The Griffin: volume 73, issue 18 - Mar. 21, 2003

              "Coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war," Bush said in his four-minute announcement. "American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger." Over two-dozen cruise missiles were fired from U.S. Warships located in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Bush also addressed the American men and women serving overseas. "To all the men and women of the United States armed forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world in the hopes of an oppressed people now deadline for Saddam Hussein Bush addressed the public at 10: 15 p.m. on Wednesday night. WWW.CNN.COM In an address to Americans Wednesday night, President Bush announced that he had ordered the beginning of a "decapitation attack." air-strike bombing of Baghdad, Iraq. Air raid sirens in Iraq sounded 90 minutes after Bush's exile Wittlieb finished with 16 points and Stevens added 13 points and 18 rebounds. Seniors Jes Butler, Keia McFadden and Jill Knapic finished with eight, six, and two points Manhattan would tighten the defense on Wittlieb in the second half, never letting her get good looks at the basket as she only could manage three second half points. The lead never dipped below 10 points for the rest of the contest. Manhattan forced 24 turnovers for the game as the Griffs simply ran out of gas over the final five minutes. Siobhan Kilkenny ignited the spurt with a three-pointer and a layup after a steal as the Blue and Gold turned the ball over on three straight possessions. The second half was more of the same as both teams battled for a berth in the finals. Jenel Stevens made a layup to pull Canisius to within two points at 52-50 with 7:37 remaining, but Manhattan answered with a decisive 14-0 run to take a 64- 50 cushion with 4:09 to play. Wittlieb literally kept the Griffs in the ballgame in the first half finishing with 13 points and diving for loose balls on the defensive end. All rookie performer Cheri Wittlieb answered for the Golden Griffins, scoring the last nine points of the stanza for Canisius in a 9-2 run. The freshman netted two threepointers and converted a traditional three-point play to tie the game 29- 29 at the break. The story of the game was the Griffs defense as they held lona to 16.2 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and outreb ounded the Gaels 29-16. Canisius would come out prepared and come away with a workmanlike 76-58 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round. season they had won more than two games in a row. The Griffs opened the tournament Thursday morning as the 5th seed against the 10th seeded Gaels of Iona. Even though Iona entered the game with a record of 1-27, the Griffs knew that the Gaels gave a lot of teams trouble including regular season champion Manhattan the previous week. The Griffs would pull off one of the biggest wins in the program's history by posting an 83-71 victory. The win marked the 2nd straight for the Griffs over the Peahens after previously losing seven straight to St. Peter's. The Griffs would continue the effort in the second half as the Griffs held on for a comfortable 18 point win. Senior center Jes Butler led the scoring with 16 points while all-Maac first team performer Stevens and Lonnie Brown finished with double doubles. Stevens collected 12 points and 12 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the campaign and Brown finished with 15 points and ten rebounds, good for her third straight double double. Melissa Yeagley and Felecia Holloway each scored 11 points to lead the Gaels. After beating the Gaels, the Griffs would face the 4,h seeded St. Peter's Peahens, the Maac tourney champions two out of the last three years. Canisius opened the game with a 13-4 run, capped by consecutive Jill Knapic buckets, over the first 8: 24, and took a 20-10 lead with 6:19 left after a Jenel Stevens layup. Jes Butler capped a 10-2 spurt with a three-point play to put the Griffs ahead 30-12 with 4:06 to go, and Canisius led 39-19 at halftime. The Peahens would make a final run but the lead would never get below 10 for the remaining five minutes as the Griffs would advance to the semis for the first time since the 1998-1999 season. Senior guard Jill Knapic would key a 13-2 run to give the Griffs their biggest advantage of the game at 49- 32 with 12:58 remaining. Knapic had 7 points during this decisive run. The game started off slowly for both squads before Jenel Stevens led a 11-3 run for the Griffs to take a 32-24 halftime advantage. Canisius used a spirited defensive effort to hold St. Pete's to 27.3 percent shooting in the first half. The story of the game was the play of Knapic who finished with 17 points off the bench for the Griffs. Knapic hit 6-of-8 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc to emotionally lift Canisius to the win. Jenel Stevens was dominant as she posted 17 points and ten rebounds. Lonnie Brown collected her fourth straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, By Kyle Hejmowski Sports Reporter Lady Griffs run to MAAC Semis Stevens named to All-Tournament Team while Keia McFadden added 11 points, and Jes Butler posted ten. Freshmen guard Becky Zak played solid off the bench as she contributed seven points and six assists and fellow freshmen Jessica Steeves chipped in with two points, two rebounds, a block and a steal when she was called on to replace Butler who fouled out. Canisius shared the ball extremely well as they finished with 18 assists on 29 baskets and would shoot 50 percent from the floor as they sent the Peahens home early. After the two wins, Ganisius entered Sunday ready to take on the top seeded Manhattan Jaspers who received the double bye as a result of winning the regular season title and try to make their first ever trip to the MAAC tournament finals. It was not to be for the Griffs as they ran out of gas over the last 5 minutes of the game and fell to the eventual champion Jaspers 71-57. The first half was a half of runs as there were seven lead changes in this nip and tuck ballgame. Manhattan used a 12-3 run to pull ahead 27-20 with 3:17 left in the half. Canisius College, Buffalo. NY "Serving the B0 BRfBIsF' 11 II lill IBll Canisius Community PIUllllu CJ. BUSCAGLIA By Katie Schlientz Editor in Chief see Basketball page 3 See Attack page 3 Volume LXXIII, Number 18 Friday. March 21, 2003 The Griffs entered the tourney on a high, riding a three game winning streak which was the first time all Two weeks ago at the MAAC tournament, the women's basketball team finished their best season since the 1994-95 season after winning two games before eventually falling in the semifinals to top seeded Manhattan. Reaction to war Americans express their emotions for and against the recent attacks on Baghdad. U.S. attacks Iraq Shortly after the 48-hour deadline expired, President George Bush, Jr. announced that he ordered the beginning of the "decapitation attack" with the INSIDE tDITOM 6 UfUAM 8 SPOffl 16 TODAY'S ©riffin Since the vandalism incident in the Student Center last month, officers have been leading an investigation. A suspect has been identified and will be arrested soon. See page 2 for more. On Wednesday, the United States entered a war with Iraq. All the media coverage raises questions about what the real truth is. See page 6 for some thoughts on this issue. Yesterday, the women's studies department announced the I.Joan Lorch awards. See what else Buffalo is doing to celebrate Women's History Month. See page 8 for more. The hockey team traveled to Connecticut for the MAAC Quarterfinals last weekend. The Griffs dropped a 3-2 decision to Quinnipiac to conclude their season. See page 13 for the whole story.