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8 - GAME SCHEDULE BASEBALL vs. East Tennessee St., Friday-Sunday SOFTBALL at Gamecock Invitational, 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday rflNTAPT T TS TRACK AND FIELD in Gamecock Indoor Invitational Saturday UUi' 1 EQUESTRIAN in USC Tournament Saturday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S BASKETBALL at Vanderbilt, 5 p.m. Saturday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com WOMEN’S BASKETBALL at LSU, 3 p.m. Sunday INEXPLICABLE PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN Not even Christina Ciocan can explain why the No. 9 Lady Gamecocks are so hot this season. The Lady Gamecocks earned their 21st victory Thursday night over the Crimson Tide. This season markes the first time in over a decade that the Lady Gamecocks have recorded a 20-win season. BY RYAN CLARY THE GAMECOCK For the third time this season, the USC men’s basketball team had the ball with the last shot and a chance to upset a ranked oppo nent at home. For the third time this season, the Gamecocks were unsuccess ful in their efforts. Wednesday night at Frank McGuire Arena, No. 7 Alabama defeated USC 52-51, putting on thin ice the Gamecocks’ chances for a NCAA berth. After a promis ing start, the Gamecocks let the game slip away in the second half. ‘Tm disappointed in the loss, but more disappointed that we didn’t make intelligent plays,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. “We didn’t have the edge in the second half.” Aaron Lucas led the Gamecocks in scoring for the second straight game with 17 points. Erwin Dudley and Rod Grizzard of Alabama led all scorers with 20 points each. Trailing by one with 26 seconds remaining in the game, the Gamecocks had the ball with a chance to win. With eight seconds remaining, Chuck Eidson drove the lane and looked to have an open shot, but chose to attempt a pass to Rolando Howell. The pass was tipped away with three seconds left, but USC still had possession. “The play was so fast,” Eidson said. “I had a lane, and when I got inside, I just decided to pass to Howell instead of taking the shot.” The ensuing inbound play was to Jamel Bradley, who got off a tough shot but missed. Howell got the rebound and put up a last-gasp fadeaway jumper that didn’t fall. “We just couldn’t finish the play,” Bradley said. “Let’s give Alabama the credit.” Alabama, which shot 54 percent in the second half, held USC to just 27 percent shooting during that same time. Alabama came back from a 15-point deficit, and did it without making a single 3-point er. The Crimson Tide didn’t make one 3-pointer the entire game. Carolina didn’t help its cause by going scoreless in the final 4:27. “It’s time for us to grow up and take shots,” Odom said. Carolina dominated the first half of play, mainly with their de fense. USC held Alabama to just 15 points on 25 percent shooting in the first half, a season-best for points allowed in a half. USC took a 28-15 lead into halftime. Bradley was one player who, for what seemed to be the first time this season, did not have a good game. He was held to just two points and went 0-4 from 3-point range. “They just played good de fense,” Bradley said. Carolina now heads to Nashville, Tenn., where it will look to get even with Vanderbilt. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Men blow first-half lead; women win easily in games against Alabama jjjjjSj Alabama 54 1 usc 69 BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK At least one USC basketball team beat Alabama this week. The No. 9 Lady Gamecocks had a rela tively easy time with the Crimson Tide, winning 69-54 at the Frank McGuire Arena on Thursday evening. Shaunzinski Gortman put on an offensive showcase for the home crowd, leading all scorers with 24 points. Teresa Geter also made a return appearance after missing the last four games with a stress fracture in her left foot. Carolina withstood two rallies by Alabama and put away the Tide with a second-half spurt. “I think our team is doing a great job this year, and we’re tak ing it game by game,” Gortman said. “I think we hustled and found a way to win the game.” The Lady Gamecocks wasted no time in building up an early lead. Fueled by six points from Gortman, Carolina raced out to a 10-0 start, but Alabama came right back. Seniors LaNisha Cartwell and Sparkle Smith each contributed six points as the Crimson Tide mounted its first rally. Cartwell, who led the Tide with 11 points, hit a layup late in the first half to tie the match at 14 apiece. Not long after, Tatyana Troina put the Lady Gamecocks in the driver’s seat. Her 3-pointer gave Carolina a 19-16 lead, and behind Gortman’s six points, USC closed out the opening half ahead 27-21. Despite both teams shooting about the same percentage from the floor in the first half, Carolina was on a roll going into the break. The Lady Gamecocks had their way with Alabama, outrebound ing the Tide 20-15 and outshooting them from behind the arc, 28.6 per cent to 16.7 percent. USC also forced the Crimson Tide into more turnovers, resulting in 10 points for Carolina. Going into the second half, USC maintained its six-point lead un til Troina stepped up with consec utive 3-pointers. On the first of the two, she was fouled and hit the free throw for the four-point play. “I didn’t see what the score was. I got out there and shot the ball. If you shoot the ball enough, you’ll get it in,” Troina said. “We’ve got to clean up our offensive play before the SEC and NCAA tournaments. We can be an offensive machine when we play better. We’re good when we focus on our next team and we focus on competing.” SUSAN WALVIUS USC WOMEN'S HEAD BASKETBALL COACH The Lady Gamecocks then led by 13, but Alabama quickly made another rally. Monique Bivins sparked the Tide with eight points and team mate Shun Hunter added four as Alabama went on a 14-4 run to pull within three. USC replied with seven unan swered points to build a 52-42 ad vantage. Jocelyn Penn and Cristina Ciocan took it upon themselves to carry their team late in the game. Penn scored ten and Ciocan put in five as the Lady Gamecocks closed the night with a 17-11 run to take the game from Alabama. Geter, playing in her first game since the home victory against Kentucky last month, saw 10 min utes of action and finished with a pair of rebounds and a blocked shot. Her block was one of 20 Tide turnovers. Carolina outplayed the Tide in the paint, scoring 42 com pared to Alabama’s 22. Walvius said her squad s for tune is a result of a team effort. “We’ve missed [Geter] while she’s been gone, but others have stepped up. We don’t rely on one player. We ask everyone to give more,” she said. “We’ve been able to win without a key player, and that’s helped our success.” She said there is room for im provement, however. “We’ve got to clean up our of fensive play before the SEC and NCAA tournaments. We can be an offensive machine when we play better. We’re good when we focus on our next team and we focus on competing,” Walvius said. “You don’t take success for granted,” Troina said. The Lady Gamecocks will re turn to the court Sunday when they face off against LSU in Baton Rouge at 3 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Softball team sweeps doubleheader at home BY JAMES STARNES THE GAMECOCK The USC softball team, ranked * No. 22 in the nation, swept a dou bleheader Wednesday afternoon against Georgia Southern and gave head coach Joyce Compton her 900th and 901st career victo ries. Megan Matthews was the story in the first game, as she set new school records for appearances (156) and innings pitched (896 2/3) en route to her third win of the season. Matthews (3-0) worked 10 innings in the 1-0 victory and al lowed only three hits. She also struck out 10 batters and walked none. The senior, changing speeds magnificently, kept the Georgia Southern lineup off balance the entire afternoon to capture her 34th career shutout. Eagles starter Aimee Littlejohn (0-2) pitched an outstanding game in her own right, holding the Lady Gamecocks hitless into the fifth inning. Littlejohn struck out three and only allowed three hits, but she walked four batters (two in the last inning) and gave up the only run of the game. The Lady Gamecocks manufac tured that game-winning run on a fielder’s choice. Second baseman Debralee Troesh led off the bottom of the tenth with a walk. Tia Rogers then bunted Troesh over to second to give the Lady Gamecocks a runner in scoring position for only the fourth time in the game. Right fielder Melissa Sandel was able to draw another walk, giving the Gamecocks runners on first and second. After Troesh moved to third on a fielder’s choice, center fielder Jodi Fittro reached first on anoth er fielder’s choice to score her for the win. A mental breakdown cost the Eagles the win. The winning run was scored on a routine ground ball with two outs. Instead of get ting the force out at first, Eagles third baseman Kim Griffin opted to try and throw Troesh out at home. But the tag was late and the game was over. The win was a closer call than expected for the Lady Gamecocks. Georgia Southern came into the game winless at 0-4. “You can’t ever assume any thing,” Compton said. “We have