Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, February 22,2002 7 yy ^ -p. -y- GAME SCHEDULE I 1 f \ I I I 1 BASEBALL at Myrtle Beach tournament, Friday-Sunday CONTACT US ^ I_“ I I I—c I SWIMMING AND DIVING at SEC Championships, Friday-Saturday U!\ 1 U O ^ | I ■ ■—y | MEN’S BASKETBALL at Auburn, 2 p.m. Saturday 1 Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ F I I I k I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss, 2 p.m. Sunday E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com _ —■— ^ FVy MEN’S TENNIS at North Carolina, 1 p.m. Saturday « USC dismantles Tigers Women falter against Auburn -1 |£ USC 49 & Auburn 67 AUBURN, ALA. (AP) - Carol Smith and LaKeisha Johnson led Auburn with 23 unan swered points to start the sec ond half and defeat No. 10 South Carolina 67-49 Thursday night. Auburn (15-11,3-10 SEC) went on its run for the first 8:12 of the second half. During the streak, (. Johnson scored 13 points and Smith had five with three assists. After that, South Carolina (21-5,9-4) was essentially out of the game with the score 47-21. Smith finished with 22 points and Johnson scored 13. The game was tight during the first half, but Auburn came out shooting and the Gamecocks missed their first 11 shots of the second half. After that, South Carolina unsuccessfully tried to get back in the game with 3-pointers. Free throws were a big dif ference. South Carolina made two in two attempts, but the Tigers sunk 20-of-27. South Carolina’s leading * scorer was Petra Ujhelyi with 10 points. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN Rolando Howell puts on a finishing touch after stealing the ball In the second half on Wednesday. Howell's reverse dunk led to the Gamecocks’ 66-53 victory over LSU. LSU 53 0 USC 66 Men earn first two-game SEC winning streak BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s basketball team helped its postseason hopes Wednesday night as it downed the LSU Tigers 66-53. The victory marked the first time this season that the Gamecocks (16-10,6-7 SEC) won back-to-back SEC games. After the game, USC head coach Dave Odom was quick to point out that two in a row isn’t enough. — ...» i»»««»^ 1 X, UV/ »» V/ 1VU1 UVU that we can count to two. Now, let’s see if we can count to three,” Odom said. Odom, however, didn’t feel this win came easy. “We beat one heck of a bas ketball team,” he said of the Tigers (14-12, 4-9). “They are a force to be reckoned with. To be able to beat them tonight speaks volumes for our team.” The Gamecocks started off the game trading baskets with the Tigers. In the first half alone, the lead changed hands nine times. But despite being down 31-29 with 35 seconds in the half, Aaron Lucas nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds left on the clock to give USC the lead at halftime. LSU opened up the second half determined to take back the lead. After a Ronald Dupree dunk, the Tigers led 36-32. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Jamel Bradley gave USC a lead it would not relinquish. Bradley finished the night with a team high 16 points. Eight of Bradley’s points, along with a Tony Kitchings field goal and a Chris Warren tip-in, put the Gamecocks up 44 36. The Tigers wouldn’t stop coming though, and with 3 pointers from Antonio Hudson and Torrie Bright, LSU was only down by two. But USC began to pull away again, and it cushioned its lead to six points, 48-42. The Tigers made one last threat, going On a 7-3 run to pull within three, but that was as close as they would - get. The Gamecocks went on a 14 4 run to wind down the game and claim their sixth conference win. Four USC players scored in double digits. In addition to Bradley’s 16, sophomore forward Rolando Howell had 10 points, eight of them coming off four dunks. Junior forward Chuck Eidson had 10 points as well, and also added six assists and three steals. Lucas also scored 10 points. me Tigers were lea Dy Bright, who had 15 points. Hudson contributed 14 points and three assists. Dupree, LSU’s marquee player, was relatively quiet Wednesday night, only net ting six points. After the game, Kitchings, who played a season-high 29 minutes, was happy with the win but more concerned about finishing up the season in good standing. “We know time is running out,” Kitchings said. “I’m just happy to win at home. The crowd was great. We fed off them; they fed off us.” Bradley agreed with Kitchings’ sentiments and just wants to continue to play like they did against LSU. “I feel we can win the rest of the way out,” Bradley said. “We’re starting to play to closer to the way we want to.