Newspaper Page Text
8 I Friday, March 7, 2003 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
Gym Dogs get
ready for LSU
face Carolina in final game
By STEVE SANDERS
ssanders@randb.com
The red-hot Georgia
gymnastics team will try
to maintain its momentum
tonight in Baton Rouge in
taking on LSU.
The Gym Dogs moved up
one spot to No. 5 in the latest
Gymlnfo poll after a 197.725-
195.775 win over Florida last
week.
The No. 14 Tigers (8-5, 2-3)
will try to derail Georgia (13-
1, 5-0), whose only loss came
in the season-opener at No. 4
Nebraska.
The team’s past and future
success depends in large part
on the success
of juniors Chelsa Byrd, Cory
Fritzinger and Kinsey Rowe.
Byrd has scored above 9.95
in each of her last five floor
routines. Fritzinger has
scored a 9.9 or higher in her
last four vaulting attempts,
and Rowe has been at 9.9 or
higher on her past four beam
routines.
Last week’s win over
Florida was the 13 th
consecutive team Georgia
has beaten this season. The
last time a Georgia team beat
13 consecutive teams was in
1998, when the Gym Dogs
went
undefeat
ed and
won the
national
champi
onship.
Georgia
will try to
bring up
its average
score in
away
games,
which is nearly a full point
lower than the home average.
Away scores are crucial
because the ranking system
takes into account top home
and away scores.
The team will have to com
pete tonight with heavy
hearts, as former Gym Dog
and current Georgia senior
Talya Vexler undergoes sur
gery today for breast
cancer, a statement from
(www.georgiadogs.com) said
Tuesday.
Vexler has decided to stay
in Athens, where she feels she
will have plenty of support.
She plans on graduating as
planned in May.
Tonight’s meet will be held
at the Pete Maravich
Assembly Center and begins
at 7.
Bulldogs
By BRADLEY HANDWERGER
bhandwerg@randb.com
Georgia head coach Jim
Harrick won’t answer any
questions concerning the cur
rent investigation into his
program.
He will, however, talk about
his 25th-ranked Bulldogs and
what he thinks about them.
“I’m not going to do any
thing to take away from the
goals of this team,” Harrick
said. “This team has a bright
future.”
The questions concerning
the program stem from former
player Tony Cole’s interview
on ESPN Feb. 27 in which he
said former assistant coach
Jim Harrick Jr. committed
several NCAA violations in
recruiting Cole.
Five days later, Georgia got
its biggest win of the season,
especially considering the
media circus surrounding the
team. It defeated No. 3 Florida
82-81 with less than 20 sec
onds to play on Tuesday.
“I worry about a letdown,”
Harrick said about playing
South Carolina following the
MEN’S BASKETBALL
@ South Carolina, at noon Sunday.
TV/Radio: CBS/WNGC-FM (106.1)
win against Florida. “This
time of year, though, you’ve
got to play basketball. You
want to end on a positive
note.”
Last year, Georgia finished
the regular season with a 5-5
record, including an 80-67 loss
to the Gamecocks in
Columbia, S.C. Georgia has
lost 10 of the last 11 games
played at South Carolina.
Said Harrick: “I just hope
we can go in there and play
well this weekend.”
This year, Georgia has won
five of six games, going into
the final game of the season.
South Carolina has lost
three of its last four games, all
by double digits.
“We found out two weeks
ago how good Georgia is,”
South Carolina head coach
Dave Odom said of Georgia’s
79-66 win on Feb. 22. “They are
well-coached and play as well
as anyone as a unit.”
Lady Dogs begin SEC tournament
By ARI WEITZ
aweitz@randb.com
Since day one of the season, the Lady
Dogs had one goal in mind — winning
the SEC.
While the No. 17 Lady Dogs (19-8)
mustered a 10-4 record in conference
play, good for third in the SEC, they still
have a chance to sit atop the conference
as they take part in the SEC tourna
ment this weekend in Little Rock, Ark.
Because the top four seeds in the
SEC receive a bye in the first round of
the tournament, the Lady Dogs had
Thursday off, and today will play the
winner of last night’s Vanderbilt-Florida
game.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SEC Tournament, 8:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FoxSN /WGMG-FM (102.1)
If No. 15 Vanderbilt (19-8, 9-5 SEC)
advances, the Lady Dogs will be in for a
challenge.
In their first meeting in Nashville on
Feb. 16, the Commodores squeezed by
Georgia 58-56 by hitting two free throws
in the closing seconds.
Vanderbilt also poses two of the most
dangerous low-post threats in the
conference in Chantelle Anderson and
Jenni Benningfield, who average 18.1
and 16.1 points per game, respectively.
“We’re not gonna shut them down,”
said Lady Dogs coach Andy Landers.
“You just gotta try to affect them.”
Despite tying for the worst record in
the SEC, Florida (9-18, 1-13) can’t be
counted out of the mix yet, and Georgia
knows the Gators are just as dangerous
as the next team.
“Any team in the SEC is a threat,”
said freshman guard Alexis Kendrick,
who was recently named to the SEC All-
Freshman Team. “Either way, we’re
gonna have to play hard.”
Kendrick said she believes that
Georgia still has unfulfilled potential.
“We haven’t peaked yet,” said
Kendrick. “We’re still pushing to play
well consistently, but we haven’t peaked
and I think that’s a great sign.”
VEXLER
OPEN HOUSElf
Park Oaks
129 Oak Bluff
Hit,I,SIDE
i/Hillside
YX ❖
Berlin St.
Foundry Inn
Classic Center
UGA
AThomas
\street
coupon “--J L — 1 ■ 1 ■ coupon
I X-BOX 1
! PLAYSTATION 2!
| with each new signed and accepted lease. |
^ No more than one promotion or coupon per lease. R&B j
• 11am to 3pm •
FREE
Berlin Street
552-0444
1101 Old Creek Road, Suite B-l TT^T*
Off 441 North IUUNeK
www.joinermanagement.com / management
2003
-W&m,
:g Tennis:
UGA
AGATA CIOROCH
Sun. March. 9 at 1 :QOpm
FREE ADMISSION
Matches held at Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
I
WnW
B B
Local Band Night
Friday, March 7th
Tate Center Ga Hall
^ mtPir'inft:
\\ H'd
10pm-2am
Also at Dawgs After Dark on March 7:
• Mechanical Bull • Orbctron
• Casino • Climbing Wall
• Antique Photos • Free Food!
All events are FREE for UGA students with valid
UGA ID and $ 5°° for non-students
voted Athens the
"#1 Campus Scene
that rocks!"
Come find out why!
"...the density and diversity of bands
still teeming in downtown Athens keep
it the alpha and omega of the college
music scene.- Rolling Stone
presented, j^y
.ffl
umversit y J
The University of Georgia
visit our website at www.uga.edu/union