The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 16, 1998, Page 5, Image 5
Check out Monday's issue of
The Gamecock for the results of
the Carolina/Georgia basketball
game in Athens.
Friday, January 16,1998
Wah
The Lady Gamecock
basketball team earned its
first SEC victory of the season
?... J-/ Jj IT- /" T7 I L.'ll
p uy uejeiumg ivu. o vuruurrum,
sports editor ACHIM HUNT
This week the two basketball teams
at the University of South Carolina had
to face both the men's and women's No.
6 team in the nation within a 24hour
period. To be quite honest, most
Carolina fans thought the men's team
would be the only one with a chance to
realize victory.
But those fans obviously didn't give
enough credit to a scrappy bunch of
women that make up the women's basketball
team otherwise known as
Walvieball. USC beat No. 6 Vanderbilt,
70-66.
ivirst-year neaa coacn ousan
Walvius has said from her first day in
town that she is not interested in wins,
but more in the growth of a team that
has finished at or near the cellar of the
tough SEC the past 5 seasons.
The crowd of just over 1,800, most
of which where high school basketball
^ players who participated in a clinic led
by two players from the WNBA's Charlotte
Sting, saw a tough defensive effort
from USC highlighted by nine steals
and 19 turnovers by Vanderbilt.
"I thought that we played with a lot
of composure today," Walvius said. "We
played team basketball. We executed,
but our defense won the game today."
USC led by as many as nine
points in the first half, but slowed down
as the half ended. The Lady Comd
madores actually led at the half29-27.
The lead stretched to six when the
game was 39-33 only four minutes into
the second half when the Lady Gamecocks
picked up the pressure and started
trading basket for basket in a close
game.
i Now we k
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Scoop Shots
So now we know.
Thirteen games into this basketball
season, four conference games played,
and we finally know what these Gamecocks
have to offer.
Which isn't a 15-1 run in the SEC.
Not an undisputed conference title. And
after Tuesday, it's certainly, most definitely
not a clean sweep of the mighty
Kentucky Wildcats.
Taking two from UK?better yet,
one at Rupp Arena- isn't accomplished
often. Surprise season? That was last
year. This is 1998, payback year. At
least that's the way it has been so far.
Last season, Ole Miss came to Columbia
hoping to push around the upstart
Gamecocks. They suffered their worst
^ loss of the season, a 23-point blowout,
that January day.
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At first the outside shots were nc
falling for the Lady Gamecocks, bu
sophomore Annie Lester brought dowi
11 rebounds and scored 27 points in
side the paint to help Carolina kee
pace with Vanderbilt.
"I think a lot of people weren't es
pectingus to do much this year," Leste
said. "It's a great feeling to beat the N(
6 team in the country."
Carolina worked hard on the board
the whole night and outrebounded th
taller Lady Commadores 38-30.
The second half was a close gam
in which both teams seemed to pla
with composure and matched each otl
er basket for basket for a 10-minut
stretch in the second half.
"Today we played team offense
Walvius said. "Defensive effort, the
going down and executing on offensi
that is how teams win ball games
The key point in the game came lat
when, with the Lady Gamecocks up 6f
64 with 55 seconds left, senior Nik!
Miars scored on a 3-point play to giv
USC a 68-64 lead.
After a Vandy basket with 8.5 se<
onds left, the score was 68-66 with US<
on top. After Lisa Williams wa
fouled with 5.9 seconds left she steppe
up to the line and nailed both shots t
put Carolina up by their final four poii
margin of victory.
"Well, I have been in that situatio
before, and it felt good to watch thos
shots fall through," Williams said.
But from hearing Coach Walvii
after the game, you wouldn't think thi
her team had just beaten the No. 6 teai
in the nation.
"Hopefully we can learn from th
win," Walvius said.
The Lady Gamecocks' next game
against SEC foe Florida in Gainesvil]
on Saturday at 8 p.m.
now when
USC traveled to Oxford almost tv
weeks ago. The Rebels, now upstar
themselves, returned the favor by han
ing the Gamecocks a 19-point loss.
Tuesday, on perhaps their bigge
stage this year and undoubtedly the
biggest last season- the Gamecocl
failed and got drilled, 91-70, by Kei
tucky.
The 12 3-point placards that line
the upper deck of Rupp Arena migl
r have reminded the Gamecocks of the
long-range shooting exploits from a se
son's past. Last year, you wouldn't hai
envisioned coach Eddie Fogler pullii
the stunt he did late in the second ha
at Kentucky to protest what he felt wi
a bad call by the referee.
In a fit of rage, yelling obscenitii
to anyone and everyone, Fogler grabtx
a ball that had rolled out of bounds ai
slammed it to the floor. After veh
mently pleading his case to the re
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31 Lisa Williams goes up for a shot
Jt _r 1 nnm n_!?l 1 rnu r
uciciiucr. wiiii<uii? luiuucu wiui a
is pointers. She also had two free th
over the No. 6 Lady Commadores i
is people. Carolina's next game is Si
le Lady Gators of Florida. Gametime I
on WCOS AM-1400.
i the Gamec
ro Fogler looked up and, jeez, it was still
ts up there, coining down after what apd"
peared an evening's flight to Rupp's
rafters.
Twelve 3-pointers, a season high.
,ir Twenty-five assists, a season high as
well. Seven turnovers, a season low.
a- ...
You can say LeRon Williams is
^ showing promise. William Gallman
tit played 20 minutes Tuesday, was 2-ofir
5 from the field for seven points, pulled
a- down seven rebounds. Ryan Stack came
away with three rebounds when he
wasn't venturing outside to do what he
^ does best-shoot.