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail. com Baseball to get first test of year Georgia Tech most dangerous opponent yet for Gamecocks BY J. KEITH ALLEN the (JAMECOCK The fifth-ranked USC baseball team’s strong start to the 2002 sea son probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, the Gamecocks start ed last season with 13 consecutive wins and kicked off the 2000 cam paign with an SEC record 23 straight victories. The team looks to continue its winning ways on the road this weekend in Myrtle Beach at the Baseball At The Beach Tournament. The tournament will mark the first time this season that the Gamecocks (6-0) will play away from Sarge Frye Field, and it be gins a challenging stretch of the team’s season. Ten of USC’s next 12 games will be against NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. TT^sP hoorl r>V» Rav TanMny looks forward to the competition. “This is going to be a lot tougher than it has been, without a doubt,” Tanner said. “If you’re going to be one of the best teams in the coun try, you’ve got to play the best and you’ve got to beat them.” Carolina opens the tourna ment this afternoon against Virginia Commonwealth (5-4). VCU compiled a 41-19 record in 2001 and advanced to the cham pionship round of the NCAA Regionals. The Rams posted their third 40-win season in the last four years. Chris Spigner will take the hill for USC after earn ing his first victory of the year against East Tennessee State last weekend. The senior has struck out 14 in 11 innings this season. The marquee matchup of the weekend comes Saturday, when USC takes part in a high-noon duel with eighth-ranked Geoj-gia Tech (6-0). It will be the Gamecocks’ first game against a nationally ranked opponent this year. Tanner understands the impor tance of the Georgia Tech game, but he cautions against overlook ing the other tournament teams. “Either [USC or Georgia Tech] could get beat all three times if we don’t play well; that’s just how good this tournament is,” Tanner said. Simpsonville southpaw David Marchbanks looks to qui et the Yellow Jackets’ bats and continue his early season bril liance. The sophomore hurler has posted a 2-0 record with 16 strikeouts a 1.42 ERA. Marchbanks will have his hands full against the powerful Georgia Tech lineup, which in cludes catcher Tyler Parker. Parker knocked in three runs with a double and a home run in Tech’s 12-1 pasting of Wofford on Tuesday. Baseball At The Beach wraps up on Sunday with a 3 p.m. game against Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers (5-1) return six posi tion players who amassed a batting average of .330 last year. The reign ing Big South champions also ad vanced to the NCAA Regionals last season and posted a 42-20 mark. Lrary oeu win pucriior in me finale. He has a 2-0 record with 13 strikeouts in two starts this season. The Gamecocks enter the tour nament at less than full strength. Pitcher Hampton Rowland will stay behind in Columbia to recover from cyst removal surgery. He is expect ed to miss two to three weeks. Tanner was upbeat, even hu morous, regarding the junior’s condition. “He’s going to be fine,” Tanner said. “It’s supposed to be minor surgery, but I learned a long time ago that surgery is only minor if it’s on somebody else.” The second and third game of the Baseball At The Beach tour nament will be televised on Comcast SportsNet. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecodtsports@hotma il.com WET WEATHER DOESN’T SLOW USG ^ Mr"” SOFTBALL PHOTO BY CHRIS TILLEY The USC softball team swept a doubleheader with Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon. Softball wins two Lady Gamecocks improve to 9-3 with two wins BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK The 20th-ranked USC softball team took to Beckham Field on a rainy Wednesday afternoon to play the Charlotte 49ers, and de spite the wet weather, the Lady Gamecocks swept the double header, winning 9-1 in the first game and 3-2 in the second. “I think we hit pretty well tonight. We were able to keep the pressure on offensively and string together several runs,” said USC head coach Joyce Compton. “We recruited a great freshman class, and they are getting some good game experience.” Carolina (9-3) struck first in game one when Jodi Fittro scored on Meghan Cornett’s double, and Debralee Troesh drove in Cornett with her single. Fittro crossed home again in the third off an er ror by 49ers third baseman Leah Heston. Charlptte’s run came in the fourth, as Heston scored on a double. The Lady Gamecocks re taliated in the bottom of the frame when Samantha Jennings scored on Kristiny fall's single. Megan Matthews’ day ended after the fourth inning. Hampered by the flu, Matthews (5-1) managed to pitch four in nings and scatter six hits while notching four strikeouts. Stacey Johnson tossed two innings of re lief and earned her first save of the season. In the fifth, the Carolina bats kept at it. Kim Evans and Cornett led off with singles, with Evans scoring on Amber Curtis’ hit. Troesh’s single knocked in Cornett and Curtis. Then, Melissa Sandel brought in Troesh. In the sixth, Cornett blasted an Amy Morse pitch over the fence, sealing the win. Cornett went 3-for-4 in the first game with a double, home run and three runs scored. The fresh man from Cocoa, Fla., leads the team in extra-base hits and is ad justing well so far. “I just jump on the first pitch,” Cornett said. “I don’t let it get by. “But I feel like