The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 08, 2002, Page 9, Image 9
SEC TOURNAMENT
Higher seeds justified
in first round games
LSU 69,
Vanderbilt 62
ATLANTA (AP) — Antonio
Hudson scored a career-high 24
points, including 15 in the second
half, to lift LSU to a 69-62 victory
over Vanderbilt on Thursday in
the opening round of the
Southeastern Conference tour
nament.
The Tigers (17-13) advance to
meet 17th-ranked Georgia, the
East Division top seed, on Friday.
Jermaine Williams added 12
points and five steals as LSU
scored 28 points off 23 turnovers.
Torris Bright had 11 points, four
steeds and four assists.
Leading scorer Ronald Dupree
was held to seven points, nearly
10 below his average.
The Commodores (16-14) got 21
points from Chuck Moore, who
had three 3-pointers but didn’t
make a field goal in the final 19
minutes. His 3-pointer to open
the second half gave him 13
straight points.
Tennessee 68,
Arkansas 61
ATLANTA (AP) — Arkansas
never imagined its season would
end like this: Nolan Richardson
at home, and the Razorbacks
about to join him.
A disappointing year that took
a stunning twist in the past week
ended Thursday with Arkansas
losing to Tennessee 68-61 in the
opening round of the Southeastern
Conference tournament.
For the first time since 1985-86
-— Richardson’s initial season as
their coach — the Razorbacks
(14-15) failed to qualify for a post
season berth.
Richardson was lucky he
didn’t have to coach in the sea
son finale. Arkansas went almost
eight minutes without a field
goal, squandering a nine-point
lead in the second half.
Vincent Yarbrough scored 20
points for Tennessee (15-15),
which overcame the deficit de
spite going 6:09 without scoring.
No. 11 Florida 81,
Auburn 63
ATLANTA (AP) — Udonis
Haslem had 22 points and 10 re
bounds, and Brett Nelson hit six
3-pointers as No. 11 Florida beat
Auburn 81-63 Thursday night in
the first round of the
Southeastern Conference tour
nament.
The Gators (22-7) play
Mississippi State in Friday’s
quarterfinals. They’ll need to win
four games in four days to take
their first SEC tournament title.
Nelson had 23 points and four
assists, shooting 6-of-ll on 3
pointers. Haslem was 7-of-7 from
the floor and 8-of-8 from the free
throw line against Auburn’s
short-handed and undersized
frontcourt before fouling out
with 2:11 left.
Haslem also had three assists
and two blocked shots. Matt
Bonner had nine points and sev
en rebounds as the Gators domi
nated the boards 38-26.
The Gators couldn’t separate
themselves from the Tigers (12
16) until the final eight minutes.
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t
I BRIEFLY
McPherson wins
Spartan Invitational
The USC women’s golf team fin
ished in 10th place Wednesday at
San Jose State’s Spartan
Invitational, but the Lady
Gamecocks’ own Kristy McPherson
won the individual competition.
McPherson’s final round 71
gave her a three-day total of 211 (5
under). The score was good.
enough for her second victory of
the year, in addition to an earlier
victory at the Dodge ACC/SEC
Shootout in September.
USC finished with a three-day
team total of 913 after firing a final
round 302. The rest of the Lady
Gamecocks all fired rounds in the
70s on Wednesday. Sophomore
Adrienne Gautreaux fired a final
round 76 to finish with a three-day
total of234, tied for 45th place. Senior
Reetta Laakkonen shot a 79 (235, T
48th place), while junior Kacy
Thompson (76,237,53rd place) and
sophomore Marti Robinson (79,239,
T-56th place) rounded out the field.
Carolina will next compete in
the Lady Gamecock Classic,
which begins March 15.
Bradley to receive
award for courage
USC senior guard Jamel
Bradley has been named winner
of the U.S. Basketball Writers
Association’s 2002 Most
Courageous Award. The award is
presented annually by the USB
WA to a player, coach or official
in college basketball who has over
come adversity in life.
Despite being legally deaf since
he was 18 months old, Bradley has
had an inspiring career at USC. He
leads the Gamecocks in scoring
this season, averaging 13.4 points
per game. He was also named to the
All-SEC third team by the confer
ence’s coaches. Earlier this season,
he became both the USC single-sea
son and career leader in 3-point
field goals made, and last week, he
became the 34th player in USC his
tory to score 1,000 points.
Bradley will be presented with
the award at the NCAA Final Four
in Atlanta on Monday, April 1, at the
annual USBWA awards breakfast.
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
Marshall Hubbard.
