The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 11, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
® THE GAMECOCK ♦ Monday, November 11,2002 _ 7
“| \ m pN GAME SCHEDULE
CONTACT US l-^l I k/ I MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Latvia’s Unibanka Cesis (exhibition),
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I I L / SWIMMING AND DIVING at Florida, 4 p.m. Friday
E-mailusatgamecocksports@hotmail.com ■ 1 rV-/ VOLLEYBALL at Florida, 5 p.m. Friday
V
USC embarrassed in home finale
Shutout loss to Arkansas
puts bowl game in doubt
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The USC football team’s seniors
walked off the field devastated on
Saturday with a half-empty stadi
um.
It was all the team could do af
ter falling to the Arkansas
Razorbacks 23-0 at Williams-Brice
Stadium. The Gamecocks (5-5,3-4
SEC) were held scoreless for the
first time since Sept. 25,1999, at
Mississippi State.
It was one disappointing after
noon for the players, coaches and
79,307 fans wjio were celebrating
Senior Day. And bowl hopes for
the Gamecocks are beginning to
dwindle, with only
games ic
maining on the
schedule. Carolina
still needs one
more win to be
bowl-eligible.
“I thought we’d
be successful to
day,” USC head
coach Lou Holtz
said. “It just
seemed like every
thing went against
us today.”
Holtz took con
trol of the offense
this week, taking
the reins from of
Head
coach Lou
Holtz took
control of
the offense
Saturday,
but it
made little
difference
for USC.
tensive coordinator bkip Hoitz.
But the team continued to strug
• gle moving the football.
“I have to look at myself,” Lou
Holtz said. “I’ve never had trouble
having an offense that can move
the football. I’m not faulting the
players. I’m not faulting the re
ceivers. I’m faulting myself.”
The 65-year-old head coach
called all the offensive plays in
hopes of turning the passing game
around.
“One thing I’ve always had
great confidence in is you can find
a way to move the football,” he
said. “We are finding a way to
move the football on the ground,
but you cannot be a one-dimen
sional team."
Senior quarterbacks Corey
Jenkins (10-for-23 passing) and
Erik Kimrey (3-for-8), combined
for 89 yards passing and three in
terceptions — all of which led to
Arkansas points.
The Gamecocks threw the ball
31 times as they tried to make a
comeback. Unfortunately for USC,
none of the completions went for
more than 20 yards.
The big-play threat once again
was missing from the offense,
though the running game picked
up 144 yards on the day.
USC used four running backs
in hopes of finding a spark.
Kenny Irons led the team with
32 yards but carried the ball
only three times. Andrew
Pinnock rushed only seven
times for 25 yards in his final
home game.
Mistakes and frustration
plagued the team the entire day
and were just too much for
Carolina to overcome. The
Gamecocks were penalized nine
times for 85 yards.
“Once something goes against
us, we just don’t seem to rally
back,” Holtz said. “We make too
many errors.”
Jonathan Martin and Moe
Thompson led the defense with sev
en tackles each. The defense had
trouble making big plays and forc
ing turnovers.
“As a defensive unit, I think we
played hard, but we still gave up
big plays when we shouldn’t have,”
comerback Dunta Robinson said.
USC began the day with a great
opening drive led by Pinnock, but
the drive stalled and Daniel
Weaver missed a 42-yard field goal
to begin the frustration.
After Jenkins’ first intercep
tion, Arkansas quarterback Matt
Jones threw a 4-yard strike to
George Wilson to put the
Razorbacks up 7-0. Kicker David
Carlton added a 43-yard field goal
to make it a 10-point game going
into halftime.
In the third quarter, Arkansas
punted on its first possession, but
USC was charged with roughing
the kicker. The penalty gave the
Razorbacks a first down on the 50
yard line and, three plays later,
Jones found Carlos Ousley for a
47-yard touchdown. Arkansas
added two more field goals to put
the game out of reach.
Arkansas (6-3,3-3) did its dam
age on the ground as it rushed for
200 yards against the USC de
fense. Fred Talley had 80 yards
rushing, and backup De’Arrius
Howard gained 72, including a 35
yard scamper that he nearly
scored on.