to remember to go out hard every time. We struggled with the bats in the first game and were very lethargic at the plate.” USC’s offense arrived in game two, and combined with another solid’^itching performance, the Lady Gamecocks took a 7-3 victo ry. Stacey Johnson (1-2) worked all seven innings, struck out five and allowed only one earned run for her first win of the year. The Lady Gamecocks, who moved to 4-2 with the victory, fell behind 1-0 in the top of the fourth, only to get three runs on four hits in their half of the fourth. They added four more runs on five hits in the fifth inning to put the game away. Kim Evans, Meghan Cornett, and Troesh all had multiple-hit games, while both Amber Curtis and Cornett drove in a pair of runs. “We started to pick things up in the second game when they scored,” Compton said. “You hate that it has to be that way some times, but I’m glad they did re spond and we started scoring.” With the pair of losses, Georgia Southern dropped to 0-6. Next up for Carolina is the Gamecock Invitational Feb. 16-17 at Beckham Field. The Lady Gamecocks will face UAB at 3 p.m. and then Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday, the Lady Gamecocks will meet Jacksonville State at 3 p.m. and East Tennessee State at 5 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com Baseball prepares to face off against East Tennessee State BY J. KEITH ALLEN THE GAMECOCK The USC baseball team opens its second series of the season to day at Sarge Frye Field when it takes on Southern Conference op ponent East Tennessee State. The Gamecocks (30) look to keep up the momentum from last week end’s sweep of a clearly over matched Charleston Southern squad. In that series, USC outscored the Buccaneers by a combined score of 33-6, highlighted by an eight-run outburst in the first in ning of Saturday’s game. The weekend slugfest featured home runs from Yaron Peters, Trey Dyson, Garris Gonce, and Landon Powell. USC head coach Ray Tanner is encouraged by his team’s strong start. “It’s a little bit early to talk about momentum, but it’s cer tainly nice to win your opening three games at home,” Tanner said. “There is no question - be ing in the league that we’re in, it’s very difficult and you’ve got to re ally do well at home if you’re go ing to get a chance to go to the postseason.” East Tennessee State, also nick named the Buccaneers, return six position players and nine of 10 pitchers from last year’s team, which compiled a 23-32 overall East Tennessee St. at USC 3 p.m. Friday 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday Sarge Frye Field record under head coach Tony Skole. This weekend’s series will be the first action of the year for the Buccaneers, who are project ed to finish seventh in their con ference. They will face a tough cus tomer in USC, which has moved up three spots to No. 5 in the na tion after last weekend’s dis mantling of Charleston Southern. Tanner appreciates the na tional recognition but knows his team is focused on the present. “Polls and rankings are nice,” he said. “It shows respect for your program, but it’s only im portant at the end of the year.” Last weekend was more than just offense for the Gamecocks, as left-hander David Marchbanks’ opening day game netted him SEC Pitcher of the Week honors. The sophomore pitched six innings of one-hit ball, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth frame, and sjtruck out a career-high 11 batters. Marchbanks is slated to start the opening game of this weekend’s three-game series against the Buccaneers’ Reid Casey. Casey, a right-hander, posted a 38 mark last season with a 5.22 ERA. “He’s been a workhorse for them. (He) struck out over 100 last year, and we’re going to have to have a good outing to offset Reid Casey,” Tanner said. The Buccaneers send Donnie Sharp to the hill Saturday against USC’s Chris Spigner, and fresh man Mike Bauer faces the Gamecocks’ Gary Bell in Sunday’s finale. With last Sunday’s win, his 220nd, Tanner is tied for with Bobby Richardson for second place on the USC all-time wins list. Tanner, in his sixth season at Carolina, is proud of the ac complishment, but avoids any comparisons with Richardson. “I love what I do,” he said. “I just want to coach here. I want to be a part of a winning program... I want to be here long enough to win a lot more games.” Tanner said, “As I said before, Bobby Richardson - the guy is a legend, he’s one of my heroes.” Today’s game starts at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s contests are scheduled to get under way at 1:30 p.m. Comments on this story?E-ma’1 gamecocksports@hotmail.com