31 points Julie Hagood is gone after averaging 175 points and helping Arkansas State crack The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time The Indians also lost leading rebounder Tanisha Johnson WHO'S BACK: Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore announced his retire ment then came back when the school could not find a suitable successor Western Kentucky can rebuild around forward ShaRae Mansfield the presea son player of the year and the Sun Belt's leading scorer last season Junior Gergana Slavtcheva will continue lorida International's tradition of out standing foreign players and Michaela Pavlipkova leads the way at Denver the favorite in the league's West Division WHAT'S NEW: The league expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Middle Tennessee North Texas and New Mexico State The Sun Belt which will '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Utah and BYU WNIT Colorado State and New Mexico WHO'S GONE: BYU needs inside help after losing 6 3 center Jill Adams and forward Lori Cuff Adams was a first team all conference selection and the only senior on the unit Cuff made the postseason all tournament team The only other senior to earn all conference honors was second team pick Mary Apiafi of San Diego State Utah lost its floor leader point guard Tiana uertes She was the MVP of the inference tournament New Mexico will have to make do without Sonya Bryant a steadying influence for the youthful Lobos last season WHO'S BACK: Linda rohlich the league's player of the year as a sopho more will try to get UNLV into the first division after a fifth place finish last season BYU will expect even more from sophomore Erin Thorn who met all expectations last season She aver aged 132 points and was named the league's freshman of the year irst team all conference pick Heather Haanen is one of four returning starters at Colorado State which slipped last season after reaching the NCAA's round of 16 in 1999 Miranda Sanchez who made eight 3 pointers in a garpe last season will key New Mexico's drive for postseason play WHAT'S NEW: Utah is trying for a piece of its sixth straight conference championship The Utes who return four starters dominated the WAC before the Mountain West was formed last year BYU signed one of the best players in New Mexico 5 8 Julie Whetton of Silver City She was named the league's top newcomer in a media vote New Mexico has a talented home town prospect in Albuquerque's Melissa orest She was voted the top newcomer by the coaches The Lobos are looking for more big crowds at "The Pit" this season after ranking sixth nationally in attendance with an aver age of 9162 per game They had a high of 18018 for BYU '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Utah and Colorado State WNIT opponent except UConn last season will miss Danielle Green's quickness at guard WHO'S BACK: Connecticut has a wealth of returning players irst team all conference picks Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova return as do sec ond teamer Sue Bird and third team selections Swin Cash and Tamika Williams Ralph and Abrosimova who played for Russia in the Olympics were first team All Americans Rutgers will remain strong with point guard Tasha Pointer and center Tammy Sutton Brown who played on the Canadian Olympic team Georgetown's Katie Smrcka Duffy the league's leading scor er returns WHAT'S NEW: Virginia Tech moves into the league from the Atlantic 10 and brings a winning tradition The Hokies are seeking a fourth straight 20 win sea son Connecticut signed the nation's top recruiting class headed by Naismith national player of the year Diana Taurasi Villanova coach Harry Perretta needs five wins and Geno Auriemma needs seven to reach 400 or the first time not every team in the league will qualify for the confer ence tournament Only12 of the 14 get in with the top four getting byes to the quarterfinals '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Connecticut Notre Dame Rutgers and Virginia Tech WNIT Boston College Georgetown and Villanova BIG TEN '00 CHAMPION: Penn State (regular season) Purdue (tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Penn State Purdue Illinois and Michigan WNIT Wisconsin and Michigan State WHO'S GONE: Penn State could struggle to repeat its inal our trip after losing point guard Helen Darling and center Andrea Garner The Lady Lions also lost senior Chrissy alcone and freshman Jennifer Brenden to torn ACLs Michigan State lost the scoring punch of Maxann Reese and Kristen Rasmussen The Spartans also lost their coach Karen Langeland who resigned Illinois a force under coach Theresa Grentz lost two key players to gradua tion: Tauja Catchings and Susan Blauser WHO'S BACK: Purdue has inal our hopes and senior Katie Douglas is the reason Douglas a second team All American last season is the league's preseason player of the year Iowa seeking a return to prominence under new coach Lisa Bluder returns one of the league's top backcourts in Cara Consuegra and Lindsey Meder Consuegra had the second triple double by a Big Ten player last season with 17 points 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Indiana Alison Curtin of Illinois has blossomed into one of the league's best players and will help ease the loss of Blauser and Catchings Wisconsin the WNIT champion has outstanding frontcourt strength with LaTonya Sims Jessie Stomski and Nina Smith who's healthy again after missing half the sea son because of a broken foot WHAT'S NEW: Bluder is