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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, December 4, 2002 11 ”| \ t \ rri rN ‘ game schedule CONTACT ITS I_J I 1 I f I ' WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Wofford, 7 p.m. Wednesday u I ■ ■ I ^ I i SWIMMING AND DIVING at Auburn, Thursday-Friday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I \ I L 1 VOLLEYBALL vs. American in Chapel Hill, N.C. E-mail us at gamecocksportsdyhotmail.com _ ■ (NCAA Tournament), 5 p.m. Thursday —- ■ -.- --- Second-half run topples Temple FILE PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK USC forward Kerbrell Brown scored eight points off the bench in the Gamecocks’ 66-47 victory over Temple on Monday night. Carolina moved to 4-0 with the win and Temple dropped to 0-3. Powell scores career-high 20points as men-s basketball improves to 4-0 BY KYLE ALMOND THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s basketball team finished off a hectic homestand in style Monday, soundly defeating Temple 66-47 in the Carolina Center. The game was the Gamecocks’ third in four nights, but sparked by a career night from sophomore forward Carlos Powell, they were up to the task. Powell scored a career-high 20 points and helpe’d ignite a huge second-half run that put the game away for Carolina. “The man of the hour was Carlos,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. “Every time we need ed a basket, he did something that was exciting.” Powell was 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. But it was his energy, punctuated by a handful of thunderous dunks, that propelled the Gamecocks to victory. “He’s just undisciplined enough to be effective,” Odom said. “If he was any more undisciplined, he’d be over there with me (on the bench). But he does just enough things out of context to be effec tive. And you’ve got to love him for that. He played very well tonight.” The Gamecocks improved to 4-0 with Monday’s win. Temple, only two games into a school-record six game=road trip, dropped to 0-3 for the first time since 1988. USC took a 9-2 lead to start the game, but it soon fell victim.to Temple’s trademark matchup zone defense. The Gamecocks weren’t able to find a rhythm of fensively, and the Owls went on a 14-0 run. Carolina recovered, however, going on a 9-0 run to end an ugly first half that saw both teams struggle to score points. USC shot 32 percent in the half, and Temple shot 33 percent. “I knew points would be hard to come by tonight,” said Odom, whose team led 23-19 at the break. The teams traded the lead back and forth for the first nine minutes of the second half. Then the Gamecocks got hot, outscoring the Owls 21-4 in about a five-minute span. Powell scored. 10 points on the run. Chris Warren chipped in a couple of baskets, and Rolando Howell came up with two dunks to add the exclamation point. Temple never recovered. “I felt we played easily our best half of basketball in the second half,” Odom said. Carolina shot the lights out in the last 20 minutes, making 67 per cent of their shots. The Owls, on the other hand, continued to miss, shooting 33 percent again and fin ishing the game only 5-of-26 from 3-point range. “There’s only so much defense in the world you can play,” Owls head coach John Chaney said. “You’ve got to put the ball in the basket.” Temple started three freshmen, something Chaney said he’s nev er done before. “Basketball is a long season, and I’m hoping these guys are go ing to learn from the bruises that we’re getting right now,” he said. Nile Murry, with 12 points off the bench, was the Owls’ leading scorer in the game. Maurice Collins, one of the freshman starters, added 10. Chaney complimented the Gamecocks on how they adjusted to his team’s defensive scheme. “South Carolina did a great job of skipping the pass and being a little patient even when they found that they couldn’t get it to ♦ TEMPLE, SEE PAGE 12 USC’s Top 10 Pimp Daddies KYLEALMOND \ GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM Finally - a Gamecock farewell column that you actually want to read. This is my last column in The Gamecock. But don’t worry, I’m not going to follow the normal routine and subject you to a bunch of sappy references to my four years at use. I’m not going to talk about how much I’ve learned or how much I’ve grown, or how magical my girl friend is, or how I’m goirfg to alpha betically travel around the country. I won’t be talking about how much I’ve missed Mommy or Daddy, ei ther, as exciting as that is. But I will talk about 10 daddies —10 pimp daddies to be exact — that I will miss when I leave in May and head off to that scary place called the real world. Every Wednesday, I’ve been choosing someone as my “Pimp Daddy of the Week." This person ; was always someone who de served praise for his outstanding performance in the sports world. Well, there are 10 people at USC that I think deserve praise for a job well done over my four years at the school. And they aren’t just athletes. So, without further ado, here are my Top 10 Pimp Daddies at USC: 10. ANDREW SORENSEN Carolina’s new president has been working hard since he got here. And he still finds time to k hang out with the students — he * spent some time at Monday’s bas ketball game in the student sec tion. John Palms was a cool cat, but how many times did he rub el bows with us? USC is in good hands with Sorensen. You can see how dedi cated he is in makjng it better. 