Feb. 11, 2012
Game Information
Date: Sunday, February 12, 2012
Time: 5 p.m.
Location Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena
Tickets: $7 adult, $4 youth (17 & under)
TV: ESPN2 (Justin Kutcher and Krista Burke); ESPN3
Radio: WISW 1320 AM (Brad Muller and Marcy Girton); GamecocksOnline.com
Live Stats:
Florida Series: UF leads 20-9; In Columbia: UF leads 10-3; In Gainesville: UF leads 8-6; At Neutral Site: UF leads 2-0
South Carolina Notables
- South Carolina has won seven SEC games for just the seventh time in its 21 years in the league. Three of those seven times have been under head coach Dawn Staley. The most SEC games the Gamecocks have ever won is 10 in 2001-02.
- South Carolina’s defense, rated third in the nation in points allowed (48.9), has held an opponent to 48 or fewer points 11 times this season, including four SEC foes – Alabama (42), Florida (44), Ole Miss (43) and Mississippi State (43). Only four teams have reached the 60-point plateau on the Gamecocks this season.
- While the Gamecocks are last in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage overall, the boon from beyond the arc during the recent four-game win streak has propelled them into sixth place in league games. South Carolina entered the game at Vanderbilt (Jan. 22) hitting just 24.1 percent from long range (74-307). In the next four games combined, the team was 29-of-82 for 35.4 percent, highlighted by the combined 26-of-54 accuracy (.481) of senior guards Markeshia Grant (16-of-36) and La’Keisha Sutton (10-of-18).
- While turning the high-scoring duties over to her hot-shooting backcourt mates during the four-game win streak, junior Ieasia Walker averaged 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds. That rebound average was second-best on the team, and her career-high seven assists against Ole Miss moved her into the team lead in assists both overall (3.1) and per SEC outing (3.6). Additionally, Walker has handed out 22 assists over the last four games combined while committing just three turnovers.
Notes
A South Carolina Win Would…
- Give the Gamecocks 19 wins for the first time since the 2002-03 team finished 23-8 with two of those wins coming in postseason play.
- Be the Gamecocks’ eighth SEC win of the season, making it the second-straight season head coach Dawn Staley’s teams have hit that mark after the program had won eight or more league games just twice in the 17 seasons prior to her arrival.
- Deliver the Gamecocks’ first two-game regular-season sweep of Florida in series history.
By the Numbers
2 Wins this season that senior guard La’Keisha Sutton has sealed with a pair of free throws – at Florida (Jan. 8) and at Tennessee (Feb. 2)
3 Wins in the Gamecocks’ four SEC games decided by five or fewer points – at Florida (Jan. 8), at Vanderbilt (Jan. 22) and at Tennessee (Feb. 2)
4 Categories in which South Carolina ranks among the SEC’s top two in league games – scoring defense (1st), 3-point field goal defense (1st), rebounding defense (1st), rebounding margin (2nd)
6 Games this season that junior guard Ieasia Walker has handed out five or more assists, including three of the last four, during which the Gamecocks are 5-1
11 Games in which freshman forward Aleighsa Welch has led the team in rebounding, 10 of which were victories
13 Games in which South Carolina has allowed under 20.0 percent shooting from 3-point range, including five games of not allowing a single made 3-pointer
17 Games this season in which the Gamecock defense has allowed no more than 55 points, during which South Carolina is 14-3
22 Assists handed out by junior guard Ieasia Walker over the last four games, during which she has committed just three turnovers
29 Total points by which South Carolina has been outscored in its five losses this season prior to falling at Arkansas (Feb. 9) by 21 points
Last Time Out
The Gamecocks struggled shooting in the first half and could not overcome the early deficit in falling 68-47 at Arkansas. The white-hot Razorbacks won their seventh-straight SEC outing behind 56.5 percent shooting in the first half and forcing 23 South Carolina turnovers, which they turned into 26 points. Junior Ieasia Walker was the lone Gamecock in double figures as she netted 11 points to go with her team-high three assists.
