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Dec. 21, 2004

THE BASICS
South Carolina hosts South Carolina State at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Colonial Center. The game is the front end of a doubleheader with the Carolina men’s team, who faces South Carolina State immediately after the women’s game.

ON THE AIR
The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320 AM Columbia, with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis. For listeners outside of Columbia, the live broadcast will also be aired worldwide via the internet on the official web site of South Carolina athletics, www.uscsports.com.

ACCESSING THE WEB BROADCAST
To access the internet broadcast, go to www.uscsports.com, then click the “Audio/Video” link at the top of the screen. Follow the prompts from there to select the game you want to listen to.

SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE
Season tickets for South Carolina women’s basketball are now available for only $40, making Gamecock women’s hoops one of the best values in town. Playing in the nation’s most difficult conference, plus an intriguing non-conference slate that includes home games against Clemson, N.C. State and Charlotte make for an exciting season of women’s basketball.

SCHEDULE CLUSTER ENDS WEDNESDAY
Wednesday’s game is the fifth game in nine days for the Gamecocks. During this stretch, the Gamecocks claimed victories over Florida A&M, 88-55 and Birmingham Southern, 66-40, and suffered defeats at the hands of North Carolina State, 75-48 and Middle Tennessee State, 69-56.

COMMON OPPONENTS
Birmingham Southern and South Carolina have both faced Jacksonville, with the Panthers suffering a 61-52 setback at the hands of the Dolphins and South Carolina handing Jacksonville a 79-54 defeat.

THE COACHES
Susan Walvius is in her eighth year at the helm of the South Carolina women’s basketball program and her 15th year overall as a head coach. Prior to USC, she coached at Virginia Commonwealth and West Virginia. The 2002 SEC Coach of the Year led the Gamecocks to consecutive top-20 national finishes and NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003. Her 2002 squad advanced to the Elite Eight. Tonya Mackey is in her first year at South Carolina State, where she has won four of her first seven games. She was elevated to the position of head coach last April. Mackey has spent the last seven seasons on the SCSU sidelines. For the past two seasons, she has served as the team’s Associate Head Coach. Mackey joined the SCSU women’s basketball coaching staff in 1997 after spending three seasons at Kentucky State University. She spent three seasons at KSU where she served as both an assistant women’s basketball coach and head coach of the Throroughbreds’ volleyball team.

A CAROLINA WIN WOULD:
• Improve the Gamecocks’ record to 25-9 all-time against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. USC defeated Florida A&M, 88-55 earlier this year. • Extend South Carolina’s winning streak over MEAC opponents to 21 games. The Gamecocks’ last defeat at the hands of a MEAC foe was an 85-74 setback at the hands of South Carolina State on Feb. 21, 1980. • Improve USC’s record in the all-time series against South Carolina State to 19-9 and extend the Gamecocks’ winning streak over the Bulldogs to 15 games, dating back to 1980. • Improve USC’s record to 17-3 in non-conference games played at the Colonial Center. • Mark the first time this season that the Gamecocks have won back-to-games. USC hasn’t won consecutive games since claiming wins over Charlotte and Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 14 and 18 of last year, respectively.

A CAROLINA LOSS WOULD:
• Snap a 20-game winning streak in games played against teams from the MEAC. • Move South Carolina to 16-4 in home games played at the Colonial Center against non-conference opposition, with all four losses coming this season. • Snap South Carolina’s winning streak over MEAC opponents at 20 games. The Gamecocks’ last defeat at the hands of a MEAC foe was an 85-74 setback at the hands of South Carolina State on Feb. 21, 1980. • Snap USC’s 14-game winning streak over South Carolina State. • Move the Gamecocks’ record to 3-7 on the year, a start identical to that of the 2000-01 USC squad that finished the year with an 11-17 record, then came back in 2001-02 to go 25-7 and advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Among the players on the 2000-01 team were eventual WNBA players Teresa Geter, Shaunzinski Gortman, Jocelyn Penn and Petra Ujhelyi.

SWAT YOU VERY MUCH
With seven players on the roster standing 6-0 or taller, South Carolina is the SEC’s best team in terms of blocking shots. The Gamecocks have rejected an SEC-best 61 shots in nine games this year, for an average of 6.8 shots per game. USC’s single-season school record for blocks is 115, held by the Gamecocks of 2001-02. The current team is on pace to block 190 shots during the regular season. This year’s South Carolina team has eclipsed the Colonial Center record for blocked shots in a single game three times over, swatting 10 shots against Birmingham Southern, Florida A&M and Jacksonville, respectively. The previous record was seven. The school record for blocked shots in a single game is 13, set against Wofford in 1997.

BARNWELL’S JOHNSON ALL OVER THE PLACE
Sophomore Melanie Johnson, a Barnwell HS graduate, enjoyed a career night against Florida A&M, setting career highs in nearly every major statistical category. She scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to go with seven steals, four blocks and four assists. She also shined against Birmingham Southern, scoring 13 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, registering five steals, blocking four shots and dishing out two assists.

Ebony Jones ADDED TO ROSTER
South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Susan Walvius announced the addition of freshman Ebony Jones to the roster on Dec. 18. Jones, a 5-6 shooting guard from Aiken HS in Aiken, S.C., enrolled at South Carolina last year and served as a team manager during the 2003-04 season and the beginning of the current season. “This is tremendous honor to get a chance to play basketball for a school like South Carolina,” Jones said. “This is a great opportunity and I will do everything I can to help this team.” A nursing major who is a sophomore in academic standing, Jones was a standout playing for coach Aubrey Pompey at Aiken HS, garnering all-state recognition as a senior and all-conference accolades during her junior and senior years. She played in the North-South All-Star Game as well as the South Carolina vs. Georgia All-Star Game.

SLISKOVIC MAKES AN IMPACT
Sophomore forward Iva Sliskovic came into the seaon with high expectations as the leading returning scorer and rebounder from a year ago. Things have not gone as planned for Sliskovic this year, but she showed a flash of last year’s form against Birmingham Southern, scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds, dishing out four assists, getting two steals and blocking a shot.

STRUGGLING FROM DEEP
South Carolina has struggled from three-point range as a team. Carolina shot 5-of-21 from deep against Birmingham Southern (.238 pct.), 4-of-20 from deep against Middle Tennessee (.200 pct.) and 3-of-12 from deep against N.C. State (.250 pct.) When the last three games are combined, USC is shooting 12-of-53 from three-point range (.226 pct.) Stacy Booker, who led the SEC in three-point field goal percentage entering the N.C. State game at 12-of-24 (.500 pct), was 0-for-3 against the Wolfpack, 0-for-7 against Middle Tennessee and 1-for-4 against Birmingham Southern. On the year, she is now 13-of-38 from beyond the arc (.342 pct.)

TURNOVER TROUBLES CONTINUE
Turnovers have been a problem for the Gamecocks this year. Carolina commits an average of 21.6 turnovers per game. In USC’s last four games, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 24 times against Birmingham Southern, Middle Tennesee and N.C. State, respectively, and gave the ball away 23 times against Florida A&M.

DRY SPELLS A PROBLEM
The Gamecocks enter Monday’s game with a 3-6 record, despite being competitive for the majority of games. Carolina has fallen victim to scoring droughts in their games in which the opponents have gone on runs that led to victory.

CAROLINA’S DRY SPELLS
vs. Washington (11/14/04), Washington-65, USC-53
USC led, 33-24 with 17:02 remaining when Washington went on a 27-5 run to take a 51-38 lead with 5:52 remaining.

vs. UNLV (11/15/04), UNLV-66, USC-63
USC led, 39-36 with 16:18 remaining when UNLV went on a 22-10 run to take a 58-49 lead with 5:34 remaining.

vs. Charlotte (11/30/04), Charlotte-78, USC-72
USC led, 21-19 with 5:55 remaining in the first half when Charlotte went on a 26-12 run to take a 45-33 lead with 1:10 remaining in the first half. The 49ers never gave up that advantage.

vs. Clemson (12/3/04), Clemson-87, USC-79
USC led, 79-78 with 3:02 remaining in overtime when Clemson went on a 9-0 run to close out the game.

vs. NC State (12/16/04), NC State-75, USC-48
NC State led, 44-42 with 12:45 remaining in the game, then went on a 31-1 run to take a 75-43 lead with 1:05 remaining.

vs. Middle Tennessee (12/18/04), Middle Tennessee-69, USC-56
Immediately following a 17-4 Carolina run that tied the score at 41, Middle Tennessee went on a 19-9 run to take a 60-50 lead with 3:42 remaining to seal its victory.

SIMMS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Sophomore captain and Spring Valley graduate Lauren Simms came into the season with high expectations after earning Freshman All-SEC recognition last year. She has not disappointed in the early going, reaching double-figures in all but one game and averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game. She ranks among the SEC’s top 10 in points per game and set a new career high when she scored 29 points against Charlotte on November 27, then she came back to score 25 points against rival Clemson, with 21 of those points coming after halftime.

NOT ENOUGH FROM THE POST PLAYERS
Post play has been a question mark for South Carolina early on, as the two post players who get the most minutes (Ilona Burgrova and Iva Sliskovic) have combined to average only 8.3 points per game on 25-for-65 shooting from the field (.385 pct.) Of the post players on the South Carolina roster, only Larissa Kulcsar shoots better than .420 from the field.

UNDERCLASSMEN ABOUND
There are no seniors on the South Carolina roster. In fact, the team has only one junior. Forward Olga Gritsaeva is the only upperclassman on a roster that features eight sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and one true freshman.

THREE-POINTERS MADE STREAK STILL INTACT
The Gamecocks have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 97 consecutive games, dating back to November of 2001, which marks the longest such streak in school history.

WHAT’S NEXT
The Gamecocks are back in action at 5 p.m. Wednesday when they host South Carolina State in the front end of a doubleheader with the USC men’s team, who squares off against South Carolina State’s men at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320 AM Columbia and on the internet at www.uscsports.com, with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis. ┢┢