The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 20, 2004, Page 8, Image 8
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BASEBALL vs. UNC-Wilmington, 3 p.m.
MEN’S AND WOMEN'S TRACK in USC Invitational, Saturday
printPPt MEN’S TENNIS vs. Richmond, 11 a.m. Saturday
v-fUl' ^-ClbL SOFTBALL vs. Middle Tennessee State, 1 p.m. Saturday
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MEN’S BASKETBALL at Arkansas, 3 p.m. Saturday
E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Men’s .Basket CPfiK tO KC®P
Gamecocks see^ ^
iv\omentu,n 00
BY TERENCE WASHINGTON
TIIK (JAMKCOCK
The 25th-ranked USC men's
basketball team (20-5,7-4 SEC) will
take on the Arkansas Razorbacks
(11-12,3-9 SEC) in Little Rock, Ark.
on Saturday.
Arkansas is coming off of a 17
point beat-down loss against
Kentucky, who leads the SEC East
division. The Razorbacks will try
to end the seas<?n with some dig
nity as they have lost their last
four games by an average of about
10 points.
Guard Jonathon Modica is
coming into this game as the
Hogs' leading scorer, averaging
16.9 points per game. He also av
erages 4.1 rebounds and is a 77
percent free throw shooter. The
Razorbacks' second leading scorer
and theirleading rebounder is
guard Ronnie Brewer, with 12.3
points and 5.6 boards per game.
He also averages a team high in
assists, dropping 3.4 dimes per
game.
Center Vincent Hunter aver
ages 1.2 blocks per game for
Arkansas, but he has also fouled
out of more than a quarter of the
games he's played in.
“Arkansas is quite a challenge
when you look at it,” USC head
coach Dave Odom said. “They've
got some of the best young play
ers in the SEC and have one of the
most intimidating home courts in
the league as well. They will re
bound well from their loss at
Kentucky last night. They have
so many players who are inter
changeable who can play many
different positions. They play
with a lot of energy and enthusi
asm and will be looking for a
win.”
This is the Gamecocks' first
game since breaking Vanderbilt's
heart with an 82-75 win over the
Commodores on Valentine's Day.
After the ugly first game at Vandy,
which had players thrown out and
17 lead changes — and a thrilling
Gamecock win — there is defi
nitely no love lost in this newly
forged rivalry.
USC will be taking all their
players and a brand new one-game
win streak to Arkansas, where a
win would pull Carolina to with
in a half-game of first place
Kentucky in the race for the SEC
East J,ead.
“Dave Odom has done a great
job with the South Carolina pro
gram,” Arkansas head coach
Stan Heath said. “Fortunately,
we are playing them at home.
Our team seems to play much
better at home. They really seem
to respond well to the crowd here
in Fayetteville. It's a big chal
lenge in front of us in South
Carolina. They are playing very
well and are having a great sea
son.”
Arkansas is' ninth in the SEC
in scoring offense, averaging 69.5
points in their 23 games. While
Carolina only averages a couple
of points more, the Gamecocks
also lead the SEC in scoring de
fense, holding their opponents to
fewer than 60 points per game.
Gamecock se
nior guard Mike
Boynton is fifth in
the SEC in assists
average, with 3.9
per game. He also
averages 9.4
points per game
and knocks down „ .
forty percent of "
his threes.
Forward Carlos Powell aver
ages 13.4 points per game along
with 6.5 boards and 1.4 steals.
Guard Josh Gonner is averaging
11.8 points and 1.5 rips per game.
Freshmen have also stepped up
for the Gamecocks. Guard Tre
Kelley hit Vandy up for a career
high 16 points in the rematch, and
the other freshmen have been re
liable contributors off the bench.
Last year’s game against the
Arkansas Razorbacks resulted in
a 72-65 win. Kerbrell Brown pulled
down eight boards, Powell scored
six points in 13 minutes, and
Rolando Howell scored nine in 29
minutes in USC head coach Dave
Odom's second win in the
Razorbacks' Bud Walton Arena
and his first as coach of the
Gamecocks.
The game at Arkansas is sched
uled to tipoff in Little Rock at 3:05
p.m. on Saturday. •
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. PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING/THE GAMECOCK
Forward Carlos Powell goes up for a shot In USC’s loss to Mississippi State on Feb. 11.
use White-washed
by MSU, prepares
for UGA Bulldogs
BY CHRISTOPHER JONES
THE (JAM SHOCK
The USC women's basketball
team's chances for a second SEC
win were White-ed out Thursday
night as guard Tan White led the
Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs
with 32 points.
A strong start to the game by
USC (10-14,1-10) vanished as White
had a phenomenal game, making
12-20 shots while hitting 5-6 free
throws to finish one point shy of
her career high.
Guard Kelly Morrone, whose
five three-pointers gave her 15
points, led the Gamecocks. Guard
Sarah Burgess had 12 points off
four three-pointers.
The Lady Bulldogs (12-12, 6-5)
expanded on a three-point half
time lead by shooting 50 percent
in the second half and led by as
many as 13 points. However, USC
had several chances to close the
gap, but were hampered by 22
turnovers and an inability to stop
White.
USC pulled to 68-62 with 29 sec
onds left, hoping to put together a
last minute comeback. But
Mississippi State, who missed its
first five free throws, hit the foul
shots needed to keep the
Gamecocks from finishing their
rally.
USC opened the game with an
8-0 run, and led 10-4 eight minutes
into the game. Mississippi State
hit only one of their first twelve
shots.
Then the lid came off the Lady
Bulldogs' basket.
MSU went on a 13-3 run to take
a 21-17 lead with four minutes left
in the first half. USC closed the
lead to one, but Tan White hit a
buzzer-beating shot at the end of
the half to take a 25-22 halftime
lead.
“Tan did a great job of being in
the right place at the right time,”
Mississippi State coach Sharon
Fanning said of White's dominant
performance.
The.Lady Bulldogs have been
on a hot streak lately. They have
won seven of their last nine
games, including a 54-41 decision
Sunday over Kentucky. In that
game, Tiania Burns put up 22
points to lead Mississippi State.
Next up for the Gamecocks are
the No. 19 Georgia Lady Bulldogs.
Georgia (16-7,6-5) is coming off a
Week off following their 79-62 win
over Ole Miss.
This will be the first meeting
this season between the Lady
Bulldogs and the Gamecocks.
Unlike in men's basketball, the
teams in the Eastern Division of
the SEC do not all play each oth
er in a home-and-home series —
one game at each team's home
court.
Last season, Georgia narrowly
beat USC in two basketball games.
The first, in Columbia last Jan. 18,
saw six lead changes over the
course of 92 seconds late in the sec
ond half before Georgia finally
won 67-59.
♦ WOMEN, SEE PAGE 9
PHOTO BY TRISHA SHADWELL/THE GAMECOCK
Forward Larissa Kulscar guards an Alabama player.
Softball to square off
against trio of teams
in weekend tourney
BY GREG ROBERTS
THE GAMECOCK
The USC softball team will
play host to Radford, Middle
Tennessee State and College of
Charleston in the Gamecock
Invitational this weekend.
The Gamecocks were in
Tallahassee, Fla., for the
Sunshine State Tournament last
weekend, but the tourney was
postponed because of rainy con
ditions and the new dates have
yet to be decided. In that tourna
ment, USC was poised to face
Florida State, Oklahoma, Illinois
and Western Kentucky.
The Gamecocks first oppo
nent, Middle Tennessee State,
stands at 2-0, sweeping Belmont
College in the team’s first two
contests this year. MTSU’s pitch
ing was dominating, with junior
Crystal Bobo striking out 10 bat
ters and only allowing two hits
in the Lady Raiders 10-0 win
over .Belmont Wednesday. The
Lady Raiders also have senior
Cortney Mitchell, who has been
Middle Tennessee State’s most
consistent hitter and biggest RBI
threat.
Mitchell began the 2004 sea
son in the same way she ended
it in 2003, with a triple. In the
Saturday late game, the
Gamecocks take on in state op
ponent College of Charleston.