Jones was 10-for-18 through the
air, with 113 yards passing and
two touchdowns. Arkansas did
not turn the ball over.
The loss left the Gamecocks
short on words and with lots to fig
ure out.
“After today, what do we do? I
don’t know,” Skip Holtz said. “I
think we need to highlight our tal
PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
James Adkisson accounted for USC’s longest pass play Saturday — a meaningless 20-yard
reception In the fourth quarter of Carolina’s 23-0 shutout loss to Arkansas.
" GAME 10
A. Arkansas o?
(6-3,3-3 SEC)
SS use o
(5-5,3-4)
| THE QUOTE
“I feel bad for the fans.
They deserve better. I
am frustrated; I've got
to look at myself,
where we are.”
LOU HOLTZ
use HEAD COACH -
THE PLAY
Matt Jones' 47-yard touchdown
pass to Carlos Ousley in the early
minutes of the second half put
Arkansas up comfortably 17-0.
With the Gamecocks’ offensive
inadequacies, it would have been
tough for USC to make up even a
10-point deficit-a 17-point
deficit would be close to
impossible.
THE STAT ]
8
With three picks on Saturday,
USC quarterbacks have thrown
eight interceptions in the past
three games. USC’s passing
attack has turned into one of the
worst in the nation.
ents and abilities.”^
Carolina must regroup once
again and head to Gainesville
next Saturday to play the
Florida Gators in the Swamp.
The Gamecocks finish their reg
ular season at Clemson on Nov.
23.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Athletes in ft1
Action bl
USC 94
BY NICK YOUNG
THE GAMECOCK
The USC women’s basketball
team is out to prove that last sea
& son, when it advanced to the Elite
^ Eight of the NCAA Tournament,
was no fluke. Already, it is begin
ning to make good on that mis
sion.
Jocelyn Penn started the pre
season off with a bang as she scored
a game-high 40
r*r»intc in Fridav’s r~~—- l
94-61 exhibition
victory against
Athletes in Action
at the Carolina
Coliseum.
“We were just
trying to go out
and work on our
offense tonight,”
Penn said. “Ever
and did their part.’
Penn
'one went out
j__ __a -1
uiie player iu «**u wvj
her part — and a little more — was
junior point guard Cristina
m Ciocan, who scored 31 points and
^ had 13 assists.
“I just tried to show up and help
my team’s scoring by passing,”
Ciocan said. “Even though I had
13 assists, there were still a lot of
passing opportunities I missed in
the game.”
Even though Penn and Ciocan
combined for 71 points, the
Gamecocks couldn’t put the game
away in the first half. The score re
mained close in the period, and
there were many lead changes.
The Gamecocks looked ner
vous, sloppy and tired at times
during the early stages of the
game. USC had eight turnovers in
the first half, and most of those
came in the first 10 minutes.
After a 19-2 Carolina run, the
score was 27-10 with 10:52 to go in
the first half. It seemed as if a
blowout was in order. But AIA
used a few scoring runs of its own
to bring the score to 41-36 at half
time.
“I thought we got a little care
less with the basketball at times,”
USC head coach Susan Walvius
said. “Early, I thought we looked a
little tight — it was one pass and
a shot.”
As well as the team did, it strug
gled in a few areas. Rebounding
was a large problem, as AIA held
the rebounding edge 41-30. The
Gamecocks did manage to grab a
19-17 rebound advantage in the
second half, however.
“I’m worried about the re
bounding,” Walvius said. “I feel
like the rebounding situation is
just the fundamental of blocking
out.
“Tonight, we were watching the
shot more than going to the bas
ket and blocking out our oppo
nent. We’ve got to work harder on
getting position. If AIA out-re
bounds us, then every team in the
SEC is going to.”
Another problem the team
faced was a lack of depth. Only
seven of USC’s 10 players dressed
out for the game.
One of the players missed was
junior Kelly Morrone. Morrone
suffered a broken nose two weeks
ago in practice. But she should re
turn this week, Walvius said.
“She’ll be back at practice
Tuesday or Wednesday, so we’ll
see her in the next exhibition
game,” Walvius said. “That’s go
ing to help us out and give us a lit
tle more depth.”
