The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 18, 2006, Page 13, Image 13
NO WINS
FOR USC
IN EARLY
SEC PLAY
From staff reports
USC fell to another ranked
conference opponent Sunday,
this time a 67-59 loss to No.
23 Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks (9-7, 0-4)
remain winless in the SEC
with four losses that include
No. 1 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU
and the Commodores.
Vanderbilt led by as many
as 11 points in the first half,
but USC clawed back in the
second half to tie the game
42-42.
It was as close as coach
Susan Walvius’ team would
come to the lead. The
Commodores won despite
shooting 38.7 percent from
the floor.
Ilona Burgrova led the
Gamecocks with 15 points
and ’guard Lauren Simms,
added 10 points. No other
USC player finished in
double figures.
The win was Vanderbilt’s
fifth in its last six games.
Since reeling off seven
consecutive wins beginning
with nationally ranked
Minnesota, the Gamecocks
have dropped their last four.
Walvius’ team continues
to play solid defense, holding
opponents to 33 percent
shooting per game, but the
Gamecocks have struggled
from the free throw line, and
average nearly 20 turnovers a
game.
USC will head to
Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sunday
to take on the Crimson
Tide in search of its first
conference win.
The chance for a first SEC
victory was there for the
Gamecocks on Sunday but
not for long.
Vanderbilt’s Carla Thomas
proved to be too much for
USC, as she finished with 16
points and seven rebounds.
Three other Commodore’s
finished in double figures,
and Vandy turned the ball
over eight fewer times than
the Gamecocks.
“You have opportunities,
and you turn the ball over
... we’re better than that,”
Walvius told the Associated
Press on Sunday. “One
thing our team is working
to understand is a little more
of a sense of urgency, a little
more aggressiveness without
hurrying.”
The loss has the current
Gamecocks squad looking
more like last season’s team
that struggled mightily
throughout the year, more
than they looked like the team
that knocked off the Golden
Gophers on Dec. 13. USC
then went on to knock off
the likes of Western Carolina
and Clemson before losing
its SEC-opener in a hotly
contested matchup with the
Volunteers.
Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK
USC guard Demetress Adams has her shot contested in
Sunday’s 67-59 loss to Vanderbilt. The team is 9-7.
FflSTCnOU • COflTIflUGD FROfTI 12
Track Stars. Just try not
to cross the boundaries of
what might be considered
crude or offensive.
Once you get the name
thing out of the way,
you must learn the most
important rule of intramural
basketball ( although, the
same probably goes for
dodge ball and others) —
the refs are horrible.
Yell at them as much
as possible. Curse their
existence every chance you
get during a game, because
they deserve it.
Here’s the deal. Campus
rec brings in a certain
number of students each
year, trains them a little
on how to blow a whistle,
sticks some money in their
shirt pocket and tells them
to officiate games.
Most of the time, these
guys and girls couldn’t
recognize a foul if it kicked
them in the crotch. Then,
when you protest, they
threaten to deduct from
your team’s “sportsmanship”
grade, which is another
brilliant creation of the
campus rec department.
Each team is graded on how
it acts during a game on a
4.0 scale, similar to a GPA.
At the end of the season,
if a team doesn’t have a
passing sportsmanship
grade, it supposedly doesn’t
make the playoffs. Brilliant.
I’m back at the YMCA.
While you’re at it, why not
make it so every person on
your team has to play at
least 10 minutes, and we
can get pizza and miniature
trophies at the end of the
season.
Better yet, might as well
strap on the ol’ eight-foot
baskets, too, and don’t forget
to turn off the scoreboard
when a team gets ahead by
15 points or more. Give me
a break.
The worst part about it
is that officials are allowed
*
to play. So after blasting a
team by the mercy rule one
game, you could come back
a week later and have your
game officiated by members
of the team you dismantled
the week before.
Other than berating the
refs, the most important
thing to remember in
intramurals is to have fun.
Make sure you pick a good
team, and make sure you
win. Don’t go all “Sack” in
Wedding Crashers, though.
At the end of the day it’s still
a game. Your opponents are,
after all, fellow students.
Some final thoughts:
If you lose to a ffiat team, ;
you shouldn’t be playing. ;
Make the refs cry. Don’t ;
feel obligated to use a
player that’s inept with a
. basketball. It’s not worth
the embarrassment to your
team or to him. If you see
my team on the schedule,
forfeit, switch leagues, fake
sick, anything.
See you on the court. •
LOSS • COnTinUCDFROmiB
play.
Levi Stukes, who led the
Bulldogs with 20 points,
would miss a 3-pointer but
get his own rebound.
Following timeouts,
Mercer would hit the
. game-tying basket with 46
seconds left. USC had a
chance for a game-winning
shot, but a Kelley turnover
into Mercer’s hands would
set up the capper to the
Georgia comeback. Gaines
would kick out to the hot
hand, Stukes, who drained
the shot as the final second
ticked off the clock, giving
the Bulldogs the 64-61 win.
“It was pretty much a
dead even game,” Odom
said. “A lot of lead changes,
a lot of chances for each
team to fold and go away
and neither team did. It’s
particularly tough for us.
We needed the game, it was
a home game.”
Carolina kept two of
the Georgia starting five
in check, as Terrance
Woodbury and Dave Bliss
combined for 4 points on
seven shot attempts. USC
also out-rebounded the
Bulldogs 40-33 thanks in
part to a 15-rebound day
from Wallace.
“We felt like the defense
put us in a position to win,”
Wallace said. “But at the end
we had another letdown.
The guy had an open shot ;
and made it.”
The loss sent Carolina '
to an 0-3 start in the SEC
and a 9-7 overall record. All
three SEC losses came after
USC failed to close the door
in the second half.
“We fought our hearts
out this game,” Kinsey said.
.“It went to overtime, we
had two chances to win the
game, I turned the ball over,
and Tre’ turned the ball over.
We manned up and stopped
them when I turned the ball
over. But this time, I guess
time was just running out
and they hit the big shot.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu
The following Learning Communities
are now accepting applications.
i
| Open House Calendar
Date Learning Community Time
Jan. 18 Carolina's Mentoring Community 6-8p.m.
(Capstone 16th Floor)
I Jan. 21 West Quad Environmental 10a.m.
Awareness Community 1p.m.
fl Jan. 24 Carolina's Global Community 5-7p.m. t
i (South Quad 1st Floor)
Jan. 25 French Language House 7:30
? (820 Henderson Street) 9p.m.
Jan. 27 Preston Residential Tea 4-6p.m.
y| * There will be no Open House for Pre-Medical Community.
I For more information visit our website at:
ftp://www.housing.se.edu/reseomjsp
University Housing
1215 Blossom Street
1 Priority Deadline: Feb. 1,2005
iff *
iHlim unr .nf.
c
Greek Programming Board
The Greek Programming Board is responsible for planning, coor
dinating, and implementing Fraternity & Sorority Council events
for the Greek Community. Members are expected to attend
weekly board and council meetings. Board members are also
encouraged to form committees and to recruit committee mem
bers from the Greek Community. The Programming Board will
replace the former council cabinet positions. This board is com
prised of 11 men and 11 women, and it will delegate many
responsibilities to help strengthen Greek Life as a whole.
iff 111 I II Mill II 5