The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 16, 2004, Page 7, Image 7
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Game.Sehedule
MEN’S TENNIS SEC Indoor
PrintArt |c Championships in Atlanta, Ga.
OUII La CL UO MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? at World Cup in Huntersvile, N.C.
E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 5 p.m., Saturday
'■-- T?.-.it. ~ ■■ '■ ■ ■■ ■■■ - ' - - ■....-- . ..
Women’s basketball
falls to Tennessee
® Tennessee 86
0 use 58
BY JONATHAN HILLYARD
THE GAMECOCK
The fifth-ranked Tennessee
Lady Volunteers marched into the
Colonial Center unscathed by the
rowdy Carolina crowd of 8,118 to
defeat the USC women’s basket
ball team 86-58 last night.
“We came out with a lot of re
spect for South Carolina and we
made a solid club look not as good
as I know they are,” said
Tennessee head coach Pat
^femmitt.
me neavuy tavored Vois justi
fied their ranking by shooting an
outstanding 54.2 percent from the
field in the game. Coming into the
contest ranked second in the SEC
in 3-point percentage, UT also shot
a ridiculous 45.5 percent from be
hind the arc.
However, the key to the game
was the Tennessee defense, forc
ing 27 turnovers and recording 17
steals. USC’s offense, ranked third
in the SEC in field goal percent
age and second in scoring offense,
shot just 39.6 percent from the
field.
The game started in a very
ugly fashion for Carolina as
Tennessee jumped out to a 9-0
lead in just the first three minutes
of the game. The Gamecocks
j^fciuld respond and tie the game
^^19, bringing the fans in the
Colonial Center to their feet, but a
30-9 run by UT at the end of the
Gamecocks drop fifth straight
game with loss to Lady Volunteers
half would take away any hope of
an upset.
The Vols scored 22 points off 16
Carolina turnovers in the first half
compared to the 4 points that USC
would record off 10 Volunteer first
half turnovers. Tennessee would
Volunteers with 16 points and 9 re
bounds in just 25 minutes on the
floor, with 15 points and 7 re
bounds coming in the first half.
Other scorers in double figures
for UT included Shanna Zolman,
who put up 15 points and went 3
tinisn tne nrst
half shooting
an outstanding
63 percent
from the field.
“I am really
unhappy with
the mental
toughness of
tViic team
“I am really unhappy
with the mental
toughness of this team
tonight.”
SUSAN WALVIUS
use HEAD COCH
ot-4 trom behind
the arc, and
Loree Moore,
who finished
with 13 points
and 4 rebounds.
The Volunteers
look to soar in
next week’s polls
Vmh onoo
tonight,” said USC coach Susan
Walvius. “We didn’t do the little
things that you need to win a bas
ketball game — rebounding, de
fense, boxing out. Those things are
necessary to win.”
Gamecock leading scorer guard
Cristina Ciocan was outstanding
in the first 10 minutes of the game,
with 6 points, 3 assists and 4 re
bounds, but was taken complete
ly out of the game by the UT de
fense. She would finish with 8
points and 11 rebounds for the
game.
The bright spot for USC was
freshman guard Lauren Simms,
who finished the contest with 22
points. Sophomore guard Sarah
Burgess also added 8 points, 2 as
sists and 2 rebounds for the
Gamecocks.
Forward Shyra Ely led the
teams ahead of them lost to un
ranked opponents.
The Gamecocks will now stay
at home for a very important SEC
showdown against western divi
sion foe Arkansas. The Lady
Razorbacks (12-3,1-1 SEC) are com
ing off a big 67-61 home win
against division rival Ole Miss
and are looking to go above .500 in
SEC play.
The Lady Razorbacks are led by
senior forward Shameka Christon
who put up 24 last Sunday against
Ole Miss. Christon is averaging 22
points and 8 rebounds per game.
USC will look to wrap up their
first SEC win on Sunday against
the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks at
2 p.m. in the Colonial Center.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
PHOTO BY MARK SHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
Guard Lauren Simms takes a shot against Tennessee. Simms scored a career-high 22 points.
Men’s.Basketbal!
Gamecocks come off big win,
looking at tough home stand
Big conference
win prepares
% men's team for
Volunteers
BY BRAD SENKIW
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball
team defeated Auburn 53-51
Wednesday night in an overtime
thriller that gave the
Gamecocks their second confer
ence win and momentum going
into Saturday’s game against
the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Gamecocks (15-2, 2-1
SEC) used a suffocating defense
to keep Auburn (10-4, 1-2) in
check throughout the game,
holding the Tigers to 16-of-63
shooting from the floor.
Forward Carlos Powell led the
Gamecocks, finishing with a
game-high 19 points and 7 re
bounds. Forward Kerbrell
Brown and guard Josh Gonner
scored 10 points apiece to help
USC break a six-game losing
streak to Auburn.
Powell’s biggest moment
came with about 30 seconds
remaining in overtime. With
the score knotted at 51,
Auburn’s guard Nathan
Watson looked to create a
good shot for the potential
game-winner. Powell blan
keted Watson as he tried to
bring the ball up the court,
and with 13 seconds remain
ing, Powell popped the ball out
of Watson’s grip and drove to
the basket for the game win
ning layup.
“That’s like blitzing on a key
fourth down play,” said WISW
AM1230 radio announcer Mike
Morgan. “Sometimes, being ag
gressive is the right call.”
