The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 04, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
T^l T^| m r^i GAME SCHEDULE
PONTAPTTN I_9 m ft I_9 I ' MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Florida, 7 p.m. Tuesday
UO I ■ ■ I \ I . WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Georgia, 7 p.m. Thursday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I B B B B I L 1 WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING at Florida St., Saturday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com —I— B B TRACK AND FIELD at the Meet of Champions (NYC), Saturday
«*■
USC back on track
0 USC 69
(Q| Florida 59
Lady Gamecocks
recoverfrom loss
with convincing
victory at Florida
BY J. KEITH ALLEN
THE GAMECOCK
The llth-ranked USC women’s
basketball team took to the road
Sunday to prove that last Sunday’s
loss to Arkansas was a mere hic
cup over the course of long, suc
cessful season. It would have to
prove this point against a worthy
opponent - the 12th-ranked Florida
Lady Gators.
Florida had redemption in
mind, as it was beaten on
Thursday night at the hands of
Tennessee, 86-66, but it fell short
on Sunday in Gainesville
nonetheless, as USC took care of
Florida 69-59 for a clutch SEC
road win.
USC head coach Susan Walvius
was pleased with her team’s ef
forts.
“The fight was there in the sec
ond half,” Walvius said. “This was
a big game for us, to come here
and get a road win. It’s a big win
for us; we beat a very good team
tonight.”
Walvius had to devise a differ
ent game plan than usual, as
standout forward Teresa Geter
missed her second straight game
due to a stress fracture in her left
foot. Apparently, that plan was to
get the ball in the hands of forward
Jocelyn Penn early and often.
Penn, who was featured in this
week’s Sports Illustrated, scored
29 points for the Lady Gamecocks
(18-3, 6-2 SEC), including 11 of the
team’s first 13 points. Penn added
seven rebounds and five steals in
the win.
The game was tight from the on
set, as both teams traded baskets
with a spirited, competitive brand
of basketball. There were 10 lead
changes and four tie scores in the
opening half.
The Lady Gamecocks took the
court for the second half down 31
PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN
Jocelyn Penn, pictured here against Kentucky, scored a game-high 29 points In USC's win
over No. 12 Florida on Sunday.
29 to the Lady Gators (15-7, 5-4).
SEC assist leader Cristina
Ciocan nailed two consecutive 3
po inters for USC early in the sec
ond half to put the team ahead 35
34. Penn continued to have the
hot hand in the second half, and
her jumper with seven minutes
remaining put USC ahead, 46-45.
USC would never trail again
in the contest. Penn’s basket trig
gered a nine-point run that
would put the game out of reach.
The run was capped with a
Shaun Gortman jump shot with
3:40 remaining that gave USC an
11-point lead, its largest of the af
ternoon.
Florida refused to concede,
however, and guard Brandi
McCain continued to attack from
behind the 3-point line. She got
the Lady Gators within six points
with two minutes left on the
clock.
But Shannon Segres iced the
victory for the Lady Gamecocks,
sinking four consecutive free
throws in the waning minutes of
the contest. The clutch baskets
put USC ahead by 10 points.
McCain finished with 14
points for Florida, and forward
Vanessa Hayden added 12
points and 15 rebounds in the
defeat. Carolina was especially
concerned with Hayden, whom
Walvius considered “ the best
post player in the SEC.”
USC won at The O’Connell
Center for only the third time in
its history, and for the first time
since the 1991-1992 season. The
victory keeps them in the thick
of the hunt for the SEC title, only
one game behind Tennessee.
The Lady Gamecocks face an
other tough SEC foe at home this
week, against Georgia at 7 p.m.
on Thursday.
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Track teams
perform well
Men’s and
women’s teams
place several in.
weekend meets
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
It was a busy weekend for
USC’s men’s and women’s track
and field teams, ranked No. 15 and
No. 1.
The Gamecocks hosted the USC
Open Invitational, an indoor meet
featuring several schools from
across the Carolinas and Georgia.
Also, Carolina took part in the
Tyson Invitational, held at the
University of Arkansas.
In the USC Open, both the men
and women had several top per
formances.
Kalilah Carpenter and Sheneka
Griffin finished first and fourth,
respectively, in the women’s 55
meter dash, while Mikisha Lewis
and Abby Sox placed the same in
the 800 meters. Rachel Smith out
paced her opponents and won the
mile run with a time of 5 minutes,
37 sprnnris Tn thp wnmpn’s nnlp
vault, Rachel Farabee landed in
third place, achieving a mark of
3.05 meters.
