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8 I Friday, January n, 2002 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
K
I
Lady Bulldogs suffer a loss against USC
By AMBER SHAW
ashaw@randb.com
Georgia’s women’s basketball team seemed to be its own worst
enemy last night, committing 27 turnovers in a 71-64 loss to South
Carolina
Although the No. 14 Lady Bulldogs, led by freshman forward
Kara Braxton with 18 points, out-rebounded the No. 9 Lady
Gamecocks 41-36, they were unable to overcome South Carolina
“In all of hearts, we believe that we could have won that game,”
senior forward Tawana McDonald said. “If we could have
decreased on the turnovers and executed, the outcome of the
game would have been different. It’s frustrating, but it’s early in
the season, and if we correct our mistakes we can do a lot better.”
The Lady Bulldogs came out on fire early in the first half, lead
ing the Lady Gamecocks 11-4.
The young squad then went on a 4.5-minute scoring drought to
allow South Carolina to get back into the game 15-12.
Braxton ended the drought, sinking the first of a pair of free
throws with 10 minutes left in the half.
With the sleeping giant awake, however, the Lady Gamecocks
went on a 20-4 run to take a 31-19 lead with just over 5 minutes left
in the first half.
Freshman guard Nikki Eason drilled a three-pointer to send the
Lady Bulldogs into the locker room trailing by eight points at the
half.
Georgia traded baskets with the Lady Gamecocks early in the
second half, trailing by seven with 18 minutes left in the game.
Led by guard Tatyana Troina’s 22 points, South Carolina kept
the game out of reach for the Lady Bulldogs for most of the second
half.
But the Lady Bulldogs didn’t give up, going on a 9-0 run and
pulling within one after junior guard Mary Beth Lycett sunk a
three-pointer with less than 6 minutes left in the game.
Triona quieted an excited crowd, though, drilling a three-point
er of her own.
With just under 5 minutes left, sophomore Christi Thomas
came up short on a three-point attempt that would have given the
Lady Bulldogs a one-point advantage.
“I think that we’re all really frustrated,” Lycett said. “We played
hard; well enough to win the game, but when it came down to it,
turnovers killed us. We’re down by two and we came down and
threw the ball away, and that kind of thing kills the momentum.”
After the miss, the Lady Gamecocks went on a six-point run
that put Georgia out of the game for good.
“Georgia has great players,” South Carolina coach Susan
Walvius said. “As the season goes on, this team is going to get bet
ter and better as the chemistry develops.”
MONIRA AL-HAROUN | The Red * Buck
▲ Point Guard Nikki Eason searches for a way
around a Gamecock defender in Thursday's game
against South Carolina.
Dogs set to rumble with Vols
By GENTRY ESTES
gestes@randb.com
Georgia basketball —
welcome to the big time.
It started with a marching
band reception at Athens-Ben
Epps Airport two hours after
Wednesday’s 88-84 upset win at
No. 8 Kentucky.
The victory means the
JBulldogs (13-2, 2-0 SEC),
picked last in the SEC East, are
now circled on the schedule of
every other conference school.
As if beating Kentucky
wasn’t enough, Georgia’s met
tle will be tested further. The
Bulldogs’ next three games will
be against Tennessee, No. 15
Alabama and No. 2 Florida.
“If nobody gave us respect
before, they have to now,” said
sophomore guard Jarvis Hayes,
who dropped a career-high 30
points on the Wildcats. “I kind
of think Kentucky underesti
mated us a little bit. But I don’t
think Tennessee will, or
Alabama, so we’ll have to come
with it.”
Next up are the Vols
(6-7, 1-1), a team looking to
prove they’re better than the
record would indicate.
Tennessee gave Florida a scare
Wednesday, taking the favored
Gators into overtime before los
ing 104-100.
Now they’ll take aim at the
conference’s hottest team at 7
p.m. Saturday in Stegeman
Coliseum. And Tennessee will
bring a trio of weapons.
Vol forward Vincent
Yarbrough leads the SEC in
scoring with 19.5 points per
game. The 6-foot-7 senior has
hit 42.6 percent of his 3-point
attempts. He put up 26 against
the Gators and 24 in a confer
ence-opening win against Ole
Miss last weekend.
“We’ll have our hands full,”
Georgia coach Jim Harrick
said. “We haven’t had to guard
a guy as talented as Vincent
Yarbrough yet.”
Harrick watched the tape of
Tennessee’s overtime
battle with Florida Thursday,
and was impressed by the qual
ity of Georgia’s future oppo
nents.
Florida’s Brett Nelson sank
a 3-pointer with 3.1
seconds left to send the game
into overtime. “That was a hell
of a game. A big-time game,”
Harrick said. “Florida is really
good to go into (Knoxville) and
win, because Tennessee should
have won that game.”
Should Georgia survive the
Vols, Harrick expects his team
will see its first national ranking
this season.
“If we can win Saturday,
then you open some
eyes around the country,”
Harrick said. “There’s a lot of
teams in the top 25 who haven’t
beaten a top 10 team. We’ve
been outplaying people.”
Tickets for Saturday’s show
down could be scarce, so it’s a
good thing the game will be
televised by Fox Sports Net
South. The Bulldogs are 5-0 on
the network this season.
Gym Dogs to compete
with national champions
By ANNE MILLIGAN
amilligan@randb.com
After Sunday’s impressive opener against
Nebraska, the Gym Dogs begin one of the
squad’s most difficult schedules ever.
This weekend, No. 2 Georgia (1-0) will face
the two-time defending national champion
UCLA Bruins twice in a three-day period.
The squad travels to Gainesville, Fla.
Friday for the third-annual SEC Challenge, a
meet featuring top-ranked UCLA, No. 4
Alabama, No. 7 Florida, No. 11 LSU, and No.
12 Penn State.
The Gym Dogs return to Athens Sunday
for their second competition with the Bruins,
held at 2:30 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum.
At the 2001 SEC Challenge, Georgia tied
for first place with Alabama. The competition
in 2002 promises to be a showdown between
UCLA and Georgia.
“I think it’s going to be a Georgia versus
UCLA matchup,” Georgia coach Suzanne
Yoculan said. “I really believe one of those
two teams is going to win the competition.”
Georgia’s mental preparation is key for the
Gym Dogs to be successful against the
Bruins.
“When you go into a competition that is
this demanding, with teams this good, every
one wants to prove a point,” Yoculan said.
According to senior Talya Vexler, who
recorded a career-best 9.85 bar routine on
Sunday, the Nebraska meet was important
for the Gym Dogs.
“I think we made a lot of mental strides. I
am so proud of the whole team just because
we were so mentally strong,” Vexler said. “I
really think that Sunday we came together as
a team and its really an indicator of what’s
going to come for this year.”
The SEC Challenge is UCLA’s opening
meet and will provide a first glimpse of the
Bruins’ capabilities.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” UCLA
coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “It’s hard to
say if we are as strong or as deep as we were
last year.”
Georgia sophomore Cory Fritzinger, all-
around champion in the Nebraska meet, is
excited about two consecutive meets against
the nation’s number one team.
“We can look at it as a preparation for
nationals,” Fritzinger said. “They’ve won it
two years in a row now. We can see what
they’re like and have a heads-up going into
the championships.”
Redshirt freshman Kinsey Rowe, whose
all-around score of 39.475 against Nebraska
was the highest ever for a Georgia gymnast
competing in her first meet, knows about the
UCLA rivalry.
“I know that in the past we have always
been competitive with UCLA, and the fact
that they won last year and the year before is
just history,” Rowe said. “We’ve always been
competitive with them and we’re ready to
have at it this year.”
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