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' - (iAMiii SUHUJJULU SOFTBALL vs. Virginia (DH), 3 p.m. Wednesday BASEBALL vs. Furman, 7 p.m. Wednesday CONTACT TIlS MEN’S BASKETBALL at Alabama, 8 p.m. Wednesday WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss at SEC Tournament in Story ideas? Questions? Comments? North Little Rock, Ark., 7 p.m. Thursday E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com - - - ----- - —. Carolina to meet Alabama BY BRAD SENKIW THE GAMECOCK After a tough season on the road in which the USC men’s bas ketball team (12-13, 5-9 SEC) has managed a 1-10 record, the Gamecocks will end that part of the season against Alabama tonight. With a win Saturday against Vanderbilt and only two games left in the season, Carolina is fighting for SEC Tournament position. The Crimson Tide (16-9,6-8) de feated Ole Miss 86-63 on Sunday at home after a narrow 59-55 loss on the road at Mississippi State. Alabama was led against the Rebels by Kennedy Winston’s 20 points and Antoine Pettway’s 19; Pettway also hit four of his nine attempts from the 3-point line. Erwin Dudley added a double-dou ble with his 18 points and 10 re bounds, while the team shot 59 percent from the field. It was only the team’s fourth win in its last six games, putting it in a third-place tie in the SEC West .with LSU. Alabama is 12-2 at home this season, but posts a 1-7 record when playing away from Coleman Coliseum. The team av erages 69.1 points per game of fensively and is giving up 64.5 points per game, ranking it sev enth and fifth, respectively, in the conference. Maurice Williams leads the Crimson Tide in scor ing with 15.4 points per game, while last year’s SEC Player of the Year, Dudley, averages 15.2 points and a league-high 9.6 re bounds a contest. Williams is dishing out nearly four assists per game and leads the SEC in free-throw shooting at 83.2 per cent. The third player averaging double-digits in scoring on the team is Kennedy, a freshman, with 10.6 points per game. Alabama and USC met twice last year, with the last meeting in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, and the Crimson Tide won the game 65-57. The Gamecocks also lost the regular season match-up in Columbia 52 51 when Jamel Bradley missed the 3-pointer that could have won the game, and Rolando Howell’s tip-in didn’t fall as the buzzer sounded. The Gamecocks lost a 15-point lead in the second half, as Aaron Lucas led Carolina in scoring with 17 points, while Dudley put up 20 points for the ♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 11 FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK USC's Carlos Powell, right, gets fouled by Carl Baker as he attempts a shot against Arkansas earlier this season. The Gamecocks will travel to Alabama for a game tonight. USC to play Rebels in tournament BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE liAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team proved it could win without Jocelyn Penn in the lineup, de feating the Ole Miss Lady Rebels 91-68 on Sunday. Now, the 16th ranked Gamecocks must try to prepare for an Ole Miss team that is still licking its wounds from the team’s game earlier this week. Carolina (21-6,9-5 SEC) enters the SEC Tournament tomorrow on the heels of its second consec utive 20-win season. The fifth seeded Gamecocks will face off against the 12th-seeded Lady Rebels (12-15,1-13) in the third game of the tournament, which is being held at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. USC could have received a first-round bye in the tourna ment, but lOth-ranked Mississippi State defeated Auburn on Sunday, forcing the Gamecocks to start a day earlier than they would have preferred. While Penn continues to re cover from the sprained ankle she suffered in USC’s win against Kentucky on Thursday, Carolina pulled together against Ole Miss, making up for Penn’s production. Five Gamecocks scored in double figures, led by Cristina Ciocan’s 23 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Kelly Morrone came up with 19 points and five steals in the victory. The Lady Rebels have had plenty of difficulty in the confer ence this year, but there have been a few bright spots recently for Ole Miss. Forward Tia Watson came off the bench against USC to record career highs in points with 15 and rebounds with 9. Amber Watts is also playing well of late, averaging 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in games against Florida and the Gamecocks. Carolina and Ole Miss will tip off at about 7 p.m., and the win ner will play fourth-seeded Mississippi State on Friday at 7 p.m. Other first-round games: Auburn vs. Kentucky The Tigers and Wildcats will open the 2003 SEC Tournament on Thursday with a noon tip-off. The winner will play top seed Tennessee on Friday. Auburn (17-10,5-9) comes into this game having lost its regular season finale against Mississippi State. The Tigers have dropped five of their last six games, but defeated the Wildcats (11-15,4-10) in overtime earlier this season by a 63-56 score. Natasha Brackett leads the Tigers in scor ing with 16.1 points per game and is tops in steals and assists, as well. UK has only won two of its last 10 games, both wins coming by less than five points. But don’t count the Wildcats out, as their three top scorers are averaging double digits, and sophomore Sara Potts is a veritable threat from downtown, hitting almost half of her 3-pointers. Arkansas vs. Alabama The Crimson Tide and the Lady Razorbacks will meet in Thursday’s second match-up. Arkansas has taken both games from the Tide this season, in cluding Sunday’s 68-57 decision in Fayetteville, Ark. That victory ended a four game slide for Arkansas (20-9, 7 7), which has a very talented vet eran backcourt. India Lewis and Dana Cherry, both seniors, an chor the Lady Razorbacks and lead the team in several statisti cal categories. Arkansas has only lost two games at home this season and playing in its home state in the tournament could prove benefi cial. Alabama (13-14, 3-11) has the historical advantage against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, having won both of the teams’ meetings. Beth Vice is just six 3-pointers away from the school’s all-time record and leads the Tide in scoring, along with Jamilah Johns. The winner of this game will face Louisiana State in the second round. Vanderbilt vs. Florida The Commodores get to open their SEC Tournament against the Gators in the final first-round game. SEC Player of the Week Chantelle Anderson leads Vanderbilt (19-8,9-5), which has already beaten Florida 64-58 in ♦ FOR THE SEC TOURNAMENT BRACKETS, SEE PAGE 11 Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 23. Anderson, Jenni Benningfield and Ashley McElhiney are all averaging double figures in points Anderson for the Commodores, with McElhiney being a threat from behind the arc. Abi Ramsey and Hillary Hager lead Vanderbilt in the steals depart ment with 48 and 46, respective ly. Florida (9-18,1-13) has strug gled mightily this season, only de feating Ole Miss in SEC play. Bernice Mosby has been the star for the Gators, with 12.1 points per-game, and Vanessa Hayden picked up 55 blocked shots despite missing a good part of the season because of injury. Georgia will play the winner on Friday. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com USC beats the Bulldogs BY NICK YOUNG THE GAMECOCK The Gamecocks used two four run innings late in the game, as the USC baseball team (10-2) de feated Gardner-Webb (8-5) by a score of 11-1 on Tuesday night at Sarge Frye Field. USC started the game off with a bang by scoring two runs in the first inning off Abraham Gonzalez’s shaky starting pitch ing. He started off the game by giving up four walks. After retiring six consecutive batters to start the game, Gamecock pitcher David Marchbanks allowed a stand-up double to Bulldog catcher Jim Glueckert to leadoff the third in ning. Two batters later, Gardner Webb was on the board, courtesy of Jon Milford driving in Glueckert while the team had two outs. The Gamecocks got off to a quick start in the bottom of the fifth as Michael Campbell and Brian Buscher both ripped sin gles to right field. Catcher Landon Powell hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Campbell and making the score 3-1 in favor of ..ST-SBWKL'...'. r' ' * :: FILE PHOTO BYt'JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Bryan Triplett went 2-for-4 as the Gamecocks defeated the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs 11-1 at Sarge Frye Field on Tuesday. USC. Carolina did not get anoth er chance to score after Buscher was caught stealing and Trey McDaniel struck out. Gardner-Webb put a scare into USC after Clint Abernathy and Jonathan McKoy belted singles early in the top of the sixth inning. After another Marchbanks strike out, left fielder David Futrelle hit a single, putting three men on base with two outs. Marchbanks then forced Ryan Quierllo to fly out, bringing the Bulldog charge to a screeching halt. USC had another great scoring opportunity in the bottom of the sixth, as Nick Gardiner started the inning by earning his third walk of the evening. Gonzalez then handed out his second walk of the inning, this time to Bryan Triplett. Center fielder Jon Coutlangus moved runners to second and third base, but Kevin Melillo’s inning-ending strikeout left those runners stranded in scoring position. After blanking the Bulldogs in the top of the seventh inning, the Gamecocks looked to extend their lead and put the game out of reach. Campbell started off the in ning with a single, but was forced out on Buscher’s fielder’s choice. Powell followed with a single and was brought home on McDaniel’s ♦ BASEBALL, SEE PAGE 11 Softball to take on Virginia Cavaliers BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK After three consecutive week ends on the road, the 16th ranked Gamecock softball team returns home to face the Virginia Cavaliers in a double header this afternoon. USC (12 5) recently visited the Strawberry Fest Tournament in Plant City, Fla., and won all three of its games. “We’re trying to get where we want to be. I don’t think we’re exactly at our top right now, but we’re working on it,” senior in fielder Danielle Quinones said. “We’re hitting the ball a lot bet ter; our defense is solid. We just hope our pitchers do the least amount of work.” USC 5 - W. Michigan 1 The Gamecocks got three runs on the board early and didn’t look back, beating Western Michigan 5-1 on Saturday. In the bottom of the second inning, USC scored three runs, with Quinones, Nancy Crane and Kim Evans crossing home plate. But the Broncos cut Carolina’s lead not long after, when WMU’s Kelly Barnett hit a solo home run to right field in the third inning. USC’s Kim Evans retaliated in the next frame, hitting a solo home run of her own to center field. Melissa Sandel, running for Tia Rogers, scored the Gamecocks’ final run of the game, coming home on Meghan Cornett’s single. Melanie Henkes pitched a complete game for Carolina, al lowing one run on four hits while striking out eight Western Michigan batters, to earn her fifth win of the season. USC 13 — Troy State 0 Later Saturday, Carolina faced the Trojans of Troy State and saved its best inning for last. The Gamecocks put up seven runs in the seventh inning to close the book on Troy State. USC opened the game with a pair of runs in the first inning, as Ashley Smith’s single brought in Amber Curtis and Jodi Fittro. The Gamecocks added to that with three runs in the third in ning, as Fittro’s single drove in Evans and Curtis. Carolina scored another run in the fourth inning when Cornett crossed the plate on an ♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 11 Yankees start to resemble old times MATTROTHENBERG GAMECOCKSPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM The Bronx Bombers are looking like a Bronx Zoo. It’s been about 25 years, but the Bronx Zoo is back. If you’re think ing of the complex in New York City that houses all sorts of exotic animals, I’m afraid you’ve been mistaken. That Bronx Zoo hasn’t gone anywhere. The Bronx Zoo I’m talking about is the one located directly within the confines of “The House that Ruth Built” — Yankee Stadium. While it’s a bit past the recollection of the aver age college student, the Bronx Zoo was the nickname given to the craziness of the New York Yankees of the late 1970s. Of course, those same Yankees won back-to-back world champi onships in 1977 and 1978 and were dominant during a span of five years or so. Those Yankee teams had some real characters on them, start- . i- iV, * Steinbrenner mg from the top with irascible owner George Steinbrenner and trickling down to often-wild, of ten-uncontrollable manager Billy Martin — who made his first two tours of duty as Yankees skipper during those Bronx Zoo days. Straight down the lineup, as well, there were some personali ties in the Bronx Zoo. Around the infield you had Thurman Munson at catcher, Chris Chambliss at first, Willie Randolph at second, Graig Nettles at third and Bucky Dent at shortstop. In the outfield were Roy White, Mickey Rivers, Reggie Jackson and Lou Pinella. The pitching staff consisted of Mike Torrez, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle, “Louisiana Lightning” Ron Guidry and Catfish Hunter, among others. Once this era of colorful ath letes closed its chapter in Yankees history, it was thought to have closed for good. But now, almost three decades later, it’s been reopened. The Yankees of 2003 have the makings of a second coming of the Bronx Zoo. Naturally, it’s mainly started with Steinbrenner, whose ego makes it difficult for anyone — save for lackey Yankee fans — to like him. Yes, he wants to win, but only at the cost of everyone else. Major League Baseball in stitutes a luxury tax. George doesn’t care; he just keeps on spending as if money was burn ing a hole in his coffers. Recently, though, Steinbrenner hasn’t exactly been making friends of his employees. He said that his manager, Joe Torre, and the rest of the coaching staff must work harder, even summoning Torre from Hawaii to attend a news conference announcing the signing of Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui. Needless to say, Torre wasn’t pleased, and he is probably getting this treatment for failing to win the World Series these last two years. Then there’s fan-favorite Derek Jeter, another vic tim of Jeter Steinbrenner’s verbal barbs. The owner said his star shortstop needed to quit stay ing out until the wee hours of the morning so that he could return to his usual form after a subpar 2002. Jeter wasn’t welcoming of that criticism, and who can blanje ♦ ROTHENBERG, SEE PAGE 11