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Thursday, December 7, 2000
Time for turkey, thanks ... and Thomas
ESPN.com
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ESPN.COM'S TOP 10
As of Nov. 23
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1. Connecticut: East Coast Huskies will whoop West Coast Huskies (UW) on Friday.
Record: 2-0. Last week: 1
2. Tennessee: Fun in the sun in Maui? Not for Clemson.
Record: 1-0. Last week: 2
3. Duke: Slow start not enough to derail talented Dukies.
Record: 5-0. Last week: 4
4. Notre Dame: Looks like we all got that Coaches vs. Cancer finale we wanted.
Record: 3-0. Last week: 6
5. Purdue: The Boilers suffered one early loss in 1998-1999. And we know how that ended.
Record: 3-1. Last week: 3
6. Georgia: Against Irish, McDonald needs another big game.
Record: 2-1. Last week: 5
7. Rutgers: Possible Coca-Cola finale between Knights and Colonials could be interesting.
Record: 1-0. Last week: 7
8. Louisiana Tech: Who would've thought NIT stands for Now Is the Time?
Record: 4-1. Last week: 8
9. Iowa State: We're hoping the Cyclones' 2-for-17 effort from 3-point land was just first-game jitters.
Record: 1-0. Last week: 9
10. Penn State: Two impressive wins, Shepherd's performances and a tough one-point loss to Duke have us loving the Lions.
Record: 2-1. Last week: NR
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| 20 QUESTIONS |
 If you could be any any super hero or cartoon character, who would you be? What's your favorite pre-game meal? ESPN.com asked dozens of the nation's top players to answer these questions and more. This week, Louisiana Tech's Brooke Lassiter, a junior guard and co-captain, shares her answers to our 20 Questions. |
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Last season, LaToya Thomas tore it up, becoming the first freshman to lead the SEC in scoring and just the eighth freshman in history to be named to the 10-member Kodak All-America team.
The season is young, but so far it has been more of the same from the Mississippi State sophomore. And this year, she's reaching more milestones.
In Tuesday's 88-82 loss to Memphis, Thomas scored a school-record 48 points, breaking a two-year-old record set in December 1998 by Jennifer Fambrough. Thomas, who went 18-for-31 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line, also tallied 10 rebounds to notch her first double-double of the season.
In just 33 games for the Bulldogs, Thomas stands at 25th on Mississippi State's career scoring chart with 720 points.
Coach Sharon Fanning said Thomas is the sort of player who just wants the ball in her hands.
"She takes it to the hole and does what she can to keep us in the game," Fanning said.
Thomas' previous career high was a 34-point performance on Dec. 2, 1999.
For the record
Several of the country's best-known coaches are closing in on milestones and coaching records, as well.
At North Carolina State, coach Kay Yow entered the season only 11 wins short of her 600th career victory. Yow can become just the fifth women's basketball coach to reach the milestone, joining Texas' Jody Conradt, Tennessee's Pat Summitt, Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer and LSU's Sue Gunter. Conradt, incidentally, is the all-time winningest women's basketball coach. She entered this season with 748 victories. Summitt was second with 728 wins.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, meanwhile, needs just two more wins to notch her 500th career victory. VanDerveer entered the season with 497, but already has moved one step closer as the Cardinal beat Santa Clara on Monday.
Win No. 499 could come Friday when Stanford hosts St. Joseph's. Stanford then hosts Pacific on Sunday and San Francisco next Tuesday.
| THE FINE LINE |
| FTA |
FTM |
FG |
PTS |
AST |
| 20 |
20 | 2-3 |
24 | 15 |
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Kent State forward Liz Beggs went 20-for-20 from the foul line in Sunday's 92-78 win over St. Bonaventure to tie two NCAA records. Beggs matched Kristeena Alexander's single-game marks for consecutive free throws made and best free-throw percentage. George Mason's Alexander set the mark Dec. 29, 1996. |
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| NUMBER TO WATCH |
| Last season, Southwest Missouri State's Jackie Stiles led the nation in scoring. This season, she has a chance to become the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring leader. The 5-6 senior guard entered the season 792 points shy of the record (3,122 points).
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| NAME TO KNOW |
| There's another Machanguana out there. Zinobia Machanguana, a senior 5-8 forward, sank a 16-foot jump shot at the buzzer to lead Rhode Island to a 66-65 victory over Alaska-Anchorage in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Tuesday. Zinobia's older sister, Clarisse Machanguana, was an All-American at Old Dominion who now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. |
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