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Men's and worn< use f a< By MIKE HUNT Asst. Sports Editor If someone told a Wolfpack fan before the season began that both North Carolina State's men's and women's basketball teams would play in post-season tournament, stares of utter disbelief and then smiles of expectancy would appear on that fan's face. Who would have figured a postseason berth for Norm Sloan's I . A! _ L ^ i :; / v' fl|M)Mn -"* ^R Ail-American Genia Beasley < the lane for two points. Beasley Lady Gamecocks this af I AIAW regionals at Chapel Hil. Carolina an It's finally happened. Even though it was the National Invitational Tournament selection's committee which made the pairings it will be old Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Carolina and North Carolina St. in the first round of the NIT Friday at Kaleigh. Though it has been seven long years since USC has met an ACC rival with the exception of Clemson (his year the rivalry which exists between Carolina and ACC rivals is still very strong. It was N.C. St. which defeated Carolina in the finals of the ACC 1 tournament in 1970 when the Gamecocks had their finest season (25-3). Maybe USC can return the favor with a win over State Friday night. T1IE GAMECOCKS will have their hands filled when they travel to Reynolds Coliseum. Among all the ACC basketball arenas I ? 1 * ranKS up mere with Carmichael (North Carolina's home court) and Little John Coliseum (Clemson's home court) as the toughest places to play an away game. Yet, though USC is facing a difficult task of playing away the lx>ost an invitation gives to a post I season tournament is great. All of the Carolina players are looking forward not only to playling in the NIT but to face N.C St. era's team compete UU UJU. squad? The Wolfpack was picked by preseason critics to finish dead last in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But who would have doubted tournament play for Kay Yow's Lady Wolfpack? State's women's team was ranked as the nation's best by "Sports Illustrated" before the season began. Now that this bit of irony is settled, it is time for another. Both State teams meet Carolina's men's K 1 / of North Carolina State drives will lead her team against the ernoon in the first round of the d State meet After finishing the regular season with seven wins in their last nine games the Gamecocks season record of 16-11 may be misleading. But when Carolina has met the toughest teams on its schedule they ? r i i . i i a. lrnn i. _ . nave reiusea 10 ue Deaien. uat nas defeated three NCAA bound teams (Furman twice, Rhode Island at Providence and Notre Dame). Yet if Carolina does have one weakness it may be their poor record on the road (3-5). Playing and winning in Carolina Coliseum against the good teams is one thing, but winning on the road is another thing. Sportalk by Matt Ward WIIKN MAKQUETTK visited Columbia the Gamecocks played their best game of the year in a losing effort. The Warriors were forced to go two overtimes before winning. But in their victory the Warriors showed a lot of class in 1.1 le unreal and women's teams for the right to advance in their respective tournaments. THE GAMECOCKS will face the Wolfpack in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament tomorrow in Raleigh while the women play this afternoon in the first round of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in Chapel Hill. It has been a long time since USC coach Frank McGuire has led his team up Tobacco Road, the war zone of college basketball, to face State. Not since 1970 in the finals of the ACC tournament have the two teams met when the Wolfpack eliminated Carolina from participation in the NCAA eastern regionals. Yet the past eight years have been slightly erratic for State. An ACC crown, a perfect year while on probation, and an NCAA title have oeen oversnadowed by a few lean years in between. But Sloan has once again made a name for the Wolfpack in college basketball since the days of Thompson and Towe. with this year's bid to the NTT. STATE FINISHED third in the ACC this year with an 18-9 record. Hurt by poor foul shooting all season, the Wolfpack averaged nearly 82 points per game. Led by 1977 ACC rookie of the year Hawkeye Whitney's 14.6 points per game, State was paced by 7-1 r-pntpr nipnn QurlKr?n in v?ax/?ni