The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 24, 2003, Page 9, Image 9
□JOCK ♦ Monday, March 24, 2003 9
^ | ^ GAME SCHEDULE
M \ I I [ I I 1 SOFTBALL at Arkansas (DH), 5 p.m. Tuesday
■ I—^ I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Penn State at NCAA Tournament
A I l in University Park, Pa., 5 p.m. Tuesday
\ / I I | L / MEN’S TENNIS vs. Clemson, 2 p.m. Wednesday
"N—s BASEBALL at Furman, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday
WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Auburn, 2 p.m. Friday
USC stays alive in NCAAs
Despite being in foul trouble, Cristina Ciocan leads
the Gamecocks in second-half run en route to victory
1 a^ UT-Chatt. 54
affti (26-5)
B ^ 68
BY DAN LEWERENZ
the associated press
STATE COLLEGE, PA. - Cristina
Ciocan spent most of the first half
and a good deal of the second on
the bench in foul trouble, so when
she did get back into the game, she
made her remaining minutes
count.
Ciocan scored eight of her 18
points during a 13-0 second-half
run, lifting South Carolina past
Chattanooga 68-54 Sunday in the
f Mideast
Regional’s first
round.
Cristina get
ting in foul trouble
early really affect
ed us,” South
Carolina coach
Susan Walvius
said. “She’s been a WaMus
great player for us
all year long, especially as we fin
ished the SEC season.”
Ciocan played just seven min
utes in the first half after picking
up her third foul just 7 1/2 min
utes into the game. She started
again in the second half, but went
back to the bench after picking up
her fourth with 17 1/2 minutes
left.
i When Ciocan returned mid
way through the second half, the
fifth-seeded Gamecocks (23-7)
trailed 49-48. Koretha Johnson
made a free throw to tie the game,
then Ciocan scored eight of the
next 12 points, including an open
jumper that made it 61-49 with
3:18 left.
“I was anxious to be in the
game, but I wasn’t anxious to
score,” Ciocan said. “I just want
ed to be there for my teammates
and come out with a W.”
The No. 12-seed Lady Mocs (26
5) went scoreless for almost seven
minutes before Miranda Warfield
hit a baseline jumper to make it
61-51 with 2:54 left.
“We hit a stretch there where
we didn’t score. We missed some
free throws, turned it over,”
Chattanooga coach Wes Moore
said. “Late in the game, we gave
up a layup to (Jocelyn) Penn. It
seemed like they were getting sec
ond and third shots during that
stretch.”
Ponrt orlrlnH 1 ^ nAmtc onH
Sarah Burgess scored 11 for the
Gamecocks.
Warfield led Chattanooga with
18 points, and Tiffany Patton
added 14.
South Carolina trailed 22-18 in
the first half before going on a 12-0
run. Burgess hit a 3-pointer from
the right wing with 9:27 left to
start the run and created two
steals that set up Gamecock bas
kets. Penn hit two free throws, a
shot from the low block and a 3
pointer to make it 30-22 with six
minutes left.
“I was anxious to be in
the game, but i wasn’t
anxious to score. I just
wanted to be there for
my teammates and
come out with a W.”
CRISTINA CIOCAN
use WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GUARD
Walvius said Burgess, a fresh
man, had been more of an offen
sive threat recently, but “in this
game she did a lot for us defen
sively. One of the reasons we
brought her to South Carolina is
just the fire in her game.”
The Gamecocks will now face
fourth-seeded Penn State on
Tuesday after the Nittany Lions
defeated the No. 13-seed Holy
Cross Crusaders 64-33. Game time
is scheduled for 5 p.m. The winner
will move on to the Mideast
Regional semifinals against the
winner of the Tennessee and
Virginia game.
USC vs. Penn State
5 p.m., Tuesday
Bryce Jordan Center,
University Park, Pa.
TV: ESPN2
Vols make clean sweep
of Gamecock baseball
by matt rothenberg and
brad senkiw
THE GAMECOCK
The Gamecock baseball team
has shown that it can dominate its
nonconference schedule, but its
SEC schedule remains another sto
ry. Following two losses in a three
game series with Arkansas, the
14th-ranked Gamecocks (16-8,1-5
SEC) dropped all three games to
the Tennessee Volunteers (14-8,4
2) in Knoxville this past weekend.
USC, the 2002 SEC regular-season
champion, is struggling to score
runs, a problem that continued in
Knoxville.
USC lost the series opener 3-0,
as well as dropping a 4-2 decision
in the second game. Carolina fell
in the final game 10-6.
Friday: Tenn. 3 - USC 0
Carolina’s starting pitcher,
Steven Bondurant, carried a no
hitter into the eighth inning, but
lost it when Tennessee’s Kyle
Norrid hit a one-out single.
Following a walk to Justin
Branson, Bondurant was taken
out in favor of Aaron Rawl.
The first batter Rawl faced,
Jordan Czamiecki, hit a three-run
home run, which ended up being
the difference in the Gamecocks’
loss.
Bondurant suffered the loss,
dropping his record to 2-1, but
struck out eight batters. USC only
managed three hits on the day, two
of them from Brian Buscher and
the other by Kevin Melillo.
Ben Riley pitched eight innings
for the Vols, picking up the win,
his second of the season, while
Luke Hochevar got the save.
Saturday: Tenn. 4 - USC
2
Despite a 12-hit performance,
the Gamecocks couldn’t come
from behind to beat the
Volunteers on Saturday. USC
struck first in the opening inning,
when Buscher scored on Landon
Powell’s RBI double, but the Vols
took it from there.
Tennessee responded in the
third inning with a RBI single by
Czarniecki, and they added two
more runs in the fourth inning,
courtesy of Chad LeGate’s two-run
single.
USC cut the lead in half when
Bryan Triplett scored on a balk,
but Norrid came in on a sacrifice
bunt to close out the game.
Carolina starting pitcher David
Marchbanks (4-2) only lasted three
and two-thirds innings, allowing
three runs on seven hits and re
ceiving the loss. Replacing
Marchbanks, Chris Hernandez fin
ished the game for USC and gave
up a run on three hits.
♦ BASEBALL, SEEPAGE 10
FILE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Aaron Rawl gave up two game-winning horns runs In the
Gamecocks’ series against the Volunteers this past weekend.
i. __'..T_:.r..£i..v_-■ _£3
FILE PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK
Jocelyn Penn contributed 15 points and nine rebounds in
Carolina’s first-round win over Chattanooga. USC plays the
fourth-seeded Penn State Nlttany Lions in the second round.
Odom reflects on
the past season
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball
team, a year removed from an
NIT championship game ap
pearance, failed to reach post
season play with its 12-16
record in the 2002-03 season.
With four graduating seniors,
head coach Dave Odom and the
rest of the team will forge
ahead, but not without first re
flecting on this past season.
The results of this season
were as plain as day, according
to Odom, and that is something
he thinks he is responsible for.
Nevertheless, he maintains
that the coaching staff is work
ing to find the answers.
“I don’t feel good about the
results for obvious reasons.
Statistics don’t lie,” Odom said.
“We did not have a winning
season, and we did not accom
plish post-season goals, and I
feel accountable and responsi
ble for that.
“I think
we all
know what
happened
and what
did not
happen. In
most cases,
I think we
miuw wny. oini, in planning
for next season, it is good for
me to talk to my staff and team
about the why and how and
what for and all those ques
tions that come up. To air those
publicly is not in our best in
terest right now. I think it
would put a slant on the season
that would be harmful.”
In starting his preparation
for next season, Odom noted
that he expects all returning
players to come back in the fall.
As for how much of a role they
will have in the team’s future,
Odom believes that “given the
proper commitment, each one
of those players will have an
opportunity to contribute to
our team next year.”
Carolina will have to find
some sort of offense for next
season. The team as a whole
shot 42.1 percent from the field,
but a dismal 29.6 percent from
behind the arc. With the de
partures of Chuck Eidson,
Chris Warren, Tony JCitchings
and Marius Petravicius, the
cupboard is not anywhere near
bare. Carlos Powell, the team’s
leading scorer with 12.6 points
per game, returns, as will
Rolando Howell, the leading re
bounder.
Yet Odom thinks that there
is much more room for im
provement, and it starts with
an intangible — leadership. It
continues with banging the
glass and making shots.
“The most critical thing
right now is off-season and in
season leadership. That is the
one thing that must surface.
We have got to get a core of
players to show great leader
ship,” he said. “When you look
at definitive things, our re
bounding must improve.
Rebounding was at the bottom
of the SEC, and there is no ex
cuse for that with our size. Our
rebounding has got to be im
proved, and it will be.
“Offensively, we have got to
re-establish the balance be
tween our in
side and out
side. I do
think a lot of
that will take
care of itself
because we
have got bet
ter shooters
coming in.
iveuave gui uiaive siucuui 111
side players are converting
more; we didn’t convert the
ball inside nearly like we
should have last year,” Odom
said.
Prior to the start of the sea
son, Odom praised the sched
ule his Gamecocks were going
to play this year. Now, he notes
that USC had one of the most
difficult seasons in the country
— partly because of a tough
SEC slate, as well as a chal
lenging nonconference sched
ule. A number of Carolina’s
non-conference opponents '
made postseason play, includ
ing South Carolina State,
Georgetown, North Carolina
State and Temple.
“I saw Georgia had the
toughest schedule in the coun
try and we were No. 2. We
played in the best league in the
country this year, and the
strength of our nonconference
schedule plus injuries made for
♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 10
“I don’t feel good about
the results for obvious
reasons. Statistics don’t
lie.”
DAVE ODOM
use HEAD BASKETBALL COACH
Olympic
team can
use Allen
Iverson
BRAD SENKIW
GAMECOCKSPORTS<g»HOTMAIL.COM
U.S. basketball team
needs guard’s passion.
With the NBA playoff race and
the heating-up battle for how
many bad teams in the Eastern
Conference can get in, the most
compelling story in the league is
not even about this season.
Players and fans are venting
about the fact that Philadelphia’s
Allen Iverson has not been select
ed to play for the U.S. basketball
team competing in the 2004
Olympics.
It was announced that Tracy
McGrady, Ray Allen, Tim
Duncan, Jason Kidd and Mike
Bibby have been the first five of
ficially selected Olympic players
with Kobe Bryant and possibly
Shaquille O’Neal
H competing, as wen.
How is Iverson
not on this team al
ready? His head
coach, Larry
Brown, was named
coach of the
Iverson Olympic team, but
Allen is still wait
ing for the phone
call. Shaq was very upset that
Iverson has not been selected and
decided to blast Bibby.
O’Neal said Bibby was un
known when he was in
Vancouver and that since Bibby
is on the team and Iverson isn’t,
Shaq says he “ain’t going.”
“Larry Brown should have
said, ‘If he’s not oh the team, I’m
not going,’ ” O’Neal said.
Maybe the committee that se
lects these players hasn’t noticed,
but everyone wants Iverson on
this team. I agree that he has a
rough past and isn’t the ultimate
role model, but I can guarantee
that with his presence on this
team, the U.S. won’t have to wor
ry about being beaten by some of
these lesser-known basketball
countries. There will be no prob
lem getting guys to focus on actu
ally medalling instead of embar
rassing the nation.
Iverson is arguably the most
competitive player in the NBA.
Being 6-foot-nothing and a frac
tion of the weight of the guys he
goes up against, Iverson is the
most exciting player to watch take
the ball to the basket. He doesn’t
wow you with earth-shattering
dunks. Instead, Allen uses in
credible speed
and the ability to
get shots over 7
footers.
It would be a
travesty if Brown
doesn’t step up for
his star and get
him on the team. Bibbv
Iverson’s play of
late has to im
press everyone because of his un
selfishness. He has begun to get
other teammates involved be
cause he knows that will win
them more games than if he just
sits outside and bombs 3-pointers.
I’m not going to go the Shaq
route and put Bibby down. I do
think Bibby is a solid player, but
he is no Allen Iverson. He is
nowhere near the scorer and
doesn’t have enough of that “ You
can’t-stop-me” attitude Iverson
possesses.
If the selection committee is
seeing Iverson’s arrests and off
the-court fiascos as a reason to
keep him out of the Olympics,
please think again. He might have
several tattoos and wear crazy
braids in his hair, but no one can
bring the fire and passion that is
needed to make Olympic basket
ball what it used to be like
Iverson.
Also, I like the fact that these
NBA players are making state
ments about other guys. It shows
the amount of respect players
♦ SENKIW, SEEPAGE 10