The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 30, 2006, Page 7, Image 7
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SPORTS
Monday, Jan. 30,2006 1 ■ M... Page 7
USC women earn second SEC win
Gamecocks improve
to 11-8 after home
win against Arkansas
fllyssa liber
THE GAMECOCK
USC’s women earned
a much needed 61-52
win against Arkansas on
Sunday.
It was a key win for
the Gamecocks, who
have struggled with the
opening portion of their
SEC schedule this season.
The victory improves the
Gamecocks’ SEC record to
2-5 and their overall record
to 11-8.
The loss was only the
second in the SEC for the
Razorbacks, who are 5-2 in
SEC play and 13-7 overall.
USC coach Susan Walvius
acknowledged that her team
has had to face a lot of top
competitors to this point in
the season.
“We talked about it at
the beginning of the season
— that we had a very tough
I
stretch to open the SEC
schedule. We only have two
losses to non-top-20 teams,
and our team understands
that,” Walvius said. “Our
team is very focused on the
big picture. We’re in a very
good place, and we’re in a
position to do extremely
well.”
The Gamecocks took
control of the game early,
with 6-foot-6 sophomore
Ilona Burgrova winning
the tipoff for the team and
junior forward Iva Sliskovic
putting the first points on
the board. Junior guard
Lea Fabbri then had an
impressive drive to the
basket increasing Carolina’s
initial lead.
Arkansas rallied in the
first half and briefly took the
lead, but Carolina fought
back. Once the Gamecocks
regained the lead, they
remained on top for the rest
of the game.
USC led by 10 points
with six minutes left in
the first half. The lead
dwindled to four after the
Razorbacks capitalized on
several Carolina fouls.
The first half ended with
Carolina leading Arkansas
29-25.
The Gamecocks carried
their aggressiveness into
the second half, playing
a physical game and
capitalizing on every
opportunity to gain
possession of the ball.
Arkansas stayed in the game
and was only down by four
with a minute left to play.
Nonetheless, Carolina was
able to take advantage of
a few Arkansas fouls and
bolster their lead to secure
the victory.
“We were able to take
Arkansas’ strengths away
from them, and it was
Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK
USC guard Stacy Booker surveys the court during the Gamecocks’ win Sunday.
really a solid all around
defensive effort,” Walvius
said. “The nice thing about
our basketball team is you
are going to have a different
person step up on any night
of the week.”
No USC player spent
more than 24 minutes on
the floor. Junior forward
Melanie Johnson led thq
team in points with 15, and
Fabbri, Who went 5-for-5
from the floor, recorded 10
points.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gurm.sc.edu
Odom’s squad loses steam down the stretch
Vo Is’ beat USC
for second time this
season behind Lofion
TomBennmg
STAFF WRITER
The USC men’s
basketball team simply ran
out of gas.
After an emotional
victory over Florida earlier
in the week, the Gamecocks
kept it close for much
of the game against No.
19-ranked Tennessee on
Saturday. However, in the
closing minutes, Carolina
melted down, giving the
Vols an 81-65 victory.
“The thing that is
disappointing to me is I
thought we played about as
well as we could play for 3 7
minutes,” USC head coach
{
Dave* Odom said after the
game. “We were only down
six points with about three
minutes on the clock and
then gave in with a rash of
errors at the end.”
Carolina seemed poised
to make a nm at the 3:11
mark after USC guard Tre’
Kelley hit a jumper, making
it 69-63. On the next
possession, the Gamecocks
forced Tennessee to go
deep into their shot clock,
but UT forward Dane
Bradshaw saved the Vols
with a three-point play.
Kelley quickly responded
with another bucket to close
Tennessee’s lead to seven,
72-65. But USC would not
score again in the final 2:32,
as the Vols ended the game
on a 9-0 run.
Odom was frustrated by
the final difference — an
ugly 16-point deficit.
“[The final score] is
regrettable because anybody
who saw the game knows it
was not a 16-point game
but still we go home with
that on our docket,” he
said. “That is disappointing.
I thought we could win the
basketball game.”
The game started well
enough for Carolina, as its
defensive intensity rattled
Tennessee early and quieted
the crowd of 20,06$. The
Gamecocks had four blocks
in the first six minutes and
finished the game with
eight.
Midway through the first
half, a three-pointer by
USC guard Rocky Trice
Wade Payne / Associated Press
USC coach Dave Odom shares his frustration with
officials during the Gamecocks’ 81-56 loss on Saturday.
gave Carolina a 7-point
lead, 22-15. After a two
minute scoring drought
for both teams, the Vols
stormed back with a 10-0
run to reclaim the lead, 25
22, with 4:02 left to play.
Even with the poor first
half shooting performance
of UT guard Chris Lofton,
Tennessee went into the
second half with a 33-28
lead. Lofton went l-of-6
from the field on his way to
seven first half points.
UT head coach Bruce
Pearl felt fortunate to be
ahead at halftime.
“We did not play well in
the first half,” he said. “We
did not shoot well, and
we were disrupted by the
things South Carolina was
doing. The second half was
different.”
Different spelled doom
for the Gamecocks, as
Lofton pulled out of his
shooting slump and the
Vols upped their game.
Lofton finished the game
with 23 points, three assists
and five steals.
Two minutes into the
second half, Carolina pulled
within three points of
Tennessee, 36-33, but the
Gamecocks continued to
fight an uphill battle. With
8:36 to go, a three-pointer
by USC guard Stephen
McDowell again shrunk
the lead to three, 55-52.
However, UT scored eight
quick points and maintained
a healthy margin to the end.
Even though both teams
featured smaller lineups,
Carolina was dominated on
the inside. The Gfwneeocks
lost the rebounding battle
43-30, and the - lack of a
post presence forced USC
to hoist up 30 three-point
attempts.
Another disparity in the
game came in free throw
opportunities. Tennessee
attempted twenty-one free
throws for 15 points, while
USC only had only four
attempts, amounting to 2
points.
USC guard Tarence
Kinsey lead the Gamecocks
with team-highs of 12
points, six rebounds and
five assists. In addition to
Kinsey, Carolina was also
paced by Kelley (11 points,
five assists) and guard
Dwayne Day (11 points).
Forward Renaldo
Balkman and guard Rocky
Trice provided USC with
a spark off the bench.
Balkman had 8 points, six
rebounds, and four blocks,
while Trice added 9 points.
In addition to Lofton,
Tennessee (14-3, 5-1 SEC)
posted big stats from
forward Andre Patterson
(13 points, 12 rebounds)
and guard C.J. Watson (11
points, five rebounds).
The loss dropped
Carolina to 11-9 overall
and to last place in the
SEC East with a 2-5
record in conference play.
The Gamecocks will get a
week off before traveling
to Arkansas to take on the
Razorbacks on Saturday.
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7amecocksports@gwm.sc. eau
Sports
Briefs
Mens tennis sweeps
opening day of dual
match season
USC men’s tennis
swept Troy and Wofford
to open its dual-match
season on Saturday.
Pedro Rodrigues and
Geraldo Knorr won both
of their matches at No.
1 doubles, while Tom
Eklund and Jaime Cuellar
won each of their No. 2
doubles matches.
The Gamecocks
dropped the Trojans 7
0 in the morning match.
USC lost just a single set
in winning its first match
of the season.
Cuellar lost the first
game of his singles
match with Troy’s Marko
Despot, but ran the table
the rest of the way in
winning 6-1, 6-0.
In No. 1 singles, Eklund
dropped the first set 5-7
to Troy’s Irving Morales,
but came back to win the
second set 6-2. In the 10
point, tie-breaking third
set, Eklund was down 4-1
early, but won six straight
points to take the match.
Against Wofford, USC
swept the top-five singles
matches in straight sets.
The Gamecocks host
Appalachian State and
Elon on Saturday.
No. 22 women
drop Davidson
The No. 2 2-ranked
USC women’s tennis
team improved to 2-0
on the season by beating
Davidson 7-0 on Sunday
afternoon.
The Gamecocks swept
all three doubles matches.
The USC team of
“a
freshman Gira Schofield
and sophomore Megan
McGavock beat the
Wildcats’ team of Kelsey
Linville and Kim Whelan
8-5inNo.l doubles.Senior I
Danielle Wiggins and
junior Miranda Gutierrez
won their No. 2 doubles
match 8-4 over Lindsey
Powel and Michele Fanney
ofDavidson.
USC won all six of its
singles matches as well.
Schofield beat Linville
6-0, 6-1. Wiggins and
McGavock each won
their singles matches
over Fanney and Whelan
respectively.
USC riders come
up short at Big 8
Western Tournament
The South Carolina j
equestrian western team
; fell short of a fifth-place
finish Saturday as they
lost to Oklahoma State
717.5-693 at the Big 8
Western Tournament in
College Station, Texas.
USC’s Rachel Sternoff j
was the only rider to pick
up a win as she defeated
OSU’s Brianne Wiebe in
horsemanship.
Sternoff defeated Wiebe
143-141 and recorded
her second win of the
weekend, after claiming
a reining victory against
Baylor earlier in the
' tournament.