The Cougars are 2-0 as well,
with blowout wins versus
Savannah State. College oi
Charleston set an NCAA
Division I record, as well as
placing in the top 10 in six other
offensive categories.
The Cougars beat Savannah
State 33-0 in the first game, and
29-0 in the second game of their
doubleheader. The College of
Charleston also played a double
header on Thursday, facing
Gardner-Webb and Charleston
Southern.
Radford will begin its season
when it travels to Columbia this
weekend.
If all goes well for USC, they
will be playing in the champi
onship game at 3 p.m. Sunday af
ternoon. The Gamecocks will bf ^
facing quality pitching from ail1
teams, especially Middle
Tennessee State. They must be
♦ SOFTBALL, SEE PAGE 9
USC baseball team streaks past competition
Young players
will be needed in
Seahawk battle
BY BRIAN SAAL
TIIK (lAMKCOCK
The most talked about news in
baseball in the United States is the
New York Yankees’ recent acqui
sition of Alex Rodriguez. The most
talked-^bout news about the USC
baseball team is the recent 38-0 vic
tory last weekend by the
Gamecocks (3-0) over Charleston
Southern.
Yes, the stories are true. The
Gamecocks are definitely off to a
strong 2004 start after their sweep
of Charleston Southern.
Congratulations are due to SEC
Player of the Week Steven Pearce,
a junior who hit .800 over the
weekend with three homers and
eight RBIs.
Junior Brendan Winn hit .778
with a home run and three RBIs.
Winn also hit for the cycle and
scored three of Carolina’s 38 runs
on Saturday.
Junior Zac McCamie got the
win and pitched seven scoreless
innings, allowing just two hits in
Saturday’s victory.
Juniors Aaron Rawl and Jason
Fletcher also recorded their first
victories of the season over the
weekend. Junior Chad Blackwell
picked up a pair of saves after
pitching two and a third scoreless
innings. Senior Landon Powell
started sluggish hitting at just .231
but did bring in four runs.
Collegiate Baseball awarded the
Gamecocks with the top recruit
ing class and that class came to
play last weekend. Most of the
players that made the headlines
were all transfers, and Florida is
considered to have the best junior
college system in the country. As
the season progresses, the new
comers will try to continue their
success and while the returning
players gets back in the groove.
This weekend, the Gamecocks
are welcoming the UNC
Wilmington Seahawks (0-1) who
are coming off of an impressive 40
23 season last year which ended in
the Regional Finals with a loss to
LSU, who the Gamecocks elimi
nated in Omaha.
The Seahawks lost four players
in their batting order from last
season — a huge gap must be filled
for the Seahawks in their starting
rotation after losing three of their
four starting pitchers. This year’s
rotation is being built around ju
nior Ronald Hill who had a 7-2
record with a 5.10 earned run av
erage last season. Hill pitched in
the Seahawks’ season opener last
Wednesday against Elon. Hill
went just four innings allowing
five runs in the Seahawks’ 8-7 loss
to Elon. t
The Gamecocks better get a
lead early as the Seahawks’
bullpen had a blistering 2.44 ERA
last season and bring with them
second team All-Colonial Athletic
Association pitcher Blake Cross.
Cross made 35 appearances post
ing a 2.04 ERA, and earned 13
saves last season. Will Hunt, their
set-up man is also back this year
after a 1.51 ERA in 24 appearances
last season.
The Gamecocks are due for a
battle against the Seahawks this
weekend at Sarge Frye Field. If
Carolina can keep swinging their
hot bats, look for a 6-0 squad by
week’s end. This is currently game
three of the team’s 11 game home
stand and the teams will tangle at
3 p.m. on Friday with a 1:30 p.m.
first pitch due for Saturday’s and
Sunday’s games, pending the valu
able lesson learned last week —
weather permitting.
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e
Pitcher Aaron
Rawl hurls the
ball in action
last season.
Rawl earned a
win In USC’s
3-2 victory
over CSU on
Friday. He
allowed only
three hits and
one run.
PHOTO BY JO HNNY
HAYMES/THE
GAMECOCK