The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 03, 1993, Page 7, Image 7
Wilson, Ji
By JIMMY DeBUTTS pc
Senior Writer in;
USC ? The women's basketball
team has started the 1
1993-94 season on a positive
note. of
The Gamecocks are 2-1,
winning against Miami and ^
South Carolina State. USC lost 311
the first game of the season to 'e
Old Dominion 69-79. re'
Coach Nancy Wilson is
looking to sophomore guard G;
Shannon Johnson and senior fr(
center Melinda McDaniel to pl<
lead the team this year. 19
Johnson is the only returning
starter on this year's squad. H
The past year's team finished po
17-10. Wilson will have to
replace three starters lost from th<
the 1992-93 team. This year's f&
team has six guards, two for- wi
wards and three centers. They Cc
will use their speed to keep the tri
game fast-paced on both ends wl
of the court. 11
The Gamecocks will use le
their depth at the point guard Ti
Gamecock n
in Diet Peps
By TONY SANTORI
Senior Writer
USC ? Coach Eddie Fogler's b<
ketball team travels to the Charlo
Coliseum this weekend to compete
the four-team Diet Pepsi Tournament
Champions. The tournament consists
USC; two teams who were picked
win their respective conferences, UT
(ACC) and BYU (WAC); and Geoi
Washington, which was a preseas
Associated Press Top 25 choice.
. 1 _ - - 1
urNL. siariea me season as me i
preseason No. 1 team and defendi
National Champion.
USC begins play at 7 p.m. toni<
when it takes on Brigham Young.
(0-1) will provide stiff competition
the young USC squad. The Coug;
start two seniors, two juniors and c
sophomore.
The Gamecocks, on the other haj
enter the tournament with only t'
players with Division I experiem
seniors Jamie Watson and Emm
Hall. Junior point guard Carey Ri
will be out of the Gamecock lineup
at least three weeks following a bout
appendicitis.
BYU showed solid scoring balai
in its loss to Arizona State with
players scoring in double figur
Junior forward Shane Knight led
Cougars with 19 points in the contt
Junior forward Mark Durant came
the bench to add 14. The player u
fCz a
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Dec 1-3 Unive
ohnson le?
sition to incorporate a press- Wend
g defense this year. lot thi
Johnson has led USC so far So
is season, averaging 23.7 Game
>ints per game and hitting six in fiei
seven three pointers this nents
ar. In 1992-93, Johnson led Altho
^ Gamecocks with 83 assists as ac<
d 65 steals. This year, she is the C
ading the team in total their <
bounds with 21. game
Johnson is the first Wil
imecock to win a gold medal as U!
)m the Olympic Festival. She recori
ayed on the South team in the winn
'92 summer games. Game
McDaniel has pulled down a wir
' rebounds and scored 29 but or
ints so far this season. Wi]
With Coach Wilson using Metri
a nrapp onrl b-OPfMflfT fhp CTQTTIA P h on
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it-paced, most of the players Metre
11 see action in each game, has a
>ming off the bench to con- to fh
bute will be Shayla Wilkins, amass
10 has already pulled down those
offensive rebounds, which Th
ads the team. Christi N.C.
mmons, Brit Canty and the Aj
ien's basket!
i Tournamen
could give USC the most fits, he
is junior Russell Larson. The 6-f
js- 220-pounder had 12 rebounds
tte along with 12 points against ASl
in BYU Coach Roger Reid will
hp tirith hie firpnnpnt ciihsfitiitinrv
U1 ?*"?
of to wear down the short-h
to Gamecocks. Against ASU, Rei
sfC 10 players, each for at least nir
ge utes.
on USC enters the tournament
84-80 loss to Old Dominion in F
\p regular season debut. The Gair
ng are led by Watson and Hall, I
whom received All-SEC hone
jht season. Watson, a 6-foot-7 guarc
fU aged 14.7 points per game last
for lead USC. Hall, a 6-foot-7 fc
irs was second on the squad in see
>ne 14 points per game last season ;
the team in rebounding with
nd, eight per contest,
wo Fogler will have to get contri
ce, from any of the Gamecocks seve
ett comers if he hopes for his team
ich in the championship game Si
for night.
of In the other game Friday,
UNC takes on the George Was
ice Colonials. The Tarheels finishe
six in the preseason NIT after de
es. Minnesota following an upset
the Massachusetts. The defending
sst. Champions only lost forward
off Lynch to the NBA from the 1
'ho squad, and the Tarheels replac
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Christm
frsity Bookstore s
Sports
id women's ba:
ly Moss will also play a I
is season.
far this season, the
:cocks are shooting .411
Id goals, while their oppo- H
i are shooting .449.
ugh USC is not shooting
curately as its opponents,
jamecocks are keeping
opponents to 65.7 points a
while scoring 76.5.
Ison is in her 10th season
SC's coach, compiling a
rl nf no nc ci,? ?k^
n v/i i out i*> lilt I mm
ingest coach in Lady
cock history and has had
ining season every year ! ***
Ison has led USC to five
d Conference
tpionships and three
) Tournament titles. She
lso taken the Gamecocks
/e NCAA tournaments,
,ing 20 victories in four of
e Gamecocks will face
State at 9 p.m. today at i ?jg|
rizona State Invitational. ??~
)all to comnete
JL
it of Champions
iwever, with two of the best freshmen in the
oot-11, land.
to go First-year players Jerry Stackhouse
J- . and Rasheed Wallace have already concontin
trjbuted for UNC. Their play, along
s to try
landed with senior All-American center Eric
d used Montross and junior All-American
le min- guard Donald Williams, are the reasons
most favor the 'Heels to win the
after a NCAA Tournament again this season.
ogler s George Washington, led by thirdlecocks
yeaf coach Mike Jarvis, was 1992-93's
30 , ?. "Cinderella" of the NCAA Tournament.
>rs last
1 aver- ^he 12th-seeded Colonials advanced to
year to tJie "Sweet 16" before losing a tight
>rward, game to eventual runner-up Michigan.
>ring at GW is led by 7-foot-1, 265-pound
and led Yinka Dare. The 21-year-old sophoalmost
more from Kabba, Nigeria, flashed on
, . to the national spotlight last season,
butions . . . . ...
averaging almost 13 points and 11
:n new- & c 1
to play rebounds a game in only his third seaifnrdav
son of organized basketball. Dare aver
"?J v
aged almost three blocked shots a game
No. 4 last season and made a handful of prehington
season Ail-American publications.
;d third Should the Gamecocks defeat BYU
teating prj(jay vvouid take on the
loss to
NCAA UNC/GW winner in the championship
George game Saturday night. If USC falls to
992-93 tbe Cougars, the Gamecocks play the
ed him UNC/GW loser at 7 p.m. Saturday.
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Santori's Shots TT7
1 ^ 1* 1
wooas s dismissal
By TONY SANTORI
Senior Writer
The Santori Jinx.
Most avid sports readers have probably
heard of the "SI Jinx." For those of you who
do not know, the SI Jinx involves the longstanding
theory that whenever Sports
Illustrated features an athlete or team on its
cover, that athlete or team sometimes loses a
crucial game, suffers injuries or completely
collapses.
Well, welcome to the Santori Jinx. If anyone
remembers my last column, I said the
Pittsburgh Steelers are probably going to represent
the AFC in the Super Bowl, and the
UNC Tarheels have a good chance of going
undefeated in college basketball this season.
Since then, the Steelers have been blown
out twice in a row, and IJNC lost in the third
game of its season. I printed the None Dame
Fight Song. Lou Holtz's then No. 1 Irish proceeded
to choke at home against Boston
College about three days later.
Remember the story of King Midas? You
know, the "Midas touch" thing, where everything
the old monarch touched turned to gold.1
Just call this the "Santori touch." Everything 1
touch just rusts.
am I
So, now what? Do I just slop praising teams
for their sake and mine? Of course not. I figure
I can use this thing to my advantage. 1
really do not want the Cowboys to win the
Super Bowl, the Tarheels to win the NCA/>
tournament, the Knicks to win the NB^
Championship and most of all for Clemson te
win its bowl game.
So...the Cowboys are unstoppable, the
Heels will bounce back, the Knicks are toe
nVJU
XT.
^ ^
i to 2-1 start
i
Sophomore guard
Natalie Funderburk
takes evasive action
against a South
Carolina State
defender.
Pete Rogers/The Gamecock
delivered too soon
strong and Clemson is the best football team
on the planet. There. That should take care of
that problem.
Just Thinking.
Speaking of Mr. Lett: Which do you think
weighs the most?
A: One stick of chewing gum.
B: The nucleus of a hydrogen atom.
C: Lett's brain.
I am not a science major, but I would have
to say "B."
Sparky Gets the Shaft.
Over the course of the 1993 Gamecock
football season, I was as critical of former
Coach Sparky Woods as anyone else. I questioned
everything from his handling of players
to the play calling. But I completely disagree
, with Athletics Director Mike McGee's deciI
sion to hand Woods his pink slip with one
year left on Woods' contract.
I do not know if Woods is cut out to be a
, Division I football coach. 1 just know that
when he was hired here in 1989, Woods said
i it would piobably take until the 1994 campaign
for LISC to be a competitive and win1
ning program. That took a lot of guts on
[ Woods' part to put a time table on something
that would ultimately determine his job status.
; Granted, the Gamecocks have won only 12
games in the past three seasons. But the fact
I remains that this coming 1994 season would
; have been Woods' first "true" senior class that
l he could call his own. Unfortunately, Woods
i will not be around to see his players win sev>
en or eight games next season. And if he is
lucky enough, he will be far enough away that
: he does not have to hear someone else get
) credit for what he did.
I 1
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