The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 02, 2004, Page 10, Image 10
10 Game.Schedule
WOMEN'S TENNIS vs. Furman, 5 p.m. Wednesday
MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Alabama, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
p . + i i WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss, 7 p.m. Thursday
UOntaCl.US , MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK at Melrose Games
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? in New York City, Friday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Field goal dashes Cats’ dreams
BY DAVE GOLDBERG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Houston, we have a
champion. And once again, the
New England Patriots have Adam
Vinatieri’s foot to thank for a
Super Bowl victory.
Vinatieri gave New England its
second NFL championship in
three seasons with a 41-yard field
goal with 4 seconds left for a
thrilling 32-29 victory over the
Carolina Panthers on Sunday
night.
Vinatieri earlier missed a field
goal and had another one blocked.
But as he did in 2002 when he
kicked the winning field goal to
beat St. Louis on the final play 6f
the Super Bowl, he proved he is
perhaps the NFL’s best clutch
kicker.
For a contest that was scoreless
for a record 27 minutes, this game
was one of the all-time offensive
shows between two of the NFL’s
best defenses.
There were 37 points scored in
the fourth quarter alone and Tom
Brady, who led New England on
its winning drive, was 32-of-48 for
354 yards and three touchdowns.
Brady was voted the game’s
MVP for the second time in three
seasons, although he did throw an
interception that prevented New
England from winning more eas
ily.
“There have been some heart
attacks, but they’ve come out on
top,” said coach Bill Belichick,
whose team won its 15th straight
game.
Carolina had tied the game at
29 with its third fourth-quarter TD
on a 12-yard pass from Jake
Delhomme to Ricky Proehl. Then
John Kasay kicked the ball out of
bounds to give New England field
position at its own 40.
Brady then moved the Patriots
37 yards in six plays, hitting Deion
Branch to set up Vinatieri’s win
ning kick.
“I looked up and it was going
right down the middle,” he said.
The kick prevented the Super
Bowl from going into overtime for
the first time ever.
Th,e Patriots led 14-10 at the
half, and after a scoreless third
quarter, they made it 21-10 on the
second play of the fourth on a 2
yard run by Antowain Smith. It
capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive
featuring a 33-yard pass from
Brady to tight end Daniel Graham.
Carolina wasn’t about to give
up, though, scoring on DeShaun
Foster’s 33-yard run on a six-play,
81-yard drive. But the 2-point con
version pass was behind Muhsin
Muhammad and it was 21-16. The
decision to go for 2 would come
back to haunt coach John Fox.
The Patriots seemed ready to
put the game away when they got
♦ SUPER BOWL, SEE PAGE 11
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Carolina running back DeShaun Foster (20) runs Into New England's defensive line in the first half of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Rebels break down
Carolina’s defense
in upset at Ole Miss
BY WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s basketball team
(18-3,5-2 SEC) lost its first SEC road
game of the season at Ole Miss on
Saturday, 79-68. The Rebels (11-7,
3-4) were able to upset the
Gamecocks on an upset Saturday
that witnessed nine other AP Top
at reams lose.
“Our defense
gave up high per
centage shots and
Ole Miss took ad
vantage of that,”
USC head coach
Dave Odom said.
“Now, it’s far
more important to see how we re
act to this loss. We are not where
we want to be, but we still have the
opportunity to get there. ”
Carolina got out to an early lead
in the game, but Ole Miss made a
comeback, taking the lead with
seconds left ip the first half. It took
a lay-up by guard Mike Boynton
to tie the game 30-30 at the half.
At the beginning of the second
half, the Rebels got out in front ear
ly, taking a 37-30 lead, four of those
points from forward Justin Reed.
Reed went 10-of-19 from the field
and hit all 11 free throw attempts.
The senior also had 11 rebounds,
two assists and one block to go
along with his 32 points.
UUdllil
Reed made us
pay inside. He
made us pay at
the free-throw
line and in gen
eral, he just
had his way,”
Odom said.
“He was a key factor in everything
they did.”
Reed felt strongly about how he
responded
“This was a statement game for
us,” Reed said. “I thought we
weren’t focused early. South
♦ BASKETBALL, SEE PAGE 11
“We are not where we
want to be, but we still
have the opportunity to
get there.”
DAVE ODOM
use MEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
PHOTO BY TRISHA SHADWELL/THE GAMECOCK
Center Rolando Howell drives the lane In Carolina’s win
against LSU. He had 10 points in the loss against Ole Miss.
3-point deficiency topples Gamecocks
BY MARY FOSTER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, LA. -
Scholanda Hoston and Seimone
Augustus each scored 17 points
and No. 15 LSU beat South
Carolina 82-62 on Sunday.
Wendlyn Jones had 14 points
and Hanna Biernacka added 10
for the Tigers (17-3,5-1 SEC), who
were coming off a loss at Georgia
a week ago that snapped their 15
game winning streak.
Olga Gritsaeva had 16 points
for South Carolina (9-10, 0-6),
while Sarah Burgess added 12 and
Kelly Morrone 10.
South Carolina, usually a Top
25 team, has struggled this season
with eight freshmen on the ros
ter and three in the starting line
up. The Gamecocks, who broke
an eight-game losing streak
Wednesday with a non-confer
ence victory over the College of
Charleston, are the only team in
the SEC without a league victory.