In the next exhibition game,
USC will be looking for a third
scorer behind Penn and Ciocan.
No other player had more than
nine points in Friday’s game.
“Sarah Burgess has been one of
our most consistent shooters in
practice,” Walvius pointed out.
“She was tight tonight, but she’ll
be a good one for us,”
Walviusadded: “We want to get
Petra Ujhelyi more involved, and
when Kelly comes back, she can
step in and score for us.”
Carolina’s next home exhibi
tion will be Nov. 17 against a team
from Stockholm, Sweden, at 2 p.m.
in the Carolina Coliseum.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
PHOTO BY MARK BISSET/THE GAMECOCK
USC point guard Cristina Ciocan shoots over a player from
Athletes In Action during Friday night’s exhibition. Ciocan
scored 31 points and added 13 assists in the 94-61 USC win.
BRIEFLY
swimming teams
stomp Clemson
■
The USC’s swimming and
diving teams defeated in-state
rival Clemson at the Carolina
Natatorium on Friday.
The men’s team (3-1,1-0) won
with a score of 152-91, and the
women’s team (3-1,1-0) won
with a score of 149-94.
On the men’s side, eight
swimmers bettered'their indi
vidual bests, and five set team
highs for the season.
Ed Murphy set a personal
best in the 100-yard freestyle
with a time of46.55 seconds. Lir
Derieg set the new standard for
the year in the 200 backstroke
with a time of 1 minute, 52.49
seconds. Chris McCrary set the
mark in the 200 butterfly in
1:50.79, and Brandon Buslepp’s
time of 1:55.02 is the new high
mark for the 200 individual
medley.
The Gamecocks also placed
in the top three spots in the
1,000-yard freestyle, with Tim
Farrington setting a season
best time of 9:41.58.
The women’s team com
bined to set five personal-best
records and four team highs.
Winning two events for the
second week in a row was
freshman Stephanie Margalis,
who won the 500-yard freestyle
(4:56.17) and the 1,000-yard,
freestyle (10:04.41). Heather
Skaggs won the 100 and 200
freestyle, and Ryan Smith and
Kristen Butler set personal
bests in the 200 backstroke.
Other individual winners
were Bronwyn Dedekind (200 but
terfly), Anna Nyiry (50 freestyle)
and the 400-freestyle relay team
of Skaggs, Nyiry, Carolyn
McHugh and Jennifer VanAssen.
In the diving portion of the
meet, the women took first
through fourth on the 1-meter
springboard and first through
third on the 3-meter spring
board. The men, anchored by
Andy Bradley’s fourth straight
win, placed first as a team in
both categories as well.
unristopner wins
200th career match
The 18th-ranked USC volley
ball team handed head coach
Kim Christopher her 200th
Carolina win Friday night as
the Gamecocks swept the
Tennessee Lady Vols 3-0.
The Gamecocks (20-4, 13-1
- SEC) held the Lady Vols (17-9,6
7) to their lowest point output of
the season (46). Niece Curry led
the Gamecocks with 13 kills and
a .684 hitting percentage, while
Cally Plummer had 11 kills and
a .500 hitting percentage.
The win also gives the
Gamecocks their third straight
20-win season — their eighth
under Christopher. USC also
earned its 13th SEC win, mark
ing the most conference wins it
has had in a single season.
Men’s soccer loses
at North Carolina
The USC men’s soccer team
fell to defending NCAA cham
pion North Carolina Tar Heels
2-0 Friday at Fetzer Field in
Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (13-5-1) took
a 1-0 lead in the first half when
Marcus Storey knocked in the
ball from 5 yards out at the 37:29
mark. Ryan Kneipper and
David Testo assisted on
Storey’s goal.
Late in the second half, USC
scored an own goal in the 86th
minute when Mike Gell’s shot
deflected off a Gamecock de
fender.
USC (10-7-1) had eight shots
on goal but was unable to capi
talize on them.
The Gamecocks wrap up
their regular season Sunday at
2 p.m. when they play host to
Florida International. The
Gamecock won last year’s
matchup 5-4 in double over
time.
The Gamecocks-Golden
Panthers showdown is also
Senior Day. USC will honor its
senior class prior to kickoff.