Jan. 3, 2006

THE BASICS
The SEC season begins for South Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 4 as the No. 1/1 Tennessee Lady Vols visit the Colonial Center at 7 p.m.

GAMEDAY PROMOTION
Wednesday’s game will be Family Night, with all kids admitted for only two dollars.

ON THE AIR
The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320 AM Columbia, with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play. Comcast Sports Southeast will televise Wednesday’s contest, marking the first of at least five South Carolina games that will be televised this year. For listeners outside of Columbia, the live radio 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 go to the women’s basketball home page and click on “Schedule/Results”. At the top of the page is a link for Audio Broadcasts. Click on that link, then select the game you wish to listen to.

PLEASE NOTE KENTUCKY GAMETIME CHANGE
South Carolina’s game at Kentucky this Sunday has been moved to 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to accomodate television, as the Big Blue Sports Network will televise the game in the Lexington area.

CAROLINA VS. NO. 1
Wednesday’s game marks the second time in as many seasons that the top-ranked team in the country visited the Colonial Center, as No. 1 LSU came calling a year ago. It will be the seventh time in school history that Carolina has faced the nation’s No. 1 team, and the third time that the top team in the country has come to Columbia.

THE COACHES
Susan Walvius is in her ninth year at the helm of the South Carolina women’s basketball program and her 16th 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. On the short list of best coaches ever, regardless of sport or gender, Tennessee’s Pat Summitt is on the brink of becoming the first college basketball coach ever to win 900 games, as she has compiled an 895-172 record entering Wednesday’s contest. A six-time selection as SEC Coach of the Year, Summitt owns six national championships, 13 SEC championships and an additional 11 SEC Tournament championships.

COACHING QUICK HITS
South Carolina
Susan Walvius
Alma Mater Virginia Tech, 1986
USC Record 123-120/9th year
Overall Record 221-221/16th year

Tennessee
Pat Summitt
Alma Mater UT-Martin, 1974
Tennessee Record 895-172/32nd year
Overall Record 895-172/32nd year

CAROLINA FROM A DISTANCE
Height, experience and balanced scoring are the name of the game for South Carolina, as the Gamecocks boast eight players that stand 6-0 or taller and rank as the 15th-tallest team in the nation. Carolina’s roster is dotted by eight juniors and one senior, but freshman Demetress Adams has emerged as an early bright spot, ranking among the team leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals. South Carolina enters Wednesday’s battle with Tennessee on a seven-game winning streak in which the Gamecocks have outscored their seven opponents (one of which was No. 14 Minnesota) by an average margin of 38.9 points per game.

TENNESSEE FROM A DISTANCE
Tennessee has rolled over the opposition thus far, whether you look at the Lady Vols’ 83-55 thrashing of 2005 national runner-up Michigan State, their 40-plus point victory over perennial power Texas or their impressive wins away from home over Maryland, Stanford, George Washington, Temple or Notre Dame. On a roster dotted with prep All-Americans, nobody is more well-known nationally than redshirt freshman Candace Parker, who carries the burden of being hailed as the next big thing in women’s basketball.

COMMON OPPONENT – TEXAS
South Carolina and Tennessee have only one opponent in common, and that is Texas. After the Longhorns escaped with a 59-55 win over the Gamecocks at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas, they went into Knoxville and had the Lady Vols hang 102 points on them in a 102-61 Tennessee win.

CAROLINA WINS OVER TEAMS RANKED IN THE TOP 5
12/30/99 No. 4 NC State W, 69-55
1/14/98 No. 5 Vanderbilt W, 70-66
2/27/93 No. 3 Auburn W, 59-47
12/31/91 No. 4 Vanderbilt W, 72-65
12/29/90 No. 3 Auburn W, 83-76
12/29/89 No. 3 Iowa W, 82-76
1/23/80 No. 3 Tennessee W, 56-52

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
South Carolina freshman forward Demetress Adams will play against the Lady Vols Wednesday after injuring her hand in the early going of the Gamecocks’ win over Western Carolina last Thursday. Adams came off the bench and played less than a minute before sustaining her injury. She did not return to the game. She did see action in Monday’s game at Clemson.

GAMECOCKS TAKE TRIP DOWN MURDERER’S ROW
South Carolina will have an opportunity to do great things during the early portion of its SEC schedule, as the Gamecocks open at home with No. 1 Tennessee, then travel to Lexington to face a fast-improving Kentucky squad, before heading to Baton Rouge to face No. 3 LSU. A home contest against No. 21 Vanderbilt is followed by a trip to Tuscaloosa for a date with Alabama. Carolina then hosts No. 17 Georgia.

A CAROLINA WIN WOULD:
• Extend the Gamecocks’ current winning streak to eight games, marking the team’s longest such streak since Carolina won eight straight during the non-conference portion of the 2003-04 schedule.
• Mark the Gamecocks’ first-ever win over the number one team in the nation.
• Mark the Gamecocks’ second win over Tennessee and snap Carolina’s 31-game losing streak against the Lady Vols.
• Almost surely boost Carolina into the polls for the first time since the Gamecocks were ranked 16th in the 2003-04 preseason poll.

