Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 57

t)t ClarioiuLeogcr Jackson daily news 7 Sunday, December 21, 1980 Section New Orleans coach Butch Van Breda Kolff was concerned until Bertha joined Gus. Now, the Pride is setting the league on fire. rii I 111 1 PL. Season's Greetings Have a delicious New Year! mnas western onup rJ Boots Hats 'ir Belts, Shirts Jeans Located Inside Uinitc Unrcarw f.lrifon P.Ptltpr VollyOxPub MON-FRI INQUDES COMPLEMENTARY NACHOS STEAK aodALE' 1 HfcSIAUHAN! 571 1 55 X. 8564015 People Do Read Small Ads Hardy, Forest full of Pride (COLONIALS INIrjLUJBJ Pi f3uif5iinn i it i Jr -Q 8 1 life" ik, j- mini imj STUART Black Kid Gold Kid 6295 STUART DEMI BOOT Black Gold Brandy 67" By GARY YUNT Clarion-Ledger Assistant Sports Editor NEW ORLEANS Believe it or not, there is a winning professional sports team performing in the Louisiana Superdome.

Ain't it great? To make things better, a pair of Mississippians help form the starting five of the this team, the Pride of New Orleans. The New Orleans Pride stands 6-0 and atop the Coastal Division in the Women's Basketball League and two of the main reasons are Bertha Hardy from Jackson State and Augusta Forest fromTougaloo. Both players, in their second year with the Pride, are averaging better than 15 points and 8 rebounds per game. Hardy was the only Pride player to gain All-Pro status last year and this year Forest tops the league in field goal accuracy, hitting better than 63 percent of her shots. "The two girls have played great ball for us," said second-year Pride coach Butch Van Breda Kolff.

"Gus (Forest) was with us from the beginning and we weren't actually setting the league on fire until we got Bertha. At that time we had Sandra Smallwood playing forward at 5-7 and as soon as Bertha came, that gave us a girl who could get us rebounds and we were able to move Smallwood to guard. Then we started going." Both players had doubts about how they would do in the pros and Hardy thought her playing days were over when she left Jackson State after the 1978-79 season. "I had hung it up but my coach (JSU assistant James Turner) told me to try it. I thought, 'Not Bertha said Hardy.

"1 hearing about how everybody was all-world and 1 didn't think I'd have a chance." Turner, of coarse, was not surprised at Hardy's success. "Bertha's the seco.id best player to ever play in the state," said Turner. "To play like she did with, the intensity for four years. Lucy (Delta State's Lucy Harris) was better than Bertha in the state." Forest, who like Hardy is 5-foot-ll, weighs only 135 pounds. That is up from her days as a three-time Ail-American at Tougaloo but still frail for the pros.

But Forest makes up for that with her quickness. "She's a clever little player with her little duck moves." said Van Breda Kolff. "She can't shoot from 10 feet, but she doesn't have to. She shoots from five feet, four feet, and she led the league in percentage last year. "She's small compared to centers but she's active and she can run and she steals the ball some.

She gets beat some because of her size but she's our center. She actually made the team on her moves and all her little stuff. I didn't know that she could pass except she did make some nice passes on the break. "But the offense we run goes a lot off the center and the center has to see who is open, who comes off a pick, who goes back door. It's not easy and Gus finds a lot of people." Staff photo BOSTON SHOE STORE Jackson State's Bertha Hardy has turned the Pride around.

WESTLAND PLAZA- JACKSON, MS. 948-4606 JC Penney Auto Center We Won't Steer You Wrong Forest, from Moorhead, and Hardy, from Men-denhall, find playing for Van Breda Kolff, a former National Basketball Association coach, a wild experience and a fun way to make a living. "It's not really like a job or being in college," said Forest. "Playing for Butch is wild. He curses a lot and some of the girls are not used to it but it's funny to Bertha and me 'cause we were used to it in college." The high level of collegiate play in Mississippi has also made the pros a bit easier, too.

"The competition hasn't been as strong as it was in college so far," said Hardy. "Maybe once we get on the road it will be different because we've played all our games here so far." About the only complaint the girls have is playing in the Superdome where the average crowd of 1,200 seems lost in the arena. "Last year we played at Tulane and with the crowd we had here, Tulane would have been packed," said Forest. The Pride's next home game is Jan. 8 in the Dome against the Chicago Hustle, the league's only other unbeaten team.

Of the Pride's last 12 home dates running through March 25, seven games will be played at the University of New Orleans and five in the Dome. Anybody seeking information on the Pride can call 504-524-4666. Our finest steel belted radial. Celtics shade Cavs; Kiiicks win fife The Mileagemaker XP is our most tested tire. It fea- 'if IU1 vJ UIIIVB Wll jeujuii 1 1 vUU UIII IMUI ICUIiy improves traction and a strong polyester radial bod with 2 steel belts to improve mileage.

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Mitchell led all scorers with 27 points while Laimbeer scored 24 and Kenny Carr had 22 for the Cavaliers. KNICKS 120, NUGGETS 114 Campy Russell scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and reserve center Marvin Webster scored 5 points in the final 2 minutes to help homestanding New York beat Denver. It was the Knicks' fifth consecutive NBA victory and their eighth in the last nine starts. The loss was the second for the Nuggets since Doug Moe replaced Donnie Walsh as coach last Wednesday, their fourth loss in a row and ninth in their last 10 outings. Alex English scored 18 points in the first half to help the Nuggets to a 58-48 lead as the Knicks made just 35 percent of their field goal attempts.

BULLS 133, ROCKETS 109 Reggie Theus and Ricky Sobers combined for 44 points and Larry Kenon chipped in 23 to lead Chicago over visiting Houston. Theus, hitting a game-high 24 points, and Sobers, who added 20, teamed up to score 22 points in the final quarter as the Bulls turned the game into a rout. Seven Bulls tallied in double figures. Scott May collected 19, Dwight Jones added 16, Bobby Wil-kerson had 12 and Artis Gilmore hit for 11. The NBA's second-leading scorer, Houston center Moses Malone, was held to just two field goals and two free throws in the second half after chalking up 20 in the first half for a game-high total of 26.

The Rockets suffered their third loss in a row, and their 19th against 14 wins. The Bulls, winning their second game in a row, advanced their record to 15-20. WARRIORS 101, MAVERICKS 98 Lloyd Free scored 31 points as Golden State snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory at Dallas. Rookie Larry Smith made two free throws with 2 seconds to play for the winners, and Bill Robin-zine missed on his desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime. Purvis Short added 20 points for Golden State, while Geoff Huston led Dallas with 20.

PACERS 107, KINGS 103 Guard Johnny Davis and forward Mike Bantom sank nine key free throws in the closing minutes to lift visiting Indiana over Kansas City. Bantom dropped in five free throws and Davis connected on four, all with less than 4 minutes left, to preserve the victory for the Pacers. Indiana's George Johnson will not be operated on but has had a walking cast placed on his left leg and will be out of action for four to six weeks. The 6-foot-7 forward hurt his knee in the Pacers' 109-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons Friday night. No immediate decision was made concerning placing Johnson on the injured list or obtaining a replacement.

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