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Sports | 1000

SPORTS

Team goes 1-1 over holiday break

Dan Woike
November 26, 2001

After toppling Monmouth on Wednesday night, the Spartan women’s basketball team fell Saturday to host Florida International in the championship game of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic.FIU upended the Spartans 69-56. Poor shooting in the first half slowed the Spartans (4-1) and resulted in a Golden Panthers (4-1) lead as big as 20 early on.The Spartans went to the locker room trailing 38-20.But MSU improved on its 31 percent first-half field-goal percentage to shoot 50 percent in the second half.MSU cut the FIU lead to 13 on a three-point basket by junior guard Vnemina Reese, but with the basket coming with only two minutes remaining, the Golden Panthers’ lead was safe.Reese, who had 20 points and five rebounds, represented the Spartans on the FIU Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament team.On Wednesday, the Spartans got off to another slow start against Monmouth (2-2) and trailed for the game’s first eight and a half minutes.But after sophomore forward Julie Pagel knotted the score on two free throws, the Spartans grabbed their first lead of the night on a hoop from junior forward Syreeta Bromfield.Another Bromfield basket increased the Spartan lead to four at 16-12.

FOOTBALL

Spartans crumble in third quarter

Justin A. Rice
November 26, 2001

The MSU football team scored on every possession in the first half, except its last when sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker took a knee.Then it put up a doughnut in the third quarter.Even though Penn State allowed the most points in a half Saturday since MSU scored 35 in the second half in 1997, MSU turned complacent in the third quarter, sophomore linebacker Mike Labinjo said.“We came out in the third quarter and a different team showed up,” Labinjo said.

SPORTS

Reception set for Van Pelt

Paul Day
November 21, 2001

Former MSU two-time All-American defensive back Brad Van Pelt will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the National Football Foundation’s 44th annual banquet in New York City next month. Van Pelt was on campus Monday to talk about his latest honor. “Besides (former MSU head coach) Duffy Daugherty sliding that piece of paper in front of me and the New York Giants giving me the phone call, this has got to be the most exciting moment for me in my sports career,” the Owosso native said. A reception honoring the 1973 second-round NFL draft pick will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

ICE HOCKEY

College Hockey Showcase pits MSU, U-M against tough WCHA teams

James Jahnke
November 21, 2001

Thanksgiving weekend means one thing to most sports fans - football and lots of it. But for college hockey fans, the holiday signifies the return of the College Hockey Showcase, when CCHA powers MSU and Michigan duke it out with Western Collegiate Hockey Association forces Minnesota and Wisconsin. This year, it’s the WCHA teams’ turn to come to Michigan as No.

SPORTS

Cross country teams take 11th, 18th at NCAAs

Paul Day
November 20, 2001

The MSU men’s and women’s cross country teams placed 18th and 11th, respectively, at the 2001 National Championships in Greenville, S.C., on Monday. MSU freshman Chris Toloff paced the Spartan harriers, placing 54th with a time of 30:33 in the 10K race.

ICE HOCKEY

Miller ignores Hobey talk, focuses on team play

James Jahnke
November 20, 2001

Granted, it’s still early in the season, but Ryan Miller said the H-word hasn’t come up too much so far. Last season, the goaltender stormed through the regular season and set numerous team, conference and national records en route to winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s outstanding player. Now a junior, Miller is subject to the question that nags every underclassman who wins a major award... Can he do it again? “Some people were asking me before the season, before they saw what kind of team I have to play with,” Miller said last week.

VOLLEYBALL

Morley racks in awards

Dan Woike
November 20, 2001

The wins keep on coming for the MSU volleyball team. But this time, it’s personal. Junior middle blocker Angela Morley was named the National Volleyball Player of the Week on Monday for her 31 kills and .558 hitting percentage in MSU’s weekend upsets of No 9.

FOOTBALL

Dowdell humbled in debut

Eric Lacy
November 19, 2001

Some players try to control their nerves by puking or taking naps before games. But all Damon Dowdell needed to shake his jitters in his first collegiate start was a love tap from Purdue defensive end Akin Ayodele.

BASKETBALL

Team drags to 72-62 OT victory

Paul Day
November 19, 2001

TV cameras weren’t around to witness this one.And that was probably a good thing - the MSU men’s basketball team didn’t feed the net until the 15:54 mark of the first half.

SPORTS

One win away from destiny

Do players and coaches realize how much a bowl game can mean to a fan? I’m not sure. But I know, (dramatic pause) I owe my life to one. Let me explain. In 1965 the MSU football team was phenomenal.

ICE HOCKEY

Miller reigns over RedHawks

James Jahnke
November 19, 2001

Apparently new players and a fresh season don’t make much difference - at least not for MSU and Miami (Ohio).The fourth-ranked Spartans blanked Miami 3-0 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday, extending their defensive dominance over the RedHawks (6-5-1 overall, 4-3-1 CCHA) to four straight games.MSU also shut out Miami twice last January - 1-0 and 5-0 - and the RedHawks haven’t scored against the Spartans in 292:07 minutes of hockey, dating to the first period of a 5-1 MSU win on March 11, 2000.All five games in the streak have been played at Munn Ice Arena.“I’m always surprised we get a shutout,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.

VOLLEYBALL

Stunning upsets elate Spartans

Dan Woike
November 19, 2001

It’s the trip no volleyball team wants to make - traveling to No. 9 Ohio State and No. 13 Penn State on consecutive nights. Only three teams have ever survived the weekend with two wins.

SPORTS

Spartans bury Bruins in home tournament

Aaron Johnson
November 19, 2001

The statistics didn’t look like those of a winning team.But with some unseemly numbers, the MSU women’s basketball teams beat Buffalo 50-42 and UCLA 67-63 to take first in the season-opening Spartan Chevrolet Classic on Friday and Saturday at Breslin Center.The team began the tournament at 8 p.m.