Dec. 22, 2004

Columbia, S.C. – Every Wednesday, broadcaster Andy Demetra gives an all-access look at Gamecock Women’s Basketball. This week, Andy gets the scoop on how Carolina looks to remedy some of its turnover issues.

It’s a practice drill that at times resembles a Demolition Derby. Two teams, seven to a side, cram onto one side of the court. The object: try to complete 20 passes in a row without turning the ball over. Throw it out of bounds, possession changes. Give up a steal, start from zero again.

What ensues is full-contact, controlled chaos. Players mash together, lowering shoulders and dropping the occasional forearm shiver. Shouts echo across the court like the New York Stock Exchange. Nary a foul is called. A single game can take up to five minutes, often leaving Gamecocks bent over in exhaustion afterwards.

Tuesday morning, the Gamecocks repeated the drill time and again, hoping, by dint of force, that it could pound out their recent turnover problems. In the last four games, Carolina has averaged 24 giveaways per game.

“We just stressed taking care of the ball, and being stronger with it. I think that’s going to get better, because we looked a whole lot better today in practice,” said guard Angela Hunter.

Head coach Susan Walvius sees the earnestness in her team, just not the execution.

“I see our team from a standpoint of stress and trying so hard, and pressing themselves instead of letting the game come to them,” head coach Susan Walvius.

The good news: a prior problem, one that had rivaled Stonehenge in its mysteriousness, has all but faded away.

The Gamecocks’ post players, one by one, have begun to find their scoring touch. Freshman Ilona Burgrova scored nine points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against Middle Tennessee. Sophomore Larissa Kulcsar, promoted to the starting lineup four games ago, scored 14 points against MTSU, one shy of a career-high. Sophomore Iva Sliskovic, coming off the bench, responded with a season-high nine points and nine rebounds against Birmingham Southern.

Walvius was pleased by the way Sliska responded to her new role.

“She can be more aggressive and play with passion,” Walvius said. “She did that and had a very good game.”

With a young team, resilience is important. And Carolina knows that to improve before SEC season, it must do so as a team. On Monday, the Gamecocks spent time in the locker room, drawing up a list of their individual and team strengths. The results, Walvius said, took players by surprise.

“It’s funny, because we could come up with a very long list of individual strengths, and a very short list of our team strengths right now. And I think that was a revelation for our team in the sense that we have to get better at playing team basketball,” Walvius said.

So the Gamecocks can turn over a new leaf, instead of turning over the ball.

The Tip Drill:

Can You Dig It: Middle Tennessee State held graduation exercises the afternoon of Saturday’s game. Inside Carolina’s practice gym, which stood next to the arena, some members of the support staff unearthed a box of graduation programs. MTSU’s graduation speaker? None other than Isaac Hayes, a.k.a. the singer of the “Shaft” theme song.

Together Again: As a high school basketball standout in North Carolina, Gamecocks assistant Ed Baldwin played in the same conference as Durham High School. Durham’s coach at the time? Gamecocks men’s coach Dave Odom.

Split Identities: Researching for North Carolina State became quite the adventure. A Google search for forward Monica Pope turned up the home page of a Houston chef by the same name. A search for guard Keisha Brown turned up the bio of a TV news reporter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Googling guard Kendra Bell, I was instead offered a Kendra Bell Pittsburgh Steelers replica jersey.

New Kids On The Block: Lakesha Tolliver’s 2.6 blocks per game rank third in the nation for all freshmen, trailing LSU’s Sylvia Fowles and UC-Riverside’s Kemie Nkele.

And Another Thing: Redshirt freshman Melanie Johnson leads the Gamecocks in steals, averaging 2.5 per game. Call it what you what – a theft, a pickpocket. I’d much rather prefer a “Melanie Felony.”