The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 08, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, February 8, 2002 7
^ m ^ GAME SCHEDULE
InAATrmAm tto I B / \ I Bill ^ ’ BASEBALL vs. Charleston So., 3 p.m. Friday-Sunday
LUNTACT US I—* I I I—< I SOFTBALL at FSU Tournament, Friday-Sunday
8 8 8 B \ 8 L MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Saturday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? | \ /|| Ik/ WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Clemson, 1 p.m. Saturday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com -M- V- F\_/ WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at Kentucky, 2 p.m. Sunday
GAMECOCK BASKETBALL
\ omen edge Georgia
Home-court victory gives women record for conference wins
With a total of
^ nine steals,
four more
than the
entire
opposition,
Jocelyn Penn
had a strong
defensive
showing in
Carolina's 64
59 win over
Georgia
Thursday
night. “I love
getting
steals,” Penn
said, “but I
just wanted
to play good
defense, and
If the steals
■ come, they
come.” The
win gave the
no. Laay
Gamecocks,
7-2 in the
SEC, a record
for
conference
wins. The
women’s
team is 19-3
overall, and
another win
would give
the squad its
first 20-wln
season in
more than a
* decade.
9 Thursday
night’s win
was also the
second over
the No. 19
Lady Bulldogs
this season.
PHOTO BY ROBERT
GRUEN
Georgia 59
use 64
BY JAMES STARNES
THE GAMECOCK
The No. 11 Lady Gamecocks
(19-3,7-2 SEC) set a new record for
conference wins with a 64-59 de
feat of the No. 19 Georgia Lady
Bulldogs (15-7,4-6) last night at the
Coliseum. Led by senior guard
Shaunzinski Gortman’s 18 points
and six rebounds, Carolina was
able to move to within one game
of its first 20-win season since the
1990-91 campaign. This marks the
first time ever that Carolina has
defeated Georgia twice in one sea
son, and only the second time ever
they’ve bettered the Lady Bulldogs
in Columbia.
uaronna Degan on a torrid
pace, opening the game with 15-4
run and showcasing a tenacious
defensive effort that forced 26
turnovers. Coupled with a re
lentless attack on offense,
Gortman and USC were able to
display a “showtime” brand of
basketball that has become vin
tage Lady Gamecocks this year.
Statistically, this was not the
best showing for the USC offense,
which shot only 41 percent from
the field and recorded its second
lowest total in assists (13) this sea
son. The Lady Gamecocks were
also outrebounded (36-26), but the
rabid tempo set by USC proved to
be too much for Georgia.
Georgia head coach Andy
Landers said: “We had too many
turnovers and played poor de
fense. They turned us over and
we didn’t turn them over. That
makes us have to work for every
single point.”
Carolina tied a season-high
mark in steals with 17. Jocelyn
Penn, normally the Lady
Gamecocks’ go-to player on of
fense, led the way defensively,*
recording nine steals. “I love get
ting steals,” Penn said, “hut I just
wanted to play good defense and if
the steals come, they come.”
The Lady Gamecocks, who
went into halftime with a 30-26
lead, had to withstand a 12-0 run
by the Lady Bulldogs to begin the
second half. Down 38-30 early in
the second half, Carolina cranked
up the pressure on defense. “The
press was a big part of our success
at Georgia; I was concerned with
going to it too early because of our
(lack of) depth,” USC head coach
Susan Walvius said. “It was the
reason we won the game.”
Center Petra Ujhelyi added 12
points on five of eight shooting,
while Christina Ciocan scored 12
of her own, dazzling the Lady
Bulldog defense with a barrage
oi niny iaKes ana no-iooK passes.
This was Gortman’s night,
however, and the senior was just
happy to play her part in the
win. “This has been a great year
for our team, especially for the
seniors,” Gortman said. “I’ll
leave with a great memory of
this season.”
With 9:26 left to play, Gortman
tied the game at 45 at the free
throw line, the first time the game
was tied since the opening mo
ments of the second half. With
7:30 left, Ciocan made two free
throws to give the Lady
Gamecocks a 49-47 lead. They
would not trail again.
The Lady Gamecocks were once
again without injured Teresa
Geter. Geter missed her third
straight game with a stress frac
ture in her foot.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Men to
face Vols
- •
at home
BY CHRIS FOY
THE (IAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball team
(13-9, 3-6 SEC) will be trying to
keep its postseason hopes alive to
morrow night when it welcomes
conference foe Tennessee (12-10,5
4) to Frank McGuire Arena
The two teams met two weeks
ago in Knoxville, when the
Gamecocks drilled the Volunteers
94-60. USC head coach Dave Odom
is reluctant, however, to write off
the Volunteers.
“We’ve got a Tennessee team
coming in here that are playing as
well as anybody in our league right
now,” he said. “The way they hung
in there during all the close losses
early in the season has really made
them come together. We just have
to score more points, we are nav
ing trouble scoring right now.”
The Volunteers are most re
cently coming off a huge win over
No. 7 Kentucky, downing them
Wednesday night in overtime 76
74. In the game, Marcus Haislip
put up 25 points and scored the
game-winner with 18 seconds left.
• Tennessee is averaging 74
points per game this season.
Vincent Yarbrough remains the
team’s leader in scoring with 18.5
points per game, and in steals with
43. Yarbrough also leads the con
ference in scoring. Haislip is sec
ond on the team with 16 points per
game.
First-year coach Buzz Peterson
is bringing his crew into
Columbia with nothing more than
revenge on their mind.
“South Carolina really laid it
on us last time we played them,”
Peterson said. “Our guys remem
ber that. So we’ve just got to go
down there and play well.”
Tipoff for tomorrow night’s
game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail. com
*
Football recruiting
class No. 7 in nation
£ BY J. KEITH ALLEN
m TUB GAMECOCK
Everyone can identify the key
dates in a football season: the
home opener, the big conference
match-up, and a possible bowl
□ game. Many foot
ball enthusiasts
speculate that a
non-descript week
day in February is
just as important as
any of those fall
weekends. The day,
of course, is
H<^tz National Signing
Day. Wednesday af
ternoon, high schools seniors
across the country had to finalize
^ their decisions for the upcoming
school year.
USC Head Coach Lou Holtz
called a press conference
Wednesday at Williams-Bryce
Stadium to discuss this year's in
coming recruits. ESPN Recruiting
expert Tom Lemming considers
this group the best in South
Carolina's history, and has ranked
them as high as seventh in the na
tion. Holtz spoke highly of his
newest Lramecocus.
"We have people who have po
tential to be big playmakers on
both offense and defense. The re
ceivers can run, the running
backs are talented."
Coach Holtz also spoke of his
^ immediate obligation to his new
troops.
"Our responsibility starts now.
When a family gives you their
most prized possession, which is
their child...we do not take that re
sponsibility lightly." Holtz con
tinued, "We have to make sure we
do a tremendous job for those par
ents."
•Among Carolina's new recruits
comes heavily scouted linebacker
Roiberto Hurley. The Greenwood
native punctuated his choice of
USC over Florida with an elabo
rate high school press conference
on Wednesday. He held up a
Florida jersey, only to remove his
jacket at the last minute to reveal
a black Carolina uniform, with the
number 14 across the chest.
Hurley was the number one
ranked linebacker prospect in the
nation according to Prep Star
magazine. He finished his senior
season with 82 tackles, five sacks,
and three forced fumbles.
Joining Hurley atop this year’s
stellar recruiting class is South
Carolina's "Mr. Football" award
winner, Moe Thompson. The
Goose Creek native was the first
Low Country resident to take
home the honor. Thompson was
rated as the No. 5 tight end in the
nation, and as the 15th best overall
prospect in the entire country.
Jeramine Harris, a transfer from
Georgia Military College has also
signed on with USC. Harris is the
nephew of former Pittsburgh
Steeler and Hall-of-Fame running
back Franco Harris. The All
American Defensive Back picked
Carolina over Kentucky, among
others.
