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V SPORTS CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE: Matt Brad Jill Adam Katie Nathan The Gamecock's readers and Rothenberg Senkiw Martin Beam Smith Stalvey staff test their sports knowledge Sports Asst. Sports Editor in News Head Page Reader of with predictions of the Editor Editor Chief Editor Designer the Week weekend’s games. (Rankings (6-4) (5-6) (5-5) (6-4) (7-3) (6-4) are from the Associated Press.) 1 Arizona at 6 Kansas 21 Missouriat4Texas 14 Indiana at Purdue Villanova at 11 Connecticut DePaul at 20 Marquette 24 Auburn at 19 Georgia_ 8 Kentucky at 15 Alabama LSU at 22 Mississippi State 9 Louisville at Tennessee _ " 12 Maryland at Clemson Arizona Kansas Texas_Texas _ Indiana Indiana Villanova UConn Marquette Marquette Georgia_Georgia Kentucky Kentucky Miss. St. Miss. St. Louisville Louisville Maryland Maryland 81-74 70-62 Arizona Kansas Texas Texas Indiana Indiana UConn UConn Marquette DePaul Auburn Auburn Kentucky Kentucky Miss. St. Miss. St. Tennessee Tennessee Maryland Maryland 84-72 85-72 Arizona Kansas Missouri Texas Indiana Indiana UConn UConn Marquette Marquette Auburn Auburn Alabama_Kentucky Miss. St. Miss. St. Tennessee Louisville Maryland Maryland 77-67 86-68 LAST WEEK’S WINNER: Sarah McLaulin (7-3) - The staff guest from the designers and copy editors takes the crown in the first week, pulling into an early one-game lead. Rothenberg, Tomlinson and Reader of the Week Aisha Haynes all land in a three-way tie for second place with a 6-4 finish. Martin, the Editor in Chief, hopes to show who’s boss in this week’s contest, while Senkiw is looking to pull himself into a few games above .500. Both went 5-5 last week. WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-mailyourselectionsnextweektogamecocksports@hotmail.com. If you’re picked and have the best record, you’ll win a free Gamecock T-shirt and be able to talk all the trash you want. Rourk CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 it is an elementary idea for foot ball, however, the more you V spread the ball around and keep pounding the ball, the more you’ll wear down Tampa’s de fense. The second for the Raiders is to keep their defense fresh. If they keep their offense out on the field as much as possible, the better prepared the Raiders’ defense will be to tend to Johnson and Alstott, who can become a handful as the game goes on. Overall, the Raiders have expe rience on their side. When Raiders’ owner A1 Davis and his son put the team together, they had experience in mind. With their move to get rid of Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay, they saved money that went to retain some of their players this season. With this veteran team, they will walk into Qualcomm Stadium this Sunday and make the hour and a half plane ride back to Oakland with the NFL Championship. Rourk is a first-year print journalism student. Basketball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 ther. A small advantage was that the Gamecocks also managed three blocks to MSU's one. Even with a more concentrat ed second half effort, Carolina failed to stop the Bulldogs’ main players for too long. Mississippi State center Mario Austin — a two-time All-SEC selection — was held without a shot until there was 6:49 left in the first half. Despite the inactivity, Austin scored eight straight points, while finishing with a game-high 18 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Bulldog guard Timmy Bowers provided 15 points in the win, while Ignerski added 10 points and nine rebounds. Winsome Frazier came in off the bench to score 11 points. To further compound the Gamecocks’ pitiful performance, USC had more turnovers than it made field goals (20 to 14). This, along with the other offensive woes Carolina suffered * Wednesday, prompted head coach Dave Odom to state the obvious. “We have offensive problems galore,” he said. But it will be up to Odom and the team to solve those problems. With a rare weekend off, the Gamecocks will have to come up with some answers before they face the Tennessee Volunteers next week in Knoxville, Tenn. while Carolina (7-8,1-4 SEC) suffered its fourth-straight defeat. It was a game where the Bulldogs (11-4,1-3) quickly took the lead, literally, with Michal Ignerski’s 3-pointer five seconds into the first half. From that point forward, Mississippi State never looked back. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 5 0 advantage, but an 8-4 ran by the Gamecocks closed the gap to one point. And that would remain the closest the two sides got, as MSU led 31-19 at the half. Turnovers were a big story in the game, as both sides committed 20 apiece, but the Gamecocks were ruined, in part, by their sloppy ballhandling skills. USC had 12 of its turnovers in the first half, a pe riod in which they only shot a measly 21.7 percent (5-for-23) from the field. But the second half provided lit tle extra comfort for Carolina. Despite shooting 32.1 percent, the Gamecocks couldn’t make up for their early doldrums. Mississippi State led by 20 nearly seven min utes into the second half, and nev er relinquished their dominant lead. The Bulldogs shot the ball rather well throughout the game, shooting 49 percent on the night, as well as making 41.7 percent of their three-point attempts. Forward Kerbrell Brown per formed well in an otherwise for gettable game for USC. The junior from New Orleans led the Gamecocks with 15 points; in cluding scoring Carolina’s only three 3-pointers. Seniors Tony Kitchings and Chuck Eidson each finished with 12 points apiece, though 10 of Eidson’s points came from free throws. If there is, any more solace that the Gamecocks can take from Wednesday night, it is that USC outrebounded the Bulldogs on the offensive glass, which would nor mally lead to more second-chance shots. But even that wasn’t a ma jor factor for Carolina either. A small advantage was that the Gamecocks also managed three blocks to MSU’s one. Even with a more concentrat ed second half effort, Carolina failed to stop the Bulldogs’ main players for too long. Mississippi State center Mario Austin —- a two-time All-SEC selection — was held without a shot until there was 6:49 left in the first half. Despite the inactivity, Austin scored eight straight points, while finishing with a game-high 18 points on9-for-13 shooting. Bulldog guard Timmy Bowers provided 15 points in the win, while Ignerski added ten points and nine rebounds. Winsome Frazier came in off the bench to score 11 points. To further compound the Gamecocks’ pitiful performance, USC had more turnovers than it made field goals (20 to 14). This, along with the other offensive woes Carolina suffered Wednesday, prompted head coach Dave Odom to state the obvious. “We have offensive problems galore,” he said. But it will be up to Odom and the team to solve those problems. With a rare weekend off, the Gamecocks will have to come up with some answers before they face the Tennessee Volunteers next week in Knoxville, Term. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com CLUB * COMER Women’s Rugby Club Come support your Gamecocks Saturday at 1 p.m. on Field B next to the Blatt PE Center, when the USC women's rugby club will take on Furman. If you are interested in playing, you may come to prac tices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m. on Field E. Visit us at www.gamecockrugby.com. Mountaineering and Whitewater Club The Mountaineering and Whitewater Club is gearing up for a new semester with plenty of op portunities for whitewater rafting, I roclc and ice climbing, backpack ing, mountain biking and lots more. Check the club out Monday at 7 p.m. in Room 152 of Gambrell Hall. Dues are $25, and no experience is necessary. If you would like to see your sports club represented in Club Corner, please e-mail a brief de scription of your club, including your contact information, to gamecocksports@hotmail.com. 1 ' * BRIEFLY Track teams to run in SEC Quad Meet The third-ranked Gamecock men's and women's track teams are heading to Lexington, Ky., this weekend for the SEC Challenge. The two-day event be gins with the men's and women's weight throws taking place Friday night and all other events occurring Saturday. On the women's side, the Gamecocks face Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The men face all those teams but Alabama and Vanderbilt. All events will take place at the Nutter Field House on the University of Kentucky cam pus. Softball picked 2nd in Eastern Division The Southeastern Conference released the 2003 softball coach es' preseason poll and the USC was voted to finish second in the SEC Eastern Division. The Georgia Bulldogs were chosen to finish first in the east, while LSU was picked to claim the league title. The Gamecocks open the 2003 season on Sunday, Feb. 2 when they host North Carolina at 2 p.m. at Beckham Field. USC * opens SEC play on March 8 when the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Columbia. Men’s soccer hires assistant coach - * The USC men's soccer head coach Mark Berson announced the hiring of assistant coach Bryan Cunningham. Cunningham comes from Appalachian State where he was an assistant coach with the Mountaineers for five years. Cunningham's primary re sponsibility is as recruiting co ordinator. Other duties include , team training, match analysis and office administration. WAREHOUSE SALE! JANUARY 28 thru JANUARY 30 Tuesday - Thursday : 9 AM-9PM Fashions from the pages of the J.Crew Catalog up to 70% OFF!! Free admission. Open to public! Carolina Coliseum 701 Assembly St. Columbia, SC 29201 DIRECTIONS From 1-120: Enter on Elmwood Avenue. Turn right on Assembly St. Go thru fourteen traf fic lights, Carolina Coliseum is at intersection of Assembly and Blossom Streets. From 1-77: Take Exit #6 (Shop Rd.) Shop Rd. becomes George Rogers Blvd., and thenn Assembly St. Carolina Coliseum is at the intersection of Assembly and Blossom Streets. i We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, J.Crew Credit Cards, Cash and Check (with proper ID) INCLUDES IRREGULARS, DAMAGED & CUSTOMER RETURNS Delta Gamma sorority is expanding at South Carolina International representatives and current collegiate members will be on campus holding open interviews. Stop by to see what Delta Gamma has to offer you! January 27-29 Russell House, Room 203 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. , * > www.deltagamma.org/uecideDG Service • Sisterhood • Scholarship • Leadership