Though the Gamecocks strug
gled from the floor, with 24-of-65
shooting, and the free-throw
line, 2-of-7, it was their stellar
defense, ranked in the nation’s
top 25 in six categories, that al
lowed them to stay close and
eventually pull out the win. The
USC defense is ranked first in
the SEC in scoring defense, and
their opponent’s field goal per
centage is the lowest in the na
tion.
USC will face another team
coming off a big conference
win when they host
Tennessee (10-2,2-1), who de
feated No. 23 Vanderbilt 76-66
Wednesday. The Volunteers
exploded offensively against
Vanderbilt, with two juniors,
guard Scooter McFadgon and
forward Brandon Crump each
pouring in 20 points.
Tennessee’s defense also
looked solid in their win over
the Commodores as the Vols
held SEC preseason player of
the year Matt Freije to 8
points on 2-of-12 shooting.
Tennessee basketball fans
are surely relieved by the win
over Vanderbilt, as the Vols
were coming off a 95-57
blowout loss at Florida. Many
Vol fans had their doubts
♦BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 8
:. . . - • •
Men’s basketball defensive
play excellent in SEC games
BY WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
Carolina men’s basketball,
far from the dire predictions of
the preseason prognosticators,
has clearly turned things
around this season. After all,
even after a one-loss non-con
ference schedule, some still
looked askance at USC since its
non-conference strength of
schedule is ranked a very low
312 out of all Division I basket
ball teams.
However, the Gamecocks have
performed well enough in the
early going of the SEC season for
some fans to eye an NCAA berth.
Indeed, USC is currently a po
tential No. 12 seed in the Midwest
Region, according to the
ESPN.com Bracketology section,
which is headed up by Joe
Lunardi.
Of course, an NIT (National
Invitation Tournament) berth
would be a great end to the sea
son, also. It would still be a los
ing season to postseason
turnaround in one year, but it
would give Gamecock fans and
placers a chance at home post
season games before a possible
NIT Final Four trip to New
York City’s Madison Square
Garden.
In the Florida game, even with
heinous shot selection and shoot
ing percentage in the first half,
Carolina had every chance to win
the game due to a tenacious de
fense that once again held the op
ponent to under 50 percent from
the field.
“Everyone talks about who
South Carolina plays but to me
they are a very good basketball
team,” Florida head coach
Billy Donovan said. “We had a
difficult time matching up with
them. We really had a difficult
time dealing with them off of
the dribble.”
Actually, then-No. 14 Florida
only shot about 43 percent from
the field and had eight more
turnovers than the Gamecocks,
while USC held Gator star guard
Anthony Roberson to just 5
points and 2 rebounds.
Showing a resilience that
was surprising from a team that
only had one road SEC win last
year, Carolina followed up the
Florida loss with a complete
thrashing of a Georgia team
that had just upset then-No. 3
Georgia Tech. The USC defense
played a complete game, steal
ing in-bounds passes and mak
♦ DEFENSE, SEE PAGE 8
Former USC
player may make
move to England
BY WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
According to wire reports on Wednesday, for
^gr USC men’s soccer and Major League Soccer
^lyer Clint Mathis is trying out for a spot with
Sunderland, which is in the English first division,
the second-level soccer league in England, behind
the English Premier League. Mathis’ contract
with MLS team the New York/New Jersey
MetroStars expired at the end of 2003 and was not
renewed.
In addition to looking at Sunderland, Mathis
has been working with Hannover 96 of Germany’s
Bundesliga. Mathis was scheduled to practice
with the German team at its training camp in
Turkey yesterday.
Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy was look
ing at Mathis as a backup to his current slate of
* * *
♦ MATHIS, SEE PAGE 8
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Former USC player Clint Mathis may play on an
English professional team this year.
65 baseball players ask clubs
for higher salaries in arbitration
BY RONALD BLUM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AL Cy Young Award winner
Roy Halladay, 2001 NL Rookie of
the Year Albert Pujols and New
York Yankees second baseman
Alfonso Soriano were among 65
players who filed for salary arbi
tration Thursday, the fewest to
submit their names since 1999.
Houston pitchers Wade Miller,
Roy Oswalt and Octavio Dotel also
filed, as did Chicago Cubs pitcher
Kerry Wood, Anaheim pitcher
Jarrod Washburn and Florida
pitchers Brad Penny and Carl
Pavano.
Two free agent pitchers who ac
cepted arbitration offers from
their former teams also were in
the group: Philadelphia’s Kevin
Millwood and the New York
Yankees’ Gabe White.
Clubs have made an effort in re
cent years to force deals with non
star players well before mid
January, threatening not to offer
them contracts unless they settled
before filing.
Seventy-two players filed last
year, down from 90 in 2002 and 102
in 2001. Just 62 filed in 1999.
Many of those who filed are ex
pected to settle by Tuesday when
players and teams exchange pro
posed salaries —just 34 players
swapped figures with their teams
last year. For those who don’t set
tle, hearings before three arbitra
tor panels will be scheduled dur
ing the first three weeks of
February. \
Just seven cases went to hear
ings last year, with owners win
ning five and increasing their
record to 259-194 since arbitration
began in 1974,
Players have not won a majori
ty of a year’s hearings since 1996,
but owners complain about arbi
tration because of the huge raises
many players receive in the pro
cess, which is largely limited to
those with at least fhree but less
than six years of major league ser
vice.
Three players who had been el
igible agreed to contracts
Thursday, with San Diego right
hander Adam Eaton getting a $5.25
million, two-year deal. Cubs closer
Joe Borowski receiving a $4.3 mil
lion, two-year agreement and
Seattle catcher Ben Davis getting a
$1.4 million, one-year deal.