The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 15, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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