ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HAS COME A LONG WAY IN RU BASKETBALL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992                   TAG: 9202050036
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HAS COME A LONG WAY IN RU BASKETBALL
Radford University is a long way from Cody, Wyo. But Sara Larsen is probably glad she made the journey.
Injuries opened the way for Larsen to see more and more action as the women's basketball season has progressed. And RU's first recruit from west of the Mississippi responded with better and better performances.
For her efforts, Larsen was named the Big South Rookie of the Week for the week ending Jan. 26.
Over a four-game stretch from Jan. 13 to Jan. 25, Larsen averaged 5.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. This was after the 6-foot-2 freshman center had tallied a total of just four points and two rebounds in her first 10 games for the Highlanders.
Her performances included eight points against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 20 and nine rebounds at Charleston Southern on Jan. 13.
\ HOSPITAL REPORT: Anyone who has ever doubted women's basketball as being a rough game should have seen the time Roz Groce had against Campbell on Jan. 18. Virtually every time the senior guard penetrated, someone went down hard. At one point, five players, including Groce, were on the floor after a layup.
Unfortunately Groce went down hard one too many times in the first half and bruised her knee. She tried to return in the second half, but the knee gave way.
If all goes well, Groce is expected to return to action today against Liberty.
But she is not alone on the RU inactive list. Freshman Annette Aaron has been out since early January with a stress fracture. Larsen did not make the trip to Coastal Carolina and Campbell because of illness. And freshman Patti Fisher was lost for the year with a knee injury in December.
\ OFF-THE-FIELD LOSSES: The last couple of weeks have been rough ones for the softball and soccer squads, even though neither of those sports are in season.
The softball team will start its first season without a pair of freshman pitchers who were projected to be the Highlanders top starters.
Shelly Bowles was declared ineligible after being placed on academic suspension. She was 14-6 with an ERA of less than one and 175 strikeouts last season at Franklin County High.
Meanwhile, Kristi Gaines transferred. She went 23-1 with a 1.16 ERA and 240 strikeouts at Tunstall High.
The softball team plays its inaugural game Feb. 25 at Campbell.
The soccer team's loss was more real but also could be temporary.
Goalkeeper and 1991 captain Frederic Rondeau was suspended from the university for the spring semester after cheating on an accounting final exam. However he still could play in the fall if he takes and passes seven credit hours in summer school.
\ FLYING FLIPS: The women's gymnastics team set two records in a 186.1-180.95 loss to North Carolina. The team score on the floor exercise was a school-best 46.85. Individually, Becky Bowery had a record 9.55 on the uneven bars. And Lauren Player scored a record-tying 9.6 on floor exercises.
The men's squad avenged an early-season setback by beating James Madison 245.05-244.80. The match was so close the judges got the final scores wrong the first time around and had to retabulate them.
\ THIS AND THAT: Outfielder Donnie Just has been listed among the "Division I Players to Watch" by Collegiate Baseball magazine. Last year in 53 games, Just batted .335 with 14 doubles, seven homers and 33 RBI.
Dan McDonald and Jason Orlowski have joined Steve Billings' lacrosse staff. McDonald is a graduate of Potsdam and will be working on his MBA while serving as a regular assistant coach. Orlowski will serve as a volunteer coach. He played at RU for four years and will be graduating this spring with a degree in sports medicine. . . . Forward Todd Vicher, one of the leading returnees, will miss part of the early season because of a knee injury. He had 20 goals and 12 assists last year. . . . The start of the season will come early for the lacrosse team. It rescheduled a game and will now host Garner-Webb Feb. 16.
The women's basketball team suffered a loss during a road win recently. While at Charleston Southern Jan. 13, thieves broke into the Lady Highlanders' locker room and stole jewelry and credit cards from some of the players' purses.
\ UPCOMING EVENTS: Men's basketball: Saturday, vs. Youngstown State, 7:30 p.m.; Monday, at Charleston Southern, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 15, at Davidson, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 17, vs. Winthrop, 7:30 p.m. Women's basketball: Today, at Liberty, 7:30 p.m.; Monday, vs. Charleston Southern, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 12, vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 15, at William and Mary, 3 p.m. Men's gymnastics: Saturday, at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m.; Sunday, at Kent State, 1 p.m. Women's gymnastics: Saturday, vs. Navy, 3 p.m.; Feb. 15, at Yale, 1 p.m.; Feb. 16, at Ithaca Invitational, 1 p.m. Lacrosse: Feb. 16, vs. Gardner-Webb, 2 p.m.

M.J. Dougherty is a correspondent for the New River Valley bureau.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB