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Wednesday, January 17,1996 JW y * .A^i Jfl H 1 B &rj^r >3E. Br fxB HUPMR Cindy Kelly looks to block an opp senior finished with nine points. Gamecocks in s ROBBIE MEEK Sports Editor The Carolina Coliseum has a rich basketball history. Playing in it has been a trig advantage ^for the Gamecocks since its construction "in 1968-69. USC has a .759 percentage when playing in the Frank McGuire Arena. Tonight/ Vanderbilt comes to town and the Gamecocks will play for their 300th win in the building. Carolina has a 6-1 record at home this season. Carolina enters 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference. The Commadores, 115, are also 2-2 in the conference. Vanderbilt is coming off a big win over, Arkansas, last season's national runner-up. The Gamecocks enter the 1 I La Coo \L? Nate Wllbourne \ _ 6-11 255 _ \ Mi _i p5 Malik Russell / 6-7 220 I / j? B ?-? L? A is E > , k s f? ^^B '^Ik ' lw sfl wy| ill wtt jBHHmhI if" .||J|[Hf JE * <? ROBERT WALTON The Gamecock onent's shot against Coastal. The search of Colisei game following a 81-69 loss Saturday I afternoon to the I Florida Gators. 1 USC is led by their starting trio w| of guards: Sophomore Melvin Watson, Junior Larry Davis and /_ B Freshman BJ HSL?s?=^|B McKie. Watson Davis is the leading scorer with 18.3 ppg. McKie and Watson follow with 13.6 and 13.2 ppg respectively. The trio averages 45.1 ppg. Watson leads the team in assists with 4 apg. Davis leads the team in 3 ~G4 | I G24 rry Davis Pax Whitel 3 190 [ 6-4 22 \ G10 G 22 ilvin Watson Frank Sec 6-2 195 6-1 16 / ^ G 3 I I G 45 J McKie Drew Maddi -2 185 | 6-4 179 HS^MIXKS: &^/^ WUf'KJijikS fiB IT mkMimmkMk SPC Lady Gameco ACHIM HUNT Asst. Sports Editor The Lady Gamecocks (10-5, 0-4) rebounded from three straight losses as they soundly defeated the underpowered Coastal Carolina team, 92-39. The 53point margin of victory did not match the 103-point Lady Gamecock victory over Wheeling College in 1979. The Lady Gamecocks started the game by allowing only two points to the Chanticleers over the first nine minutes of the game. Led by the strong play of M-American candidate Shannon Johnson, the Lady Gamecocks scored 23 unanswered points early on to take charge of the game. The Gamecocks' tough defense forced 10 Chanticleers turnovers in a first half where they could scare a total of 10 points. "We did a great job on the defensive side of the ball tonight," a pleased head coach Nancy Wilson said. "We worked hard on being more athletic and using a tough zone defense throughout the first half." Hie Lady Gamecocks poured on more points in the second half as they posted an impressive 51 points. They were led by the second half shooting of sophomore Heather Godfrey, who connected on five three-pointers to score a career-high 15 points. "Heather had the touch tonight, and I feel that she gained a lot of confidence in her shot during the course of this game," Wilson said. Once again in the second half, the Chanticleers were plagued by a large number of turnovers caused by the tough Lady Gamecock zone defense. Coastal did manage to score some late points as Wilson began to dig deep into her bench to make the final score 92-39. The leading scorer for the Lady Gamecocks was the senior from Hartsville, S.C., Shannon Johnson, who finished the game with 16 points. She leads the nation in scoring with an average of 26 points per game and is a front runner for the prestigious Boost/Naismith College Player of the Year Award. "Shannon played veiy well tonight, and we also got the chance for our im's 300th win point shooting with 2.1 pg. Carolina's top rebounder this season has been center Nate Wilboune with 6.5 rpg. Last season the Gamecocks and Commodores split contests with Carolina winning the first 76-74 and Vandy the second 91-83. Vandy leads the series 62 since USC joined the SEC. Watson and Malik Russell have played well against Vanderbilt before. They hold 20.5 and 15.5 point averages respectively against the Commodores. Tonight's game is the first of a three game home stand. On Saturday the Alabama Crimson Tide will come calling for a 7:30 p.m. contest. Then on Jan. 24 the Gamecocks face Mississippi State. Tonight's tip-off is 7:30 p.m. head F 3 / Billy DiSpaltro / fi-fi 229 kar 5 1 V^- F5 1 \ Malik Evans \ 6-8 232 ix ill 9 i 0 >RTS cks demolish Coa freshmen to get some game-time part o: experience tonight," Wilson said of her have 1 team. road a It does not get any easier for the Lady and N Gamecocks as they travel to Arkansas way fc and Kentucky next week. After a game T1 with Appalachian State, they must travel Game to nationally ranked arch-rival Clemson agains for what promises to be a great ball game. 5,0-3) "We are now entering the toughest J ^ Heather Godfrey drives past a Coastal Ca night. Godfrey was five of seven from boh y/| jt - if /.I? jWPfe ^ #** t &*- /nH%11^B ph. ^ \^HL B SH^^R^^tfuGSRRgk^ H^HI .r. f ^hi < o ^w"? yR|^ Sk irdruund s isaamg scorer, carry uavis, ge Watson are combining for 45.1 points per j istal 92-39 Mathis MVP b1 four schedule,"Wilson said. "We - . ;o play some great teams on the A ~ ind we need for Shannon, Oindy 11C11C < atalie to step up and lead in a big >r the rest of our games." Staff Reports le next game for the Lady 7^7; T cocks is a road match on Sunday e r S0^ on: ;t Arkansas Lady Roorbacks (13- *onl C?nyers'( , o Soccer America a yesterday. The co ** is the publication Ail-American team. ? Mathis ^ has now been named a first- , team All- jj robert walton The Gamecock second round rolina opponent on Tuesday tournament and a. ind the three point arc. ranking. w ^Jp# -->' TYSON PETTIC ts aggressive with an opponent. Davis, BJ Mc Same. Carolina plays VanderMtt at home tonight I stuctont [ magazm 8 [best in stai * ,Y % ppmpmiimvp rgnyrniHi IMII 7 named / Soccer a tore Clint Mathis, ja., was named a i Collegiate MVP HfPlfltp MVP tpflm American Dy vm Soccer Associationof n America, V Soccer News m . and Soccer Mi America. t breaking season i I setting three seas standards: (53) and game-w Mathis' 75 career assists) places hii # ' time Carolina sco fp|| * Mathis scoret Carolina's first i \mm Mi **.. 8^111 f olllOfl of loo erf Anrv ' SSn J KREW The Gamecock VU ?mjI UAI..I. airv (TIOITIH at 7:30. ie r?] l's equivalent to an IT^IS ogethera recorder the Gamecocks, ion South Carolina goals (25), points inning goals (10). points (34 goals, 7 n ninth on the allring list. 1 a goal in each of line matches and goal in 16 matches corded eight games [cored at least two e Hermann Trophy egiate soccer player this' 25 goals tied nation and his 53 fifth in the nation, ensive MVP at the ind was named to lent team at the nent in St. Louis. * finished the season , advancing to the of the NCAA No. 4 final national