Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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women • coniine pm hopefully that is out of our system.” Carolina (17-9, 7-6) blew the game open late in the first half, after senior Olga Gritsaeva entered her last home game as a Gamecock with 7:12 to go. In the last three minutes of the half, the score went from 25-20 to 35-20, as the Gamecocks finished the half on a 10-0 run. “I think this started out with (USC’s) pressure and we made some mistakes,” said MSU coach Sharon Fanning. “You look at the last three minutes of the half, and it’s a five-point ballgame. Then we lost our focus a little bit.” Carolina jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead, thanks to six early points from forward Melanie Johnson. Much of the Gamecocks’ early success was the result of an attacking pressure defense. USC had two steals in the first 40 seconds and ended the game with 17. “One of our focuses was to try to get our defense to create offense for us,” Johnson said. “It really helped us spark a good lead and gave us a good tempo.” The Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game at 12 behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Lauren Roberts and Miayorka Johnson. The game remained back and forth until the 8:58 mark, when guard Stacy Booker came off the bench to score four straight points and give USC a 22-17 lead. USC was able to keep MSU guard Robin Porter under wraps for the first 20 minutes. Porter had double-doubles in her previous two games, and in the first USC-MSU matchup, she had 14 points and 11 rebounds. While she finished with 13 points and four rebounds, she was held to only 2 points and one rebound in the first half. “We wanted to take away her left hand,” Walvius said. “I thought we guarded personnel very well. It was difficult for this game because we only had one day to prepare, and our players are a little fatigued. USC could not carry its momentum to the beginning of the second half, as the Gamecocks did not score until almost five minutes had passed. Despite the slow start out of the break, USC maintained a comfortable lead throughout, and the Bulldogs never got closer than 11. The Gamecocks won the battle down low, outrebounding MSU 42 26 and outscoring the Bulldogs 40-18 in the paint. “Our focus all year has been to really attack from the inside out,” Walvius said. “The 2-inch shot is a much better shot for any basketball team. A lot of young teams don’t understand shot selection, but our team does.” Miayorka Johnson led MSU with 14 points, but no other Bulldog besides Porter scored more than 6. MSU shot 29 percent from the field and had 24 turnovers, one of which was caused by Basketball Jesus yelling at a player trapped in the left corner. Melanie Johnson finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals, and the Gamecocks got another strong performance from forward Demetress Adams, who had 10 points and four rebounds. Off of the bench, forward Iva Sliskovic added 10 points and seven rebounds, and forward Lakesha Tolliver chipped in 11 points. Carolina will finish the regular season Sunday at Vanderbilt. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gu>m. sc. edu ■_■■■ ^^mmmmmmmr mm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm^^m <jppp PV4I up pvo ^pffpi Cl §ii] j k§C1 |[i RM i IilViJM WmmkIMWMWBB Join Air Force ROTC at the University of South Carolina Great careers Great benefits Pilot Travel N U rse Full Medical & Dental Care Fnalnppr Build Leadership & Management Skills i / JL r Starting Salary & Allowances: $35,000 r“a y 30 ^ vacation with Pay Navigator Tuition Assistance for Graduate Degrees More job Security ... and you may be eligible for one of our scholarships! For more information, call 777-3450 or visit the Air Force ROTC web site www.afrotc.com I f. McGees return this weekend a head scratcher Former Gamecocks’ AD not gone long enough to warrant recognition Dozens of former USC basketball players stood on the floor at the Colonial Center and basked in the glory of being remembered for their time at Carolina. The familiar faces of Terry Dozier, Ronnie Collins and Bob Fulton glowed as fans clapped and cheered for them. WLEV Then Second~ came the year^‘ journalism announcement , student that put a black mark on the whole day. The words over the PA were loud and clear: Mike McGee is coming back to be honored at the Vanderbilt game Saturday. McGee, USC’s athletics director before Eric Hyman, has been gone from USC now for less than a year. He retired to spend more time with his family and loved ones and to kick back and relax a little. That’s the way it should stay. His list of accomplishments at Carolina is noteworthy to be sure. His coaching hires include Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz, Dave Odom, Ray Tanner and Curtis Frye. Under McGee, USC’s programs won three bowl games, two national titles and an NIT basketball championship — all firsts for the university. He helped .engineer the building of the South end zone and other additions to Williams-Brice Stadium and the building of the Colonial Center. McGee’s accomplishments are impressive, but his problems while at USC were equally volatile. His relationship with the city of Columbia was strained at best. He and City Council always seemed to be at odds over land use, and in his final years the biggest debate came from his lack of flexibility in sharing a new baseball stadium with the now-departed Capital City Bombers. He wa^ also at odds with the Inferno Hockey team, which is probably a possibility for the teams’ scheduled move from the Carolina Coliseum to a new rink in West Columbia. McGee’s other controversy came from not allowing an arena-style football team to play in Columbia. In fact, I could almost guarantee that Columbia Mayor Bob Coble has “Ruin Mike McGee’s life” on a list of things he has to do before he dies. Even within the university McGee carried a bad reputation. Relationships with coaches early in his career seemed always to be a win or leave situation, with both sides leaving with bad tastes in their mouths. Sparky Woods, Brad Scott and Eddie Fogler each cut ties with the university totally after McGee’s brash tactics when they were asked to leave. But the biggest piece of the puzzle missing for McGee was his treatment of .Carolina’s former athletes. Every time the university needed a few dollars to pay for new lockers or renovations, an outstretched hand went out to those who once donned the garnet and black. Each time they ■seemed to respond, and each time they seemed to get the cold shoulder. McGee treated those former players as part of a business deal rather than members of a family, and" it was that cold shoulder that gave some players a reason to turn their backs on there alma mater. Now, after all that, we’re going to honor a man who left the university with a stack of NCAA violations, a bad reputation surrounding its football players for their actions off the field, and a laundry list of firings for some of the school’s finest employees ever? It seems unfair that a man who seemed to forget about USC’s past suddenly gets the chance to be honored for his. So, when the boo-birds come out at the announcement of his arrival, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu men • connnueDPRoms approximately 14 feet right of the basket, when he inadvertently passed the ball to Gaines. Brophy followed with a horrible inbounds pass from the USC baseline that bounced off Stukes. “We’re not going to quit,” Wallace said. “We’re just not going to quit. Having I the ball bounce off of him, it went our way. Renaldo got off a good shot. It’s all we could ask.” Steve Newman gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 29-19 when he hit a 3 pointer from the right comer with 17 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. Rocky Trice put USC up 32-31 less than five minutes later when he rebounded Kinsey’s missed 3-pointer and hit an eight-footer. “I do think our defense was solid all around; so was Georgia’s defense,” Odom said. “If you have a chance to win at the end, you have to be happy with that, and we not only had one chance to win, but two.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu -1 END OF SEASON CLEARANCE! m Savings up to Greenville ^w9jj ■] |WAVJ The Shops at Greenridge ■!■■■■■■ 1-85 & Woodruff Rd. 864-288-0757 >