The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 22, 2002, Page 7, Image 7
GAME SCHEDULE
VOLLEYBALL vs. Alabama at the SEC Tournament
in Fayetteville, Ark., 11:30 a.m. Friday
CONTACT US WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Friday
MEN’S SOCCER vs. Coastal Carolina in NCAA Tournament
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? .first round, 4 p.m. Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com FOOTBALL at Clemson, 7:45 p.m. Saturday
•fc
■■
Football game headlines big weekend
) USCatClemson
7:45 p.m. Saturday
Memorial Stadium
TV: ESPN
BY KYLE ALMOND
THE GAMECOCK
The 100th football game be
tween bitter rivals USC and
Clemson takes place Saturday,
and the stakes are high for the
Gamecocks.
A win over the Tigers would
make USC howl-eligible at 6-6 and
salvage something out of a disap
pointing season.
Carolina head coach Lou Holtz
said it will take the Gamecocks’
best effort of the year to win.
“We'll have to play a complete
game; there’s no doubt about that,”
he said.
The Gamecocks (5-6) have lost
four straight games, its latest a 28
7 defeat at Florida last weekend.
“We're a fragile team without a
lot of confidence right now,” Holtz
said. “We need some good things
to happen for us.”
Clemson comes into the game
with a 6-5 record, and Tigers head
coach Tommy Bowden realizes
how important a win is over the
Gamecocks.
“If you lose, words like ‘mortu
ary’ and ‘obituary’ come to mind,”
Bowden said. “Around here, it's a
significant game.”
The Carolina-Clemson game is
the highlight of a critical weekend
for USC’s sports teams.
The weekend essentially starts
Friday night at 7 p.m., when
Carolina and Clemson battle on
the hardwood. The women’s bas
ketball teams will face off in the
first game in the brand-new
Carolina Center.
The Tigers have won the past
seven meetings with USC, but
head coach Susan Walvius and her
Gamecocks are looking to open up
the new arena on a good note.
The men’s basketball team will
get its chance to play in the new
arena on Sunday, when it plays
East Tennessee State in its season
opener. The game will be the first
half of a doubleheader with the
women’s team, which will play the
College of Charleston in its sec
ond game of the season. The men’s
game is at 3 p.m., and the women
will take the floor at 5:30 p.m.
The USC men’s soccer team
plays host to a first-round NCAA
Tournament game Saturday at 4
p.m. The Gamecocks (11-7-1) will
face Coastal Carolina, a team
that has already beat USC this
season.
The game will mark the 16th
NCAA Tournament appearance
for the Gamecocks. Tickets are $5
for students and $8 for adults.
Elsewhere, the USC volleyball
team heads to Fayetteville, Ark.,
this weekend to play in the SEC
Tournament.
Carolina (21-5,14-2 SEC) is the
No. 2 seed in the tournament and
will play Alabama in the first
round Friday. Florida, which
handed USC both its conference
losses, is the top-seeded team in
the tournament. *
Despite all of the big games this
“If you lose, words like
‘mortuary’ and ‘obituary’
come to mind.”
TOMMY BOWDEN
CLEMSON FOOTBALL HEAD COACH, ON THE
CAROLINA-CLEMSON RIVALRY GAME
weekend, the football game —
with all its tradition, still stands
out as the marquee event.
The Tigers hold a 59-36-4 series
lead in the rivalry. .Saturday’s
milestone game starts at 7:45 p.m.
at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium
and will be televised on ESPN.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Mightier than
the sword
Naismith Award candidate Jocelyn Penn
ready to lead Gamecocks into new season
BY NICK YOUNG
THE GAMECOCK
Last year, Jocelyn Penn led
the USC women’s basketball
team in nearly every statistical
category and helped carry the
Gamecocks to their first-ever
P Elite Eight.
At the end of the season, she
was named to the Coaches’ All
SEC First Team and the AP All
SEC Second Team.
This season, she’s back and
ready to lead the Gamecocks to
another successful season.
Penn was bom into a family of
athletes, and most of them played
basketball. Her sister, Annie
Lester, played basketball at USC
while Penn attended Meadow
creek High School in Norcross,
Ga. While in high school, she was
named Gwinnett County’s play
er of the year after her junior sea
son. She was a two-time All-State
performer and was named both a
£ /Nike and Reebok All-American.
When she came to USC in 1998,
she was one of the most celebrat
ed recruits in the program’s 28
year history. Penn started off her
career with a bang as she scored
13 points a game, recorded 175 re
bounds and had 79 steals.
The next year, Penn came
back with large expectations and
did not disappoint. Her statistics
were nearly identical as the year
before, as she scored 12.4 points
per game, had 74 steals and
Recorded 171 total rebounds.
By that time, things were start
ing to fall into place for the
Gamecocks. But just as quickly
as the hype grew, it was shat
tered. Many veterans were back,
^ and USC was ready to follow
* Penn’s lead. Then she announced
that she was going to be medical
ly redshirted because she was
Penn came back to school for
her junior year with a host of du
ties. Not only was she a student
and an athlete, but she was now a
mother. During the preseason,
she struggled, but she never gave
up.
“It was difficult; at times it’s
very emotional,” Penn said.
“When I first got back, it was re
ally hard being away from my lit
tle girl and being away from my
family. I see her on the weekends,
so it’s not too bad.”
In what would have been her
senior year, Penn dominated.
She led a team of veterans, in
cluding two players that would
^ be drafted in that year’s WNBA
0 draft, and helped bring the
Gamecocks back to glory. After
11 years of not being ranked, the
Gamecocks made it back into the
Associated Press Top 25. And, for
the first time ever, they made it
into the ESPN/USA Today
Coaches’ Poll.
After last year’s campaign,
Penn knows that many eyes are
on her and her team. But as much
hype as the team has received,
the Gamecocks are not cocky.
“We have small goals; we just
want to do well in the SEC,”
4 '
I___
PHOTO BY MARK BISSET/THE GAMECOCK
USC women’s basketball player Jocelyn Penn rises for a layup
in an exhibition game. Penn and the Gamecocks went to the
Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Carolina Center opens
The women’s basketball team plays the Clemson Tigers on
Friday in the first basketball game to be held at the Carolina
Center.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and students are encouraged to enter
at the entrance on the corner of College and Lincoln streets.
Students will be admitted for free with a valid student ID.
Non-students will have to pay $1.
I
Penn said. “And then take it to
the NCAA. We want to win a cer
tain amount of games, and then
we’re going to take it to the next
level.”
This season, Penn is one of the
top players in the country. She
was named as a Naismith Award
candidate, which is given to the
best player in the country. Team
success is her No. 1 goal, but she
wouldn’t mind a few individual
awards along the way.
“I just want to go out there and
play hard and whatever happens
along the way will happen,” she
said. “I would love to get
Naismith Player of the Year ; that
would be a big honor. And, of
course, I would like to be named
All-SEC and All-American.”
After this year, Penn plans to
pursue a professional basketball
career.
“I definitely want to take it to
the next level,” she said. “I defi
nitely want to go to the WNBA —
that’s one of my personal goals.
And, if I don’t make it in the
WNBA, I’m going to take it over
seas. I just want to play basket
ball.”
And with a pedigree like the
one she has, Penn is almost as
sured a shot at professional glory.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Show up if you want
a better student section
MATT ROTHENBERG
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
More students going to
basketball games could
lead to improved seats.
No doubt this is one of the
biggest sports weekends in USC
history. You’ve got the annual
football game against Clemson to
morrow, along with the NCAA
Tournament first-round game for
men’s soccer. There’s the volley
ball team in action at the SEC
Tournament in Fayetteville, Ark.,
over the weekend. The equestrian
team will compete in an invita
tional in Athens, Ga„ as well.
But the long-awaited opening of
the Carolina Center might trump
most of those events when the
women’s basketball team takes the
court Friday night against
Clemson. Sunday will provide an
even better test because the bas
ketball teams will participate in a
doubleheader, one of a few to take
place this season.
There is no reason why every
one in and around Columbia
shouldn’t be excited about the
Carolina Center. From having
been in it on a number of occa
sions, I can honestly say that it is
a gem in the heart of South
Carolina. The view from the seats
— both in the lower and upper
tiers — is clear and unimpeded.
There are a number of concession
choices, a magnificent center
scoreboard and all sorts of ameni
ties for fans. Even though most
/—nj “■—v -r
students won’t likely get to expe
rience a game from a luxury
suite, take it from me: They’re
nice, too.
Finally, the artist’s conception
is turning into reality, and the
Carolina Center should be of one
the best college arenas in the na
tion.
One of the main areas of con
cern, though, was the amount of
student seating there would be at
the Carolina Center. Students will
get a large portion of seats in a
corner, behind a basket and along
a sideline — 500 on the sideline
and 1,700 in the lower level, to be
exact. The sideline seats are de
pressed from the remainder of
their sections so those students
may stand without blocking the
views of people behind them.