Coach Holtz feels that factors
beyond a strong football program
brought these prospects to
Columbia. "They sensed a family
atmosphere here. One mom said, 'I
know I wanted my son to come to
your school when we drove up to
the hotel and your players were
waiting there for us; the first thing
they did was pick the luggage out
of the trunk and carry it in."'
Holtz and his staff sought out
these high schoolers for reasons
beyond their gridiron prowess.
"Many of them were captains,
many of them were class officers,
many of them were leaders...We
put a real emphasis on that."
Coach Holtz concluded his brief
ing with an overview of the pro
gram, and his thoughts on the up
coming Gamecock football season.
"We have a wonderful attitude
on this football team right now, if
we can keep it going, we have a
chance to be competitive."
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Baseball team begins
season this weekend
No. 8 Gamecocks
prepare for sixth
year under coach
Ray Tanner
BY LAWRENCE COLEMAN
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s baseball team
will kick off its sixth season un
der head coach Ray Tanner this
weekend with high hopes. The
Gamecocks should have plenty to
be excited about this season be
cause they’ve been projected to
finish first in the SEC East and
are ranked No. 8 in the Collegiate
Baseball preseason poll.
Many consider the Gamecocks
a legitimate national title con
tender, and Tanner likes his
team’s chances in the upcoming
campaign.
“I like the maturity of the play
ers and the experience of the
pitching staff,” said Tanner, who
was National Coach of the Year
in 2000. “We’re going to play an
older lineup, but there are some
newcomers who lack experience
in the Southeastern Conference.
It’s important, because of the
challenging schedule, to get off to
a good start.”
Carolina’s task will not be
easy. Thirty-one of its 56 games
will be against teams that quali
fied for the NCAA Tournament
the prior season, including
Clemson. Carolina will play the
Tigers on four separate occa
sions. Two of the games will be at
Sarge Frye Field, while the other
two will be on the road at Doug
Kingsmore Stadium.
Another crucial part of the
Gamecocks’ season will be their
series against defending SEC
champion Georgia. Scoring wins
against Georgia could land USC
an SEC championship, and would
be a great boost of confidence go
ing into the postseason.
Carolina brings back three se
nior pitchers in its run for a na
tional title: Chris Spigner, Gary
Bell and Blake Taylor. These three
notched a combined 22 wins last
year. Junior Tony Adler and
sophomore David Marchbanks
will also be key components of the
staff after securing eight victories
last season. The experienced pitch
ing staff should add great depth to
the Gamecocks’ defense and will
once again make them one of the
premiere teams in college baseball.
Sophomore Landon Powell
will take over the duties as start
“We’re going to play an
older lineup, but there
are some newcomers
who lack experience in
the Southeastern
Conference.”
RAY TANNER
use BASEBALL HEAD COACH
ing catcher. The lessons learned
during his first season should
help him to flourish in the vaunt
ed Gamecocks batting order.
Yaron Peters and Trey Dyson
will split time at first base. Both
infielders are seniors and would
like nothing better than to cap off
their college careers with stellar
seasons.
Shortstop Drew Meyer is a piv
otal player and capable of having
an All-American season. Meyer
has batted over .300 in each of his
previous two seasons.
Tanner has high praise tor the
player his teammates call
“Franchise.” “He could emerge
as the top collegiate shortstop in
the country,” Tanner said.
Garris Gonce is the lone re
turning starter in the outfield and
will play a vital role in the line
up. Gonce batted .338 last year.
The Gamecocks are aiming for
excellence after compiling a
Division I-leading total of 105
wins over the past two seasons.
More importantly, Carolina is
eyeing a berth in the College
World Series, which it has just
missed in those past two seasons.
USC throws out the first pitch
of the 2002 campaign today at 3
p.m., against Charleston
Southern at Sarge Frye Field.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
PHOTO BY AARON HARK
Garris Gonce, 2002 captain and 2001 All-SEC, Is the the
baseball team’s only returning starter in the outfield. Gonce
batted .338 last year. The team plays their first game today.