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Jan. 20, 2006

THE BASICS
The South Carolina women’s basketball team plays its third road contest in four games when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face Alabama at 3 p.m. (EST) Sunday in Coleman Coliseum.

ON THE AIR
The game 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 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.

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. First-year Alabama coach Stephany Smith came to Tuscaloosa following an eight-year tenure at Middle Tennessee State, where she guided the Lady Raiders to five postseason appearances. She started her career as an assistant at UAB from 1990-93, then moved on to MTSU as an assistant coach from 1993-95 and then as the associate head coach in 1996. She was elevated to head coach the next season. Though in her first year in the SEC, Smith is no stranger to this South Carolina team, as her Middle Tennessee squad handed the Gamecocks a 69-56 defeat in Murfreesboro last year.

COACHING QUICK HITS
South Carolina
Susan Walvius
Alma Mater Virginia Tech, 1986
USC Record 123-124/9th year
Overall Record 221-225/16th year

Alabama
Stephany Smith
Alma Mater Harding, 1988
Alabama Record 8-9/1st year
Overall Record 161-97/9th year

BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
Rebounding figures to be a key in Sunday’s contest, as Alabama has emerged as one of the nation’s top rebounding teams with a +10.6 rebounding margin. Carolina, meanwhile, can speak first-hand about the importance of rebounding, as the Gamecocks own a +16.9 rebounding margin in their nine wins, but only a +0.3 rebounding margin in their seven defeats.

POTENTIAL FOR A LOW-SCORING GAME
Sunday’s game has the earmarks of a low-scoring contest, as South Carolina ranks among the national leaders in every major defensive category and Alabama has struggled to score points as a result of poor shooting from the field, from three-point range and from the free throw line.

LAST 10 SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE
Though Alabama owns a comfortable 14-8 advantage in the all-time series history with South Carolina, the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide have split their last 10 meetings at five wins apiece. South Carolina has won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams.

LAST SEVEN MEETINGS VS. ALABAMA
1/14/01 W 82-67 Tuscaloosa
2/14/02 W 69-54 Columbia
2/9/03 W 48-34 Tuscaloosa
1/11/04 L 71-74 Tuscaloosa
2/12/04 W 77-51 Columbia
1/20/05 L 62-75 Tuscaloosa
2/20/05 W 66-57 Columbia

CAROLINA FROM A DISTANCE
Height, experience, defense 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. The Gamecocks have endured a brutal schedule to open the conference slate, facing No. 1 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU, No. 23 Vanderbilt and Kentucky in Lexington.

ALABAMA FROM A DISTANCE
Coming off a road loss to national power LSU on Thursday, the Crimson Tide enters Sunday’s contest with an 8-9 overall record and a 2-2 mark in SEC play, with its league wins over Auburn and Arkansas both played in Tuscaloosa and its two losses coming on the road. Much like Carolina, Alabama has only two seniors on the roster, but the six-person Crimson Tide junior class provides most of the team’s production.

A CAROLINA WIN WOULD:
>> Mark the Gamecocks’ eighth win in their last 12 games, with the lone losses coming to top-ranked Tennessee, No. 3 LSU, No. 23 Vanderbilt and at Kentucky.
>> Snap the Gamecocks’ modest four-game losing streak.
>> Mark the Gamecocks’ third win in their last five trips to Tuscaloosa.
>> Mark the Gamecocks’ sixth win in their last eight meetings with Alabama.
>> Mark the Gamecocks’ second straight win over the Crimson Tide, as Carolina claimed a 66-57 win over Alabama at the Colonial Center last year in the most recent meeting between the two schools.
>> Snap the Gamecocks’ 16-game road losing streak against SEC opponents. South Carolina’s last road win over an SEC opponent was a 79-64 victory over Ole Miss on March 2, 2003.

ROUGH SCHEDULE TO OPEN SEC PLAY
Carolina’s first four SEC games were played against No. 1 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU, No. 19 Vanderbilt and at Kentucky. The combined record of those four teams is 57-8. Consequently, the Gamecocks are off to an 0-4 start in the league and both player and team stats have taken a dip.

SCHEDULE NOT GETTING MUCH EASIER
With games against No. 1 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU and No. 19 Vanderbilt now in the past, South Carolina would be wise not to think the schedule becomes any easier, as No. 13 Georgia is South Carolina’s next opponent. Head coach Susan Walvius has seen this before, however, as it marks the fourth time in her nine-year tenure in Columbia that the Gamecocks have faced four ranked SEC opponents in its first six conference games. It also happened during the 2002-03 season, the 2000-01 season and the 1997-98 season.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER TRENDS OF NOTE
>> A different player has led the Gamecocks in scoring in four of the last five games. >> Lea Fabbri has dished out either more or equal assists than she has committed turnovers in 10 of the last 11 games. >> Ilona Burgrova has converted on 19 of her last 27 field goal attempts during the last six games (70.4 pct.) >> Stacy Booker has drained a three-pointer in each of her last 11 games. >> Lauren Simms has averaged 13.3 points per game since SEC play started. To put that figure into perspective, she averaged 7.3 points per game prior to the start of conference play.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Through South Carolina’s first 16 games, only Tennessee, Kentucky and LSU have shot 40 percent or better from the field. 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). The Gamecocks have limited seven different opponents to either 30 percent shooting from the field or lower this year.

BRIGHT SPOT EMERGES FROM LOSS AT LSU
Though No. 3 LSU claimed a convincing win over South Carolina on Jan. 12, the Gamecocks can take a bright spot from that contest, as their 45.2 shooting percentage from the field was the highest figure surrendered by the Tigers all season. LSU entered Thursday’s game ranking second in the SEC and seventh in the nation by holding the opposition to 33.9 percent shooting from the field, but Carolina was able to convert on 19 of its 42 field goal attempts.

THE BENCH MOB
Through South Carolina’s first 16 games, the Gamecock bench averages 35.0 points per game against 16.1 points per game from the opponent’s bench. During South Carolina’s seven-game winning streak that recently ended, the Gamecocks’ non-starters combined to average 46.1 points per game, whereas the opposition’s non-starters combined to average 9.3 points per contest.

WHAT’S NEXT
Carolina is back in action when it hosts Georgia at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Colonial Center. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320-AM with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play. CSS will televise Thursday’s game.