THE ANATOMY OF A WINNING STREAK
South Carolina enters the SEC portion of its schedule with a 9-3 record and has dispatched its last seven opponents in dominating fashion. Following are some of the key numbers behind Carolina’s seven-game tear:
• The Gamecocks scored an average of 83.4 points per game while limiting the opposition to 44.6 points per game, for an average scoring margin of +38.9.
• Carolina limited the opposition to 104-377 shooting from the field (.276 pct.)
• The Gamecocks held a +15.9 rebounding margin and a +7.6 turnover margin per game, resulting in a seven-game total of 82 more field goal attempts than the opposition.
• Carolina averaged 20.7 assists per game in comparison to the opposition’s 8.7 per contest.
• Carolina’s two primary ballhandlers, Lea Fabbri and Lauren Simms combined to dish out 48 assists and commit only 25 turnovers.
• The Gamecocks averaged 8.1 blocked shots per game.
• Carolina’s non-starters combined to average 46.1 points per game, whereas the opposition’s non-starters combined to average 9.3 points per contest.

USC DEFENSE AMONG NATION’S BEST
The Gamecocks lead the SEC and rank among the national leaders in field goal percentage defense (29.0 pct), three-point field goal percentage defense (24.6 pct), rebounding (46.8 rpg), rebounding margin (+13.8), blocked shots (7.8 bpg) and defensive rebounds (28.9 def. rpg).

SPEAKING OF DEFENSE…
Through South Carolina’s first 12 games (three of which came against ranked opponents in Texas, Purdue and Minnesota), no opposing team has shot 40 percent from the field. The Golden Gophers own the highest field goal percentage yielded by the Gamecocks this year at 39.6 percent, but the majority of Minnesota’s conversions came after the game was well out of reach, evidenced by the fact that the Gophers were shooting only 28.6 percent at the half. Carolina established school records by limiting Bethune-Cookman to only seven points in the first half and 26 points in the game, with the Gamecocks matching a school record by limiting Bethune-Cookman to 14.0 percent shooting from the field (8-of-57). Carolina limited High Point to only 20.0 percent shooting from the field in the season opener, a mark that ranks as the fourth-lowest total for an opponent in Gamecock history. The Gamecocks have limited seven different opponents to either 30 percent shooting from the field or lower this year.

BOOST FROM THE BENCH
Through South Carolina’s first 12 games, the Gamecock bench averages 38.7 points per game against 15.0 points per game from the opponent’s bench. In the last seven games (all of which resulted in South Carolina victories), Carolina’s non-starters combined to average 46.1 points per game, whereas the opposition’s non-starters combined to average 9.3 points per contest.

SUBS IN
A glimpse at South Carolina’s last seven box scores illustrates a clear adjustment made by the Gamecock coaching staff, namely, more players are playing more minutes. In fact, in the last six games, 10 different Carolina players have played an average of 14.5 minutes per game or more.

ADAMS NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
South Carolina freshman forward Demetress Adams was recognized as both the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week and the SEC Freshman of the Week after she posted her second and third double-doubles of the year in a pair of Gamecock wins over Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman last week. Adams becomes the first Gamecock since Jocelyn Penn in 2003 to be recognized as the SEC Player of the Week and is the first Carolina rookie ever to be honored as the SEC Freshman of the Week, as the conference just began recognizing a Freshman of the Week for the first time this year. She is the first freshman to be recognized as SEC Player of the Week since Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey last season. The Bishopville, S.C., native matched a career high with 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in only 18 minutes of action against Savannah State, then came back two nights later to score 12 points and grab 10 rebounds in 26 minutes of action against Bethune-Cookman. Adams converted on 61.1 percent of her field goal attempts and blocked five shots in the two games. On the year, the freshman leads the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) and ranks second on the team with 19 blocked shots and 19 steals. In receiving the honor, Adams becomes just the ninth Gamecock ever to be recognized as the SEC Player of the Week, joining Marsha Williams, Shannon Johnson, Annie Lester, Teresa Geter, Kelly Morrone, Shaun Gortman, Cristina Ciocan and Penn as the only Gamecocks to ever receive the accolade.

HIDDEN SPECIALTY STATS ARE A KEY
Though specialty stats are usually buried at the bottom of a box score, they have proven to be an indicator of Carolina’s success this season. In each of the Gamecocks’ eight wins, they have held the advantage in all four of the specialty stats categories (points in the paint, points off turnovers, second-chance points and fast-break points).

SLISKOVIC A KEY DIFFERENCE-MAKER
Since arriving on campus, Iva Sliskovic has been a very important player for South Carolina, as the team’s winning percentage jumps drastically when she scores in double figures. Sliskovic has reached double-figures in 28 games during her career. In those 28 games, South Carolina has compiled a 16-12 record. When Sliskovic scores less than 10 points, the Gamecocks have compiled a 11-30 mark.

3FGM STREAK REMAINS INTACT AT 130
The Gamecocks have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 130 consecutive games during a streak that dates back to November of 2001 and is the longest such streak in school history.

REBOUNDING WINS GAMES FOR CAROLINA
With a roster loaded with players 6-0 or taller, South Carolina is at its best when it controls the glass. In the Gamecocks’ nine wins, Carolina owns a +16.9 rebounding margin. That margin plummets to +4.7 in the Gamecocks’ three losses.

WHAT’S NEXT
The SEC season continues at 1 p.m. ET Sunday when the Gamecocks battle Kentucky in Lexington. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320-AM with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis.