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Battling the St. Louis blues

Men head to SLU for tough road game; return Sunday for St. Joe’s

Doug Tifft
Sports Editor

“Be ready.”

Those two words have been head coach Sean Miller’s rallying cry before every big game this season.

He uttered them when preparing for Indiana, Tennessee and Dayton.

He repeated the phrase again on Tuesday, as Xavier prepares for Thursday’s road trip to St. Louis.

The Billikens currently sit at 3-4 in Atlantic 10 conference play, locked in a five way tie for seventh place in the conference.

The Musketeers have had trouble in the past at St. Louis, mainly due to their cavernous 20,000 seat Scottrade Center where they have struggled shooting the ball, resulting in two straight losses there.

“Each of the last two years we have not played our best at St. Louis,” Miller said. “Scheduling in the past has been bizarre. Last year we played on Thursday in New York City and then Saturday at St. Louis and that did not help our performance.”

Even without travel obstacles, Xavier will be faced with a tough test in the Billikens.

Under new head coach Rick Majerus, St. Louis is able to slow a game down and make it a defensive battle.

Xavier will rely heavily on the senior backcourt of Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell to not only control style of play, but to shut down St. Louis’s standout backcourt pair of Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell.

Lavender and Burrell will attempt to impose an up tempo style of game that allows every Xavier player to get involved.

That style was on display on Saturday night as six Xavier players reached double figures in a 75-62 victory over La Salle.

The balance that the Muskies possess allowed them to compensate for an off night from second leading scorer B. J. Raymond, who finished with three points on 1 of 9 shooting.

“It just shows you how deep we are. We have a lot of different weapons,” senior forward Josh Duncan said.

Xavier will need that balance to play a crucial role again this Sunday as St. Joseph’s comes to Cintas Center.

The teams are currently tied for first place in the Atlantic 10.

The Hawks also pose a frontcourt threat.

St. Joe’s is led by 6’10 senior wingman Pat Calathes, 6’9 junior forward Ahmed Nivens and 6’8 senior forward Rob Ferguson.

Xavier has not seen a team led by their frontcourt, as opposed to their backcourt, in over a month, since they took on Kansas State at U. S. Bank Arena on Dec. 31.

Although the Xavier frontcourt of Jason Love, Derrick Brown and Duncan effectively shut down the young Kansas St. post players, including All-American Michael Beasley, they may face a tougher test against the experience of the Hawks post players.

St. Joseph’s also will enter the game with some confidence carrying over after a 77-55 blowout win over Villanova on Monday night.

Despite their impressive résumé, the Hawks will still be looking for a defining victory to move themselves off of “the bubble” and solidify an NCAA tournament spot.

A road victory over nationally ranked and presumptive tournament team Xavier would serve to fit that description well.

This week may solidify Xavier’s place in the A-10, as well as nationally, and they seem to be ready for the challenge.

Women strong in A-10 play

Xavier goes 2-0 on week to improve to remain first in conference

Doug Tifft
Sports Editor

Lead by sophomore Amber Harris and freshman Ta’Shia Phillips, Xavier’s women outshined the St. Louis Billikens in their game on Wednesday, winning by 17 points with a score of 69-52.

In addition to scoring 20 points for the 12th time, Harris also had three assists, securing her reputation as one of Xavier’s most valuable players.
Phillips played an equally impressive game, making 11 of 13 shots and blocking more shots than ever before.

Junior forward Tudy Reed also greatly contributed to Xavier’s victory against SLU with three assists, six points and three blocks.

The game was tied at the half, but the Xavier Musketeers played strong defense, preventing the Billikens from scoring for the first seven minutes of the second half. Despite the efforts of Katie Paganelli, who scored 17 points for the Billikens, Saint Louis was unable to recover from such a weak start and the Musketeers continued to increase their lead.

After their huge win against the Billikens, Xavier’s record improved to 15-6.

The Musketeers continued on their winning streak as they beat Rhode Island 80-63, raising their record to 16-6 and 6-1 in the Atlantic 10 conference.

Once again Harris was the high-scorer, leading the pack with 20 points and achieving her fourth straight double-double after snatching 10 rebounds.
April Phillips also had an incredible game, shooting 6 of 6 from the field for a career-high of 16 points.

Center Ta’Shia Phillips proved herself yet again; she scored 15 points and was just one rebound short of a double-double.

On Monday Phillips was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the ninth time this season.

Sophomore forward Maureen Hester also greatly contributed to Xavier’s win by scoring seven points, grabbing five rebounds and making four assists.

Jerri Taylor, a junior guard, was 6 of 7 from the field and accounted for 14 of Xavier’s 80 points.

Although URI dominated early in the second half, out-shooting the Musketeers 18-7 and changing their halftime lead of 40-26 to 47-38, Xavier sprung back into action and took the lead yet again, due in part to 14 turnovers that allowed for an additional 21 points.

The Xavier women will be back in action this Saturday as they host Temple.

The teams are currently in a three way tie along with No. 14 George Washington for first place in the Atlantic 10 conference.