“He looked like he was really
effective, then, all of the sudden,
he got in some trouble,” Tanner
said of Adler. “I think he pressed
a little bit after they got some hits
offhim.”
Adler gave way to the bullpen
with one out in the fourth inning,
and USC’s relievers stifled the
Tribe for the rest of the night.
Three different Carolina pitch
ers combined to pitch 5 2/3 score
less innings, scatter four hits and
strike out five. The effort was
highlighted by three solid in
nings from Chris Hernandez,
who drew praise from Tanner.
“That’s a promising thing for
us,” he said of Hernandez’s im
provement. “He’s mature, and
we’re looking for him to do that
for us along the way.”
The William & Mary hullpen
was equally strong against the
Gamecocks (11-2). USC got the
leadoff man on base in five of the
first seven innings but could only
produce one additional run. They
finally broke through in the
eighth olf a single by second base
man Justin Harris. Landon
Powell followed and scorched a
William Bray pitch down the
third base line, scoring Harris
and tying the game.
Blake Taylor held the Tribe at
bay over the final 21/3 innings
and set the stage for Dyson’s
heroics.
“I was ready to go all night... I
was pretty loose,” Dyson said.
“Coach Tanner put me in there,
and, luckily, I got a hit.” The
Columbia native with a penchant
for clutch hits hopes that
Wednesday night’s big hit is a
harbinger of things to come.
“You don’t use your
money guy until you
really have an
opportunity to win it.”
RAY TANNER
DSC BASEBALL HEAD COACH, ON TREY DYSON
“Hopefully, it will lead to big
ger and better things in the fu
ture,” Dyson said. It felt really
good.”
Taylor (2-0) earned the victo
ry for USC and Bray (0-1) took the
loss for William & Mary.
The Gamecocks are back in ac
tion this weekend at Sarge Frye
Field'against Seton Hall. The
teams will take the field tonight
at 7 p.m. in the first of a three
game series. Saturday’s contest
is at 4 p.m., and Sunday’s finale
is at 1:30 p.m.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksportsCa-hotma il. com
Richardson
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
Arkansas “buy out” his con
tract.
Harrison countered the ar
gument in a letter Tuesday,
saying, “These remarks were
widely publicized and sup
ported the decision which
Chancellor White had reached
on the previous evening after
consultation with Coach
Broyles and Dr. Sugg.”
Walker also said the termi
nation letter sent to
Richardson by White did not
present the reasons for which
he was fired. He requested
White to inform him whether
the university’s decision to re
lease Richardson was because
of his desire for UA to buy out
his contract or if there are no
particular reasons for his ter
mination.
Harrison’s letter of re
sponse to Walker said the uni
versity is “not required to fur
nish its reasons for exercising
its rights under paragraph 12
of the Employment
Agreement,” although he out
lined the reasons for
Richardson’s termination in
the letter.
Softball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
to score both runners. After
Troesh scored on a throw to sec
ond base, Samantha Jennings
closed the inning’s scoring with
a double to bring in Sandel.
Spartans ace Amber Watson
(7-2) couldn’t control the game
with two outs in the fifth.
Following two walks, Watson
was pulled for Maureen Flynn,
who walked
Adrianna Baggetta toload the
bases. Cornett then singled to
score Sandel and Jennings.
Finally, freshman catcher Tia
Rogers took the ball deep for her
first collegiate home run, ending
the game.
“[Watson] had us guessing
and I thought we made the ad
justments we needed to do to
win,” Compton said.
Stacey Johnson (4-2) allowed
one earned run on three hits
while striking out four. She got
out of a critical jam in the fourth
inning, holding a 4-1 lead while
forcing two groundouts with
runners in scoring position.
“I’ve been struggling so far be
cause of a back injury, but I
think I pulled it together a little
tonight. My team was behind me
“I just go out there and
give my best.You can’t
get too ahead of
yourself.”
MEGAN MATTHEWS
USC PITCHER
and played good defense,” Stacey
Johnson said.
The Spartans dropped to 13-5-1
with the two losses and will try
to get back on the winning track
at the National Invitational
Tournament in Pleasanton, Calif.
The Lady Gamecocks start
conference play this weekend
with a three-game series at home
against Arkansas (15-6).
Saturday’s doubleheader starts
Saturday at noon, followed by a
single game Sunday at noon.
The SEC is shaping up to be a
tough conference so far, with
Georgia (24-0) looking like the
team to beat early on.
“This is what we’ve been
working for,” Compton said of
conference play. “We’re three
days away, and*I think that gets
everyone juiced up and excited.
But we know every time we step
upon the field, it’s going to be a
tough game.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
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