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GAMECOCK ATHLETICS Mens' Basketball @ Kentucky Sunday, 12 p.m. Rupp Arena TV: CBS; Radio: AM-560 Baseball vs. West Virginia Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. Sarge Frye Field GAMEC GRAB J OF SEC LARRY WILLIAMS Senior Writer f_ Pass the champagne, for the Gamecocks are champions. In a fitting going-away party at Frank McGuire Arena Wednesday, the USC men's basketball team crushed Vanderbilt, 74-53, to assure themselves at least a share of the SEC regular season championship. In their last home game of the season, the Gamecocks used a 10-2 run midway through the first half to pull away from the Commodores, who never got closer than six points after the pivotal run. USC (22-6,14-1 SEC) stretched its lead to as much as 22 in a game some expected to be closer. In its previous seven games, Vandy had won six in a row and appeared headed to another over Kentucky before they allowed the Wildcats to come from 22 down to win. "We're pleased to have won here tonight against a Vanderbilt team that was playing extremely well coming in here," USC head coach Eddie Fogler said. The Gamecocks held Vandy to a miserable 34.6 percent from the field in taking a 13-point lead into halfhme, and held the Commodores to 37.7 earn j e I m ^ m SPORTS C si iockt yrm inr : TITLE percent for the game. Add to the Gamecocks' overwhelming edge in the rebounding column?47 to Vandy's 25?and it was only a matter of time before the 12,307 on hand exalted their newlycrowned champs. "Our offensive rebounding was terrific. We hurt them with a lot of second shots," Fogler said. h "We're pleased to win a share of the Southeastern Conference championship. That is not easy to do at this level of competition." Wednesday's game didn't follow the script of the traditional Vanderbilt/USC affairs. While the Gamecocks and Commodores usually produce down-to-the-wire thrillers, the two teams on this day weren't equal, as USC's.lead was only seriously threatened once. It came when Vandy outscored Carolina 20-11 to cut USC's lead to six. Pax Whitehead had just hit two free throws with 8:16 left in the second half to pull Vandy within 51-45. But on the ensuing possession, in perhaps the most critical momentum swing of the game, Whitehead was called for a foul on Larry Davis, his fourth of the game. Whitehead vehemently argued tra one farn direct sales skills ore marketable for th. If you are thinking of marketii here is your opportunity to gel We need students to work as J for Student Media Advertising work study or part-time pos Spring, Summer and Fall semi The job requires selling adver newspaper, Garnet & Black Q underwriting for WUSC FM s Make competitive earn Improve interpersonal i Learn time managemen Set your own work sch< Gain confidence Is youi )N MONDAY Check and see if *2 Senior Nate Wilbourne goes for tw< senior Larry Davis played their last j umpire David Day's call. Day charged Whitehead with a technical foul, his fifth. And as Whitehead left the court, so did any momentum the Commodores had gained. USC was quick to jump on Vandy, going on a 12-0 run over the next 4:54 to take a 63-45 lead when BJ McKie hit two free throws with 3:46 left. :?ic?:o[?rt<iiwMuaa9?l y! i and make yourself at full-time lob! ng as a career, t experience on campus. Marketing Consultants ^Internships, Co-op, itions are available for esters. tising for The Gamecock student uarterly student magazine or tudent radio. Ings (kills it and budgeting skills Mlule r sales ability AV->A mi Student Media Adverusing 1L / the Gamecocks could swee /$y err .... , .-*"2* MKKI THORPE The Gamecod > of his 10 points. Wilbourne and game at Frank McGuire Arena. McKie, who scored a game-high 18 points, said USC saw the opportunity to put Vandy away after the technical foul. "That was a big momentum swing," McKie said. "We did execute on the offensive end [after the technical]. That gave us a pretty good TITLE page 1 / 794-9000 I 1255 Knox Abbott Dr. West Columbia ADAM GAFNEYor " MICHAEL TOKAR Low-Fat Menu Mastered 2030 Devine Street 799-0196 A p Kentucky, rs Mb W Carolina softb a winner, taki] BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor All in all, the South Carolina softball team had a pretty good week. First, they won three of five games in a competitive UNLV Softball Classic Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday, the Lady Gamecocks learned they had moved up to No. 6 in the latest NFCA/USA Today Poll. They also learned Wednesday that two-time Ail-American pitcher Trinity Johnson was named the National Player of the Week for her performance in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, the Lady Gamecocks had to play then-No. 2 UCLA and defending-national champion Washington, among others. Despite dropping the first two games, Carolina came back strong to win their last three in impressive form. "It was nice, but we woukfve liked to get four out of the five [games]," head coach Joyce Compton said. "I thought overall we played pretty well." Sophomore center fielder Kim ' Pietro led both the offensive and defensive charge for USC. t She was 7-17 (.412) with one home i run, six RBIs and three runs scored in the five games. She also made spectacular catches in the field and i held opposing runners with her strong ! throwing arm. s On the mound, Johnson was the 1 star. In four appearances, Johnson went 3-1 with 24 strikeouts and a 0.36 ERA. She held UCLA to one hit Genuine Commitment * ALL SALE PRICES INCLUDE CM REBATES ^^rantand^v //ems the Art of Serving ' Delivery (PI http://w\ HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE When the Gamecocks have 12,000 or more fans in Frank McGuire Arena, they are 58-17 all-time. The Vandy crowd was iz,4U7. i all leaves Vegas rig three of five * I (a triple) in giving up her lone loss. For that performance, Johnson was named the National Player of the Week. "I think it's an honor we're all proud of as a team," Compton said. "It's definitely an honor. Ifs great and says a lot about the team," Johnson said. "It also says a lot about the defense because [the honor] wouldn't have happened without them making the plays behind me. It's an honor for the team, not just me individually." In the first game against Utah State, the Lady Gamecocks committed three errors and allowed six runs in losing to Utah State, 62. Junior Karri Peters and senior Kelly Dammer each went 3-for-four in the loss. Sophomore Nikki Beers pitched seven innings and gave up three earned runs in picking up the loss. In the second game on Friday, the Lady Gamecocks took on No. 3ranked UCLA. Despite a strong pitching performance from Johnson, USC was unable to put any base runners across the plate in dropping their second game in a row, 1-0. Carolina left five runners on base and managed only three hits, one apiece from Pietro, Carrie Lyons and Chanda Lee. Saturday was a much better day for the Lady Gamecocks as they SOFTBALL page 7 1 m GRAMME W A | im> 'use Specialties the Public vi omy}ana TaKe-out vw.scfivepoints.com