The women’s throwers shared
in the success as well, with Keri
Groover finishing fourth in the
shot put and Aisha Grant,
Qualenda Washington and
Groover placing 7-8-9 in the weight
throw.
The men’s team showed that
they, too, were up for the chal
lenge that awaited them.
The sprinters were especially
successful, with James Adkisson
finishing third in the 55 meters,
Trace Wilson placing second in
the 400 meters, and Jarred
Johnson winning the 600 meters.
Mark Howell and David
Machemer finished first and third,
respectively, in the 800 meters,
while Howell also won the 1-mile
run. Fred Townsend and Johnson
placed first and third in the 55-me
ter high hurdle9, and Carolina pre
vailed in the 400-meter relay. Lee
Fletcher got second place in the
pole vault with a mark of 4.26 me
ters. Sean Krawiecki, Greg
Royster, and Ben Yocum landed
in third, fourth and sixth place in
the high jump. Chris Vanderbrink
finished second in both the shot
put and weight throw.
Success continued in Arkansas
for the Gamecocks. On the
women’s side, Aleen Bailey won
the 60- and 200-meter dashes, with
teammate Erica Whipple placing
third in both races. Demetria
Washington finished second in the '
200.
In the unseeded 400-meter dash,
Lisa Barber ended in second place,
with Tiffany Ross fifth. Carolina’s
400-meter relay team won the com
petition and four Lady Gamecocks
placed in the 60-meter hurdles.
Chelsea Hammond finished sec
ond in the high jump and twelfth
in the long jump, while Antoinette
Wilks and Tacita Bass went 2-3 in
the long jump. Wilks also placed
12th in the triple jump.
In the shot put, India Odum fin
ished eighth, and in the weight
throw, Mamee Groves came in
second. Leshinda Demus, Bass,
anH Shaurm RtnHHart want O.'i.A in
the seeded 400 meter dash.
The men also fared well against
their opponents in Arkansas.
Three Gamecocks were finalists
in the 60-meter dash, with Andre
Totton the best at seventh
place. Totten also placed fourth
in the 200 meters. Gerald Pressley
(7th) and Jon Fortenberry (17th)
were among finalists in the un
seeded 400-meter dash. Corey
Taylor finished ninth in the 60-me
ter hurdles, while the 400-meter
relay team came in third place.
Otis Harris placed fourth in the
seeded 400-meter dash, and
Otukile Lekote came in sixth in
the seeded 800 meters. Chris
Steddum and Jared Farabee fin
ished fourth and eighth, respec
tively, in the seeded pole vault.
After a successful weekend, the
Gamecocks will be in action again
on Feb. 9 at the Meet of
Champions in New York City. On
Feb. 16, USC will hold the
Gamecock Indoor Invitational.
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Not so close this time
S use . 74
% Kentucky 91
Kentucky rolls to
easy victory in
Rupp rematch
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
This weekend, the USC men’s
basketball team failed to avenge
its Jan. 12 loss to the Kentucky
Wildcats, suffering a 91-74 defeat
Saturday at Rupp Arena in
Lexington.
The defeat marks Carolina’s
12th straight loss to Kentucky (15
5,5-3 SEC). The Gamecocks (13-8,
3-5) have not beaten the Wildcats
since 1997.
USC head coach Dave Odom
credited the Wildcats’ entire team
for the victory.
“Certainly we were beaten by
an excellent Kentucky team,”
Odom said. “They did whatever
they wanted to do to whomever
they wanted to do it to offensive
ly. Our team was not prepared de
fensively. It was definitely a
Kentucky say, and I want to give
Tubby (Smith) and his team cred
it.”
Chuck Eidson led the
Gamecocks in their fight to stop
Kentucky, scoring 25 points.
Eidson also shot 60 percent from
downtown, made seven assists
and grabbed five rebounds. Jamel
Bradley also scored 14 points for
USC.
Gerald Fitch matched his ca
reer-high of 17 points for the
Wildcats. He led Kentucky with
nine rebounds as well. Tayshaun
Prince added 16 points and Cliff
Hawkins contributed 15 more.
Despite a close contest in the
early first half, the Gamecocks be
gan to fall behind after a series of
Fitch 3-pointers put the Wildcats
ahead 26-19 with 9:20 remaining in
the half. Hawkins, not typically
known for his 3-point shooting
also connected from beyond the
arc.
Bradley and Eidson answered
by sinking some 3-pointers for
USC, however, the Gamecocks
made some careless turnovers
along the way, making it easy for
Kentucky to assume the lead.
