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Page 10 ? February 1, 1985 Sports THE GAMECOCK Lady Gam Wnmpn Insp first i * VIIIVII IVWW III VI conference game I By Joanne Korth || USC's Lady Gamccocks lost to Metro op- I ponent Memphis State Wednesday night, I 57-54, to end their undefeated conference | streak at five. Both teams entered the game with ? undefeated conference marks, but a cold j| 22-percent shooting performance by B Carolina in the first half left them too far nt behind to make up a 15-point halftime j| deficit. v-ttiuiuia mi / pciwcm ui men siiud in uic r second half for 40 points to Memphis State's I 28 points, but fell three short after Mindy 3' Ballou's lay-up ended the scoring for the {.' night. Memphis State's 6-4 Regina Street handled USC's inside game while putting 25 points and grabbing 16 of the Lady Tigers' 54 rebounds. Carolina had only 39 total ^ rebounds. Sophomore guard Monica Williams led the | Lady Gamecocks in scoring with 18 points I off the bench, while Ballou had 13. 1 Head Coach Nancy Wilson said she was * not disappointed with the way the team ? played at Memphis State. The Lady Gamecocks played with intensity for the entire game but in the first half the shots just weren't falling, she said. i * i_ a. *# . uav- iravcis 10 Virginia lccn tomorrow night at 7:30 for another Metro matchup. With the loss to Memphis State, the Lady Gamecocks fell to 12-6. While (JSC still leads the North Region of the Metro, Virginia Tech stands in last place in the region with a 2-4 conference record, and 9-10 overall. "Virginia Tech is a "scrappy team and very tough if they have their running game going," Wilson said. The first year coach said shutting down the Hokies' fast break 1 will be a key for the Lady Gamecocks. USC swim tean By Charle* Bloom The nationally-ranked Gamecock swim teams waves at Clemson Saturday when they take t ranked Tigers. Going into this weekend's meet, the Gameco< ranked 14th in the women's poll, and the me ranked 18th in the nation. Clemson is ranke women's poll and 15th in the men's poll. "We know what we are going up against th Collins. "Cler higher than w polls and with i placed on the r be a dandy. V have to swim < to win." nrr/\nr a DTTT7KT T takes place in II^MH USC dual mee Jll ^e Gamecocl :';""' -W *?!?P with Furman < BViV S9 USC head c< Steve Collins ,ins has ncver 1 nor c L men or womei USC Swim coach lo demon's, never losing a women's meet to the Lady Tige B ?V S wMgR f r. ecocks fall to IV ^ BSBBBi wm^^F \', jjllfl? ^ S^mI^ ^P >? _ . GINGER PlNSON I The Columbia Recoi Renee Najarien practical her fraa throws. The 6-1 sophomore forward was nai ad tha Metro Conference Plaver of the Week for Jan. 21-27. avereuina 81 oeree from tht line during the stretch. , is to take on Clemson Last season, South Carolina defeated Furman 83-22 in I hope to make women's meet and 69-43 in the men's meet. The La >n the higher- Gamecocks defeated Clemson last season 91-49 and ihe n won 68-45. :ks are 7-0 and The Gamecocks sport one of the most talented freshmen n are 5-2 and the country in Jean-Marie Arnould. The Belgium-native I d 11th in the never lost a dual meet since coming to Carolina, and he lost the Gamecock Invitational on Nov. 29, 1984. Last week, is week," said broke a school record in the 1,000-meter freestyle against N nson is rated State. e are in both the rival status TWO OTHER school records went down last weekei neet, it should Freshman Joanne Seymour, of England, set the new standi Ve'll probably in the 100-meter breaststroke against the Wolfpack as wi out best times And the 200-meter-medley relay team of Kathy O'Donn Linda Criddle, Joanne Seymour and Susan Hagberg broke school record against Tennessee. UMY action the Clemson- Last weekend's routs of two traditional powers has gi< t on Saturday. the sauad a new sense of confidence. is will tangle >n Friday. "Sometimes, I just can't believe how we beat N.C. S >ach Steve Col- and Tennessee men and it was a good feeling. I'm just so ost to Furman, cited that we now have two teams that are ranked in the' i, and has lost 20." len twice while After the duals this weekend, the Gamecocks will trav< rs. Chapel Hill to face North Carolina on Feb. 27-march 2. ISU. 57-54 Metro names Najarian Player of the Week By Joannt Korth If you need to talk to Rcnee Najarian, the Metro Conference's Player of the Week, you better catch her when she's not playing basketball. ' I Najarian is one of the most intense athletes you'll ever meet, because the only thing on her mind when she is on the court is basketball" I tpke basketball very seriously," she said, "especially out on the court. In a game, I get so psyched up, all I want to do is I play." THE 6-1, sophomore forward for the Lady Gamecocks has played out of position, hit pressure free throws in the closing seconds of consecutive games and battled it out against players often three to four inches taller than herself. But Najarian won't complain. She came to play ? it ( ' doesn't matter where or against what ? as long as she can play. At the beginning of the season, Najarian was forced to play the center position vacated by Sharon Gilmore, who was on academic suspension for the fall semester. Najarian had played center in high school, but never in college. Now that Gilmore is back, Najarian said her stint at the center spot helped her inside game, having to fight for position with players taller than herself. ?* g| GILMORE'S RETURN has "definitely taken a lot of the pressure off of me as far as having to produce inside," Najarian said. f~ Head coach Nancy Wilson said Najarian has "the opportunity to be a little more sneaky and get inside, especially for offensive rebounds," with Gilmore in the game. "She was a little concerned with the number of rebounds she was getting When she was playing center," Wilson said. "She was really more concerned, I think, than 1 was." Part of Najarian's concern may have come from her having grown accustomed to pulling down an average of 20 rebounds per game in her senior year at Wakefield High School in Massachusetts. nv "1 HEARD that she had set it as a goal for herself to get nt more rebounds" this year, Wilson said. And she has certainly done that. Najarian is leading the Lady Gamecocks' front line, averaging 7.2 rebounds in overall >. x games this season and 9.8 in Metro games. Najaraian was chosen the Metro Conference Player of the Week for her performances in league wins during the week of Jan. 21-27. the In the Cincinnati game, she completed a three-point-play idy with 25 seconds left, which made the difference in a 78-77 ien final. Two nights later at Louisville, Najarian went to the line with 11 seconds left and hit two free throws to give Carolina a i in one-point victory, 73-72. las i in FOR THE week, Najarian shot 81 percent (13 of 16) from he the foul line, pulled down 24 rebounds and scored 39 total ,C. points (19.5 per game). Najarian hardly minded the pressure situation and was glad V J to have the opportunity to shoot the free throws. "I got fouled id. and I had to hit them," she said. "Then I just went up there ard and hit them." ell. Najarian said she tried not to think about the pressure, as ell, her free ? throw shooting in college has been somewhat of a the disappointment after averaging in the ninety-percent range at Wakefield. This season, the sophomore is averaging around 70 percent ven from the line, hitting 47 of 68 attempts. "I STARTED kind of low this year but I've been bringing tate (my average) up steadily." Najarian said. cx- Najarian speaks confidently of her abilities this season / Fop because she is more confident. She said being awarded Metro Player of the Week will help to build her confidence :?io even further. The reason Tor Najarian's added assurance is the effects of I first-year coach Wilson on the whole team, not just Najarian. "She's brought us a lot closer together as a unit," she said. "1 think we all have a lot more confidence in each other this year." AS FOR the rest of the season, Najarian said, "! just want to keep improving and contribute as much as 1 can." The team's improvement will need to come in an area that Najarian seems to have mastered. "We're yet to play a forty- , . ^ minute game as far as good fundamental basketball," she v Wilson, however, lauds Najarian's ability to concentrate whils she's on the floor. "Renee is mentally in the game for the whole 40 minutes," said Wilson. Najarian does not know exactly how she maintains her concentration on the court, but she does know how much she hates to sit out. Because of this situation, she finds concentrating on the court no problem. INajarian also has no problem deciding where she would like this season to lead the Lady Gamecocks. "! want to win the Metro Tournament and get to the NCAA playoffs," she said without hesitation. "We're improving each game," she said, and the team is approaching the time when it will reach its peak. "When that moment comes," she warns, "we'll be a tough team to beat."