Florida Series Notes
The Gators lead the series 20-9, but the Gamecocks snapped a five-game skid to them earlier this season in Gainesville. South Carolina fought off a second-half rally from Florida to bring home a 49-44 victory on Jan. 8 thanks to key offensive rebounds late in the game and a pair of free throws from senior guard La’Keisha Sutton. South Carolina is 3-10 against the Gators in Columbia with its last win coming in a 79-51 decision on Jan. 25, 2007. Seniors Sutton and Charenee Stephens have been the most productive Gamecocks in their careers against Florida. Sutton leads the offense with 13.0 points per game against the Gators, including 43.8 percent shooting, and has handed out 4.3 assists per game. Stephens is the top rebounder, ripping down 6.0 boards per game against Florida, including six in the matchup earlier this season. The forward has also shot 75.0 percent from the field against the Gators.
Play 4Kay
South Carolina is celebrating Play 4Kay, formerly the WBCA Pink Zone, in tonight’s game. The initiative allows coaches across the country to raise awareness about breast cancer at their games Feb. 10-20. For their part, the Gamecocks will be donning pink shoe strings, wrist bands and headbands along with special shooting shirts.
Reading Is Fun-damental
South Carolina women’s basketball is also celebrating the winners of the third segment of this season’s Read with the Gamecocks program. In its 13th season, the program was broken up into three segments for 2011-12. The third segment measured pages read from Jan. 16 through Jan. 27. The 62 schools/organizations that participated supervised 6,477 participants who read 2 million pages. The winners from each grade level as well as the overall school/organization winner will be recognized on the court at halftime.
Home Sweet Home
South Carolina has won 69.7 percent of its home games since the 1976-77 season (records did not include the site of games for the first two seasons of women’s basketball). That 347-151 mark includes a 103-54 mark in Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks turned in their most productive home season in 2001-02, winning 17 of their 18 contests in their final season playing at Carolina Coliseum. The team’s best home record at Colonial Life Arena came in 2006-07 when South Carolina went 15-5. Last season, South Carolina was 14-5 at home, the fourth-most home wins in school history. So far this season, the Gamecocks are 10-2 at Colonial Life Arena, including a 4-1 mark in SEC action.
Life in the League
South Carolina is 88-190 all-time in its 21st season SEC regular-season play. The Gamecocks are 57-82 in SEC games played in Columbia with a 31-108 record on the road. The Gamecocks are 22-21 in conference play since head coach Dawn Staley’s first season in the league yielded a 2-12 mark. The most SEC wins in the Staley era was last season’s eight. Overall, Staley boasts a 123-58 record in league play, including eight seasons leading her Temple teams to a 99-25 Atlantic 10 mark.
Figuring Out February
The Gamecocks are 177-137 (.564) all-time in the month of February, including a 100-38 (.725) record at home. Under head coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina is 9-14 in the second month of the year. The Gamecocks went 1-5 in Staley’s first year at the helm (2008-09), were 3-5 in 2009-10 and posted a 4-3 record last season. The Gamecocks are 1-1 so far this February.
Reading the Rankings
For the second time this season, South Carolina is ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. It is the first season the Gamecocks have been nationally ranked since 2002-03, when they finished at No. 16. Gamecock head coach Dawn Staley has led a nationally ranked team before as her Temple squads were in the rankings for a total of 26 weeks during her eight seasons at the helm. She is one of 37 coaches who have coached multiple teams in the national rankings, only 21 of which are currently still coaching at the NCAA Division I level.
Deep Thoughts
One of the keys to the Gamecocks’ success this season as been their depth. Going to the bench without losing momentum has not been a luxury head coach Dawn Staley has enjoyed in her time at South Carolina until this season. It is the first time in her tenure that no player is averaging 30 minutes per game. While injuries had an impact on that figure in previous seasons, this is also the first time in the Staley era that more than one bench player has seen action in every game as seven Gamecocks have appeared in all 24 games this season. That number that would surely be at eight if not for the two games starting forward Courtney Newton sat out due to a concussion.
