January 13, 2002
Jocelyn Penn tied her career best 32 points and pulled down seven rebounds as No. 9 South Carolina outscored visiting Arkansas by 23 points in the second half to pull away for a decisive 91-66 SEC win Sunday afternoon at the Carolina Coliseum before a season-best crowd of 2,428.
The win by the Lady Gamecocks (16-1, 4-0 SEC) sets up their showdown with the nation’s No. 2 team, Tennessee, Thursday night in Columbia.
Leading just 36-34 at halftime, South Carolina surged to a double-digit lead in the first seven minutes of the second half. Penn had a hand in USC’s first five scoring plays of the half, hitting four straight shots and finding Shaun Gortman open for a mid-range jumper. Her great look to Gortman was one of four assists for Penn in one of her best career performances.
South Carolina held Arkansas (9-6, 0-3 SEC) without a field goal for a 6:35 stretch early in the second half. USC, with seven points from Penn, converted that drought into a 19-4 run – a spurt that put the game out of reach.
“Jocelyn does a fantastic job for us,” remarked USC head coach Susan Walvius. “You know people are focusing on her, but she gets a lot of quiet points. She is a winner.”
Gortman added 17 points and a season-high seven assists for South Carolina.
Arkansas stayed right with the Lady Gamecocks in a back and forth first half. The lead changed hands 11 times, mostly in part to the hot shooting of Lady Backs guard India Lewis. Lewis converted four-of-six three point shots in the first half, aiding Arkansas’ efforts. Lewis scored 17 points on the day, but Dana Cherry scored 11 of her team-high 19 points in the second half to pace Arkansas.
Able to convert their many open looks in the first half, Arkansas shot 50% from behind the three-point arc and 38% overall. In the second half, though, the open looks weren’t there as a stringent USC defense put on the clamps, allowing the precisely efficient offense to shine.
“We had a much more inspired second half defensively,” added Walvius. “The first half today was the worst we’ve played in a long time. It was good to see us come back, regroup at halftime, and outscore Arkansas by 23 points in the second half.”
South Carolina shot a season-high 56% overall on the day (34-of-61) and an even sharper 67% from behind the three-point line (six-of-nine). An indication of just how sharp the Lady Gamecocks’ offense was Sunday is found deep in the box score – 29 assists as a team on 34 made field goals.
USC center Petra Ujhelyi grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds, aiding a 42-35 Carolina advantage on the boards. Offensively, the Lady Gamecocks’ fast-breaking style of play led to a 44-20 margin in points in the paint.
Penn converted two free throws at the 3:08 mark in the second half to become just the 24th Lady Gamecock to join the 1,000 career-point club. Teammate Shaun Gortman also reached that milestone earlier this season.
