The Wichitan - Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls Texas

MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY | March, 02, 2005

SPORTS

Juggling Act: Senior forward Adrian Fincher Balances nursing, basketball
Trey Reed | Staff Reporter

The team bus rolls quietly down the dark and winding road, returning from yet another basketball game hundreds of miles from the Midwestern State campus.
A tiny light beam pierces through the blackness, spotlighting a nursing manual. Senior Adrian Fincher traces the text with her eyes, committing it to memory.
It’s dedication to class work that has put Fincher on the doorstep to graduating with her Bachelor of Science in nursing on time, despite the incessant demands of collegiate athletics.
“You can ask my teammates, I’m on the bus keeping everyone awake with my light on,” she said.
Fincher is not the run-of-the-mill college athlete. Sure, she has a full ride, but she is the first to tell you that nothing comes easy as she tries to keep pace with other nursing students while enduring a 27-game schedule.
“It’s all about managing your time well. You have to go to school, then come home from practice, then study and then go to bed, then get up in the morning and do it all over again,” she said. “It’s challenging, and the classes aren’t conventional.”
A combination of lecture classes and trips to various regional hospitals do not always mesh with a demanding 20-hour basketball practice schedule.
It was never easy, but Fincher was determined to balance the two demanding schedules.
“We’re not traditional students. We work 12-hour days sometimes, and, other than class time, you’ve got 125 clinical hours to fill,” Fincher explained.
“Fitting that in with basketball is just crazy sometimes. I’ve missed a couple of practices, but my teachers and coaches are really great about being fair. It’s been tough.”
The 5-11 forward displays the rare ability to remain loyal to two different facets of her college life. She was the first player to play four years under Lady Indian head coach Shannon Burks, but she always kept the goal of completing her education in its proper place.
“School was No. 1 for me, and, luckily, basketball’s been right up there with it. I came in planning to finish school. That was my goal and this (basketball) was a great route to do that,” she said. “I haven’t had to sacrifice much from either one of them to be able to finish.”
But don’t think Fincher didn’t make sacrifices.
After tasting the success of advancing to the NCAA Division II tournament her freshman year, she went home and didn’t want to come back.
She missed her family, but, more importantly, she missed her fiancé, Brett.
“I thought about quitting,” Fincher admits. “He was the one that was saying that I couldn’t quit.
“He’s very selfless. He could have easily said, ‘yeah, just come back. I’d rather have you here.’”
The loss of a close-knit senior corps of players from her freshman year also fed the uncertainty.
“They took me in and taught me how to play. I grew more that year than I did in the other three years in basketball and in life. Without knowing anybody, they made me feel a part of the clan. We had a lot of fun, but we worked hard. We were all dedicated to school and work.”
She had a tough decision to make. She looked to Brett, and he took all the pressure away. Brett, who had been a pitcher on his high school baseball team, had a good idea of what it might be like to play at the next level.
“It was a make-or-break situation for our relationship,” she said. “He never really got offers or anything, so he knew how important it was and what an awesome opportunity it would be.
“It was hard, but we both knew that it was probably the best thing for me to be able to get through school.”
The distance has helped the couple grow closer. They plan to tie the knot in August.
“It’s worked out great for us because I think I would have been totally distracted if he was here,” Fincher said.
With loving support and a little light, Fincher put her role as student above her role as athlete.
“I think I’m a student-athlete in that order,” she said. “You just have to dedicate yourself to it. I didn’t count on athletics to just carry me through. I really concentrated on school. There was no way that I could have gotten through nursing school if I wasn’t working hard at it.”

