Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

'? Gamecock iffiiSljfilP/ , ^ \ ^ VAHns&9H?iBSI V I I 'M% mjmT Jk> atI^W *Tfcp ^9?39nHH 'Wi U9V 3 I P^w 0 CiBOlfyl wBSa ^ f 1 Up with an eagle (JSC forward Jimmy Foster in his last home game Lady Gamecock: linmn nomn of r iiuinc yamc ui c By Jeff Rogers The Lady Gamecock basketball team used 52 percent field goal shooting Monday to win its final home game of the season 79-63 over UNC-Charlotte. Marsi McAlister and Sharon Gilmore had 22 and 21 points, respectively, while Brantley Southers scored 18. Candy Lucas led the Lady 49ers with 20 points. "We played a pretty good ballgame," USC head coach Terry Kelly said. "We shot 54 percent in the first half and I didn't think we were playing that well." THE LADY GAMECOCKS trailed by a basket three times in the first half, but were able to pull away on each occassion. UNC-C led 29-27 with 3:45 left in the first half, but USC outscored the Lady 49ers 10-3 to give them a five-point lead at intermission. In the second half, the Lady Gamecocks' shooting dropped to 50 percent, but Kelly said USC played much better in the final half. "We were more into the game in the second half," Kelly said. "We had very good team play from everyone." McAlister and Gilmore combined for 27 second-half points, and McAlister had all six of her assists in the second half. In the game, USC passed out 22 assists to UNC-C's 14. IJSC GUARD Mindy Ballou led the Lady Gamecocks with seven assists, giving her 199 assists this season. Against East Carolina, Ballou broke Sharon Rivers' school record for assists in a season. In the second half, UNC-C cut the Lady f tampfrtclc' Iftwith 8*17 l*?ft in the game, but USC went on a 20-11 tear in the next seven minutes to decide the outcome. Spo s clip Sou k /;; ^ t BjT'" ' rftJUj|W 1^Br vj?? hI1 JMBEBMM ^BML ,?jMta= IS Photo by Jose i for Carolina. Foster finished the game with 19 poin i win final -in nn ;eason /y-oj "It was a very solid win for us," Kelly said. "UNC-C came in here with a 20-6 record, and we played with great effort and performance." The Lady Gamecocks play their final regular season game Saturday at Virginia Tech. USC defeated the Lady Gobblers 89-74 r.\?u 10 /-*~ i u:? 1 C U . I O 111 V^UlUlllUId. "VIRGINIA TECH will be a tough game for us," Kelly said. "Hopefully, we'll have good momentum going in." If they win Saturday, the Lady Gamecocks will be tied with Louisville for first place in the Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference's northern division. 1/ nl 1 i r oni/'l o ?*il ?i ?ii/xtil/^ ? > * L . /> * A#* ?? 1-vv.iijr ,->anj a win wwuiu |;ui in> lean l ill a favorable position because USC would be in a different bracket than Louisville and Virginia Tech in the upcoming Metro tournament. Kelly also said he thinks the Lady Gamecocks have placed much more emphasis on conference games. In mid-season, Kelly was worried that his team was more interested in nationally ranked opponents outside of the Metro. "WITH IT being our first year in the Metro, it takes a while to get up for conference games and 1 think we've learned to do that." Kellv said. Kelly said the four-day break from competition will allow the team to work on any remaining problems before the tournament. "We're getting beaten on the boards and nt tim#?c male an avcpcc r\f tnrnnuprc " ui uiiiv.) v at inunv un vavvjj v/? ivii iiv/t vi Kelly said. "These are the kind of things I'm concerned about." Game time Saturday is 7:30 p.m. >rtS thern Missi I By John Opuson USC's men's basketball team lived up to its nickname of the Fighting Gamecocks Monday night by posting a 70-62 win over Metro opponent Southern Mississippi in Carolina's last home game of the season. "If you had to pick one way for me to go out...," said senior forward Jimmy Foster, the main USC combatant in a brawl that began with the Gamecocks leading 66-59 with five seconds remaining in an otherwise n An ? ? 1 ' 1 |uv/iiuv.jv.iipi pti iui uictiicc oy DOin clubs. Foster was fouled by the Golden Eagles' Kenny Siler while attempting a layup. Seconds later Foster and Southern Mississippi forward James Williams exchanged words and then punches. "I JUST turned around (after the foul) and he (Williams) came at me and I walked up to him," Foster said. "He pushed me ... and 1 just punched him." Players and coaches flooded the area near the press row across from the USC bench trying to break up the fight. S Williams said, "I knew 1 shouldn't have went at him. It was just a physical game. They got away with all kinds of things. It (the fight) was something that never should have happened. I guess we're a physical team and 1 guess they are too." The only injured player from the fight appeared to be Southern Mississippi guard Curtis Green, who suffered a bloody lip and said he probably was going to need stiches to close the wound. FOR FOSTF.R thf? pnHino ivacn'l quite what he was hoping for in his I final appearance at Prank McGuire ? Arena as he completed an outstanding four-year career, but he was satisfied ip arnett wjth the win nonetheless. "You like to have a fantasy when ts. you go out your senior night and score l? Breaking away USC guard Marsi McAlister gets through for an unconfc win over UNC Charlotte. USC will play its final regular , - w wwi.uwuwn w M issippi 35 points and have 20 rebounds, but that rarely happens. I'm really just pleased with the win," said Foster, who led all scorers with 19 points. USC coach Bill Foster said the light "was unfortunate. I'm sorry it happened, and I don't know what really happened. I'm sorry and (Southern Mississippi) coach (M.K) lurk is sorry, but it's just one of those things that happen." Turk, whose team fell to 12-14 on the year and 3-0 in the Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference said he couldn't recall a more physical game in his eight years of coaching at Southern Mississippi. LIKE HIS USC counterpart, Turk was unsure of what happened to start the fight and said he would have to look at the films to see what happened. The fight overshadowed a game that might have otherwise been quickly forgotten. The Gamecocks trailed 9-1 with 15:41 remaining in the first half. Less than five minutes later, Harold Martin hit a 16-foot jump shot to tie the score at 13. Mike Brittain gave the Gamecocks the lead for good at 22-21 with 3:48 to go in the half. Although USC slu just 36 percent from the floor in the tirst half, they led 32-25. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI spent a frustrating second half trying to catch up. Freshman center Eddie Pope, the Golden Eagles's second leading scorer in the game with 14 noints. was eiorted with 14:14 10 play for a flagiant foul. "The loss of Pope hurt us," Turk said. "It seemed like every time he got the ball, he scored or something else good happened." The Golden Eagles pulled within four at 69-SR hilt RrittQir? o L-o\; block and guard Scott Sanderson hit Foster for an easy lay up to give USC a 66-59 lead with 18 seconds to play. Harold Martin hit four consecutive free throws after the fight to finish with 10 points for USC, which shot 45 See "USC," page 14 k -w w wm m Tvt" VP, r by Jostpfc Gwnttt ssted lay up if) the Lady Gamecocks' 79 63 season game Saturday at Virginia Tech.