Sports
UConn shocks No. 1 Duke
Richard Hamilton
scores 27 as Huskies
capture NCAA title
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Connecticut
spoiled the Duke Invitational.
The Huskies beat top-ranked Duke, the team
no one thought could be beaten in this NCAA
tournament, for its first national championship in
its first Final Four appearance.
Monday night’s 77-74 thriller ended Duke’s
32-game winning streak, kept the Blue Devils
from an NCAA record for wins in a season, and
prevented them from ending the ’90s with a third
national championship.
Richard Hamilton led third-ranked
Connecticut (34-2) with 27 points, but it was
some tremendous team defense and a big shot
and free throws by Khalid El-Amin that won it
all.
Trajan Langdon led Duke (37-2) with 25
points, but Duke’s last two possessions ended
with him making turnovers. And so the Blue
Devils fell short of what everyone had expected -
another title.
These were the only two teams to hold the No.
1 ranking this season and they played a final
game worthy of the two best.
“We lost to a great basketball team. We were
beaten tonight, we didn’t lose,” Duke Coach
Mike Krzyzewski said.
“We picked it up in the second half and we
had some opportunities, but they put the pressure
on us and were tough to defend,” he said. “We got
some good looks and had a chance to win, but
they made the play and we didn’t make the play in
the last minute.”
Connecticut was able to keep the game at a
pace it liked even though most everyone thought
the Huskies should try to slow the tempo. The
quick pace made for what seemed like constant
lead changes, the last coming with 3:50 to play
when Hamilton’s free throws gave the Huskies a
70-68 lead.
He hit a 3-pointer 21 seconds later for a five
point lead and suddenly Duke was playing a role
it had very little experience at this season - the
chaser.
“We’re happy as heck, and we truly believed
we could beat them,” UConn Coach Jim Calhoun
said. “I said before the game that we hadn’t
played our best yet. If you count character, I think
tonight we did.”
William Avery’s free throws with 54 seconds
left got the Blue Devils within 75-74. El-Amin,
whose driving basket had given Connecticut the
75-72 lead, missed on a drive with 24 seconds left
and Duke had life.
The crowd of 41,340 at Tropicana Field, the
court where Duke’s season ended a year ago, was
roaring as the Blue Devils went for the final shot
without calling a timeout.
Langdon, the fifth-year senior who made the
Final Four in his last chance, tried to get by Ricky
Moore, one of the game’s best defenders.
Langdon spun but Moore was there. Langdon
took an extra step and was called for traveling
with 5.4 seconds to go.
El-Amin made two free throws with 5.2 sec
onds left to get the lead back to 3, and Langdon’s
last chance at tying the game ended when he fell
near the 3-point line and lost control of the ball.
With that, Connecticut charged the court and
had the title everyone thought Duke would claim.
NU readies for rival Creighton
■ Husker softball team
hopes for victory tonight,
despite a game schedule
that keeps it moving.
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
Coming off weekend splits
against Texas and Texas A&M, the
Nebraska softball team (16-11)
hits the road again for the 27th time
in 28 games to face Creighton (13
19), at Dill Field in Omaha tonight.
NU Coach Rhonda Revelle
admits she would have liked the
team to come back from Texas
with a 3-1 Big 12 record, but real
izes the team can’t dwell on last
weekend with the Bluejays waiting
in the wings.
“NU vs. CU is just one of those
rivalries,” Revelle said. “Creighton
is going to fire on all cylinders for
us. They are a very reputable team,
and their record isn’t indicative of
their abilities.”
The teams are familiar with
one another, by virtue of facing
each other twice this season.
The most recent game Mar. 23
went to the wire as NU’s Jaime
Fuente singled in the winning run
in the bottom of the seventh for the
6-5 Cornhusker victory. NU also
won the first game 4-1, at the NIST
Tournament in California.
Sophomore Lori Tschannen
will throw for the Huskers. She has
compiled a 2-3 record in eight
appearances and an earned-run
average of 1.54.
In her last start at Texas,
Tschannen received the loss as her
teammates recorded just as many
errors (four) as they did hits.
The Huskers’ fielding percent
age of .923, their lowest since the
1994 season, has caused Revelle
some concern.
