Sept. 11, 2007

COLUMBIA – South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Susan Walvius today announced a 29-game regular-season schedule that includes 15 games against teams that played in the postseason last year. Of that group, six are non-conference opponents set to prepare the Gamecocks for a grueling Southeastern Conference schedule, which sees reigning national champion Tennessee and rival Georgia visit the Colonial Center. With the SEC ranked No. 1 in RPI, the Gamecocks will gear up with road games against Oklahoma, Connecticut, Illinois and Clemson in addition to hosting Virginia and Penn State.

“We will play the toughest non-conference schedule since I’ve been at South Carolina,” Walvius said. “I wanted to give our veteran players an opportunity to compete at the highest level and to set the tone for our younger players. Our team will have to be extremely tough mentally to handle these challenges. If we want to be considered among the game’s elite teams, we have to play them, and this schedule allows us to do that throughout the season.”

Of the 29 games on the schedule, there are nine matchups with NCAA Tournament participants. In the non-conference portion of the schedule, there are three NCAA Tournament teams, including UConn and Oklahoma, which advanced to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16, respectively. Additionally, Virginia, Illinois and Jackson State earned spots in the WNIT.

The Gamecocks open the season with a four-game home stand that includes a pair of doubleheaders with the men’s team. First-year head coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl brings her St. Francis (Pa.) team to Columbia on Fri., Nov. 9, for the first half of the season-opening doubleheader for both Gamecock basketball teams. South Carolina has nearly a week to prepare for its matchup with Virginia on Thu., Nov. 15. The Cavaliers return three starters from last year’s squad, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.

In another doubleheader with the men’s team on Sat., Nov. 17, Walvius’ squad faces senior-laden Buffalo at 5 p.m. before Gamecock head coach Dave Odom leads his team against Southern Cal at 7:30 p.m. The Bulls bring a couple of familiar faces back to South Carolina in head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, who was a Gamecock assistant coach from 2000 to 2003, and assistant coach Kelly Morrone, who helped the Gamecocks to a spot in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in 2001-02.

The home stand closes with a Tue., Nov. 20, matchup with Penn State, which returns top scorer Tyra Grant and two-time All-Big Ten selection Kam Gissendanner.

South Carolina ventures away from the Colonial Center for the Florida International Thanksgiving Tournament on Fri., Nov. 23. The Gamecocks face Illinois for the first time in the history of the program. The Illini return six of their top seven scorers and all five starters from last year’s WNIT team. South Carolina will take on either host FIU or Providence on Sun., Nov. 25.

Back at the Colonial Center, the Gamecocks host three games the first week of December. UNC Wilmington opens the string on Sat., Dec. 1, followed by a young Charleston Southern team that returns just four players from last year’s squad. Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season champion and WNIT participant Jackson State wraps up the busy week on Fri., Dec. 7.

The Gamecocks play their first true road game in the most difficult of environments as they travel to Storrs, Conn., to take on a veteran Connecticut club that features two players on the Wade Watch List on Mon., Dec. 17. The women’s team again opens a South Carolina doubleheader on Wed., Dec. 19, against Alabama A&M before the men’s team takes on Baylor. A trip to rival Clemson on Sat., Dec. 22, wraps up the pre-Christmas schedule.

Back from the holiday break, the Gamecocks leap right into the second half of the season, facing a pair of NCAA Tournament participants right out of the gate. South Carolina travels to Oklahoma on Sun., Dec. 30, to take on a Sooner team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last season and features Wade Watch List selection Courtney Paris. Back at home, the Gamecocks ring in the New Year against NCAA qualifier UNC Asheville on Thu., Jan. 3. A Sun., Jan. 6, matchup against Alabama A&M closes out the non-conference slate for South Carolina.

The SEC schedule, which features home-and-home games against Mississippi, Kentucky and Florida, opens at Alabama on Thu., Jan. 10. Reigning national champ Tennessee visits the Colonial Center on Sun., Jan. 13, and the Gamecocks travel to Oxford, Miss., for the road half of the two-game series against Ole Miss On Sun., Jan. 20. The Rebels return the favor three weeks later on Sun., Feb. 10.

Kentucky and Florida travel to Columbia for games on Thu., Jan. 24, and Sun., Jan. 27, respectively. Fresh off a Final Four appearances last season, LSU hosts the Gamecocks on Thu., Jan. 31, before South Carolina returns home to take on Arkansas. SEC Tournament champion Vanderbilt welcomes South Carolina to Nashville on Thu., Feb. 7, and three days later the Gamecocks host Ole Miss, which advanced to the Elite Eight last year.

South Carolina has a week off to prepare for road trips to Auburn and Florida, which sandwich a home game against Mississippi State on Thu., Feb. 21. The Georgia Bulldogs are the last team to visit the Colonial Center in the regular season on Thu., Feb. 28, and the Gamecocks close the slate on the road at Kentucky on Sun., Mar. 2.

The SEC Tournament begins on Thu., Mar. 6, in Nashville, with the championship game set for Sun., Mar. 9.