May 17, 2011

Final Season Notes Package

The Highlights

• South Carolina earned the SEC’s automatic bid into the Postseason Women’s NIT, the first postseason appearance for the Gamecocks under head coach Dawn Staley. South Carolina hosted both its first- and second-round games.
• The Gamecocks earned the fifth seed in the SEC Tournament, their highest entry in the event since the 2002-03 team earned the same seed.
• With a 62-50 victory over Ole Miss, the Gamecocks collected their first win in the SEC Tournament since the 2002-03 team also knocked off Ole Miss en route to the quarterfinals of the event.
• South Carolina’s 18 overall wins were the most since 2006-07, and its eight SEC victories were the most since 2002-03. With a .500 record in league play, the Gamecocks turned in their highest SEC winning percentage since 2005-06 (7-7).
• Sophomore guard Ieasia Walker earned second-team All-SEC honors from the league coaches and was an honorable mention selection by the Associated Press.
• Junior guard La’Keisha Sutton became just the 13th player in South Carolina history to finish the season averaging double-digit points while handing out at least 3.6 assists per game. She was the first to do it since Cristina Ciocan’s 11.7-ppg, 5.3-apg season in 2003-04.
• The Gamecocks’ 15.5 turnovers per game were the lowest for the program since the 1995-96 squad handed it over 15.7 times per contest.
• Defense was a key for South Carolina this season as the Gamecocks shot just 38.0 percent from the field. Staley’s team allowed opponents just 59.6 points per game, however, the fewest for Gamecock opponents since the 2006-07 team yielded 59.5. In fact, the 2010-11 mark is the fourth-best in school history. The 2005-06 squad holds the record at 56.8 points per game for its opponents.
• The Gamecocks ranked sixth in the SEC in rebounding margin (+0.8) despite being the only team in the league without a player taller than 6-foot-1. Competing against just SEC teams, who all boast at least two players over 6-foot-1, South Carolina also ranked sixth in the league in rebounding margin.
• South Carolina’s 2010-11 schedule ranked 19th in the nation as the Gamecocks played 18 of their 33 games against teams that participated in the 2011 postseason, including 12 against teams in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Gamecocks were 14-5 at Colonial Life Arena, their third-best winning percentage since moving into the facility for the 2002-03 season. The 14 home wins were tied for fourth-highest in school history and were one shy of the CLA record of 15 set in 20 appearances during the 2006-07 season.
• Dawn Staley’s eight-win improvement from her first season – 2008-09 10 wins – to this season’s 18 victories is the largest increase by a Gamecock coach in his/her first three seasons at the helm.
• South Carolina showed this season that it has closed the gap with the rest of the SEC as 10 of the Gamecocks’ 16 league games were decided by 10 or fewer points, including six decided by five or fewer. South Carolina was 6-4 in 10-point games and even better in five-point affairs at 4-2.
• Three different Gamecocks posted perfect shooting games (minimum five field goal attempts) at Colonial Life Arena in 2010-11 after not seeing one from the home team since 2006. It was the first time in arena history that one season generated multiple entries in the category.
• The season marked the end of the Gamecock careers of seniors Jewel May and Valerie Nainima. May was a three-year starter who was among the team’s most valuable assets in mentoring younger post players in her final two seasons. A well-rounded student-athlete, she graduated in May with degrees in psychology and sociology and a minor in art. May is pursuing a graduate degree at the University this fall, where she will be able to take advantage of a pair of scholarships she earned from the SEC (Brad Davis Community Service finalist) and the NCAA (Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement for Careers in Athletics). Nainima earned her degrees in marketing and management last spring and was working toward a bachelor’s in economics in her final season of eligibility. Despite playing just one full season in the Garnet and Black, courtesy of transferring and an ACL injury that shortened her senior season, she ranks eighth in Gamecock history with 115 career 3-pointers made, is 10th with 340 career 3-point attempts and fourth in career 3-point percentage (.338). Her 2.8 3-pointers made per game in 2009-10 were 17th-best in the country, which helped her to second-team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches.