The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 26, 2003, Page 13, Image 13
GAME SCHEDULE
n AAFTl A nrr TIC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. Thursday
Kj UlN lAU 1 UO MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK at SEC indoor Championships, Fri.,Sat.
o- „ WOMEN'S TENNIS vs. Miss. St., 1:30 p.m. Friday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S TENNIS at Miss. St., 2 p.m. Friday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Carolina sinks in Swamp
Gamecocks are
no match for the
mighty Gators
SUSC go
(11-13,3-8 SEC) °
(tfgSk Florida qc
(23-4,11-2)
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball
team is beginning to feel that ev
ery road game leads to a blowout.
After the team stumbled against
the Georgia Bulldogs on
Saturday, it only got worse for
Carolina (11-13,3-8 SEC) as it was
thrashed by the fourth-ranked
Gators 96-63 in Gainesville, Fla.
It was Carolina’s second
straight loss in as many road
games, and the Gamecocks were
left watching a highly-ranked op
ponent dominate them in front of
a rowdy crowd. The Gators (23-4,
11-2) won their 19th game at
home, as they built a late first-half
lead that only got bigger in the
second half.
Florida had six players in dou
ble figures, led by Matt Bonner’s
18 points and David Lee’s 14
points, along with eight rebounds.
Justin Hamilton scored 12 points,
Bonnell Colas had 11, and
Christian Drejer and Anthony
Roberson added 10 points apiece.
The Gators shot 64.2 percent from
the field and 66.7 percent from be
hind the arc; the Gamecocks stood
little chance against the high-pow
ered offense Florida head coach
Billy Donovan’s team brought.
Bonner was 3-for-4 from the 3
point line, and Roberson hit both
of his long-range attempts.
The Gamecocks shot 41 per
cent from the field as a team, but
could find no way to stop
Florida’s fast-break offense.
Rolando Howell scored 16 points
with six rebounds, as he hit seven
♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 14
FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
USC's Rolando Howell tries to dribble past an Arkansas player.
Howell had 16 points in Carolina’s loss to Fldrida on Tuesday.
use to
honor
senior
players
BY NICK YOUNG
THE GAMECOCK
After an exciting final-second
victory over Auburn on Sunday,
the USC women’s basketball team
will honor its three seniors
Thursday before taking on the
Kentucky Lady Wildcats. Carolina
is trying to secure the fourth spot
as it prepares for the SEC
Tournament.
For the first time this season,
the 16th-ranked Gamecocks (19-6.
7-5 SEC) are two games over .500
in conference play, and they are
looking to sweep their season se
ries against the Kentucky wom
en’s team (11-13,4-8).
The last time these two forces
met, the Gamecocks squeaked
away with a narrow 49-46 win. In
the game, the Lady Wildcats held
Naismith Award finalist Jocelyn
Penn to her worst performance of
the year. In the game, Penn made
only one of her eight shot at
tempts and recorded two re
bounds during her 37 minutes of
play. Luckily for the Gamecocks,
Kelly Morrone and Cristina
Ciocan picked up the slack with
13 points apiece. Koretha
Johnson contributed 11 rebounds,
_ll
ao
Much of Kentucky’s defensive
success against Penn is credited
to Sara Potts and Rita Adams.
Potts put pressure on Penn in
the perimeter, using her quick
ness to match up with the
Carolina forward. When Penn
would move to the post, Potts
would still play her one-on-one.
But the 5-foot-8-inch Adams
would come over and help out on
the weak-side with her shot
blocking ability. When Adams
wasn’t helping out with Penn,
she was teaming with freshman
Jennifer Humphrey to hold
Carolina center Petra Ujhelyi in
check. Ujhelyi managed only
eight points and seven rebounds,
both below her average, and
fouled out, as well.
Like the Gamecocks, UK plays a
three-guard set with one guard
who is more of a slashing perime
ter player.
Because they play with basi
cally the same types of players,
the size matchups should be fair
ly equal.
The Lady Wildcats are one of
the most balanced teams offen
sively in the conference, with
four players who average more
than 10 points per game. The only
starter who does not average 10
or more points is Jennifer
Humphrey, who is only a few
points behind with a 7.7-per-game
average. Humphrey is second on
the team with 22 blocks to her
credit.
On the defensive side of the
ball, Kentucky is led by two un
derclassmen guards. Adams has
26 blocks and 57 steals to lead the
Wildcats in both categories.
Joining Adams among the team
leaders in steals and blocks is
♦ WOMEN, SEE PAGE 14
BY HOLLI ARMSTRONG
THE GAMECOCK
When Aleen Bailey first crossed paths with
head track coach Curtis Frye, at an indoor
meet last year in Arkansas, she held nothing
back.
“Coach Frye, why aren’t you recruiting
me?” Bailey said.
Frye is quick to recall the conversation.
“Her coach was there, and I had asked him
about her, and
he toid me she “She has already
SET- T", brought to the table
said -And everything we hope
when she this program is
walked up and abOUt. ... In tum, I
know why i think she gives
wasn’t recruit more to us than we
higher, I had gjve to her.”
to say I didn t °
know she was CURTIS FRYE
interested ” usc HEAD TRACK C0ACH
Bailey told
Frye that her mother thought she should look
into USC, and Frye wanted to know when to
schedule a visit.
“I’m free next week,” she said.
Just like that, Frye sealed the easiest re
cruiting deal of his coaching career.
“Aleen is a wonderful person that is very
talented and has incredible competitive
heart. I would love to have 25
more Aleens,” Frye said. “She
chose South Carolina; South
Carolina did not choose her.
She wanted to be here. She is
happy.”
Bailey said: “All the coach
es I had met with talked about
how great their athletes were,
but the first thing Coach Frye
told me was that he had three
athletes with a 4.0 GPA. I knew
Aleen Bailey Is proving to
be a great find for the USC
track program. She has set
several personal records In
her time as a Gamecock.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
I should be here, because Coach looks out
for both academics and track.”
South Carolina offered Bailey
the chance to live out a child
hood dream that began taking
shape back home in St.
Mary, Jamaica, where her
mother, father, eight
brothers and six sisters
still live. Like many 8
year-olds, she was full of
energy, and her teacher
suggested she try chan
neling some of that en
ergy into sports. Track,
which is extremely
popular in Jamaica,
made sense.
Besides the climate — right
now, it is 92 degrees in Jamaica
— the track culture in the
United States took some get
ting used to.
“Track is more com
petitive here than it is in
Jamaica, because you
get to run with different j
people at different lev- J
els,” said Bailey, who is 1
♦ BAILEY, SEE PAGE 14 ’
Softball takes two at Lead-Off
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE UAMECOCK
When the 16th-ranked
Gamecock softball team went to
Columbus, Ga., for the Lead-Off
Classic this weekend, it was con
tinuing a challenging schedule
that features several potential
postseason teams. With a 2-1
showing in Columbus, Carolina
is proving that it can stand
among those clubs aiming for a
long postseason run.
The Gamecocks (9-5) lost a
close 2-1 game to the fifth-ranked
Washington Huskies on
Saturday, while shelling Temple
by a 7-4 score later that day.
Carolina blanked the 15th
ranked Michigan Wolverines 3-0
to close out its road trip on
Sunday.
Washington 2 - USC 1
In a game that began Friday
afternoon and ended Saturday
afternoon, the Gamecocks fell
behind 2-0 to the Huskies before
rain delayed the end of the
game.
USC could manage only a sin
gle run after the game resumed,
falling sh,prt of an upset.
Kathy Fiske was the offensive
star of the game for Washington,
going 2-for-3 and driving in both
Huskie runs. Washington (10-1)
made the initial strike in the bot
tom of the first inning, when
Fiske doubled in shortstop
Jaime Clark.
Fiske hit a single to center
field in the third inning to drive
in Amanda Oleson with the
eventual game winning run.
Washington pitcher Tia
Bollinger took the mound and
kept the Gamecocks’ bats largely
silent, only allowing a single run
on four hits. The only USC run
was scored when Dpbralee
Troesh hit a home run to center
field.
Bollinger improved her
record to 5-0, allowing hits to Tia
Rogers, Meghan Cornett and
Jodi Fittro.
Stacey Johnson pitched five
innings, suffering the loss for the
Gamecocks. Melanie Henkes
tossed the sixth inning, but USC
could not mount a comeback in
the final innings.
USC 7 - Temple 4
Temple raced out to a 3-0 lead
in the second game for Carolina
♦SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 14
Baseball
is just a
game of
numbers
MATT ROTHENBERG
- GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
Statistics, ticket prices,
jersey numbers abound.
The weather outside is warm
ing up, the sun is shining just a lit
1 tie longer every day, and the flow
ers are beginning to bloom. Yes,
spring is truly on its way, and
with the annual season of renewal
comes the promise of a new base
ball season. Of course, before base
ball gets into full swing, there are
always other sports to tickle one’s
fancy.
With two races under its belt al
ready, the NASCAR season is
- starting to get in full gear, while
several NBA and NHL teams con
tinue to battle for playoff position.
College basketball teams across
the country are preparing for
their conference tournaments and
a heralded spot in March
Madness.
But what is it about baseball
that has me so looking forward to
it? Is it the crack of the bat? Or is it
the smell of freshly cut grass?
What about the sight of several
multimillion-dollar ballplayers
trying to outperform one anoth
er? Nope, not even close. It’s actu
ally the numbers game, which is
assisted, in part, by fantasy base
ball.
Fantasy baseball is an addic
tive “sport” of sorts in which peo
ple can laze away their spring and
summer poring over the daily
statistics to find some obscure
player who can make a difference
on a team that would never come
together in reality.
Some people go by the normal
statistics, such as batting average;
hits; home runs; RBIs for batters;
and, for pitchers, wins, ERA,
strikeouts and walks.
Then there are those who
would delve into the depths of
baseball statistical knowledge.
You know this person; the one
who determines the on-base per
centage or slugging percentage or
strikeouts-to-walks ratio or oppo
nent’s batting average. There’s al
ways at least one in every league.
It’s all about the statistics.
ESPN manages to bombard the
country each and every day with a
bunch of essentially meaningless
numbers. Maybe they’re not to
tally meaningless,
1_X 1__
UUl 11U1> U1U11J J'VU
pie could care
about them? All I
need to know is
who’s leading his
respective league
in different hitting
and pitching
statistics. Rocker
But going back
to fantasy baseball,
sometimes statistics can be de
ceiving. Often, one must rational
ize a decision that could make or
break a season. For instance, early
last year, I dropped Derek Lowe of
the Boston Red Sox and picked up
John Rocker. I figured Lowe had
a bad 2001 as a closer and Rocker
would do a better job. Boy, was I
wrong, and that was probably one
of the reasons I landed in ninth
place, out of 10, at season’s end.
It just goes to show you that
sometimes it’s best not to rely on
statistics. There’s always a gut
feeling that should be equally tak
en into consideration. There’s
more to the numbers game that is
baseball, though.
An example is seeing Daseoau
players wearing uniform num
bers that would make people
think they’re seeing football play
ers on the diamond. Guys wear
ing digits in the 60s through the
80s is just one of those interesting
spring-training sights. Usually,
most of these guys are minor lea
guers or free agents trying to
make the big-league club. In the
case of the New York Yankees,
however, it’s because a team re
♦ ROTHENBERG, SEE PAGE 14