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16 I" Carolina's Arkansas Lady Gamecocks overcome 19-point deficit but come up short at the buzzer. RYAN WILSON Sports Editor As the USC women's basketball season winds down, one thing has become clear about coach Nancy Wilson's squad: Win or lose, the members play with heart. This was evident in the Lady Gamecocks' 63-62 loss to the No. 20 Arkansas Lady Razorbacks (17-5,4-4) in front of a crowd of 528 Saturday at Frank McGuire Arena. The Lady Gamecocks (10-11,1-8) trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, but with the help of some scrappy defense and a strong second half by Ail-American Shannon Johnson, the Gamecocks came back and had an opportunity to win the game on their last possession. "We know that this team has tremendous heart," Wilson said. "We were all as a team disappointed with our play in the first half, mainly because it was so lethargic. We didn't feel like we were getting after it. Fortunately, in using the press, we found the Achilles' heel that would give us momentum and loosen us up a little. "I wish, for our team's sake, we could have come up with one more basket, but I believe we gave ourselves the opportunity to do that. They did everything ...? ? we OSA.CU LUCULl IU. The Lady Razorbacks opened the game scoring the first five points, but Carolina answered by tying the game at five with 15:33 left in the half. In the following minute, Arkansas pulled away, but a steal and subsequent 3-pointer by Christi Timmons closed the lead to 9-8. The Lady Gamecocks went ice cold after Timmons' trey, as the Lady Razorbacks went on a 23-5 run over the next nine minutes to take a 19-point lead at 23-13 with 5:10 to play in the half. Carolina stopped the run with Timmons' 3-pointer and outscored Arkansas 104 in the final four minutea A 3-pointer as time expired by freshman Heather Godfrey cut the lead to 13 at 36-23. The half time clearly described the way the game was heading. The Lady Razorbacks hit 51.6 percent of their shots, while Carolina hit 27.3 percent. Even though Carolina's shooting stats were bad, one other aspect of USCs game was missing: Shannon Johnson. The junior Ail-American guard, who leads the team in scoring, scored only one point in the half Wilson stressed in the locker room the importance of getting Johnson the ball more in the sec- Ji ond half. A "At halftime, we talked about our R motion offense, setting screens and get- bi ting Shannon the ball and who in turn jr would set other people up," Wilson said. _ Johnson said, "Coach felt like I wasn't getting the ball enough, and she told the ^ girls to get me open more. I thought they ^ did a better job in the second half." ^ The Lady Gamecocks came out with k a different lineup in the second half. ^ Freshmen Godfrey and Tenna Thomp- n son started the half in place of senior a Jenny Randall and junior Cindy Kelly. Wilson justified the lineup change be- _ cause she felt Godfrey and Thompson ? l -.?C A. C were mailing more 01 an enorx. "I thought they were outplaying the others," Wilson said "The five we start- g ed in the second half were the ones who g were playing in the first half. Fortu- ^ nately, some of the other people cranked up" a The lineup change payed off as the j Lady Gamecocks used a full-court press to cause some turnovers. The pressure I caused Arkansas to lose its composure as Carolina outscored the Lady Razorbacks 15-2 and tied the game at 38 with 12:54 left in the game. "The pressure obviously bothered Arkansas," Wilson said "I think our girls did an excellent job to be able to press as much as they had to to negate the half-court strength that Arkansas had. "I was real pleased with the effort we had in the second half. Christi Timmons was tremendous on defense, creating steals and coming up with loose i ii_ ? Daiis. j Arkansas coach Gary Blair praised Carolina for the determination it showed |_ . t Gamecock Sports VliilSPV' \ / : /' rUi/? I nib ltd ?upset I falls shi Hf "" i * j P ^*4? K I I WE V f ? /9 m *wk F * * |V ^ " - * <* Sj| "_!,>.* ! V"?" : inlor guard Natalie Funderbur rkansas turnover In USC'e 6 azorbacks. The Lady Gamecocks lit managed to come back, only t i coming back from 19 down and rejonding to coaching adjustments. "When you're down by 19 in the first alf, with the little freshman (Godfrey) itting the 3 right before half to give lem momentum and with a little coachlg at the half, thaf s what college basetball is all about," Blair said. "The kids jsponded to coaching in the second half nd made some adjustments." Arkansas finally regained its comosure and pulled away, but never led y more than seven for the rest of the ame. The Lady Gamecocks battled back, aostly on the play of Johnson, and manged to tie the game at 58 when Johnon converted a three-point play with 1:18 left in the game. The Lady Razorbacks answered with i basket and a free throw to get a 61-58 ead. Johnson scored on the next pos MP.. FG FT Jones 14 2-2 0-0 Johnson 35 5-10 6-7 Biobimr 31 4-10 6-8 Smith 40 5-10 2-4 Wilson 38-5-13 0-0 MP FG FT liliMll# 36 5-16 0-( Randall 32 1-5 0-i Kefiy 23 . 3*0 <M Johnson 37 8-21 5-i Rj?nd?kutk 34 1-5 1-i Arkansas USC Takii Th? Qanrcock m has tr lid over art, 63-62 p ""** ^p^. 9 m ^ ' jf^K ^ -; -Wjr"x 8F . ' ^<, 'lr If?I ** a KIM TRUETT The Gamecock k gets excited after causing an 3-62 loss Saturday to the Lad) ? were down by 19 In the first hall o lose by one as time expired. session to cut the lead to one, but Arkansas' Christy Smith was fouled on the inbounds pass. Smith, who earlier in the oeaonn mioaerJ a free throw that. would have tied the game at Ole Miss with :00.3 left in the game, hit both free throws to up the score to 63-60. Carolina hurried the ball down the court, but Jenny Randall missed a tightly guarded 3-pointer attempt. Cindy Kelly got the rebound and scored as time expired to make the final 63-62. The second half, we did the smarl things with our half-court offense," Wilson said. "I felt like we could win to the buzzer because of the way they were scrapping. I thought Shannon was tremendous in the second half, and oui play as a team defensively was scrappy." Arkansas Rbs A FS , Pts 0 0 11 4 6130 16 16 5 3 3 113 7 2 0 1 11 use Rbs A F S Pts J S 0 3 3 12 3 3 0 2 1 3 3 4 0 3 0 0 3 9 7 3 1 23 2 0 3 m o 3 36 27 63 23 39 62 ETHAN MYERSON / The Gamecock ng th Tuesday, Frtmar emendo Lady Gam u Lady Gameocks set areru record for 3-pointers made a! they defeat Lady Owls. MICHAEL BAUR Staff Writer The Lady Gamecocks have shown, penchant all season long for hitting th 3, and when they do, most teams crum ble in front of them. Carolina's most recent victim wa the Lady Owls from Rice Monday nigh at Frank McGuire Arena The Lady Owl watched the Lady Gamecocks connec on a Coliseum-record 14 3-pointers ei route to an 87-71 victory over the Lad; Owls in front of 412. The win evened USC's record at 11 11 overall and 10-3 against nonconfe ence opponents. The Lady Gamecocks torched th nets early and often, hitting six 3-point ers in the first six minutes of the game For the half, Carolina shot 52.9 percen from downtown. Jenny Randall led the Lady Game cocks with 21 points despite only 17 min utes on the floor. Randall was injure* after hitting a 3-pointer with 16:10 let in the first half. As a result, Randall on ly played nine minutes the entire firs half. Cindy Kelly chipped in 20 points wifl Heather Godfrey adding a career-higl 15. Overall, the team shot 48 percen from the field and beyond the 3-poin arc. "It's exciting to break the record, USC coach Namy Wilson said. "Shan non LJohnsonJ opened the game with! three, and Heather and Jenny contribute* as well, so we did a good job of distrib uLing the ball." Randall and Godfrey were a com bined 6-for-9 from 3-point land as tb Lady Gamecocks built a 44-34 lead a the break. In the second half, Cindy Kel ly posted sue quick points inside the pain while connecting on 50 percent of her 3 point attempts to key the 16-poin victoiy. After an early second-half run by tb Lady Owls, the Lady Gamecocks an swered and k ept the game at a safe dis tance. For the game, USC shot 48.4 per cent from the field while shooting 48.; percent from behind the 3-point arc. Tb Lady Gamecocks also found some point on the inside as Kelly and Audrey Ram sey found their rhythm in the post. "We hadn't taken advantage insidi m the first half," Wilson said. "We wen to our high-low offense that created mon opportunities for us to get more points. Next up for the Lady Gamecocks ii a Saturday SEC contest against na tionally ranked Florida. Despite the La i dy Gators' impressive statijiics, Wilsoi r expects her team to be ready for the! F p.m. contest at McGuire Arena. Tve heard that they're the most ath letic team in the league," she said. "Bu well be ready for them." Connecticut Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. - The talk abou Connecticut basketball was flowing ai freely as the coffee Monday at the Sug ar Shack. And not even the poetry o owner Nick Buonocore could spoil thi day. : "Never in history has it been dom ' both men and women ranked No. 1," th 5 poem went. "Our Huskies did it, Fm fill? ' with glee. So come in and have a coffe* * Hey, if s on me." Not only did the men's team read t the No. 1 ranking for the first time ii the program's 93-year history, but b; catching up with the women, the schoc became the first to have both program ranked first in the polls. follrinrr oknuf if TTxraw; AJVCljrWWAJ O LCUIVjLiig (UA^Ub ll/i AJ?^1 J body's excited," said Tom Iannone, a se nior who works at Buonocore's dough nut shop, which gave away more thai 100 gallons of coffee Monday. The campus was relatively quiet th day after the men's team beat Syracus to improve to 19-1 overall and 12-0 ii the Big East. Most of the celebratini took place Sunday, when the Huskies biggest fans knew a win would all bu assure the team of being No. 1. And that is exactly what happened The men's team received 50 of 66 first place votes and 1,626 points in the lat est AP poll. ie eh; y 14, 1995 us heart/ ecocks rout ] UH|H I s t s t 1 y e t i t t 1 i t t Y> I i e ST- WW iF t IP t t I H||i ?3 Jenny Randall scored a team-high 21 e 87-71 home win Monday against Rice s 11J R e MP F.G FT R t Smhh 22 1-6 0-0 1 McCallum 26 7-11 8-9 i e Manzo 12 2*2 0-0 Guinn 32 4-9 1 -2 9 Lalomfe 40 4-12 0-0 U MP FG FT R Tlmrnons 33 2*9 1-2 1 Randall 17 8-11 0-1 2 Ke8y 24 6-10 7*2 Johnson 32 5-9 2-3 Fuoderbuifc 03 0-4 WM t Rice USC t women, men Hie Connectiait women's team, which t( ? also won Sunday to remain the only un- N g beaten team in Division I (21-0,13-0), oi has been in the top spot since midf January. tc g This is something we all knew about c both UConn teams," said Gov. John Row- a , land, who phoned his congratulations o g to men's coach Jim Calhoun. "We didn't b j need the AP poll to tell us they are } No. 1." t In the eyes of Connecticut, the Huskies v ^ have always been the top dogs, espe- p n daily in a state where the only profes- s ? sional franchise is the NHL's Hartford b j Whalers, who have provided fans little g to cheer about. But now that both teams are No. 1, t r_ there seems to be more legitimacy to the a j_ Huskymania gripping the state. "I think it is a tribute to the small e 1 state of Connecticut that we are getting ii this kind of recognition," athletics di- tl e rector Lew Perkins said. The fact that a we are the first, srhnnl in the eountrv .... e , * ^ ifs wonderful." d g The men's team, which jumped from " ,> third to first in the polls, became the v t fourth school to hold the No. 1 ranking this season and the first Big East team b [ to be top-ranked since Syracuse was on h top for six weeks in 1989-90. b _ The Huskies easily outdistanced t< North Carolina (19-1), which dropped arge.G TSt P M . ^JHhH WW jBWWii ^Hh ** *i?L HP mr ^d mmrn .. flinftaii JAMIE CLARK The Gamecock points In tho Lady Gamecocks' ice bs A F S Pts 6 0 4 0 22 4 4232 12 rav^ aiWiWiiie ISC lbs A F S Pts 31 ^e-^v'X? ? W 7 4 0 3 0 21 n ?i wii |. i Mil i 6 7 2 1 13 34 37 71 44 43 87 ETHAN MYERSON / The Gamecock top-ranked ) second following a midweek loss to laryland. Next was Kansas (18-3), the , tily team to beat Connecticut. Kentucky (17-3) moved up one spot ) fourth and was followed by Massahusetts (18-2), which fell one place in i week in which the Minutemen won ne game and had another suspended iy a student protest at Rutgers. "It's more important to be No. 1 in he middle of February than the first reek of December," Calhoun said after iractice at George Washington Univerity Monday. "But what really counts is teing No. 1 the first week of March." Starting center Travis Knight agreed. "Being No. 1 won't be important unil the end of the season. It doesn't mean i thing until then," he said. The women have been holding up xtremely well under the pressure of beig No. 1. They continue to breeze through heir schedule, beating opponents by an verage margin of more than 30 points. "I like the way the women are hanling it," said forward Donny Marshall. If we could do the same thincr the women's team is doing, we'll be fine." The men didn't have long to celebrate efore preparing for their first test at Jo. 1. They went straight from Syracuse o Washington, where they face Georgeawn Tuesday night. P. Q