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Inside: Schedule Gamecock baseball, soccer receive awards, a Men s tennis at SEC indoor Championships, today-Sun. USC football chooses 2000 Homecoming H Rugby at Georgia Southern, 8 p.m. opponent ■ Men’s basketball at Georgia, Sat. ■ Track at SEC Fourway, Sat. USC ends streak at 19, tops Vandy Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports Although she was injured, Viki Hollosy, left, found time to high-five center Petra Ujhelyi,right,after the Gamecocks’ 52-48 over Vanderbilt Thursday. The win broke a 19-game SEC losing streak for USC. by Shannon Rooke Assistant Sports Editor If someone would have told the South Carolina women’s basketball team that they were going to have a repeat upset against a tough Vanderbilt team, they nev er would have believed it. The 1998 season was the last time that a game with these two teams took place in Columbia In a close matchup last night, the La dy Gamecocks dominated the Lady Com modores and pulled away for a 52-48 win. This win breaks the 19-game SEC los ing streak and sends Carolina to 1-3 in their conference. The Lady Gamecocks, led by Annie Lester with a total of 15 points, jumped out with an early 10-4 lead. After a tough, low-scoring first half, the Lady Gamecocks managed to hold the Commodores to just 16 points heading into the locker room. Staying strong and adding 13 points for Vanderbilt was Ashley Smith. Smith hit two clutch baskets with 14:10 left in the game and cut the once commanding Gamecock lead to just three. Smith’s steal six minutes later put the Lady Com modores up by two at 37 and gave them their first lead of the game. USC, however, was not to be shut down again. Carolina’s intimidating full-court press and strong defensive play paid off in the end and led to 16 total steals, three blocks, and 33 turnovers. “We knew that we had to come out and get the defensive job done to be suc cessful,” said SusanT\hlvius, USC’s head coach. “The defensive really wins the games and I think our team understands that. I was really pleased with our effort.” The defensive play made by the Game cocks wasn’t the only thing working for them in the upset. Heading to the free throw line and sinking 24 of 29 shots, USC can now take foul shooting off their list of things to work on before next game. Forced turnovers being one of them. * “I think we should have done a bet ter job of holding onto the ball,” said Walvius. “There were still some offensive turnovers and I still think we should do a better job of valuing the ball.” Next up for Carolina is another home SEC matchup against Florida on Sunday. The team has only confidence on the mind for now. “This win right here was long over due,” Lester said “It was time for us to win, because nobody likes to lose. They’re agood'team, and this shows us where we are.” Vanderbilt 14-4,2-2 SEC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO B S MIN 33 Jillian Danker, f 1 51 40 020 2333501 21 12 Chavonne Hammond, g 3 90 03 523 5393806 34 21 Chantelle Anderson, c 5 70 02 405 53 12 0400 29 13 Zuzana Klimesova, f 2 50 03 403 3470101 28 24 Ashley Smith, g 4 73 52 204 42 13 2502 27 50 Candice Storey 0 20 00 011 2000100 11 20 Leigh Strahinic 0 00 00 000 0000000 0 31 Gon Washington 0 20 10 001 1300211 9 32 Jennifer Holmes 0 00 00 244 8200311 13 10 Julie deGroot 1 30 20 000 0120100 13 22 Ashley McElhiney 1 40 10 101 1021200 15 15 Kim Palmer 0 00 00 000 0000000 0 25 Jackie Munch 0 00 00 000 0000000 0 Team 2 0 2 Totals 17 44 4 13 10 18 11 22 33 21 48 9 33 2 12 200 South Carolina 11-6,1-3 SEC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. FG F^A FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO B S MIN 32 Shaun Gortman, g 2 60 03 4 02 2 4 71 714. .25 44 Annie Lester, f 4 10 0 07 713 43 15 0202 32 34 Shannon Segres, f 2 60 04 423 5381404 19 00 Petra Ujhelyi,c 3 60 02 414 5480311 27 51 Shanta Jeffcoat, g 1 30 03 300 0251511 30 55 Linda Hoglund 0 00 00 000 0000100 2 05 Ines Ajanovic 1 20 00 001 1120100 10 11 Crishna Hill 0 20 20 