The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 20, 2003, Page 8, Image 8
Howell suspended first
12 games of season
BY BRAb SENKIW
TIIKCMMKCOGK
The USC Athletics Department
handed Rolando Howell a 12-game
suspension Friday that stems
from his criminal domestic vio
lence charge that came down on
Oct. 9. Howell will be ineligible to
play through the Charleston
Southern game on Dec. 17, and the
suspension includes two exhibi
tion matches. Howell’s expected
return is Dec. 20 against N.C. State
at the Colonial Center.
“I am relieved that Rolando’s
status has been established and
that everyone, including Rolando,
can now turn our attention to the
future,” head basketball coach
D&ve Odom said.
Howell is currently practicing
with the team and participated in
Midnight Madness, just hours af
ter the decision was made by the
Athletics Department.
“Our^staff and team welcome
Rolando back and will do every
thing in our power
■——- to help him as we
all work together
to improve our
basketball team,”
Odom said.
Howell has been
suspended from
the team since
Howell Au8- 12 after he
was charged for
abusing his girl
friend at the their apartment.
Howell was then sentenced on Oct.
9 to a $50 fine and abuse counsel
ing. If not completed, Howell will
be forced to spend 30 days in jail.
Howell’s presence is greatly
needed this season, as the
Gamecocks are lacking experience
and size after losing four seniors
last year. Odom is likely to use his
younger and smaller players
until the 6-foot-9-inch junior
-returns.
The Gamecocks opened prac
tice at midnight Saturday and
practiced twice during the day,
once in the morning and once in
the afternoon.
Odom was pleased with his
team’s performance Saturday
“The pace was a lot quicker, a
lot faster, a lot more organized
than I’ve seen,” Odom said. “I ex
pected that and would have been
disappointed otherwise. This is
the best shape we have been in
this early in the season. This prac
tice was a very good start.”
The team practiced twice on
Sunday and will practice again to
day before getting Tuesday off.
The Gamecocks open up the
season on Nov. 17 against
Gardner-Webb in the Guardians
Classic.
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USC basketball goes mad
PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
■
Tarence Kinsey takes flight in front of more than 1,500 fans at Midnight Madness last
Saturday. The Gamecocks put on a show for the students with a 10-minute scrimmage.
Women’s soccer defeats Kentucky on Senior Day
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Ashley Williams scored the first goal of the day.
HUKL Kentucky 1
arK. (6-6-3,4-1-2 SEC) A
fi USC 2
(9-6-2,2-3-1 SEC) *
BY WES WOLFE
THE (IAMECGCK
The USC women’s soccer team (9
6-2,2-3-1 SEC) gave its senior players a
good send-off in the last home game
of the season, defeating Kentucky (6-6
3,4-1-2) Sunday afternoon by a score
of 2-1. The Gamecocks were coming
off a 1-0 loss to Vanderbilt (6-5-2,2-3-1)
on Friday, in which a Michelle
Brunlett second-half goal was the de
ciding factor.
Sunday’s game was Senior Day for
Gamecock seniors Erica Bowie, Becca
Epstein, Melissa Huston, Alison
Jarrow and Elise Matthews.
“Their leadership is important and
those five stepped it up for us and
played well,” said USC head coach
Shelley Smith.
Kentucky was the favorite coming
into the game,
since the Wildcats
were unbeaten in
conference play
and at the top of
the SEC East.
Carolina, on the
other hand, was
languishing in the
divisional cellar.
nr)____3 _
“I’m proud of the effort
from our team. Our
players know that if we
come out and play our
game, we can compete
with any team.”
SHELLEY SMITH
use HEAD COACH
Georgia Southern on
Sept. 26.
The first half of
the contest between
the Gamecocks and
the Wildcats was
relatively tame,
with USC out-shoot
ing Kentucky 3-2,
but neither team
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effort from our team,” Smith said. “Our
players know that if we
come out and play our
game, we can compete
with any team.”
The winning goal of
the game came with
just over nine minutes
left in the game, when
defender Sarah Lentz
hit the ball past a
crowd of players in
front of the goal and into the net. Lentz
finished the game with one shot and
one goal. The game-winning shot was
Lentz’s second goal of the season. Both
goals have been game-winners, the oth
er one coming in Carolina’s win over
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net. Kentucky had a one-on-one shot
chance before the end of the first half,
though the shot never materialized
because the Wildcats were called for
off sides. The teams ended up going
into halftime tied up at 0-0.
Kentucky got the second half start
ed by going on the attack. UK forward
Ashley Schillig had a shot early in the
second half, lining the ball just over
the crossbar. Soon thereafter, forward
Ashley Williams knocked in a goal
from outside the box and into the
right side of the Kentucky net. The
goal was Williams’ second goal of the
season and marked the first time
Kentucky trailed in a game since a
Sept. 21 match against Arizona State.
&
In the 61st minute, Kentucky for
ward Elizabeth
Ramsey slid into
Lentz’s ankles and
earned the only yellow
card of the match.
Eighteen minutes
later, Wildcat forward
Elizabeth Jones sent
the ball past usually
Williams stingy goalkeeper
Matthews to score
Kentucky’s only goal of the day.
Nine minutes later, Lentz put in the
game-winning goal to give Carolina a
2-1 lead, which the Gamecocks held
on to until the end.
Forward M.A. Foster had a chance
to give USC a two-goal lead just after
Lentz’s goal, but her shot missed
slightly to the right.
Carolina travels to Mississippi this
week with a Friday game at Ole Miss
at 8 p.m. and a match against
Mississippi State on Sunday at 3:30
p.m.
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Volleyball struggles in losses to Arkansas, LSU
BY BRAD SENKIW
TIIKIiAMKCOCK
The USC volleyball team hit rock bot
tom this weekend after being outplayed
twice at home, losing to Arkansas 3-0
on Friday and LSU 3-1 on Sunday.
Carolina (10-10,4-4 SEC) has lost three
straight games this season.
Arkansas 3, USC 0
It couldn’t have been worse for USC
head coach Kim Hudson Christopher
and the Gamecocks as Arkansas (15-4,
8-0) brought its 11-game winning streak
into Columbia and kept it going with
ease. Carolina didn’t put up much of a
fight against the top team in the SEC
West as Arkansas won the three games
30-28,30-24 and 30-25. Lauren Ford was
the only Gamecock to put up double dig
its in kills with 10. Iris Santos and Sarah
Morgan finished with seven digs each.
“We’re just in a situation where
we’re young and our leadership is sus
pect,” Christopher said. “If we don’t
make the decision to get better, then
we’re going to continue to play this
way.”
The Gamecocks never led the first
game as Arkansas
■ jumped out to an early 5
1 lead. The Lady ‘Backs
let Carolina get within
two at 27-29, but finished
USC off to take the first
game.
In the second game,
Carolina grabbed the
p0 r(j lead, but Arkansas went
up 6-5 and never looked
back, winning 30-24 with
a .353 hitting percentage.
The final game wasn’t much differ
ent as the Gamecocks showed little en
thusiasm and lost 30-25. USC tied it at
21, but could only muster four more
points as Arkansas showed its domi
nance. The Gamecocks finished game
three with a .188 hitting percentage
compared to Arkansas’ .364.
Christopher said she was not pleased
with her team’s performance and played
with several different line-ups, hoping
to find a competitive combination.
“We’re going to make mistakes but
I’m going to have six people who care
and compete. We’re not going to play in
front of all these people and not at least
put on a show that we can all be proud
of,” she said.
LSU 3, USC 1
The Gamecocks were just as suc
cessful against the Tigers (9-12,4-5) in
volleyball as they were in football after
winning the first game and losing the
las‘t three. It was the first time the
Gamecocks have lost to LSU since 1995.
“We didn’t have our rhythm in this
match,” Christopher said. “We are not
passing well, and in the last three
matches, we have just not played well.
We are going to have to come together
as a team and figure out a way to come
out and play our true game.”
Ford once again led USC in kills with
15 and three other players finished in
double digits. Carolina had trouble
getting the ball past the LSU defense as
the Tigers recorded 12 team blocks and
added a .304 hitting percentage in the
win.