“Errors make the difference,”
Revelle said. “The errors we are
making are easily correctable. We
just need to take better care of the
ball.”
Creighton will be led offen
sively by Jamie McMurtry and
Heidi Geier, who pace the squad
with .392 and .383 averages
respectively.
Nebraska will counter with
junior Jennifer Lizama, who leads
the squad in batting average (.392),
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
JENNY VOSS isn’t scheduled to
start against Creighton; howev
er, she does lead the team in
victories and may see action in
relief.
home runs (6), runs scored (28)
and hits (31).
Coming into the game, the
Cornhuskers have played four
times in the past three days and
hadn’t received their customary
day off Monday following a road
trip, while the Bluejays have been
off since the last meeting between
the teams. The lack of rest is some
thing Nebraska has tried to prepare
for.
“We had a serious talk about
what tomorrow means,” Revelle
said. “We didn’t take our typical
Monday off after the weekend. It
will be important for us to get right
back up.”
After playing 17 games in 17
days, the weary Cornhuskers will
have a week off before a rematch
with the Bluejays on April 7 in
Lincoln.
«
Creighton is going to fire on
all cylinders for us.”
Rhonda Revelle
softball coach
jpi i i 11 ^ l i fe pfeil
NU center
motivates
teammates
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
At 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, Dominic Raiola
is not the prototype for a cheerleader.
But the sophomore center from Honolulu
was that and more for the Nebraska football
team, teammate Russ Hochstein said.
Before the Kansas State game, Nov. 14,
1998, arguably Raiola’s biggest game as a
Comhusker, he veered off the path his NU
teammates were taking to get from the locker
room to the field and ran right in front of the
Wildcat student section. Raiola was booed
and had things thrown at him, but he loved
every minute of it.
“They were some ruthless fans,” Raiola
said, “but it was pretty fun.”
Hochstein said: “He loves (the hostile
environment). He feeds off the crowds’ emo
tion and plays with it inside himself. He likes
getting people fired up. He’s kind of a cheer
leader.”
Being the spiritual leader and the snap
per, Raiola is an important cog in the Big Red
wheel. The way Raiola develops this spring
could determine the success the offensive
line has in the fall.
Junior guard Billy Diekmann said Raiola
had already stepped up and was ready to be a
leader of the group.
“He’s very enthusiastic,” Diekmann said.
“He knows what it takes to play. He’s as seri
ous as you possibly can be about football.
That’s probably why he has had the success"
he’s had.”
As a freshman, Raiola saw action in all
the games as a special teams player and at
two offensive line positions. This year he will
be the starter at center and play on special
teams as well.
Raiola’s goal as a starter is to return the
offensive line to greatness.
“We’re trying to get back to where we
were a few years ago,” Raiola said. “We have
an attitude at Nebraska where we’re sup
posed to dominate up front. I don’t think we
had that last year.”
Being on four state championship teams
at St. Louis High School in Honolulu and on
the roster for the 1997 National
Championship, Raiola knows how to win. He
felt he had a blueprint for success he hoped
others would follow.
“You have to have the intensity and a win
ning attitude,” Raiola said. “If you don’t want
to get it done, you aren’t going to get it done.
You got to want it out there.
“Hopefully that intensity will rub off on
others, and we can be one intense offensive
line. You have to have a little nastiness, too.
Football is not a nice sport. It’s pretty violent.
You have to be up for the challenge.”
Offensive Line Coach Milt Tenopir said
Raiola’s attitude made him special.
“Dom is the kind of guy you look for,”
Tenopir said. “He has the right attitude and
passion tor the game.
In Raiola’s first year at NU, which he red
shirted, he watched as the offensive line man
handled everyone it came across.
Then came the 1998 campaign, Raiola’s
first season, and the disappointing 9-4 sea
son. The offensive line was criticized for
being soft. Raiola didn’t take losing well.
After several of the losses, he was alone on
the back of the bench with a towel over his
head.
He doesn’t want to relive those bad feel
ings again this year.
“I hate losing,” Raiola said. “I like to win.
That’s a reason I came here. I won a lot in
high school. Obviously Nebraska wins a lot.”