001 1100001 17 33 Casie Key 0 00 00 000 0000000 0 10 Kelly Morrone 0 20 00 023 5003101 19 45 Jocelyn Penn 1 3'0 05 704 4370402 19 21 Viki Hollosy 0 00 00 000 0000000 0 Team 10 1 Totals 14 40 0 2 24 29 7 21 28 21 52 6 28 3 16 200 Gamecocks snatch defeat • from j aws of victory, 65-61 Carolina takes No. 4 Auburn to wire, but falls short Men’s Basketball Roundup Gamecock Sports For the third time in less than a week, the USC men’s basketball team played a ranked opponent. For the second time in less than a week, USC led with two minutes left in the ballgame. | For the second time in less than a week, the Gamecocks lost a game that had been in their grasp from the beginning. The opponent this time was the No. 4 Auburn Tigers, who came into the game with a 15-1 record, 3-0 SEC, and boast ed a pair of All-Americans in forward Chris Porter and guard Doc Robinson. USC put together one of its finest of fensive outputs to date, using a 50 per cent shooting night and a career-high 24 points from freshman guard Chuck Eid son to hang with the Tigers. With 1:08 re maining, the Gamecocks held a 61 -60 lead and the chance to pull off a momentous upset. However, just as in last week’s game against Syracuse, USC narrowly f missed the chance to beat a top opponent and lost, 65-61. After Tiger center Mamadou N’di aye converted two free throws to move Auburn ahead 62-61 with 49.5 seconds left, he was whistled for a foul on USC center Tony Kitchings at the other end of the court. Kitchings went to the line with a chance to tie or pull ahead of the Tigers, bringing back memories of Syracuse. In that game, Kitchings also was on the line with a chance to tie the game. But, just as he did against Syracuse, Kitchings missed both attempts. “When I went to the line I was con fident I would make them,” said Kitch ings, who is now 15-33 from the line for the season. “The outcome was different than I thought.” --1 USC shot 43.8 percent from the line against Auburn, almost the same per centage as an 11-24 night against the Orangemen. “I don’t know the answer,” USC coach Eddie Fogler said. “It’s hurt our team. We say, ‘You’ve got to make your free throws.’” The Gamecocks, 9-8,1-3 SEC, were able to contain the talented Tigers by get ting Porter in early foul trouble and containing N’diaye. Auburn guard Scott Pohlman, however, figured out the Game cock defense on his way to 19 points for the game. He was helped by Dameon Fish back, who only scored eight points but seemed to score only at crucial points. USC was down 54-38 with 11:26 left to play when they started to heat up. Led by Eidson and Heibert Lee Davis’ 12 points, the Gamecocks put together a 23-6 run to take the lead. They just couldn’t finish. “I’m not disappointed,” Fogler said afterwards. “I’m disappointed for them that they didn’t get a win for the effort, but I’m not disappointed in them at all.” The Gamecocks continue their road trip Saturday against the 8-9 Geoigia Bull dogs, a matchup of the two bottom teams in the SEC East. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Auburn 16-1, 4-0 SEC * TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO B S MIN 04 Chris Porter, f 3 70 00 022 4560200 16 34 Mamadou N'diaye, c 2 30 02 435 8360420 32 10 Scott Pohlman, g 7 10 4 51 210 10 19 2211 33 23 Daymeon Fishback, g 2 82 52 213 4482100 33 50 Doc Robinson, g 4 10 3 31 212 31 12 8101 32 11 Reggie Sharp 0 30 10 001 1002000 11 12 Jay Heard 3 63 50 00 1 1190101 8 31 Mack McGadney 2 61 20 023 5250001 21 44 David Hamilton 0 10 00 240 4201202 14 Team 0 1 1 Totals 23 54 13 21 6 12 14 18 32 18 6515 13 3 6 200 South Carolina 9-8,1-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO B S MIN 14 Herbert Lee Davis, f 5 11 1 51 122 41 12 1000 35 33 Damien Kinloch, f 1 20 00 300 0220102 14 12 Marius Petravicius, c 3 60 00 021 3560211 21 05 Chuck Eidson, g 9 14 3 43 523 53 24 3101 32 31 Aaron Lucas, g 2 61 31 202 2265300 35 00 David Ross 1 11 10 001 1033101 12 10 Jamel Bradley 0 10 10 000 000 0, 000 2 15 Travis Kraft 0 00 00 000 0000100 4 35 Antonio