The first game final
ly went the Gamecocks
way after winning 30-18
behind Niece Curry’s
seven kills and the team
hitting .581.
It didn’t last long as
the Tigers came back in
Curry game two to win 30-22.
Carolina got behind ear
ly and never caught up after hitting
only .151 in the game.
The third and fourth games contin
ued to go the Tigers way after Carolina
jumped out to a 19-9 lead in game three
to watch LSU come back and win 30-26.
LSU took an early lead in the final game
and never looked back, winning 30-17
and tying the season series with the
Gamecocks.
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PHOTO BY MARK SCHILUNG/THE GAMECOCK
Mariana Branquinho smacks a shot across
the net in the 3-1 loss to LSU on Sunday.
BRIEFLY
Men’s soccer team
ties Furman on road
The USC men’s soccer team (8
5-1) battled to a 0-0 tie in a defen
sive contest at Furman (3-6-4) on
Sunday afternoon. Carolina out
shot the Paladins 10-9 but could
not get the ball past Furman goal
keeper Alex Jvlaslow. Gamecock
goalkeeper Brad Guzon had two
saves on the day, earning the
shutout.
Midfielder Jack Cummings
and forward Ryan Deter each
had three shots on the day, with
Cummings getting one shot-on
goal and Deter earning two
shots-on-goal. Defender Josh
Acala also had two shots-on-goal
against the Paladins.
“It was a very hard-fought
game,” said USC head coach
Mark Berson.
The Gamecocks return home
to play host to Davidson on
Halloween, Oct. 31.
Lake wins South
Carolina Collegiate
The USC cross country team
took its position as the best team
in the state by winning the South
Carolina Collegiate Champion
ship at the Clemson Invitational
in Clemson on Saturday.
Carolina won the championship
by beating Clemson, Charleston
Southern and South Carolina
State.
Junior Jenny Lake was the
overall meet champion for the
second year in a row, winning by
12 seconds. Freshman Karen
Wigal finished 15th, freshman
Tristan Rackow was right be
hind at 16th, freshman Nicki
Breves ended at 27th, and junior
Mary ciaire Utsey was at 31st.
Seven other runners also com
peted for Carolina. USC’s next ac
tion will come at the SEC
Championships on Nov. 3 in
Athens, Ga.
PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK
Matthew Thomas had four receptions for 104 yards.
Football
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
quarter as USC quarterback
Dondrial Pinkins found a streak
ing Matthew Thomas for a 77-yard
touchdown catch that was the sec
ond-longest completion of Pinkins’
career and put USC on the board,
cutting the lead to 12. After forcing
the Tigers to punt, Pinkins was
sacked by LSU’s Kirston Pittman,
which forced a fumble that was
picked up by LSU’s Jason LeDoux
and returned 15 yards for a touch
down, putting LSU up 26-7.
“After the fumble, we couldn’t
get back into the game,” Pinkins
said. “It just seemed like after that,
things fell apart.”
Finally, with 6:56 left in the
fourth quarter, Vincent scored
again on a one-yard run, giving
LSU a 33-7 lead.
While Carolina was unsuccess
ful on the ground, Pinkins passed
for a career-high 254 passing yards
in the loss, despite getting hit hard
several times by the LSU defense.
“I thought Dondrial did a nice
job,” Holtz said. “We’ve got to be
able to control the line of scrim
mage. We protected the passer
well, except for the blind side sack.
Dondrial was excellent.”
Holtz was nearly speechless af
ter the game and said he didn’t
have any answers for the loss and
that he would know more by
Monday after watching game film.
“We are in the SEC. We give
scholarships. We have a training
table. There is no reason this,”
Holtz said.
The players were equally con
fused and embarrassed after the
game.
“Everyone on the team was em- ^
barrassed,” USC cornerback
Dunta Robinson said. “If you
weren’t embarrassed tonight then
you don’t care and I know we do.”
The Gamecocks will have to
bounce back quickly as Vanderbilt
comes to town next week in the an
nual homecoming game Saturday
at Williams-Brice Stadium.
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