It’s my feeling that this many
seats, and their location, should
be sufficient for USC students. I
think the Athletics Department
did the best job it could in bal
ancing the students’ desires and
those of alumni and boosters.
Certainly, it’s not an easy job to
do, but if there are any students
out there who feel that they were
somehow cheated, my response
is simple: Show up at the basket
ball games — both men’s and
women’s.
This just doesn’t go for games
against teams like Clemson,
Florida, Kentucky and Temple.
This means every game, except
perhaps for the ones that fall dur
ing Thanksgiving and winter
breaks; fewer students will be on
campus at those times anyway.
The basketball teams need to
see your support against the likes
of Appalachian State, Wofford,
The Citadel and South Carolina
State. Typically, student tickets
are not always completely dis
tributed for these games.
But if the Athletics Department
sees a demand for student tickets,
it is possible that, in the future, the
student section can he enlarged.
It won’t happen without your
help.
More students have to go to the
games against the teams from
smaller conferences and make
their voices heard. It’s great that
plenty of students go out and
watch games against Tennessee or
Arkansas, but there’s no reason
why more couldn’t go check out
the women’s basketball team —
one that went all the way to the
Elite Eight in March. There’s even
no charge for admission! What
could be better?
I realize that they’re not going
to sell out the Carolina Center ev
ery night, but the women’s bas
ketball team is still energizing
and fun to watch. Plus, they have
a great shot to repeat upon the
success that they enjoyed last
year.
The fact still remains, though:
Students must pick lip all the tick
ets allotted to them and attend the
games. The more often this hap
pens, the more likely the Athletics
Department might be to revisit the
amount and placement of seating
it allocates for students in future
seasons.
I’m sure the novelty factor will
bring people in for the first sever
al games, but continued atten
dance might pay off later on.
There’ll be plenty of reasons to
come, not just for the game but
also for the event.
Students need to do their part.
And if you’re still unsatisfied with
student seating, just remember
that it’s up to you to fix that.
Rothenberg is a fourth-year sport
management student. His column
appears every Friday in
Gamecock Sports.
~ i
SrUKTS UnALLililNiiili
THE CHALLENGE: Kyle Matt Chris Maiy Katie Gleb
The Gamecock’s readers and Almond Rothenberg Foy Hartney Smith Velikanov
staff test their sports knowledge Sports Asst. Sports Defending Editor in Head Reader of
with predictions of the Editor Editor Champion Chief designer the Week
weekend’s games. (Rankings (68-52) (77-43) (71-49) (74-46) (70-50) (72-48)
are from the Associated Press.)
Auburn at 9 AlabamaAlabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama
Ole Miss at 21 LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU Ole Miss"
12 Michigan at 2 Ohio St. Michigan Ohio St. Michigan Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St.
7 Southern Cal at 25 UCLA So. Cal So. Cal_ So. Cal So. Cal So. Cal So. Cal
24 Texas Tech at 4 Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Texas Tech Texas Tech Oklahoma
Washington at 3 Washington St. Wash. St. Wash. St. Wash. Wash. St. Wash. St. Wash. St.
14 Florida St. at N.C. St Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. N.C. St. Florida St
Oregon at Oregon StateOregon_OregonOregon Oregon Oregon Oregon_
BYU at Utah Utah Utah BYU BYU Utah BYU
USC at Clemson Clemson USC USC Clemson USC USC
21-10 17-13 24-17 24-10 21-20 28-14
laoi wttn 5 wiNNtn: jason iiennessy (i-j) - me reaaersTinany win a ween, ameit Dareiy. Mennessywent 1-6
along with Rothenberg, Foy and Hartney, but won the tiebreaker. All four of them picked Florida to beat USC, but
Hennessy’s predicted score of 34-10 was just closer than Hartney’s 33-3.
Almond, who Hennessy said had a small head in a letter to the editor earlier this semester, could not disprove that
theory, going 5-5 along with staffer of the weekTricia Ridgway. He is looking at an embarrassing last-place finish.
Rothenberg has dominated for most of the season and has a three-game lead going into the final week of the
competition. Hartney looks to be the only one who can catch him, and she’ll have to get all three games right that
she has different than Rothenberg to force a tiebreaker next week.
FINAL WEEK! This is it for football’s Sports Challenge. Thanks to all the readers that sent in their picks this season.
Be looking for a basketball edition next semester.
The Gamecock staff wishes USC’s sports teams
the best of luck this weekend. GO COCKS!
—1->-——»-*