The Gamecocks led four times,
and there were four ties before
the Tigers took a 36-35 halftime
lead.
USC made 5-of-8 3-point at
tempts in the first half but went
cold from the perimeter in the
second half and finished with 5
of-12 from beyond the arc.
Still the Gamecocks whittled
LSU’s lead to 50-47 midway
through the second half. LSU
quickly moved back ahead on
consecutive baskets by Augustus
and Temeka Johnson.
The Tigers shot 69.2 percent
from the field in the second half
and 57.9 percent for the game.
LSU outrebounded USC 33-26.
LSU coach Sue Gunter was not
at the game as she continues to re
cover from bronchitis and a viral
infection that kept her away from
four games in early January.
Swimming teams
turn back the Tide
BY TRISHA SHADWELL
THE GAMECOCK
The USC men’s and women’s
swimming and diving teams de
feated Alabama on Friday, 127-115.
The win gives the teams the con
fidence they will need heading to
the SEC Championships.
“This is probably the best meet
we have had this year,” USC
swimming and diving head coach
Don Gibb said. “It’s great to have
this on our way to the SEC
Championships.”
The women’s swim team held
strong, winning five of its events.
The team drew strength from
both experienced and new team
members. Senior Jennifer Van
Assen swam the 200-yard
freestyle in 1:49.51, which was fast
enough to give her first place.
Freshman Aunya Nance swam
the 200-yard breaststroke in
2:23.15, giving her a first-place fin
ish.
The men’s team also won five
♦ SWIMMING, SEE PAGE 11
. r . . . __ .. . - . — ■ - —. j
t PHOTO BY TRISHA SHADWELL/THE GAMECOCK
The women's swimming team won five of Its events in
Friday’s meet against Alabama. Its last home meet Is Feb. 7.
Football.recruiting
Offensive lineman
commits to Carolina
BY JONATHAN HILLYARD
THE GAMECOCK
The offensive line was a chief
concern for USC coming into the
recruiting season, and the
Gamecocks addressed that con
cern by receiving a commitment
from offensive lineman Josh
Winchell from Southaven, Miss.
Winchell opted to attend
Carolina over very prestigious
programs such as Michigan and
Nebraska, and over some SEC ri
vals in Arkansas, Ole Miss and
Mississippi State.
“I liked everything about my
visit to South Carolina,” Winchell
said in a recent interview with
Rivals.com. “I can’t just pick a cou
ple of things, because I liked ev
erything. My host was Jeff Barnes.
We hit it off pretty good and had a
good time together.”
Winchell is listed by
Rivals.com as a three-star
prospect and the 22nd overall of
fensive guard in the nation. He is
also listed as the lOth-rated
prospect in Mississippi. Winchell
received all-state honors in his se
nior season as well as all-region
in both his junior and senior sea
sons. As a junior he recorded 40
pancake blocks, due mainly to his
massive 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pound
frame. Winchell is also a weight
lifting champion, posting show
ings in which he lifted over 1,200
pounds, squat and dead lift com
bined. Most recently, he recorded
a squat weight of 650 pounds to go
along with the 395-pound bench
press he posted.
Southaven head coach Lee
Aldridge said he thought USC
head coach Lou Holtz had a great
deal to do with Winchell’s com
mitment.
“Coach Holtz came here and sat
down with Josh for about two-and
a-half hours with him, and at the
end of the conversation, Josh told
Coach Holtz he was ready to com
mit,” Aldridge said in an inter
view with Rivals.com. “He’s one
of the most winning coaches in col
lege football.”
Winchell is one of five offensive
linemen who have already com
mitted to the Gamecocks.
Winchell will be joined in his
freshman class by three-star of
fensive lineman Justin Sorensen
♦ RECRUITING, SEE PAGE 11
International play
for the NFL not
worth the trouble
Carolina Panthers at the
Frankfurt Galaxy?
Starting at 4 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time? ,
In NFL Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue’s state of the league ad
dress this past
weekend,
Tagliabue all
but assured that '
the National
Football League
would one day
go internation
al. Tagliabue re
assured fans BEN SINCLAIR
like me by Fourth-year
claiming this print
would occur by journalism
the time he is student
“six feet under.”
I just hope I am six feet under as
well by the time we start letting
the Switzerland Fighting Alps into
the NFL.
My best friend tried to warn me
that this type of nonsense was in
the works, but I just blew it off as
my best friend being vulnerable
enough to fall for anything. After
all, there is enough teams in the
NFL as it is. Besides the fact that
games in Europe would start be
fore the end of your Saturday night
in Five Points, there are plenty of
other logical and good reasons to
keep the NFL in the good old USA.
First, this would take away
more chances to see your team in
person. With free agency you al
most have to pull for two teams
these days, because one team is
never going to be good for very
long. I can see one of my teams
play in Charlotte, Atlanta,
Nashville, Tampa, Miami,
Jacksonville or Washington, D.C.
For someone who has driven to
Green Bay to see the Falcons com
pete in a playoff game, these are
reasonable drives for a regular
season game. However, I am never
♦ SINCLAIR, SEE PAGE 11