one of three new coaches in the league She replaced Angie Lee after a successful stint at Drake Michigan State lured Joanne McCallie from Maine to replace Langeland and Kathi Bennett left Evansville to replace Jim Izard at Indiana Bennett's father Dick is com ing off a inal our appearance with the Wisconsin men Purdue supplementedits returning players with a recruiting class headed by Shereka Wright cho sen the national high school player of the year by several organizations After a stint in Indianapolis the Big Ten tour nament will be played in Grand Rapids Mich next March '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Purdue Penn State Illinois Wisconsin and Michigan WNIT Indiana and Michigan State BIG 12 '00 CHAMPION: Iowa State Oklahoma and Texas Tech (regular season) Iowa State (tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Iowa State Oklahoma Texas Tech Kansas Nebraska and Texas WNIT Missouri WHO'S GONE: Iowa State lost sharp shooting guard Stacy rese and athletic forward Desiree rancis who led the Cyclones deep into the NCAA tourna ment the last two years Oklahoma must do without Phylesha Whaley the league's player of the year Nebraska lost four starters including all confer ence guard Nicole Kubik and Lynn Pride who moved on to the WNBA after scoring 1774 points in four sea sons as Kansas Baylor lost its wise cracking coach Sonja Hogg WHO'S BACK: Stacey Dales who averaged 118 points for Canada in the Sydney Olympics is one of four starters back at Oklahoma which is expected to make a run at the conference title The nation's most accurate shooter Angie Welle is back at Iowa State The 6 foot 4 center shot 647 percent as a sopho more Colorado hoping for a return to the prominence it enjoyed in the final years of the Big Eight returns five starters Linda Lappe one of the league's most versatile players returns from a knee injury WHAT'S NEW: Kim Mulkey Robertson had been pegged as Leon Barmore's successor at Louisiana lech instead she left her assistant's job there to become the coach at Baylor Texas Tech will rely on junior college transfer Candi White part of an outstanding recruiting class at point guard olks at Oklahoma State are excited about the renovation of Gallagher lba Arena but the work isn't quite finished The Cowgirls must play their first three home games in other cities The league has launched a St George 634 9334 865 5855 lose Louisiana Tech next year has two six team divisions Western Kentucky perennial runner up to Louisiana Tech is in the East Division with the Lady Techsters All 12 teams advance to the conference tournament in Mobile Ala Louisiana Tech will be without inside player Catrina rierson who came on strong as a freshman She's sidelined with a torn ACL POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Louisiana Tech and Denver WNIT Western Kentucky and lorida International WESTERN ATHLETIC '00 CHAMPION: SMU (regular sea son) Rice (tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA SMU and Rice WNIT Hawaii WHO'S GONE: Rice lost 66 percent of its offense from a 22 10 team that upset fourth seeded Cai Santa Barbara in the first round of NCAA play The key loss was all conference guard Marla Brumfield SMU also had a big loss Karlin Kennedy has moved on after sharing the league's player of the year award with Hawaii's Raylene Howard who also graduated Tulsa showed such vast improvement that Kathy McConnell Miller was voted coach of the year but she'll have to make do this season without all conference selec tions Lila Osceola and Kasie Pittman WHO'S BACK: With Kennedy gone SMU will turn to senior guard dra Rucker who ranked among the league's top four in scoring assists steals and free throw percentage Two time all conference pick Kylie Galloway one of best 3 point shooters returns at Hawaii Twin guards Amy and Jill Sutton are back at TCU which was hurt when Amy broke her leg after 18 games resno State is counting on the return of three starters including sophomore Lindsay Logan to improve on its 11 18 record Logan led the league in assists as a freshman WHAT'S NEW: The league has grown to nine teams with the addition of Nevada which was 19 10 last season and won the West Division in the Big West The conference will expand again next season when Louisiana Tech and Boise State join Rice didn't let Brumfield get far Coach Cristy McKinney hired her as an assistant The conference tournament will be played in Tulsa in conjunction with the tournament All nine teams will take part with play in games between the eighth and ninth seeds scheduled for the first day After a 3 24 season San Jose State coach Janice Richard over hauled her team and brought in 14 newcomers To make room she revoked the scholarships of five play ers including starter Juliana Smith '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA SMU and Hawaii WNIT TCU New Mexico and UNLV PAC 10 '00 CHAMPION: Oregon (regular sea son) No tournament '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Oregon Arizona Stanford and UCLA WNIT Southern Cal and Arizona State WHO'S GONE: UCLA a disappointing 18 1 1 last season after starting out with inal our hopes must regroup after losing two of its stalwarts Maylana Martin and Janae Hubbard Arizona 333 East Tabernacle 1827 WSunset Blvd 1095 Red Cliffs Dr 85 North 200 West 444 South Main 2 East Center Street NCUA We will waive up to $12500 of your Insurance Deductible with every Windshield you will get 12 REE Dinners Call for Details 0 Af NATIONWIDE Atimcua Cedar Gty The top Division