mmer, who combined for six points during the stretch. T | Forum

                                      TAMPA, Fla. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- Frank Martins uneasiness about how No. 16 South Carolina might respond to its first loss of the season was unfounded.PJ Dozier and Duane Notice assured that, stepping up in the absence of leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell to help the Gamecocks (9-1) shrug off cold shooting and pull away to a 77-66 victory over South Florida on Saturday.Dozier scored 11 of his 23 points in the closing minutes and Notice gave South Carolina a spark by contributing 14 of his 15 points after halftime to help the Gamecocks bounce back from last Mondays 67-64 loss to Seton Hall.It was my concern for this basketball team coming into this game, coming off our first loss, being so young, that some guys wouldnt handle it (well). Losing is an epidemic, and losing is not good. And young people dont know how to handle losing, Martin said.It was our first experience as a team to go through it. I think we kind of came out and played the first half like somebody took our dog. We didnt have our enthusiasm, the fight that weve played with every single day out, Martin added. But Im equally as pleased, I thought we played well in the second half as a basketball team. Different guys doing things. Obviously PJ continues to grow as a player here and do unbelievable things. But like I told him, its also his challenge.The Gamecocks (9-1) improved to 2-1 without Thornwell, who has been suspended indefinitely for violating athletic department policy.With Sind being out, we had only two seniors out on the floor. So as Coach said, were young. Were a young team and were just looking to grow, Dozier said.We came out first half a little sluggish. We make our offense out of our defense and wasnt doing that the first half, the 6-foot-6 sophomore guard added. We went into the locker room and Coach gave us that word that we needed and came out with the intensity we should have started with.Jahmal McMurray led USF (5-4) with 25 points. Malik Fitts had 12 points and Geno Thorpe finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, who led 37-31 at halftime.South Carolina began the second half with a 17-9 burst to take a 48-41 lead. Dozier and Notice keyed the initial surge and Dozier took over down the stretch, when the Gamecocks led by as many as 13.We got, maybe, a little bit complacent. Didnt come out with the fire that we had in the first half, McMurray said. The second half, we just have to ... come out with the same fire.THE BIG PICTURESouth Carolina, which has its highest ranking since being No. 14 in the final poll of the 1997-98 season, obviously misses Thornwell, who leads them in assists, as well as scoring and rebounding. With Notice missing the first eight shots he attempted, including six from 3-point range, the Gamecocks trailed at halftime for the first time this season.Not surprisingly, South Florida faded down the stretch. Luis Santos made a layup to trim South Carolinas lead to 64-61 with 7 minutes left, however the Bulls didnt score again from the field until Bo Zeiglers basket with 29 seconds left.FIRST BIG TESTSouth Carolina is only Power 5 opponent USF is scheduled to face this season. The Bulls fell to 0-4 against ranked opponents under coach Orlando Antigua and have dropped 20 consecutive games to Top 25 opponents since knocking off No. 15 Louisville on the road on Feb. 29, 2012.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Gamecocks may lose some ground in the next AP poll, however, rebounding on the road -- albeit against an opponent thats had its share of problems against a weak schedule -- will likely keep the Gamecocks in the Top 25.UNIENDO LOS TOROSUSF designated Saturday as Uniendo Los Toros, which in English translates to Uniting The Bulls. The game featured two of three Hispanic-American head coaches in NCAA Division I in South Carolinas Martin and USFs Antigua. Miamis Jim Larranaga is the third. Early arrivals among the announced crowd of 2,489 at the Sun Dome received white T-shirts commemorating the occasion.UP NEXTSouth Carolina: Returns home to face intrastate rival Clemson on Wednesday.South Florida: Faces Northern Illinois at home on Tuesday.--- Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Cheap Custom NFL Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. http://www.cheapjerseysfinish.com/ . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Stanford coach John Dunning expected big things from his latest recruiting class.Just maybe not this soon.Inky Ajanaku had 18 kills, Kathryn Plummer added 16 and Stanford -- led by four freshman starters -- beat Texas 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21 on Saturday night in the NCAA womens volleyball final.The Cardinal (27-7) won 16 of their last 17 matches to complete an unlikely championship run with four freshman starters -- Plummer, Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz.You know, its overwhelming, coach John Dunning said. You put so much into this, and this is just a group thats just fun to be with. And I love being around them.The Cardinal have the most losses of any championship team in Division I womens volleyball history. Ajanaku, the tournaments Most Outstanding Player, leaves Stanford as a champion just a year following a devastating right knee injury that sidelined her for the entire 2015 season.Stanford began the season 10-5 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12. Then Dunning moved senior Kelsey Humphreys to defensive specialist and handed the setting duties to Gray. The Cardinal were the hottest team in volleyball from that point on.After losing the third set, Stanford jumped out to a 6-0 lead and continued to dominate the net. Plummer received a bump set from Humphreys and registered the winning kill off of the Texas block to secure the programs first national title since 2004.Humphreys mom played in four Final Fours foor Stanford but never was able to claim the championship. Cheap Authentic Jerseys. .When we won two days ago she said, `Bring one home for the family, Humphreys said. To be able to share the Stanford experience with her is something I cant put into words.The loss marks Texas second consecutive NCAA runner-up finish, after losing in three sets to Nebraska last year. Micaya White had 17 kills, and Ebony Nwanebu 16.Paulina Prieto-Cerame had 12 kills in the semifinal against Nebraska, but struggled mightily in the final against Stanfords top-rated block. Prieto-Cerame had just two kills and eight hitting errors before being taken out of the match.Our first touches werent as good as we had hoped, but I think early on that game our setting location was really off, coach Jerritt Elliott said. And so I think her first five or six swings were pretty difficult swings, and I think it just got in her head then and she just kind of struggled from that point on.After trailing 18-16 in the second set, Stanford turned the table with a 7-0 run led by freshman Audriana Fitzmorris and Plummer, who combined for six points during the stretch. The Cardinal won two of the next three points to close the set.Jenna Gray had 51 assists and Morgan Hentz had 27 digs in the winning effort.Stanford had a .277 hitting percentage to Texas .217.Texas finished 27-5. ' ' '