The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 17, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
g THE GAMECOCK * Monday, February 17,2003
' GAME SCHEDULE
nnATrrAnrn TTO MEN’S GOLF at Mercedes-Benz Tournament,
LUiN 1AL 1 Uu Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Monday and Tuesday
MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING at SEC Championships,
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com • Wednesday through Saturday
Warren goes wild on Hogs
USC senior hits six 3-pointers in the
second half Saturday as Carolina
wins its third consecutive game
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
Chris Warren had an afternoon
to remember.
The senior from Garland, Texas,
scored 21 of his game-high 23
points in the second half to help
lead the Gamecocks to a 72-65 win
Saturday over the pesky Arkansas
Razorbacks at the Carolina Center.
“We certainly are very fortu
nate to win today’s game — very,
very fortunate. We did not play
our best; I think Arkansas caused
that,” USC head coach Dave Odom
said. “They played in a tempo that
was right for them. We acquiesced
to it, and when we tried to change
it, we didn’t have the energy to
change it for whatever reason.”
Warren removed the thoughts
of former Gamecock Jamel
Bradley’s long-range heroics from
USC fans’ minds with six 3-point
ers in the second half, easily a per
sonal best. His 23 points were also
a career high.
This was also Warren’s third
straight game scoring in double
figures.
But there were some tense mo
ments in which one could wonder
whether Carolina (10-11,3-7 SEC)
was going to come out on top after
afi.
Tony Kitchings paced USC in
the first half, scoring 11 of his 15
points during the period, as the
Gamecocks managed to keep a
lead over Arkansas (7-14,2-8). The
margin was at its largest at 10
points, and Carolina also kept
skilled Razorbacks forward
Dionisio Gomez off the court with
foul trouble.
Kitchings and guard Chuck
Eidson put Arkansas down early
with an 11-0 run at the beginning of
the first half, but plenty of defensive
pressure from both sides ensured
that the score would stay close.
The Gamecocks finished the first
half shooting a solid 48 percent
from the field, but Odom felt that
Carolina’s hustle numbers — re
bounding, steals and blocks—were
a little too similar to Arkansas’
numbers. He then pointed out that
it was largely because of Rolando
Howell’s lack of activity.
“I looked around one time and
said, ‘We need to get Rolando in
there,’ and they said, ‘He is,’ ”
Odom said. “That’s how much he
was doing, I didn’t even know it. I
hadn’t seen him do anything. I
looked at his rebounds during the
half, and I knew I was right —
same as a dead man: none.”
Odom then told Howell what he
wanted, and the junior from
Columbia responded with seven
points and four rebounds in the
second half.
In the end, though, the story of
the second half was Warren’s per
formance. He set career marks in
points scored, 3-pointers attempt
ed and 3-pointers made.
“I don’t know if you can say
enough, at least offensively, about
Chris Warren,” Odom said. “Six 3s
in the second half — most of them
key shots at times when we need
ed them the most.” Right before
Warren was injured and forced to
sit for seven games, Odom thought
he was “right on the doorstep of be
ginning to play” the way he is now.
“I’m playing with more confi
dence,” Warren said. “I’m just try
ing to play every game as if it’s my
last because, when I had the injury,
it was like a nightmare. I’m just try
ing to help my team win.”
With Arkansas’ Eric Ferguson
and Jonathon Modica getting in a
groove, Warren arguably saved
♦ MEN, SEE PAGE 9
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
USC’s Chris Warren, right, brings the ball down the court during Saturday’s win over the
Arkansas Razorbacks. Warren scored 21 points in the second half, 18 of which came from six
3-pointers. His 23 points were a personal best for Warren.
Gamecocks crack the Lady ’Backs
Penn’s 29points and Ciocan’s 21
lead USC to a win over Arkansas
Arkansas cq
[pEjj (19-6,6-4 SEC)
eusc 83
(18-6,6-5)
BY TRAVIS BOLAND
THE (1AMECOCK
USC made it a clean sweep over
Arkansas on Sunday, as the 15th
ranked women’s basketball team
beat the 13th-ranked Lady
Razorbacks 83-59. Coming off a
double-overtime loss to Georgia
on Thursday, the Gamecocks (186,
6-5 SEC) responded with a strong
showing on offense and defense.
“I was glad to see our team re
spond after the loss to Georgia,”
USC head coach Susan Walvius
said. “I told our team to take it one
game at a time and not to get to
low.”
USC had lost its past three
games to the Razorbacks (19-6,6
4), including one in Fayetteville,
Ark., on Jan. 12. “We were able to
stop their transition play in the
three games we beat them,”
Arkansas head coach Gary Blair
said. “Tonight, we didn’t stop then
transition. They executed and we
didn’t. They kicked our butts.”
USC opened the game with a 12
2 run, as Petra Ujhelyi poured in
six points to go along with 3-point
ers by Cristina Ciocan and
Jocelyn Penn. Arkansas crawled
back into the game with a run of
its own and took a 16-15 lead with
10 minutes left to play in the first
half. But a 7-0 run led by Ciocan
and Penn gave the Gamecocks the
lead for good.
“We played together as a team
and stayed focused,” Ciocan said.
USC shot 40 percent from the
field in the first half and led the
Razorbacks 40-31 at halftime.
In the second half, USC began
getting more fastbreak and transi
tion points against a fatigued
Arkansas squad. According to
Walvius, her team was just accen
tuating some of its best abilities.
“We’ve always been a good
transition team. We are able to
recognize when a team is getting
tired,” Walvius said. “This is a
smart team that can find an oppo
nent’s weakness.”
Penn continued her hot scoring
hand, going 7-for-12 from the field,
while Ciocan also continued on a
scoring pace, netting 10 points in
the second half to finish with 21.
Penn again led all scorers with 29
points and added four steals, as
she continues her quest to become
the SEC’s all-time steals leader.
Ujhelyi added 10 points and 13 re
bounds in the Gamecocks’ win to
increase her SEC-leading double
double total.
Three Razorbacks scored in
double figures, including Shameka
Christon, who scored a team-high
15 points and 12 rebounds. Dana
Cherry had 14 points, while India
Lewis added 11 points.
USC is in the home stretch of
its SEC schedule; it has just three
more games left before the SEC
tournament. Carolina is battling
for a top-four position that would
guarantee the team a first-round
bye in the tournament.
“I knew how important this
game was. I didn’t tell them, but I
knew that if we wanted to compete
for a top-four spot, we needed to
win this game,” Walvius said.
“Our team is playing well now,
and this is the time of year when
you want your team to play well.”
USC is in seventh place in the
SEC, but has pulled to within a
game of fourth-place Arkansas.
The Gamecocks’ next game is at
home against the Auburn Tigers
on Sunday.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Cristina Ciocan, left, tosses the ball past an Arkansas defender to teammate Petra UJhelyl ^
during USC’s victory. UJhelyl had 10 points and 13 rebounds in the win.
Tiger is
not the
king of
the links
BRAD SENKIW
GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Woods and Mickelson’s
feud isn’t good for PGA.
I guess the sport of golf officially
kicked off this weekend with the
arrival of Tiger Woods at the Buick
Open. Unfortunately, a battle of
words has taken off between Phil
Mickelson and one of the sport’s
most popular characters in Woods.
Mickelson
made a statement
in Golf Magazine
about Woods’ Nike
golf clubs being in
ferior and how
Woods has domi
nated the competi
tion by using
them. The media Mickelson
jumped all over
this statement like ants on a lol
lipop. Before I realized it,
Mickelson was being questioned
like it was the Spanish Inquisition
and Woods was sitting there call
ing Phil a “smart aleck.”
So why is it bad for Mickelson
to praise Woods for winning with
horrible clubs and OK for Tiger to
call Mickelson names? Is this first
grade again?
I thought golf was to be decided
on the course with a competitor
challenging fairways and greens,
as well as his or her own mind.
Why are we, as fans, being sub
jected to two men squaring off in
a media room and not at Torrey
Pines Country Club?
The two men supposedly
worked it out and Mickelson apol
ogized. Apologized for what? He
gave the world’s greatest golfer a
compliment about his ability, and
Woods treated it like an insult to
his mother. Tiger said that
Mickelson was trying to make a
joke and it “came off wrong. ”
The question is why did Tiger
even need to make a statement
□ about what
Mickelson said?
Maybe it was be
cause Nike, which
immediately re
leased an ad cam
paign built around
Tiger’s choice to
... . use its clubs and
Woods his success in do.
ing so, paid him
$100 million to do what it says.
My real beef is with Woods and
the fact that he let this become a
big deal. He could have easily come
out and said, “Hey, let’s just play
golf and forget this ever happened.”
I don’t think Mickelson was
wrong, and I don’t think he meant
any harm. Tiger, take it as a com
pliment, and if you have a prob
lem with Phil, talk to him on the
course and beat him there, not in
the media room. Woods needs to
keep using his Nike equipment
and not resort to name calling.
Luckily, the two were paired
on Sunday’s final round, at which
disputes should be resolved. I
guess the gentlemanly game of golf
that Jack Nicklaus and Arnold
Palmer gave us is gone.
uou nas Liujicu uuojusianouiei
overhyped sport thanks to Tiger
and the image he has brought.
Tiger is the sport’s biggest charac
ter and is treated like a king.
Also, why do the cameras cut
away when Tiger hits a bad shot?
Is it because he uses profanity on
the course? Show Woods whether
he is being a role model or not.
And as for Woods, he needs to
realize what is important. I think I
would have used my time with the
media discussing my return from
injury and my plans for the golf
season. I think Woods has become
bigger than the game right now.
Until that situation changes, it
will be hard for anyone in golf to
say anything that might upset the
top-ranked golfer in the world in
the headlines instead of on the
leaderboards.
♦ SENKIW, SEE PAGE 9