Kommandozentrale » waited to return for next weeks showdown against

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Kaela Davis had 20 points off six 3-pointers and Allisha Gray 18 points as No. 6 South Carolina bounced back from its only loss with a 98-58 blowout of Minnesota on Sunday.The Gamecocks (7-1) finished with 16 3-pointers, the most in coach Dawn Staleys nine seasons and second most in program history behind the 17 against Western Carolina in 1994.Davis, a Georgia Tech transfer who came off the bench for the first time this season, was a big reason for South Carolinas outside success. She hit five of her first six shots from behind the arc as the Gamecocks built a 57-27 halftime lead.Kenisha Bell led Minnesota (7-4) with 16 points. Carlie Wagner, the Gophers leading scorer at 20.7 points a game, missed her first nine shots and finished with six points.Alaina Coates had 16 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season and 47th of her career. She also had four of South Carolinas nine blocks.Gray made four 3s and added a team-high seven assists.Staley stressed defensive improvement after the Duke defeat -- a 74-63 loss last Sunday -- and the Gamecocks shut down Minnesota.The Gamecocks used a 15-0 start and an 18-0 run in the second quarter to put it away.BIG PICTUREMinnesota: The Golden Gophers won 20 or more games the past three seasons and won 11 Big Ten Conference games the last two years under coach Marlene Stollings. But those teams featured conference players of the year in Amanda Zahui B. (2015) and Rachel Banham. Minnesota hasnt yet developed the inside game to go along with Wagners scoring and will have to do it with quick -- it starts league play at Ohio State on Dec. 28.South Carolina: Staley delivered a strong message about defense -- or lack of it -- in the loss to Duke last week, starting Doniyah Cliney and Tyasha Harris over Kaela Davis and Bianca Cuevas-Moore. Davis responded with a 6-of-9 first half, including five 3-pointers. Cuevas-Moore played turnover-free as the Gamecocks built a big lead while holding Minnesota to 25 percent (7 of 28) shooting the first two quarters.UP NEXTMinnesota: Home for two games and plays Belmont on Wednesday night.South Carolina: Faces rival Clemson, a surprise undefeated team, on Thursday night.Wholesale New Balance Shoes . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Cheap New Balance Shoes . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. http://www.wholesalenewbalancecanada.com/ . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. New Balance Discount . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. New Balance Sale Canada . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times.BALTIMORE -- Big Ben Roethlisberger was looking as small as he has ever looked in an NFL uniform. More than anything, for three quarters, he was looking like a tiny, neon advertisement for the summoning of Landry Jones.Roethlisberger had 54 passing yards at the time, an interception, and two other throws that shouldve been easily picked off. His Pittsburgh Steelers had a grand sum of two first downs -- two -- and 69 total yards, not to mention an 0-for-9 conversion rate on third down. The Baltimore Ravens held a 13-0 lead in an oil spill of a game, and the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback on the visiting side was the principal reason why.Three weeks removed from surgery on the torn meniscus in his left knee, Roethlisbergers aim was as bad as that baseball slide Joe Flacco attempted in the third quarter, the one that left the Baltimore quarterback hopping on one leg off the field and down the stairs with his knee brace all askew. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the most demoralizing defeat of the Steelers season.Roethlisberger reminded everyone inside M&T Bank Stadium that he is the toughest man in pro football, and the toughest player of a generation that will be defined by superior quarterbacks,?Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.Up front, understand that a celebration of an athletes game-day character isnt to be confused with a statement on his moral fiber, or lack thereof. Roethlisberger was twice accused of sexual assault (though never charged), and once suspended four games for violating the leagues personal conduct policy. He might someday need to answer to a higher authority than NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for what did or did not happen in those incidents.But between the lines of a sport that often brings powerfully built men to their knees, Roethlisberger is in a league of his own. At 6-5, 240, he is a grizzly bear of a quarterback with a tolerance for pain and an appetite for victory that somehow, someway, gave the Steelers a shot in the final minutes to come back from a 21-0 deficit, avoid their third consecutive loss and remain in first place in the AFC North. That the Ravens broke their own four-game losing streak (they hadnt won since Sept. 25) and prevailed by a 21-14 count was almost beside the point. Roethlisberger