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Dec. 28, 2004

THE BASICS
South Carolina hosts Coastal Carolina at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Colonial Center as part of the USC Tournament. The Gamecocks and Chanticleers do battle following a 5:30 p.m. tip between Campbell and Seton Hall. The consolation game of the tournament is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, with the championship game tipping off at 7:45.

ON THE AIR
South Carolina’s games 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.

MORE FROM THE WEB
Live stats will be kept online for all four games during the USC Tournament. Simply go to www.uscsports.com, then click on the Gametracker link for the desired games.

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.

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. Alan LeForce is in his eighth season at Coastal Carolina, where he has compiled a 101-103 overall record. The former head coach of the men’s team at East Tennessee State University, LeForce is believed to be the only head coach to compile 100 wins as both a Division-I men’s and women’s head coach.

A CAROLINA WIN WOULD:
• Improve the Gamecocks’ record to 7-0 all-time against Coastal Carolina. The series began in 1975 and was most recently contested in 2001. • Mark the first time this season Carolina has won three consecutive games. The last time South Carolina won three games in a row was a seven-game winning streak that extended from Nov. 24 through December 18 of last season. • Improve USC’s record to 18-3 in non-conference games played at the Colonial Center. • Bode well for South Carolina’s chances to win the entire tournament, based on recent history. The Gamecocks have gone on to win the last three regular-season tournaments in which they won their first game.

A CAROLINA LOSS WOULD:
• Move South Carolina’s all-time record vs. teams from the Big South Conference to 18-6. • Move South Carolina to 17-4 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 Big South opponents at 15 games. The Gamecocks’ last defeat at the hands of a Big South foe was a 60-58 setback at the hands of Winthrop on Jan. 27, 1978. • Mark South Carolina’s second win over a Big South opponent this year. The Gamecocks handed Birmingham Southern a 66-40 defeat on Dec. 20. • Snap USC’s six-game winning streak over Coastal Carolina. • Move the Gamecocks’ record to 4-7 on the year, a start similar to the 4-8 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.

ROCK AROUND THE BLOCK
South Carolina leads the SEC and ranks among the national leaders in blocked shots. The Gamecocks have rejected an SEC-best 71 shots in nine games this year, for an average of 7.1 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 199 shots. This year’s South Carolina team has eclipsed the Colonial Center record for blocked shots in a single game four times over, swatting 10 shots against South Carolina State, 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.

3FGM STREAK COULD HIT CENTURY MARK
The Gamecocks have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 99 consecutive games during a streak that dates back to November of 2001 and is the longest such streak in school history.

JOHNSON KNOWS HOW TO FILL A BOX SCORE
Sophomore Melanie Johnson, a Barnwell HS graduate, is at her best when she plays an all-around game. Johnson leads the team in rebounding, steals and offensive rebounds and ranks second in scoring, and blocked shots. In addition, she also ranks among the team leaders in field goal percentage and free throws attempted.

SIMMS’ CITY
Sophomore captain and Columbia native Lauren Simms has been a force for South Carolina this year. In addition to leading the team with 16.0 points per game, Simms also ranks second on the team in field goal percentage. Shooting 49.6 percent from the field, Simms is well above the normal percentage for a perimeter player. Having scored in double figures in all but one game this year, the Spring Valley HS graduate has proven to be a tough cover for the opposition, as she has demonstrated the ability to get to the rim (she leads the team with 46 trips to the charity stripe) and to knock down the trey (she is shooting a respectable 32.3 percent from beyond the arc.)

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 season 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 in her last two games, averaging 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in Carolina’s back-to-back wins over Birmingham Southern and South Carolina State. An argument can be made that Sliskovic is one of the most important players on the roster. Considered as one of the best help defenders on the USC roster, Sliskovic has recorded at least one steal in eight of Carolina’s 10 games this year. When she is able add scoring, the Gamecocks look much smoother as a unit.

TENACIOUS D
South Carolina has won its last two games with defense, holding Birmingham Southern and South Carolina State to an average of 42.5 points per game on 35-of-130 shooting from the field (.269 pct.) In Carolina’s game against South Carolina State, the Gamecock defense generated a 28-7 advantage in points off turnovers and a 22-0 advantage in fast break points.

STRUGGLING FROM DEEP
South Carolina has struggled from three-point range as a team, ranking 10th in the SEC in three-point field goal percentage at .282 pct., while firing up the second-most attempts of anyone in the conference (Carolina’s 18.8 attempts per game trail only Florida’s 20.2 attempts per game.) When the last four games are combined, USC is shooting 16-of-65 from three-point range (.246 pct.) Stacy Booker, who led the SEC in three-point field goal percentage entering the N.C. State game on Dec. 16 at 12-of-24 (.500 pct), has fallen on hard times, knocking down only two of her last 17 attempts from beyond the arc.

TURNOVER TROUBLES CONTINUE
Turnovers have been a problem for the Gamecocks this year. Carolina commits an SEC-worst average of 21.4 turnovers per game. In USC’s last five games, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 20 times against South Carolina State, 24 times against Birmingham Southern, Middle Tennessee and N.C. State, respectively, and gave the ball away 23 times against Florida A&M.

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 9.3 points per game on 31-of-75 shooting from the field (.413 pct.)

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.

WHAT’S NEXT
After the tournament, the Gamecocks are back in action when they travel to Charlottesville to battle Virginia at 2 p.m. EST on Jan. 2 at University Hall. 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. ┢┢