The combination of Fitch and
Hawkins’ downtown shooting es
tablished Kentucky’s domination
of the scoreboard. The Wildcats
shot 63 percent for the first half
and led 46-31 at halftime.
Shot clock problems delayed
the game for a short period of time
in both periods, and in the second
half, USC returned to cut the
Kentucky lead to 52-45 with 14:35
remaining. It cut the deficit to sev
en points in the second half.
However, a Fitch layup, fol
lowed by a Jules Camara 3-point
er, got the crowd roaring again.
Kentucky went op an 11-1 run and
soared to a 63-46 lead.
Bradley felt the influence of the
crowd at Rupp Arena.
“They would hit a shot and the
whole place would just get loud,”
Bradley said. “They kept making
runs on us, and we just couldn’t
come back.”
Keith Bogans launched the 3
point shot that put the Wildcats
ahead 68-48 at the nine-minute
mark. Only three minutes earlier,
the shot was Bogans’ first field
goal of the afternoon.
Rashaad Carruth knocked
“Our team was not
prepared defensively. It
was definitely a
Kentucky say, and I
want to give Tubby •
(Smith) and his team
credit.”
DAVE ODOM
use MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
down a three-pointer that took UK
to a 73-51 lead, and shortly after,
Kentucky emptied its bench as it
led the Gamecocks by more than
20 in the final minutes.
The Wildcats made 11 of 22 3
point shots. They easily topped the
Gamecocks by shooting 58 percent
from the field, while USC averaged
44 percent. Kentucky controlled
the boards as well, outrebounding
Carolina 38-27. The Gamecocks
also committed 18 turnovers.
The last meeting of these teams
was a much closer competition
that resulted in a 51-50 Wildcat vic
tory. This defeat is Carolina’s fifth
loss in its last eight games.
Odom lauded Kentucky’s ef
forts.
“UK has a lot of great players
and go-to guys,” he said. “Plus,
when they go on a 10-0 run, it
makes it real difficult to come
back. It’s hard to fight back when
everything is going against you.”
The Gamecocks will return to
the Coliseum on Tuesday, when
they face No. 5 Florida in another
crucial SEC matchup. That game
will be televised on ESPN2 and is
scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
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TIDE PAYS THE PRICE
NCAA hands down
sanctions on Alabama
Football team
penalized for
violations
BY EVAN WOODBERY
THE CRIMSON WHITE
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. (U<
WIRE) — University of
Alabama officials vowed to ap
peal some of the harshest
sanctions handed down
against an athletic program
in recent history.
The NCAA Committee on
Infractions ordered Alabama
to cut 21 football scholarships
over the next three years and
slapped the school with a two
year ban on postseason play.
In a Friday afternoon tele
conference, committee chair
man Thomas Yeager said the
committee nearly gave
Alabama the “death penalty”
— the elimination of the foot
ball program.
“They were staring down
the barrel of the gun,” Yeager
said.
Only a zealous effort by the
university’s administration
and compliance officials saved
Alabama from that measure,
Yeager said. He said it was the
closest the committee had
come to eliminating a pro
gram since Southern
Methodist University was giv
en the death penalty in 1987.
University President
Andrew Sorensen' immedi
Dennis
Franchione
will be
shackled In
recruiting
after the
NCAA
imposed
heavy
sanctions on
the Alabama
football
program.
The NCAA
punished the
Crimson
Tide for four
major
violations.
The Tide
was handed
a two-year
bowl ban
and had
scholarships
taken away.
PHOTO SPECIAL
TO THE
GAMECOCK
ately promised to appeal the rul
ing, a process that could take six
months.
“We regret that we must pro
long this process, but the decision
that we have been given today is
simply unacceptable,” Sorensen
said.
The university had already im
posed a 15-scholarship cut over
the next three seasons, but they
had not imposed a bowl ban. The
NCAA’s penalty was significantly
more than university officials an
ticipated.
Yeager said the university’s
status as a repeat offender caused
the harsher sanctions. This was
Alabama’s third run-in with the
NCAA in the last six years.
In the current case, the NCAA
rejected Alabama’s arguments
and essentially found the
University “guilty” of four major
violations.
♦ The committee found that
improper recruiting methods
were used to entice'Alabama prep
star Kenny Smith. Smith was giv
en cash by boosters in an effort
to get him to play football at
Alabama. Smith never enrolled.
♦ The committee found that
dissociated Tide booster Logan
♦ ALABAMA, SEE PAGE 8