When Larry Davis left last year, so
QQ did a chunk of the scoring. In USC's
^ two victories over the Wildcats last seaid
son, Melvin Watson, Bj Mckie and Lare
ry Davis scored 101 of the Gamecocks'
if, 156 points.
IB
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SEAN RAYFORD Asst. Photo Editor
Wednesday night over a Vanderbilt
10 points and had several key 3irows
that sealed the 70-66 upset
n front of a crowd of about 2,000
iturday in Gainesville against the
s set for 8 p.m. and can be heard
ocks stand
Offensively, Herbert Lee Davis and
Antonio Grant aren't doing enough to
compensate for the loss of Davis. .
But more important, last year's
Gamecocks played with a sense of purpose,
offensively and defensively, that
hasn't been seen from this year's squad.
That isn't to say USC isn't a good
team; they are good, just not outstanding,
like they were last season.
Two years ago, the Gamecocks went
14-1 at home but were 1-8 in opposing
teams' arenas. Last vear. thev went 11
3 at home and 9-1 on the road.
The 1995-96 team finished 19-12
and went to the NIT. Last year's team
went 24-8 and went to the NCAAs.
This year? It's looking like somewhere
in between.
Which ain't so bad, all things considered.
^i i
Classes are filling
up!
Class begins
1/31 at the
Columbia Kaplan
center and 1/27 at
South Carolina
State University
in Orangeburg.
now to enroll! I
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EE
Nate
led
111C
firstwoi
rout
ijor u
USC routed
face 'must w
asst. sports editor NATHAN BROWN
i
LEXINGTON, Ky. ? If you've ever
watched an NFL game, chances are
you've seen a player score a touch- r
down and then "dunk" the football over r
the field goal post in celebration.
wniie tne in* l. may nave Dorrowea \
the "slam" from basketball, USC head
basketball coach Eddie Fogler borrowed
pro-football's most notorious
mode of celebration, the "spike." He
did it not to express bis happiness, but
rather his frustration in Tuesday's 9170
loss to the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats.
With 4:09 remaining in the contest,
a scuffle on the floor for a loose
ball ended with a questionable call
that gave Kentucky possession.
After the call, Fogler picked up the
ball and slammed-it off" the hardwood
at Rupp Arena which sent the ball
sailing high into the air. ]
n i . J* 1.1 ? _
1-800-K)
www.kap
*GRE is a registered trademark o(II
J. nig
Soni
r ogier was immediately given a j
technical. \
"I want to know if anybody has
bounced the ball higher off the Rupp ^
Arena floor, and if not, I want my name j
in the media guide next year as hav- {
ing that record," Fogler said in the
post-game press conference. j
When someone replied that the
Globetrotters probably held the record, j
Fogler said, "Globetrotters. Shit. Fm ]
disappointed.. .1 want to get a Rupp ]
Arena record. The Globetrotters don't
count. They're professionals. They get i
paid." I
By the time Fogler was joking ;
about arena records, the record of his <
No. 16 Gamecocks had dropped to 10- ,
3 (2-2 SEC) with the bulk of a tough
conference schedule left. i
Next up for USC will be the Geor- ]
gia Bulldogs who are 8-7 (0-3 SEC). :
The Bulldogs were the only SEC team
to beat Carolina last year, pulling off i
the feat twice, once in Athens by three
points and by 15 points in Memphis
at the SEC tournament.
The Gamecocks beat UGA by 11
points in Frank McGuire Arena at last
year's first meeting.
So far this year, both teams have
had disappointing seasons compared
to last year's.
" Event: South Care
^, Where: Athens, C
When: Sunday, 4
TV: cbs Radic
Records: use 11
UGA E
; says that on this date in 1996,
by Antoine Walker's 28 points,
Kentucky Wildcats scored 86
-half points against LSU. They
ild win the game 129-97 en
e to a national championship.
Page 5
ipset
bv UK, I
in' at UGA
The Gamecocks have already lost
nore SEC games than they did for the
sntire 96-97 season.
"We've got to have this one," julior
William Gallman said. "It's a
nust-win game."
Senior Melvin Watson emphasized
;he importance of this game.
"Sunday's game is a big one for us,"
Watson said. "Actually, it's a big game
or both of us because they're 0-3 in
fie conference and we're 2-2. We're
wo games back of first place and we
ion't want to dig a hole."
The Bulldogs are only tWo losses
iway from matching their total number
of losses from 96-97, despite relurning
all five starters from last year.
Georgia's major setback of the year
:ame when Head Coach Tubby Smith
accepted the head position at Ken;ucky.
Even though his father left for the
Bluegrass State to coach the Wildcats,
unior guard G.G. Smith decided to
finish his career at Georgia.
Snjith poses a problem for USC's
guards not only because of his quickless
off the dribble but also with his
ability to score.
Smith racked up a career-high 22
joints against Carolina last year.
Other players who can be dangerous
for UGA are All-SEC forward
Michael Chadwick and All-SEC guard
Etay Harrison.
Perhaps the most dangerous
weapon for the Bulldogs is Stegeman
Coliseum. Georgia has won 20 out of
30 against USC in Athens, and in this
series, the home team has won the
past seven contests.
"I expect the game to be an all-out
war," Watson said. "We haven't had
much success down there. ItH be a difficult
game.
"We'll have to play hard and go out
there and get the win."
Both teams need wins to salvage
their slow starts in the SEC.
The Gamecocks look to rebound
from a tough Kentucky loss while the
Bulldogs trv to end a four game los
ing skid. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
The game will be televised from
Athens on CBS.
rJ7JT7?TTSri^M
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tlina at Georgia
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