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David (Tyree) slays Goliath: the Giants win the Super Bowl

Paul Moeller
Assistant Sports Editor

We don’t need to discuss who was favored to win this game of all games, but we will anyway.

The New England Patriots entered the Super Bowl on Sunday as the first team in the history of the league to have 18 victories and no losses.

They were in pursuit of an undefeated season of professional football, which was last accomplished by the Miami Dolphins in 1972.

The Patriots were led into battle with the most powerful and by far most productive offense in recent memory.

Three-time Super Bowl Champion and two-time MVP Tom Brady threw for a record 50 touchdowns this season, 23 of which were hauled in by veteran wideout Randy Moss.

A wealth of weapons compliment the Patriot attack, such as running backs Lawrence Maroney and Kevin Faulk, and wide receivers Wes Welker and Dante Stallworth.

The New England defense is also anchored by veterans, including Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, and Junior Seau.

For Seau, it was a personal mission to avenge his 1995 Super Bowl defeat 13 years ago at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

So as the Patriots stood strong in the role of Goliath, ironically, a team named the Giants stood in their path.

The “G-Men” took on the duties of young David, entering University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday night for their fourth and final postseason contest, none of which were played in New York.

The Giants, in fact, were on a 10-game road winning streak.

But rather than a slingshot, they were armed with a quarterback whose last name carries much more clout than his first.

Eli Manning, younger brother to last year’s Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning, was out to match his brother’s big game accolades.

But he couldn’t do it alone. Defensive Ends Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck knew that their goal was to hurry and hit Tom Brady as much as possible.

Conversely, wideouts Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, and quite surprisingly, David Tyree had to make some big catches.

The acclaimed hero of the NFC Championship, kicker Lawrence Tynes, put the underdogs on the board first after a 16-play, 63 yard opening drive that ate ten of the game’s first 15 minutes.

Goliath, in the New England form of Tom Brady, responded by executing a 12-play, 56 yard drive that was capped off by a 1 yard Lawrence Maroney touchdown run.

The Patriots led 7-3 at the half.

After Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at halftime, a Super Bowl record 97.5 million TV viewers witnessed a scoreless third quarter, furthering their anticipation of somewhat partaking in historical perfection.

Early in the fourth quarter, young David quite literally delivered his first solid strike.

And by David, I am specifically referring to David Tyree, who nabbed a 5 yard pass from Eli Manning in the middle of the end zone to complete an 80-yard drive.

The extra point from Tynes put the New York football Giants up 10-7 with a little over 11 minutes remaining.

But the powerful and relentless New York defense could not suppress the league’s best offense any longer. After spending more time on the ground than any game this season, the steely MVP quarterback manufactured an 80-yard drive of his own, connecting with Randy Moss to put Goliath up 13-10 with 2:42 left.

Cue Eli Manning, who stepped on the field with one intention: to score a touchdown.

And just as it appeared Goliath would end the dream, David struck again, this time a fatal blow, as Mr. Tyree reeled in the most improbable 32-yard reception of his career.

Pinning the pigskin to his helmet, Tyree moved the chains after Eli Manning eluded what should have been a back-breaking sack to bring up 4th down.

With just 39 seconds remaining on the clock, Manning lobbed a perfect 13-yard touchdown pass to wideout Plaxico Burress, effectively knocking Goliath to the turf, stealing victory (and certain immortality) from the jaws of perfection.

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 Sports Briefs

Doug Tifft  
Sports Editor

Track teams set school records

The Xavier Indoor Track teams turned in strong performances in the Indiana Relays, held Saturday on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington.

The men’s squad of Clinton Womack, Sam Lewis, Ben Nathan and Luke Beuerlein combined for a school record time of 7:51.44 in the 4x800 relay.

The time was good enough for a respectable fifth place showing in the event for the Musketeers.

The women’s team of Becky Clark, Kate Phillips, Caitlin Thomas and Caitlin Shagena established an indoor record in their 4x800 with a time of 10:10.31.

Three runners on the men’s squad ran personal-bests in the 5,000-meter run: Ben Milroy finishing in 14:58.25, Drew Kaiser in 15:28.57 and Joe Ryan in 16:22.82.

The teams now prepare for the Atlantic 10 Indoor Meet in Kingston, R. I. on Feb. 16.

Women’s tennis has perfect week

The Xavier women’s tennis team went 2-0 on the road this week, with victories over Eastern Michigan and Toledo. Eastern Michigan, ranked No. 74 nationally coming in to the match, came up short 4-3 against a Musketeer squad that swept the three doubles matches and stole three of the six singles matches.Tifanie Treece, Jill Druco and Jeanette Feider all picked up two wins in the match.

Druco repeated the feat a day later as she again teamed with Annie Diedalis for a doubles win, and picked up another singles victory. Druco was later named the A-10 Player of the Week for carrying a perfect record on the weekend. Fieder, Kara Courtney and Kaitlyn Zinn also notched singles victories for the Muskies in the win.