I conferences in women's basketball: ATLANTIC COAST '00 CHAMPION: Virginia (regular sea son) Duke (tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Virginia Duke North Carolina Clemson and North Carolina State WNIT Georgia Tech and Maryland WHO'S GONE: North Carolina is hop ing all the turmoil involving Nikki Teasley is past Teasley who took a leave of absence for seven games last season is sitting out all this season because of what the university calls a stress related illness Another key play er for the Tar Heels Jackie Higgins left a year early to pursue a pro career in Europe Duke appears headed for a big season But the Blue Devils must over come the loss of rebounding leaders Peppi Browne and Lauren Rice The graduation of 6 6 Summer Erb left North Carolina State with a void in the middle WHO'S BACK: Even without Teasley North Carolina has two of the league's most talented players in LaQuanda Barksdale and Juana Brown Virginia looks loaded and will push Duke with players like Svetlana Volnaya Telisha Quarles and Schuye LaRue LaRue was named the league's rookie of the year last season Georgia Tech should be more explosive with point guard Niesha Butler back from a knee injury The Yellow Jackets overachieved without Butler last season going 17 14 and reaching the third round of the WNIT With shot blocking specialist Erin Batth in the middle Clemson's defense will be tough to penetrate WHAT'S NEW: Duke's recruiting class ranked among the best in the country includes 5 11 Alana Beard the league's preseason rookie of the year Coach Gail Goestenkors signed players of the year from four different states The best news out of Virginia is that coach Debbie Ryan is back on the bench after having a malignant tumor removed from a pancreatic duct Ryan stayed home during the September recruiting period but was running the team when practice Started last month Maryland which went from six wins in 1998 99 to 16 last season lost starting point guard Vicki Brick to a torn ACL Clemson coach Jim Davis is four wins short of 300 In 13 seasons at Clemson the Tigers have never had a losing record in the ACC '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Duke Virginia North Carolina State Clemson and North Carolina WNIT Georgia Tech ATLANTIC 10 '00 CHAMPION: St Joseph's and George Washington (regular season) Xavier (tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Xavier St Joseph's and George Washington WNIT Virginia Tech and Dayton WHO'S GONE: Virginia Tech left the league for the Big East and took a cou pie or tne a iu better players fere Williams and Amy Wetzel Leading scorer Christi Hester moved on after helping Dayton reach postseason play for the first time in 16 years St Joseph's lost a leader in Jana Lichnerova the league's player of the year George Washington needs help in the backcourt after the graduation of gifYd Elisa'Aguilar and Mario Egleston 3 WHO'S BACK: League scoring cham pion Susan Moran returns at St Joseph's Moran is on pace to reach 1000 points faster than all but two play ers in school history Xavier returns all five starters four of whom ranked among the league's top 20 scorers But one sophomore Amy Waugh is out indefinitely after rupturing an Achilles tendon Kathy Coyner third in the league in assists last season is back at UMass as the team's only senior La Salle with all five starters back hopes to regain its winning touch after a 12 17 It was coach John Miller's first los ing season in 14 years at the school WHAT'S NEW: Dawn Staley a Philadelphia icon who helped the United States win Olympic gold medals in Sydney and Atlanta is the new coach at Temple ordham (Jim Lewis) and St Bonaventure (Jim Crowley) also have new coaches Lewis is a former coach of the WNBA's Washington Mystics and George Mason Richmond will join the A 10 next season bringing the mem bership back to 12 or this season only the league has abandoned its two divi sion format for an 11 team division George Washington begins the season with a 20 game winning streak at home the eighth longest in the nation GW's Kristeena Alexander probably won't repeat as the league's "Sixth Player of the Year" She is likely to start this season '01 POSTSEASON PROSPECTS: NCAA Xavier St Joseph's and George Washington WNIT La Salle and Massachusetts BIG EAST '00 CHAMPION: Connecticut (regular season and tournament) '00 TOURNAMENT TEAMS: NCAA Connecticut Rutgers Notre Dame and Boston College WNIT Georgetown Pittsburgh and Villanova WHO'S GONE: After its best season to date under coach Cathy Inglese 26 9 Boston College must replace its top scorers Cal Bouchard and Alissa Murphy Bouchard played for Canada in the Sydney Olympics Rutgers needs a go to scorer now that Shawnetta Stewart has moved on The Scarlet Knights will once again rely on defense Notre Dame which beat every Big East Classic Checking ree checking! No Minimum Balance! Overdraft Protection VISA Check Card 'OAC) Prime Checking or Seniors! ree Checks No Service Balance VISA Check Card (OAC) ree Traveler's Checks ree Official Checks Interest Paid Balance Over $500 Earn 176 APY Prestige Checking Interest bearing checking! Unlimited Check Writing VISA Check Card (OAC) ree Traveler's Checks ree Official Checks Interest Paid Balance Over $1000 Earn 227 APY ALL CHECKING ACCOUNTS INCLUDE: Monthly Statements Duplicate Checks Check Images on ile ree ATM ree Home Banking SOUTHERN UTAH EDERAL CREDIT UNION a jfl Iw ill i I PjMOrV I 10 JST 1 New Higher la I Yields! 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