WUUI1 V/p 111 IIIC rebounding department with 6.2 per game. While the Lady Wolfpack have no Whitneys or Sudhops, they do have again keeping their poise in a noisy Carolina Coliseum. This is the same kind of poise Carolina must show when they meet the Wolfpack. The difference between the good teams and the best teams is the ability to show coolness under pressure. N.C. St. finished with a 18-9 record but in the ACC regular season the Wolfpack finished with a 7-5 record. The majority of their wins came against teams outside the ACC thereby padding the Wolfpack's schedule. And in the ACC tournament the Wolfpack went three overtimes before losing to Maryland. I was fortunate in picking Carolina's upset victory over Notre Dame and with this game a big one. I look for the Gamecocks to win barely over N.C. State 65-63. nit nijtks: a lot ot controversy has been written on why certain teams were bypassed when the NCAA and NIT made their invitations. University of North Carolina at Charlotte finished the season with a 20-7 record, University of New Orleans, the Sun Belt Conference champion finished with a 21-6 record and ACC tour nament runner-up Wake Forest which ended the season with a 19-10 record were all left out of post season action. See SPORTALK, page 21 f? WL iiuiii n 1 an All-American in Genia Beasley. Averaging 19 points per game, 1 Beasley led State to a 26-3 record and a rank of fifth nationally. Also State's leading rebounder with 10.5 per game, the 6-2 center blocked 49 shots last season. HURT BY GRADUATION last year, freshmen Trudi Lacey and Ginger Rouse have stepped in the f M fl if frvo/ilr Kr* ^ ? uuvij ouii{jov.n ud^MJUUI I IU provide leadership. The Lady Wolfpack lost only one game in the frantic ACC, 89-82 to Booth hurls ] By GREG DAVIE Gamecock Staff Writer Holly Booth pitched a perfect garr the Lady Gamecock Softball tean Wesleyan Monday afternoon. The freshman from East Fre< strikeouts and allowed only one ball surprise she wen t that long, accord "I had planned to pitch Holly only warming up around the fourth," M was going so well, she deserved tc CAROLINA SCORED in every inn innings produced fourteen of the US Lady Gamecocks connected for 1C Central Wesleyan errors. "Despite the number of errors mitted," said Maguire,"I was impr ball consistently. It takes a person t else makes an error." Booth and Sherry Messinger pro Messinger doubled with the bases lo drilled a single up the middle to Messinger, Lauren Hughes and Pa the ten Lady Gamecock base hits. Maguire never expected such o1 day. "We just tried to find out if what v\ work in the game," she said. "I'll k< the next couple of games." Booth was coming off tendonitis, according to Maguire. Still, her pi time, low in me striKe zone. Following Wednesday's game \ Gamecocks go on the road for two Limestone College, and Thursday, *"m -2SA, // Jv 1 T H?LLO,f?AMK? Cti?cKS> nor lb-/I / I TH//JK i foONP Ttf? IK) Vr\t)& TZ Ckr * ' i 'N u r i ^ . . Sports ilfnar-i Maryland in the finals of the tournament championship. State is hitting over half their shots from the field and are scoring 87.2 points per game while allowing only 64.6. The winner of the women's game will advance to the semi-finals of the AIAW tournament while the winner of the Carolina-State game will meet the winner of the DetroitVirginia Commonwealth contest for the rights to advance to the semi-finals of the NIT in New Y ork City. Derfect game le and knocked in five runs to lead 1 to a 19-0 trouncing of Central etown Mass. registered twelve to be hit past the infield. It was a ling to Coach Molly Maguire. five innings, and we had someone aguire said. "However, since she i continue." ing except the second. The middle C nineteen runs for the camp Thp ) hits, and took advantage of 12 they (Central Wesleyan) confessed by the way the girls hit the o hit the ball first before someone vided the big blows for Carolina, aded in the third inning and Booth score two runners in the fifth, tti McClellan combined for six of verwhelming success on opening 'e've done in practice was going to eep experimenting with the lineup and didn't show her best control, tches were fast, and most of the vith Benedict College, the Lady games. Monday, the team goes to they encounter Furman. I usrefij, Vfccve S /\SOM ' _ . /-.? I c toIP YfiUK M ' I . ' > ^,A/C r ?/WjS?. FoK TttAT