Indians win Playoff Thriller, 72-69
Jannifer Tavlian | Staff Editor

To avenge a previous loss during the regular season is a testament of strength.
To avenge a loss during the playoffs is an act of pride, especially on the home court.
The Indians had that power Tuesday night as they knocked off Southwestern Oklahoma 72-69 in D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
Southeastern Oklahoma took an early lead on a 3-point basket by Jamaal Shell. The two teams went back and forth for nearly three minutes before the Bulldogs started to pull away.
They were on a 13-5 run when the Indians’ LaKeith Grant shot a pull-up jumper when he checked into the game. Leonard Pralour muscled his way up for a layup and Lone Star Conference Player of the Week Jose Nava went one-of-two on each of his two trips to the line, both coming within thirty seconds.
Chad Rickett added life to a quiet home crowd with a spin move to the basket that earned him the bucket and a trip to the free throw line.
The Bulldogs led 37-26 at the half.
“Coach (Jeff Ray) told us to play hard and to pick up intensity for the home crowd,” Rickett said.
Jay January, who had scored six points in the first half, came out firing on all cylinders with a long 3-pointer.
“We’re a second half team,” January said. “We had to keep our heads up and keep fighting.”
Justin James proved that Rickett wasn’t the only one capable of a spin move when he pirouetted his way to the basket and drew a foul to bring the Indians within seven points.
The Indians tied the game for the first time with 9:22 left in the second half and took the lead less than a minute later.
MSU was at risk of having the game tied when Shell was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Luckily for the Indians, Shell missed all three free throws.

'Boys need better QB Solution
David Roach | Staff Reporter

I am going to state right off the bat that I am NOT a Dallas Cowboys fan, so anyone reading this column should feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt – just this once anyway.
However, most of my family members, including my wife sadly to say, are fans of “America’s Team,” and for the past few years I’ve tried to follow “Big D” from an objective standpoint.
I recently read about owner Jerry Jones and head coach Bill Parcels’ exploits in the Times Record News, and once again I am bewildered with their decision-making.
I think it’s safe to say the Cowboys have virtually no blocking up front, and what does Parcels and Jones do? They get another pocket quarterback – Drew Bledsoe.
What are they thinking?
Maybe they’re thinking Bledsoe can throw better passes than Vinny Testaverte did last season, and back-up Drew Henson is not ready to start. Well, I would certainly agree with that.
However, with the offensive line the Cowboys have, Bledsoe may not get many accurate passes off, and he’s not going to run much for you out of the pocket. It looks to me like the ‘Boys have put themselves in the same position as last year.
Why not just try to trade Testaverte and Eddie George to get a mobile QB? We all know rookie standout Julius Jones will be the starting running back next season, and there may have been a team more than willing to take George in return for a decent quarterback who can run. That way, Dallas would have a quarterback who would scramble out of the pocket when it breaks down until the team can build up a good offensive line again through the draft or whatever. Henson would be ready to start by that time as well.
But no, Parcels would rather have a QB he’s worked with in the past rather than have one the team really needs – or so it seems. Let’s not forget Testaverte had worked for Parcels before and so has receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
This is one of those situations when the coach needs to make a business decision for the good of the team and not a personal one. It’s terrible when the owner is on the field, but maybe it’s not so good to see the coach in the owner’s box either.
In the words of “The Rock,” “Know your role. Shut your mouth.”


