The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 17, 2004, Page 18, Image 18
Briefly
Pep rally to feature
men’s basketball
The USC men’s basketball'
team will be the focus of a pep
rally at the Colonial Center to
day, featuring head coach Dave
Odom and team captain Mike
Boynton. The pep rally will
also include the band and
cheerleaders and will be at the
fountain in front of the
Colonial Center.
Attendees are advised to ar
rive at 2:45 p.m. and the bas
ketball team will show up at 3
p.m., when Odom and Boynton
will speak.
After the rally, the team will
head off to Owens Field to catch
a flight to Kansas City, Mo., for
its NCAA Tournament First
Round game against Memphis.
Women’s golf takes
2nd in tournament
Participating on their home
turf at the University Club in
Blythewood, the USC women’s
golf team took second place in
this past week’s Lady
Gamecock Classic.
Winning the tournament
was North Carolina with a to
tal final score of +41. The
Gamecocks led the Tar Heels
after the first 36 holes of the 54
hole tournament by five
strokes, but UNC would battle
back to claim a nine-shot vic
tory to take home its first Lady
Gamecock Classic
Championship.
The Tar Heels’ Ashley.
Prange led from start to finish
in the tournament, posting a
final score of +3 to squeak by
USC’s Adrienne Gautreaux by
three strokes. This was the
second consecutive runner-up
finish for Gautreaux, as she
took second at last week’s
LSU/Cleveland Classic as
well.
Also posting top 20 finishes
for USC was the duo of Erica
Battle and Jenna Pearson.
Battle tied for fifth place in the
tournament with a final score
of +10, while Pearson placed
15th with a score of+14. The fi
nal two golfers competing in
team competition for USC,
Tiffany Catafygiotu and Kory
Thompson, finished in a tie for
26th and a tie for tie for 55th re
spectively.
11-year employee
resigns from USC
USC’s athletics department
lost a long-time employee on
Tuesday when 11-year employ
ee Clyde Wrenn resigned from
his position as assistant athlet
ics director for high school re
lations.
USC said that Wrenn re
signed to pursue other busi
ness opportunities. Wrenn
served as the recruiting coor
dinator for USC’s football pro
gram before entering his most
recent position. He arrived at
USC in 1993 after serving un
der Danny Ford as the recruit
ing coordinator at Clemson
University.
Wrenn’s name was men
tioned in a scandal that in
volved former S.C. Governor
Jim Hodges and football re
cruits. He was no longer to
schedule or arrange prospect
visits following the incident.
--i—!—’——:v' ; i
Softball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
base, and an error by Arkansas
catcher Shana Easley allowed
Sandel to score and Crane to ad
vance to third.
Carolina couldn’t take advan
tage of Crane’s spot on third, but
continued to shut down the Lady
Razorbacks’ bats and took the win.
Senior Stacey Johnson pitched
all seven innings to earn another
victory, bumping her record up to
9-1. Johnson gave up one un
earned run, five hits and one walk,
which*was offset by her 10 strike
outs on the game.
USC 2, Arkansas 1
The Gamecocks had to go down
to the wire to defeat Arkansas in
the second game, but were able to
pull it out again, thanks to Hall’s
clutch performance in extra in
nings.
Arkansas scored its only run in
the second inning, with an un
earned run on an error by Smith.
Lady Razorback Melissa Smith
reached first on a single, but was
tagged out on a fielder’s choice
when designated player B.J.
Southmayd hit a single in the next
at-bat.
Pinch runner Allie Benish
came on in place of Southmayd
and advanced to second off of a
groundout by Easley before at
tempting to steal third. Benish
was able to steal third and scored
on the following error.
Up to the seventh inning,
Arkansas pitcher Sarah Topham
only gave up three hits and one
walk. Then USC’s Smith hit a sin
gle followed by Person, who pinch
hit for Curtis and was walked.
Things looked gloomy for
Carolina after the Gamecocks’
Hall popped out and Hughes
struck out, but Sandel walked up
to the plate and singled to send in
Smith and tie up the game. USC
wasn’t able to score the winning
run, though, leaving two players
on base.
Pitcher Melanie Henkes got
rid of the Lady Razorbacks’ first
three batters in order, allowing
for Carolina to go to the bottom
of the eighth with a chance to
win.
The Gamecocks took advantage
of the opportunity, with Hall hit
ting a single to drive in Crane for
the win.
The win was Henkes’ fourth
victory of the season, putting her
at 4-3 for the year, and gave USC
head coach Joyce Compton her
l,000th-career win.
USC plays out the last game of
the three-game series with
Arkansas today at 4 p.m. at
Beckham Field. The Gamecocks’
next series will be at home against
Auburn on March 27.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
Florida heads to tournament
despite regular season turmoil
BY EDDIE PELLS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAINESVILLE, FLA. — One start
ing guard didn’t think he was
good enough to play this season.
The only senior on the team went
from starter to role player.
Possibly the most versatile guy on
the opening-day roster is now
playing in Spain.
At Florida, it’s safe to say the
madness started well before March.
Yet somehow, the Gators have
withstood the turmoil and actually
gotten better.
By their own coach’s estimate,
Florida has only three players ca
pable of performing at the high lev
el needed in the tournament. Still,
fifth-seeded Florida (20-10) heads
into the Thursday’s NCAA open
er against Manhattan having gone
6-2 in its last eight games, with the
only two losses coming to No. 2
Kentucky.
“It’s a basketball team playing
on emotion,” coach Billy
Donovan said. “We were 14-8.
Nobody knew what direction we
were going. They swam to the
raft, and they’re trying to pull
themselves in.”
Donovan has used the rather
apt lifeboat-raft scenario to de
scribe his team’s predicament
since Feb. 18, the day swingman
Christian Drejer shockingly left
to play professional basketball in
Europe. It’s the day that coincides
with the beginning of Florida’s
hot streak. And while Drejer’s
loss surely did galvanize the
Gators emotionally, it also de
pleted them.
Lee, Anthony Roberson and
Matt Walsh are Florida’s Big
Three. They’ve accounted for 62
percent of the Gators’ points over
the last eight games. Beyond that,
there is sophomore Adrian Moss,
an improving player in the post.
There is senior center Bonell
Colas, a starter at the beginning
of the season who has since been
moved to the bench.
Most of the rest are freshmen, in
cluding Lee Humphrey, a soft-spo
ken Tennessee kid who went to
Donovan early in the season and ,
asked him what he thought about
the possibility of his sitting out the
rest of the year and taking a red
shirt.
Turned out, that wasn’t possi
ble, which might have been a good
thing. After Drejer left, Humphrey
was inserted in the starting line
up. On Friday, he made an 18-foot
shot at the buzzer to beat Alabama
in the quarterfinals of the SEC
tournament.
The latest mini-crisis involves
Walsh’s foot. He spent time at the
hospital Monday having a silicone
sheath attached to the bottom of
his foot to help heal a nasty blis
ter that developed during the SEC
tournament.
Donovan said he’s confident
Walsh will play Thursday, al
though he doesn’t know how ef
fective his second-leading scorer
will be.
■1 i
Congratulations to
The Gamecock Basketball Sports Challenge
Regular Season Champion
Jonathan Hillyard
1. Asst. Sports Editor Jonathan Hillyard - (49-31)
2. Design Director Shawn Rourk - (48-32)
3(t). Sports Editor Wes Wolfe - (47-33)
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3(t). Reader of the Week - (47-33)
6. Selected Staff Member - (40-40)
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