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8 - . .. THE GAMECOCK * Friday, January 17,2003 , GAME SCHEDULE MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Florida, 8 p.m. Saturday At AvTVTm A Atm ttci WOMEN'S SWIMMING at Arkansas, 11 a.m. Saturday LtUJN 1 AL< 1 U k) WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. Sunday MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK at Virginia Tech, Friday-Saturday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com Gamecocks drop first at home BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK. The USC men’s basketball team tried to stay undefeated at home in front of a fired-up crowd on Wednesday night, but was shot down by one of the SEC’s best players. Auburn’s Marquis Daniels scored 31,points to hold off a late game rally by the Gamecocks, and USC (7:B, 1-2 SEC) lost to Auburn (14-2,3-0)67-60. Rolando Howell led the way for Carolina scoring 15 points, and Michael Boynton hit four 3-point ers to add 12 points. Chuck Eidson chipped in 11 points and three steals in the loss. Carolina head coach Dave Odom used several different play ers to try to slow Daniels down, but the senior forward still pun ished the Gamecocks for 18 points in the second half. “They’ve got an all-star in Marquis Daniels,” Odom said. “We played everybody we had on him except myself. ” Daniels was 3-for-5 from be hind the arc and 10-for-ll from the free^throw line to go along with seven rebounds. Nathan Watson was Auburn’s only other player to score in double figures with 12 points, going 2 for-3 from the three-point line. “As advertised, they got an excel- Odom lent basketball team,” Odom said. “They played with championship-like compo sure.” “I think our team gave great ef fort tonight. The story from our side is missed assignments. At this time of year, there is no excuse for missing defensive assignments, or offensive assignments for that matter,” he said. The Gamecocks gave up sever al open 3-pointers, and Auburn made them pay by shooting 50 per cent from behind the arc. USC shot 41.8 percent from the field, and Auburn hit 42.9 percent of its shots. Carolina also struggled from the free-throw line hitting only eight of its 14 attempts. USC had little help on the boards, grab bing only 27 rebounds to Auburn’s 38. Odom was very pleased with the 13,962 fans that attended the game. “I thought the crowd tonight had every right to stand up and be proud,” he said. “They were ex cellent; it was the best it’s ever been in this building.” Daniels started early for the Tigers, hitting two straight 3 pointers, but USC responded to take a five-point lead in the mid dle of the first half. Auburn then went on a 14-2 run to take a 34-29 halftime lead. USC fell behind by eight early in the second half, but two mon ♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 9 PHOTO BY MARK BISSET/THE GAMECOCK USC’s Rolando Howell, center, takes a shot over Auburn’s Kyle Davis, left. Howell scoredl5 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Gamecocks’ 67-60 loss to the Tigers. Injury ends center’s career BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK The USC career of men’s bas ketball player Marius Petravicius came to an end on Tuesday night because of his struggles with re habbing the partial tear of the ACL in his left knee. The senior injured his knee against The Citadel on Jan. 2, and it appeared that surgery was not necessary. After struggling physically and mentally, Petravicius announced on Wednesday evening that he de cided to have corrective surgery and will not play the rest of the year. Petravicius decided to go ahead with surgery because it would be required if the knee did nni VidqI nn i+c nwn “It’s getting a little better but not quite enough to play basket ball,” Petravicius said. He consulted with Odom on Sunday, and Odom told him to talk about surgery with his par ents and mentors in Lithuania. Then on Tuesday, Petravicius met with Odom, a doctor and the team trainer to share his decision that surgery was best for him. “The decision was made thoughtfully,” Odom said. “As we always do, we act on the side of what’s best for the student athlete. Petravicius is a native of Kltenenu, Lithuania, and has started in 89 of the 106 games he played in his career. He has a ca reer average of 7.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds. Petravicius played in only 10 games this sea son and averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He had a career year as a sopho more during the 2000-01 season, averaging 8.5 points and 4.7 re bounds. The Associated Press named Petravicius third-team All SEC. That year, he scored a career high 20 points against Georgia. “I really enjoyed playing for this team,” Petravicius said. “It was a great experience, a great conference.” Petravicius wilt nave tne surgery sometime next week, and he decided to have it performed by the USC medical staff. He hopes to be in shape by May in case the op portunity of playing basketball outside of college presents itself. Odom said he was pleased with Petravicius’ decision and has much respect for the senior cen ter. “We celebrate his decision; he made the right decision for him. He’ll still be very much a part of our basketball team. No one that I have ever coached has given more and asked less than Marius Petravicius,” Odom said. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com PENN REWRITES THE RECORD BOOKS Jocelyn Penn scores 51 to break single-game scoring record, sets a career steals mark at USC BY NICK YOUNG THE GAMECOCK Ever since Gamecock senior Jocelyn Penn came to USC to play basketball, she’s been on a march towards the record books. She started her freshman sea son with a bang by averaging 13 points per game. She also grabbed 11 steals and set USC and SEC records. Little did ev eryone know, there was plenty more to look forward to. After two years of stellar play and hard work, Penn went into her senior year with high expec tations and records to break. Earlier this season, Penn came out firing and had two 40-point exhibition games. Then, Penn tied the Carolina single-game scoring record with 50 points against Wofford on Dec. 4, at the Carolina Center. USC head coach Susan Walvius received criticism from many people for keeping Penn in the game for so long, pressing and fouling as the game was nearly over and de cided. With five seconds left, Cristina Ciocan ran the ball up the court and passed it inside to Penn, who had the chance to break the record, but her buzzer-beating attempt rimmed out. “I just wanted that last bucket too bad,” Penn said. With the non-conference schedule coming to an end, Penn had one last real opportunity to break her tie with Shannon Johnson for most points scored in a game. “It’s an honor especially be ing next to Shannon Johnson,” Penn said after tying the record. “I want to credit my teammates; they wanted it just as bad as I did.” The Gamecocks played Stetson on Jan. 4 at the Carolina Center, where Penn scored 51 points and broke the school record. Her 51 points also tied the SEC scoring record. In many peoples’ minds, noth ing can tarnish the scoring record, but some coaches and spectators had a problem with the fact that Penn was in the game for so long. “No matter how many points she had, she would have been in the game,” Walvius said. “We needed to get her ready for the SEC and hopefully she is more ready now than she was before.” Unlike the Wofford game, there was no late game fouling or pressing, and Penn got every thing done in plenty of time. She reached 40 points on an inside shot with 6:10 left. A put back gave her 49 points with two minutes to go. Penn’s at tempt with 52 seconds left bounced out. She finally tied the record by making the first of a one-and-one with 11.1 sec onds left, then was fouled as she tried a basket from the top of the key. As she stepped up to the line, her teammates and crowd were overcome with silence as she at tempted to break the record. A few seconds later, Penn stood alone at the top of the record books. A few games earlier, Penn broke the school record for most career steals, but she down played her personal accom plishments in favor of the team approach. Breaking the record “wasn’t my game objective. My objective was to help the team win,” Penn said. “It was important to com pete and scrap every minute of the game to prepare for the SEC.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com FILE PHOTOBY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Jocelyn Penn put her name at the top of USC’s record books with a 51-point performance against Stetson. Against S.C. State, Penn broke the school record for most career steals. Tenn. coach wins 800th game KNOXVILLE, TENN. (AP) - Having earned her place in his tory as the first women’s college basketball coach to reach 800 vic tories, Tennessee’s Pat Summitt now will take aim at the two win ningest men in the game. When No. 5 Tennessee beat No. 25 DePaul 76-57 Tuesday night, Summitt became just the fourt: { Division I coach, male or female, to win 800 games. The three men to reach the mile stone are North Carolina’s Dean Smith, Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp and Jim Phelan of Mount Saint Summltt Mary’s. Smith re tired in 1997 with a record 879 wins, while Rupp had 876. Summitt’s record stands at 800-161 in 29 seasons, with six na tional championships, second only to John Wooden’s 10 titles at UCLA. “I know some people think I will run out of gas. I just love it,” Summitt said. “I go to work ev ery day and am able to work with young people and am able to make things happen ir,a posi tive way, to help them build their self-esteem and build con fidence.” Summitt, 50, said she’ll keep coaching as long as she enjoys it. “I do actually enjoy practice as much as games. Just the preparation that goes into it,” she said. “At game time, I like to be able to watch the results of our teaching and coaching in ♦ SUMMITT, SEE PAGE 9 Women pull out victory at Vanderbilt If Vanderbilt 57 •if® (10-5,0-2 SEC) SjSt usc 66 (14-2,2-1) NASHVILLE, TENN. (AP) - Jocelyn Penn, the nation’s leading scorer, scored 21 of her 27 points in the second half as No. 14 South Carolina defeated No. 17 Vanderbilt 66-57 on Thursday night. Kelly Morrone added 14 points for South Carolina (14-2,2-1 SEC). Chantelle Anderson scbred 20 points, and Ashley McElhiney 11 for Vanderbilt (10-5,0-2). Carolina led by three on five dif ferent occasions in the first half, but trailed 29-27 at halftime and was down by four on Anderson’s basket to open the second half. USC rallied to take a lead, but Vanderbilt then came back from its own four-point deficit and made it 53-53 with three minutes re maining on a basket by Anderson. But Penn, who is averaging 27.3 points, and Morrone scored on consecutive possessions for South Carolina, and the visiting Gamecocks hit seven of 11 free throws down the stretch to pre serve the road victory. Senior Petra Ujhelyi grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for USC, while providing some solid de fense in the paint. But the Gamecocks had difficulty control ling the ball, as the Commodores had 12 steals in the game. Those steals were just a part of Carolina’s 21 turnovers, which could have made an even bigger difference in the game than they did. Yet Carolina outshone Vanderbilt from behind the three point line, especially freshman Sarah Burgess, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on her attempts. The Gamecocks’ tough road in the SEC continues, when they play the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday at the Carolina Center. Georgia (11-4,2-0) is coming off a big 96-54 victory over Ole Miss and a 105-62 win against the Florida Gators. The Bulldogs should provide another test for the Gamecocks. Bulldog head coach Andy Landers knows what awaits his team when it comes to Columbia. “South Carolina will be the best team we’ve played this year,” Landers said. “They like tempo, they like to get up and down, and they get after you defensively.” Tip-off for the contest is at 2 p.m. Matt Rothenberg contributed to this story. 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