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THEfeAMECOCK . SPfPTS Pagefi -L - l " \ Friday, Jan. 27,2006 ^ Women’s win streak ends at one / Walvius team drops home game to Dawgs, cant finish second USC upset in as many nights (Tlichael Williams THE GAMECOCK With the USC women’s basketball team coming off its first conference win against Alabama, the Lady Gamecocks played host to the No. 15 Georgia Bulldogs and were looking to add another Southeastern Conference win to their record. The Gamecocks played the Bulldogs to a tie in the first half but weren’t able to hang on, falling 74-65. Georgia had not shot less than 35.8 percent coming into the game. The crowd of 1,000-plus was hoping to see another upset of a ranked team like last night in men’s basketball, but the Bulldogs wouldn’t allow it. Coming out in the second half tied at 29, the Gamecocks began to fall apart within the first three minutes. “In the first three minutes we had some defensive breaks,” said USC coach Susan Walvius. But the breaks weren’t enough to keep the Gamecocks on top. The Bulldogs went up at the 18-minute mark with a five point lead and never looked hack. Georgia shot 46 percent from field goal range and 50 percent from behind the arc. Junior guard Lea Fabbri said the Bulldogs were, “the quickest team I have played, ever” and said of the Bulldogs’ speed, “it really bothered us.” Tbe Gamecocks’ offense couldn’t get the shots to fall as they did against Alabama. The Gamecocks had 61 shots to Georgia’s 54, but their shots just didn’t seem to find the net. Demetress Adams seemed to spark some offense in the second half as she went 5-of-7 from the field. The Georgia offense set the tempo of the game and they outscored the Gamecocks by 9 points in the second half. UGA scored 26 points in the paint and had eight second chance points. With the loss, the Gamecocks dropped to 10-8 overall and 1-5 in SEC play. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@givm.sc. edu Jason Steelman / THE GAMECOCK Gamecock guard Lauren Simms surveys the court during USC’s 74-65 loss Thursday to the Georgia Bulldogs. Kinsey scores 19 in win UPSET • COflTinUEDfROmi Dave Odom said. “You just feel like you’re capable of doing something special, but you haven’t done it yet. Tonight, it was particularly good that we beat a really, really, really fine basketball team in the University of Florida.” Both teams were held in check for the opening three-and-a-half minutes of play, as Joakim Noah broke the scoring drought with a fast break dunk to give the Gators a lead they would eventually build up to nine points at 15-6 after a Chris Richard jump shot. That nine-point edge would begin to evaporate almost as soon as it was established. A lay up by Kinsey off a Tre’ Kelley assist brought the Gamecocks to within one at 15-14 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half. Florida coach Billy Donovan called a timeout to slow USC’s rally and set up the Gators’ next play. But Renaldo Balkman would rebound an A1 Horford miss and make a basket to put the Gamecocks ahead 16-15. I"*1 • 1 - 1 .1 riuiiud utu uic at 17 on a pair of free throws by Noah before USC went on a 9-4 run to close the first half with a 29-23 lead. “If we did not stop their run-out lay-ups to Noah and Horford, and others, off missed shots and turnovers, there would be no reason to go to the second layer of game plan,” Odom said. “We gave up one breakaway lay-up in the first half. I do not remember one in the second half. I’m talking about where they get rebound; they throw it in; Noah dunks the ball. That kind of thing.” USC not only stopped those run outs for the entire game, but the team managed to dominate a much taller team in the post. The rebounding edge was a 32 31 Gamecock advantage, and 14 of those rebounds were on the offensive end. In the second half, USC never looked back. The Gamecocks increased their lead to 15 points on a Stephen McDowell 3 pointer in the second half. Well, they never looked back — until the 3:09 rrtark. “I know they’re a great team, capable of doing a lot of things,” senior center Antoine Tisby said. “When •they started hitting the three’s I was thinking ‘Do we have enough points to keep them at bay?”’ Up by 12, USC looked to have the game in hand as the three-minute mark approached. That’s when Corey Brewer hit a 3-point shot to pull the Gators back within striking distance at 57-48. Green and Walter Hodge combined for four 3-pointers in just over a minute-and-a-half of play that gave Florida hope. An A1 Horford lay-up with 38 seconds left cut the lead to 67-62 but back-to-back 3 point misses and Kinsey’s steal with 7 seconds remaining sealed the win. “For whatever reason, against us it’s always easy to shoot 3-point shots in last four minutes of the game when you’re down double figures,” Odom said. “I don’t know why that is.” The Gators’ starters, who each average more than 10 points a game, were held in check as Green’s 17 points topped Florida’s team. Noah had another solid outing with a double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The only starter to hit double figures for USC was Kinsey, who scored a game high 19 points. Carolina’s biggest lift came off the bench from Balkman, who poured in 14 points. Balkman, a Tampa, Fla., native, savored his first win against the Gators at USC, not only because they were an elite opponent, but because he now has something to brag about when he goes home. “I love it, I love it.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Katie Kirkland! THE GAMECOCK USC guart| Stephen McDowell drives during the Gamecocks 68-62 win against Florida. It was the Gamecocks’ first win against a ranked team since Feb. 5, 2005. McDowell's motivation overshadows small size Gamecock columnist goes one-one-one with ^ USC's shortest player Todd Green THE GAMECOCK USC guard Stephen McDowell, generously listed at 5-foot-11-inches and 181 pounds, played on the Score International Team with USC forward Renaldo Balkman during the summer. After leading the summer team in points and assists-per-game, McDowell returned for his sophomore season as a Gamecock. The Gamecocks’ Todd Green recently sat down with McDowell for a one-on-one interview. TODD GREEN: What are your biggest strengths? STEPHEN MCDOWELL: I would definitely say my shooting ability. My ability to knock the shot down. I think that’s gonna be something that can really help this team. That’s my biggest strength. That and my defense. TG: What do you want to do after you graduate? SM: My great grandparents own a youth camp back in Indiana. So I kind of want to do something along those lines. It’s a Christian-based youth camp where they take inner-city youths out into the country. So I want to incorporate some of the same ideas but just put basketball in there. About having worked at the camp SM: Yeah, yeah, I really enjoyed that over the summer. About most memorable experience in Germany. SM: My most memorable moment was seeing a Mercedes Benz trash truck. They had Mercedes Benz over there for everything, taxi drivers; it was just a normal car over there. That was crazy to me; to see the trash men pull up in a Benz. I never would have expected that. TG: What are your personal goals for the next two years? SM: Just to finish up this year and the last two years with winning records, you know, and hopefully get out ^ of here with an SEC title before I graduate. About individual goals. SM: I have some individual goals, but I’d like to really just focus on the team and really just keep that first. Whatever I can do to help the team. I have some goals of my own. Keep the team first and I’ll work on improving myself after those. TG: What do you look to for motivation? SM: My motivation comes from the Lord. My favorite verse is, “Whatever you do, * 1 work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). As long as that remains my motivation I can always work hard because the situations on earth, my situations are going to change here. I can get down, or whatever, my feelings, but as long as I stay focused on him, that’s my motivation. It’s constant. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu