THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 6, 1994 TAG: 9407060565
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
One had to watch closely to see Old Dominion's Ester Benjamin's contribution to the East's bronze medal-winning victory over the North in women's basket-ball.
The 6-3 center missed all four of her shots from the field, didn't go to the line and grabbed just two rebounds in 13 minutes.
But Benjamin's best work came off the court, as a bench jockey. She spent most of the fourth quarter cajoling, encouraging and imploring her team on, a tactic that appeared to bear fruit late when the East pulled away for an 98-89 victory.
``I'm the oldest player on this team,'' said Benjamin, 20. ``I understand certain things about the game. Like when you get ahead, you can't just worry about scoring. You've got to control the game. I just tried to keep our guards' heads in the game.''
``She definitely used her wisdom to help us,'' said East coach Cheryl Burnett, the head coach at Southwest Missouri State.
``Ester's one of the nicest people I've ever coached. Defensively, she did a great job. The one thing I tried to get across to her is powering to the hole.''
The East actually finished round-robin play with the same 2-1 record as the South and West, but got squeezed out of the gold medal game on a point-differential tiebreaker.
Benjamin wasn't complaining, though.
``It's good to go home with something in your pocket,'' Benjamin said of the bronze medal. ``It's better than nothing.''
KEEPING TABS: Several big-name men's basketball coaches made appearances during the Olympic Festival, but they didn't necessarily care which team won. Each coach, it seemed, had someone special to watch.
For Georgetown's John Thompson, it was incoming recruit Jahidi White, a 6-9, 270-pound center from St. Louis.
And for Louisiana State's Dale Brown, it was 6-4 guard Randy Livingston, a two-time Parade All-American who sat out last season after blowing out a knee.
Arkansas' Nolan Richardson was also on hand Tuesday. No word on whom he was checking out.
AROUND THE HORN: Another day of 90-plus degree temperatures continued to plague the tennis competition. Monday, three players needed their body fluids replenished with intravenous solutions after toiling in the broiling sun. Spectators in the St. Louis Arena, however, were looking for a way to keep warm while watching the basketball games Tuesday. The Arena, home of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, is kept ultra-cool because of the ice beneath the basketball floor. The Arena was used for the Olympic Festival's figure skating competition, and will continue to be used for ice hockey Thursday. . . . Old Dominion field hockey goalie Kim Decker needed to make just one save to post a 2-0 shutout for the South over the East Tuesday. . . . St. Louis continues to go ga-ga over these Games. Attendance remained at a record pace through Tuesday's action, with marquee finals in baseball, hockey and track and field still to come. by CNB