MSU falls twice to End Season
Iogy Cruz | Staff Reporter

The Lady Indians finished the 2004-05 basketball season with a courageous effort, but came up short, falling to Abilene Christian 86-79 at Moody Coliseum Saturday night.
ACU (19-8, 10-4 in LSC) kept the opening half close as Lady Indian starters Katherine Maples, Adrian Fincher, and Angie Faurot rode the pine early with foul troubles. MSU quickly responded by assembling a speedy lineup of guards to pace them 42-38 into the half.
Free throw shooting was the major difference in the second half as MSU failed to win the battle from the line. The Lady Wildcats capitalized by connecting on 10 of its last 12 points from the stripe to moved ahead of the Lady Indians. MSU would shave the scoreboard 78-77 with 1:24 remaining, but ACU answered every shot contested by the Lady Indians to run away with the win.
Fincher and Nicole Brantley capped-off their collegiate careers with 14 and 9 points respectively. Kelly Cleavinger and Faurot each had 13, while LaTia Banks and Stacy Staten finished with 12 points a piece.
MSU ended the season on a six-game losing skid to finish 9-18 overall and 4-10 in Lone Star Conference play. ACU will extend their season into the LSC tournament, facing Tarleton State Tuesday.
The Lady Indians had more than they could handle Thursday night against 11th ranked Angelo State, getting drilled 90-56.
The Lady Rambelles were simply untouchable in the first half, shooting 85 percent from the field and canning all 5 attempts from downtown to take a commanding 56-28 lead at intermission.
The Lady Indians could only connect on 12-of-32 baskets in the first half and finished with 56 total team points, the amount ASU dropped in the first half alone.
“It was unbelievable,” MSU assistant coach Jennifer Griffin said. “You have to give credit where credit’s due.”
The Lady Rambelles out hustled MSU in the paint, 52-20, and in points off turnovers, 28-18, as their starters combined for 66 total points on 26-of-32 shooting (81 percent).
“They exploited our defense. We got away from our game plan,” Griffin said. “They got some pretty easy shots.”
Sharon Ballenger led ASU with 22 points, including 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and Asheia Haynes added 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting. Reserve Christina Johnston had a big game off the bench, chipping in 14 points and crashing the glass for fifteen boards.
Maples and Faurot each had 11 points to lead the Lady Indians. Cleavinger put in 10, while Fincher finished with 8 points and seven rebounds.

Lady Indians' Softball splits Tournament Games
Paige Dickerson |Managing Editor

When I was 13 years old I moved back to the United States and my American cousins taught me the card game BS It took me several years to figure out what the initials meant.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game, each player lays cards face down in consecutive order. If you don’t have the correct card, you lie. If another player suspects you are lying, they can call BS If they are right you take the pile. If they are wrong, they get the pile. The object of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand.
I wasn’t very good at the game. I couldn’t “play off” when I had to pretend to have the right cards, as my cousin Jennifer would say.
In life, not much was different. I couldn’t pretend to know about The Backstreet Boys or who JTT was. I tried to pretend like I knew. I’d nod and smile, until they asked me my favorite song or what my favorite “Home Improvement” episode was.
Then my dad opened a coffee shop. The regular customers always knew my name and I frequently forgot theirs. So I learned to “play it off.” I would introduce a friend to them, and conveniently “forget” to say their name. More often than not they would go ahead and say, “Oh, and I’m so-and-so.”
My first year in college, my “BS-ing” skills got even better. I acted like I wasn’t a freshman, like I knew where I was going and that I knew exactly what to do in all my classes.
I even got good at pretending like I had a reason to be in the student center every day at noon, other than the guy I would stop and talk to who I knew from my psych class.I knew I had mastered the art when I was home that Christmas and my uncle asked me what the football team’s record was. I coolly spouted off some numbers, which I had seen someplace…. I thought. The fact that I knew nothing of football and still managed to give some (relatively) close numbers, was impressive to me.
And then, inevitably, it happened. I got caught in the act, and naturally on something I thought I should be proficient in. I was carrying on about the American Realist Movement in literature and how Thoreau and Whitman were part of it.
“Umm, they were in the Romantic Movement,” my friend gently pointed out.
“Oh, but I thought they were on the verge,” I said reaching desperately for some sort of credibility. But, alas, none was found.
This was followed by several more humbling experiences, which led me to keep my mouth shut and pay more attention to people. I found that, in general, most people fib to get by on a daily basis. Whether it is my friend at home telling me that she had the worst day ever, just to make sure I’ll call her back, or the girl in my English class talking to the professor about what she thought of the themes, even though she had just been grumbling about not understanding.
Through my experience, I have found I never really got away very well with my know-it-all attitude, most people already knew that I was just “BS-ing.” So, at least for now I’ll leave the BS for the card game.
Beware though if you play with me, expect me to calmly lay down six random cards and say, “two aces,” and most of the time get away with it.