Grant 1 50 30 023 5220103 22 50 Tony Kitcliings 2 20 01 502 2160300 23 Team 13 4 Totals 24 48 6 17 7 16 9 17 26 16 6112 13 1 5 200 Jordan in way over his head 1 f Jeff ROM ig ^ Sports Editor When Michael Jordan joined the ' Washington Wizards ’ organization as part owner and president of basketball opera tions Wednesday, they got just the player they needed to propel them from the cel lar of the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. There’s only one catch. When Jordan suits up, it will be in Ar mani rather than a Wizards jersey. He will never set foot on the floor during a game, even though he might school each and every one of the current Wizards when he attends practices. And he does plan to attend practices. It will be his way of evaluating talent. “The best way to evaluate a player is look in his eyes and see how scared is, and I’ve seen that,” Jordan said. The look in whichever pair of eyes Jor dan is looking into will be priceless. His investment, however, was not Jordan wouldn’t comment on how much he dished out to become part owner of Wash ington D.C.’s worst sports team, but I guar entee you, it’s not worth what Jordan will in evitablygive up. On the court, Michael Jordan was un stoppable, but in the front office, he will be about as effective as Shawn Respert has been. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that Joidan has an excellant business sense. I’m also confident that lie can evaluate tal ent better than most. When Jordan was in the league, he could not be defended on a consistant basis. He would always find a way to score. That, however, isn’t the case now. In his new position, Jordan is no lopgpr su per human. He’s quite mortal actually. He might have an excellent plan of how Jordan see page B2 Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports USC guard Chuck Eidson scores two earlier this season against Furman. Eidson scored a career-high 24 points at Aurbum, but USC still lost 65-61. USC softball gears up for 2000 season Softball Roundup Gamecock Sports Losing the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and a formidable starting pitch er can be daunting obstacles for the average collegiate soft ball team to overcome. But, year after year the South Car olina squad has proved it is any thing but average. Although the Lady Game cocks have said good-bye to All-American and SEC Player of the Year Kim Pietro, pitch er Nikki Beers, who is seventh on USC’s all-tin^ strikeout list, and starting first baseman Lean na Troesh, the team is return ing a strong core of veteran play ers and six new faces. Last year’s team went 49 21 and advanced to its ninth NCAA Regional, and will pre sent four seniors, three juniors and three sophomores to this year’s squad. The 1999 Game cocks led the SEC in fielding percentage (.970), finished as the No. 19 team in the nation and had a 6-3 record against teams in the final Top 25 poll. Led by Coach Joyce Comp ton, the first team of the new century hopes to improve on those numbers. * PITCHING All-American sophomore Megan Matthews returns to an chor the Gamecock pitching staff. Matthews was one of USC’s most productive play ers last season, earning All-SEC and All-Southeast Region hon ors as well as being named SEC Pitcher of the \Vfeek three times. She put herself into the company of former Game cocks Trinity Johnson and Dar lene Lowery by finishing third on the USC season strikeout list with 313. Junior Joyce McMillin will be relied on as die second ace of the staff in 2000, a switch from her primarily m fielder status in 1999. McMillin pitched 54.2 innings last sea son, compiling a 7-2 record with a 1.54 ERA, as well as her first no-hitter against Iona She also produced solid numbers as a hitter, finishing second to Pietro in hits (69), RBIs (33) and doubles (13). McMillin led the Gamecocks with nine home runs as well. ENFIELD Second baseman Kim Schultze, shortstop Kendra McCutcheon and third base man Sondra Hall are all re turning for their senior seasons, t Softball see page b2