never shouldve been active on this day. How many athletes who rely so much on their legs would take the field three weeks after a knee surgery that is supposed to sideline patients for up to six? How many would put a rush on their return to compete against the Ravens defense in their building?Hey, even when the Ravens are mediocre it hurts to play against them.And play against them Roethlisberger did in the end. On one functioning wheel, he threw for 210 yards in the final quarter, found Antonio Brown for a 23-yard touchdown, found Sammie Coates for what shouldve been a 27-yard touchdown (Coates dropped a perfect ball in the back of the end zone), and scrambled for a 4-yard touchdown run he punctuated with a headfirst dive with 48 seconds left. Pittsburghs Chris Boswell tried some cute Lionel Messi stunt with the onside kick, made a fool of himself instead, and Roethlisberger was left to exchange postgame pleasantries with his fellow Miami (Ohio) graduate, Ravens coach John Harbaugh.I just told Ben, I respect you. I love you. Ill see you at Christmas, and say hi to your family, Harbaugh told ESPN.com. I think his wife is mad at me. We were at a thing together and she says to me, You just make sure you watch out, like Im trying to hurt Ben. Weve never tried to hurt him.They have tried to beat him up, just like every other Pittsburgh opponent. Roethlisberger has been sacked 499 times in his career, postseason included, and its hard to fathhom how much more punishment his 34-year-old body can take.ddddddddddddIn 2006, he missed only one start after an emergency appendectomy and a June motorcycle accident that left him flying headfirst (with no helmet) into the windshield of a Chrysler New Yorker. In 2012, he missed only three games after suffering a fractured rib that doctors feared couldve punctured his aorta. In 2015, he replaced the injured Jones against Cleveland and on one good foot set a league record for a reliever with 379 passing yards. Three months later, Roethlisberger ignored a serious shoulder injury that forced him to be carted out of a playoff game with Cincinnati to return in the final minutes and -- with his right arm looking like a wet noodle tethered to a bowling ball -- lead the Steelers on the deciding drive.So yes, the Ravens fully expected to see Roethlisberger on Sunday. Absolutely, Terrell Suggs said in his postgame news conference. He seemed like he wasnt hurt, right? He was very fluid, he scrambled, he almost shook off a sack. I mean, we broke the guys nose [in 2010] and he still continued to play, so I wasnt fooled. I hope you all werent.Roethlisberger won that 2010 game after Haloti Ngata busted his nose and left the crushed bone looking, the quarterback said, like corn flakes on the X-rays.Hands down, Harbaugh told ESPN.com when asked if Roethlisberger is the toughest competitor his teams ever faced. Oh yeah, yes, yes, his physical power, the strength, just a brutish athlete. Hes incredible. The guys a Hall of Famer, a lock.But its his vision, too. How does he see down the field? Hes got people bouncing off him, falling off him, hes shrugging them away, moving in the pocket, and all the time where are his eyes? I mean, how does he feel these guys? His eyes are downfield all the time. You look at his size, arm strength, accuracy, the fact hes at the line doing everything, calling their offense at the line. I dont think theres any other quarterback in history that you can compare Ben to. Who would you compare him to?The Ravens are better than most at getting Roethlisberger on the ground, especially here in Baltimore, where Big Ben has often been cut down to size (the Ravens sacked him nine times and intercepted him twice in a 27-0 victory in 2006). We try to coach a way of tackling the guy, Harbaugh said as he stood outside the winners locker room. Basically what we coach is, tackle him. Tackle him like hes a tight end. Just tackle him. You dont knock him off his feet. Hes not going to go down. You have to run up to him and wrap him up because hell move just a little bit and youll go flying past him.Roethlisberger didnt do enough ducking and dodging to steal this game. He usually struggles in these comeback games (especially since hes forever expediting his returns), and Sunday was no exception. Roethlisberger spent most of the day missing open receivers, dropping shotgun snaps, absorbing hits on delivery and acting like a quarterback who shouldve waited to return for next weeks showdown against Dallas and QB?Dak Prescott.When it was over, the losing quarterback revealed he decided he was fit enough to go a couple of hours before kickoff, and blamed himself for the substandard play to come. As to how his body felt, Roethlisberger said, You never walk out of a Baltimore game feeling as good as you went in. And then the NFLs reigning king of pain grabbed the handle of his travel bag and started rolling it out of the ballpark with a noticeable limp. Ben Roethlisberger wont go down as the best player in the Brady-Manning generation. He will go down as the toughest.- ' ' '