9. KIP BOUKNIGHT Bouknight, a pitcher for the baseball team from 1998-2001, col lected a handful of National Player cyf the Year awards irvhis junior season and is perhaps our most recognized athlete over these last four years. He wasn’t the biggest player, and he didn’t throw the hardest. But he still perplexed opposing batters and racked up the strike outs. He was truly a menace, espe cially against Clemson. And, of course, that’s when it matters the most. 8. DEMETRIA WASHINGTON I guess this will have to be a Pimp Mommy, although that sounds stupid as hell. Washington, a sprinter for the women’s track team, helped lead the Gamecocks to their first-ever national title in any sport. She owned the 400 meters, and she was on the 4x400 relay team that broke an NCAA record and clinched the title. Props have to go out to her relay teammates, Tacita Bass, Lashinda Demus and Tiffany Ross. And I can’t forget head coach Curtis Frye. 7. “BASKETBALL JESUS" You know who I’m talking about. You see him at the basket ball games waving that flag around like a madman, and you can’t help but laugh and get pumped up. His enthusiasm is in fectious. Even when the basketball team was struggling in the last years of the Eddie Fogler era, he was out there in full force. His nickname might not be the most politically correct, but until he gets a haircut, it’s going to stick. 6. RYAN BREWER Almost all of us cried out when Derek Watson got suspended for the first Outback Bowl: Now how can we compete with the mighty Buckeyes? Brewer shut us up and made lifelong fans out of us with his gut sy three-touchdown performance. He could have sucked the rest of his career and we still would have loved him. But he didn’t. He was always a consistent per former. He wasn’t a big-play guy, but when you needed the tough yards, he was your man. He’ll for ever have a place in Gamecock lore. 5. MISS SHIRLEY FROM CAPSTONE The nicest security guard at USC. You could have been in a ter rible mood, but she’d make you snap out of it, if only for a few sec onds. Most security guards grumble at you, “Let me see your key.” ♦ ALMOND, SEE PAGE 12 Volleyball ready for NCAAs No. 23 USC vs. American NCAA Tournament First Round 5 p.m. Thursday Chapel Hill, N.C. BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK tor the second time in as many years, the USC volleyball team will head to Tobacco Road for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Thursday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., the 23rd-ranked Gamecocks play the American University Eagles in the first round of the tournament. The winner will go on to play either North Carolina or Winthrop in the second round Friday. This is the first time that USC will appear in three straight NCAA Tournaments, and the pro gram is looking to take it to a new level this year. USC head coach Kim Christopher is anticipating the opportunity to play in the big dance. “It’s great to be in the play offs,” she said. “We are disap pointed that we didn’t get to host, but at the same time, we are ex cited to get a chance to get to go on the road and play in our third straight NCAA Tournament. We are going to treat this as a new season.” For the current cast of play ers, led by six seniors, this is the final stage of a long journey. By the end of their freshman year, three of them — Megan Hosp, Sam Alban and Berna Dwyer — were forced to start because of Hosp injuries on the team. Cally Plummer, then a sophomore, received a medical redshirt that season because of shoulder surgery. Hosp said a lot of the team’s success now can be traced back to that year, when USC went 14 12. “It was beneficial for us,” she said. “You need to have a bad year to have success in the years to come.” Following a surprising first round exit at the SEC Tournament this year, it’s all come down to this for the Gamecocks (21-6,14-2 SEC). A na tional championship would re quire winning six matches. First, though, USC must get past American (26-7, 14-0 Patriot League). The Eagles are a balanced team that won the Patriot League this season. Five players were named to the All-Patriot League team, and American also has a two-time league Player of the Year and a Rookie of the Year. Christopher noted a bit of irony in the opposi tion, however. “They’re American University, but they have a lot of foreigners,” said Christopher, referring to the five Europeans on the Eagles’ ros ter. “But that means they’re tal ented and going to be a very good team.” The Gamecocks haven’t faced American since 1996, and Plummer was unsure about what exactly to expect. “I know as much about them as you do,” she said. “But I know that they’re good enough to get into the tournament.” American head coach Barry Goldberg knows that the task won’t be easy, but he looks for ward to the challenge. “Every team that’s in the tour ♦ VOLLEYBALL, SEE PAGE 12 “We are excited to get a chance to get to go on the road and play in our third straight NCAA Tournament. We are going to treat this as a new season.” KIM CHRISTOPHER use VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH Gamecocks sloppy in latest home win BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK Basketballs were flying around the court a little more than usual at the Carolina Center Tuesday night. But the 23rd-ranked USC women’s bas ketball team used a big second half run to beat Georgia Southern 75-54. Georgia Southern “just flat outworked us,” USC head coach Susan Walvius said. “I thought we were careless with the bas ketball, and we did a poor job re bounding tonight. “It’s good to win a game, yet as a team, I think we realize the things ^hat we have to improve on. We want to be the best team in the country — we didn’t play that way tonight.” Neither team could get much going early in the first half, and physical play and turnovers got the best of both squads. The Eagles’ defense constantly pres sured the Gamecocks, forcing USC into giving up the ball. Carolina didn’t help itself, either, with a number of sloppy passes falling into the hands of Georgia Southern players. The Gamecocks had 30 turnovers — an amount that would be unacceptable later in the season. “We’re going to need to play, better in the SEC to be success ful,” Walvius said. But USC never let up offen sively, despite the Eagles’ persis tence on defense. Kelly Morrone hit two of her four first-half 3 pointers, and Cristina Ciocan nailed a trey as well, to extend the Gamecocks’ lead to seven. % ♦ WOMEN, SEE PAGE 12 FILE PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Sarah Burgess, right, and the USC women’s basketball team won by 21 points Tuesday despite turning the ball over 30 times. Burgess finished with five points and five rebounds.