I have a lot of work to do. I’ve had a lot of admiration for seniors before, and they have confi dence in me. [They] are very strong leaders and provide a lot of insight” Johnson returned to lead the Lady Gamecocks in the nightcap. Charlotte (5-4) broke through in the third, though, as Stephanie Dunlap singled and scored on Autumn Lawson’s double. Lawsoji scored on Danielle Quinones’ error. In the bottom half of the inning, Carolina came back, as Nancy Crane scored on Cornett’s sacrifice fly. Johnson settled in and kept the 49ers on their toes before handing the ball to Aleca Johnson in the seventh. Stacey Johnson went six innings, giving up one earned run on six hits, with five strikeouts. “The zone was tight early, and [Charlotte] turned around their play,” Compton said. “They were swinging their bats and were not intimidated.” The Lady Gamecocks, trailing 2-1, needed a rally, and got it when Jennings drove the ball deep to center field in the sev enth inning for her second home run of the year. The solo shot sent the game into extra innings, where Curtis scored the winning run on Hall’s single. With two shutout innings of relief, Aleca Johnson earned her first win of the season. On her recent success at the plate, Jennings said: “I just try to make contact, and I’m getting more consistent. Anytime you score a run, it gets the team up.” Up next for USC is a 3 p.m. doubleheader at North Carolina on Saturday. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.con^ BRIEFLY SEC Championships next up for track USC is headed to Fayetteville. Ark., this weekend for the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet promis es to be'the nation’s premier con ference championship, with eight men’s teams, including the top four teams nationally, taking part. The women’s side is just as strong, as the SEC has four of the top six teams in the country and two ad ditional teams in the top 25. USC will bring a fuH contingent of athletes, including defending SEC champions Demetria Washington (400 meters) and Otukile Lekote (800 meters). USC’s women also won the 4x400 relay at last year’s SEC meet in Kentucky. Men’s golf finishes 14th in tourney The USC men’s golf team fin ishes 14th in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate in Ponte Vedra, Fla., improving after each round of play.'USC fired a three-round to tal of 911 (314-302-295). Florida won the team title and Tennessee was two strokes back in second place. Host North Florida finished third. USC sophomore Brent Delahoussaye fired a three-under par 69 in the final round of action and finished in 15th place. Delahoussaye shot a three-round total of220. Five strokes back from Delahoussaye was teammmate Martin Roroinger. Rominger’s 225 landed him in 30th place. * Alex Hamilton, shooting 231, finished in 51st. Nash Elliot (75th) and Jonathan Jackson (77th) shot 240 and 241. The Gamecocks have a few weeks off before they head to Tallahassee, Fla., for the Seminole Challenge on March 11-12. tquescrian Timsnes strong at home event The USC equestrian team held a successful tournament this past weekend at the Irish Oaks Equestrian Centre in Irmo. Teams from 11 different schools in Zone 5, Region 2 were invited to com pete in both Hunt Seat and Western divisions. In Hunt Seat, the Gamecocks tied with Georgia for third place behind Berry College and Auburn. In Western, USC came in fourth place behind Berry College, . Georgia and Auburn. USC’s next competition will be March 2-3 at Berry College in Rome, Ga. Rugby club to play Towson this weekend The USC men’s rugby club team takes on Towson this Saturday at 6 p.m. The game at the Blatt P.E. Center should be an exciting match full of fast-paced, hard-hitting action. The rugby team is always looking for new recruits. It practices every Tuesday and Thursday on the band practice field from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Russians threaten to leave Olympics SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Angered by a string of decisions against its athletes, Russia threatened Thursday to pull out of the Winter Olympics and might not compete in the Athens Games if its concerns are not addressed within 24 hours. Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachiov said he told IOC president Jacques Rogge that his nation was “greatly unap preciated” in the Olympics and wanted its issues taken seriously. The Russian’s comments came at a news conference just hours af ter one of the nation’s top athletes, cross-country skier Larissa Lazutina, was disqualified from the women’s 20-kilometer relay be cause of high levels of hemoglobin found in a pre-race blood test. “If decisions are not made and issues we raised not resolved, the Russian team will not play hock ey, will not run 30 kilometers, will look very negatively on other fac tors,” Tyagachiov said through a translator. He said there was a 24-hour win dow to address the situation, and that if Russia left Salt Lake City it probably would not compete in Athens in the next Summer Gajnes.