Feb. 14, 2006
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THE BASICS
The South Carolina women’s basketball team (13-9; 4-6 SEC) travels to Auburn for a battle with the Auburn Tigers (12-11; 3-7 SEC), set to tip off at 9 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
ON THE AIR
The game will be televised live on Fox Sports South, with Dave Neal handling play-by-play and Debbie Antonelli providing analysis. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320 AM Radio 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. In her second season at Auburn, Nell Fortner has one of the most diverse resumes of any coach in America, as she has served as a collegiate head coach (Auburn, 2004-present and Purdue, 1997), a WNBA head coach and general manager (Indiana Fever, 2001-03), Olympic coach (Team USA, 1997-2000) and television personality (ESPN studio analyst, 2000-04).
SOUTH 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 a bright spot, ranking among the team leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals. The Gamecocks endured a brutal schedule to open the conference slate, facing No. 1 Tennessee, No. 3 LSU, No. 23 Vanderbilt and Kentucky in Lexington. Of Carolina’s nine losses this season, six came at the hands of ranked opponents, with a pair of additional losses coming to a very good Kentucky team.
AUBURN FROM A DISTANCE
Entering Thursday’s game with a 12-11 record overall and a 3-7 mark in SEC play, Auburn has lost its last three contests, sandwiching a home defeat to Vanderbilt in between a pair of road losses at the hands of Florida and Ole Miss. The Tigers lead the nation with 7.8 blocked shots per game, and are one of only two teams in the country to block more shots than South Carolina. Leading the Auburn rejection list is senior forward Marita Payne, who has sent back 93 shots this year. Freshmen factor heavily into Auburn’s plans, as DeWanna Bonner leads the team with 13.2 points per game, with fellow freshmen KeKe Carrier and Whitney Boddie also making significant contributions this year.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET (JAN. 16, 2005)
The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team dropped a close ball game to Auburn, 56-47, in last year’s meeting between the two schools played in front 5,112 fans at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks led with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but the Tigers got a couple of timely shots and made their free throws on the way to the win. The first half was fairly tight with Auburn leading the majority of the way. The Tigers’ biggest lead was seven, 16-9, at the 10:03 mark. Over the next six minutes, South Carolina executed a 10-2 run, capped by Lauren Simms’ driving basket with 4:00 remaining in the half. That basket gave the Gamecocks their first lead at 19-18. Auburn closed the half with an 8-4 run of its own to regain the lead and head to the locker room on top, 26-23. Angela Hunter paced USC with nine points on a trio of three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Louise Emeagi led the Tigers with 15 points. Auburn scored a pair of baskets to start the second half, but South Carolina promptly responded by scoring the next eight points and going on a 14-2 run to take a 37-32 lead with 8:08 to play. The Gamecocks built the advantage to eight points, 41-33, at the 6:26 mark. The Tigers’ Alexis Ogubie knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game at 44 with 3:17 remaining. The two teams traded baskets but Auburn took control and hit six free throws in the final minute to ice the game. Melanie Johnson sparked USC in the second half as she scored all nine of her points after intermission and pocketed four steals. Carolina’s defense forced 21 turnovers, which tied the most turnovers forced by the Gamecocks against an SEC opponent this year (Tennessee also had 21 turnovers on Jan. 21).
A CAROLINA WIN OVER AUBURN THURSDAY WOULD:
>> Mark Carolina’s fourth straight SEC road win. The Gamecocks knocked off Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Mississippi State in Starkville and Florida in Gainesville in their last three road contests. Carolina has never won four consecutive road SEC games since joining the league for the 1991-92 season.
>> Keep the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Carolina would have 14 wins with four regular-season games remaining before the SEC Tournament, including wins over two teams with RPI rankings among the top 40 in the nation (Minnesota and Florida). Of Carolina’s four remaining regular-season games, three will be played against teams with RPI rankings lower than Carolina’s.
>> Mark the Gamecocks’ first win at Auburn since a 64-55 triumph in 1994.
IN BOX WE TRUST
There was a new addition to the Carolina bench in the Gamecocks’ win over Florida in Gainesville last week, as a large cardboard box adorned the bench and accompanied Carolina on the court during the announcement of the starting lineups. The box was found and brought in by assistant coach Tammy Holder as a reminder to the team of the importance of boxing out. Carolina was outrebounded by smaller Mississippi State and Kentucky teams before the box’s arrival, but came back to out-rebound Florida by a 43-33 margin last game with the box on the bench.
WHO’S GOT THE HOT HAND LATELY?
>> Freshman Demetress Adams scored a career high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds against Kentucky last Thursday, then came back to score 18 more points and collect nine rebounds in the Gamecocks’ win over Florida in Gainesville Sunday. Adams converted on 14 of her 19 attempts from the field last week (73.7 percent) and has drained 29 of her last 40 attempts in the last five games (72.5 percent). Including her efforts last week, Adams has now scored in double figures in a team-best 10 games this year, with the Gamecocks winning eight of those contests.
>> Junior Melanie Johnson enjoyed a career day in lifting the Gamecocks to an 81-63 win over Florida in Gainesville Sunday. The Barnwell, S.C., native scored an all-time high 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the Gamecocks over the Gators. When her nine-point, six-rebound effort against Kentucky earlier in the week is factored in, Johnson averaged 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last week. >> Junior Lea Fabbri has dished out 24 assists in the last six games (4.0 assists per game) Prior to her current flurry, Fabbri averaged 2.4 assists per game.
>> Senior Olga Gritsaeva has drained six of her last nine attempts from the field and five of her last seven attempts from beyond the arc in Carolina’s last six games.
ADAMS AN ALL-FRESHMAN CANDIDATE
It doesn’t take most observers very long to recognize that freshmen Demetress Adams is usually one of the most talented players on the court. Adams started the season averaging 10.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game through her first 10 games. In the 11th game of the year, Adams injured her hand and was forced to wear a bulky and cumbersome bandage on her shooting hand for the next five games. Since getting the bandage off, Adams is averaging 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during the last six games, all of which were played against SEC opposition. During that same span, Adams has converted on 29 of her 40 field goal attempts (72.5 percent) and posted back-to-back 18-point performances over Kentucky and Florida in Carolina’s last two games.
BOOKER A SIXTH-WOMAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE
Junior guard Stacy Booker ranks among the team leaders in scoring with 9.1 points per game despite never starting a game this year. Booker is the team’s best three-point shooter and is a surprisingly good rebounder for a player her size, hauling in 2.8 boards per game despite her 5-8 frame. In addition, Booker owns a positive assist-to-turnover ratio at +1.3.
MELANIE MAGIC
During the course of her two-year career, the performance of Melanie Johnson usually has a large impact on the success of the Gamecocks, and an examination of her career stats certainly demonstrates as much. When Melanie Johnson …
>> Records a double-double, the Gamecocks are 7-1.
>> Scores 10 or more points, the Gamecocks are 15-3.
>> Grabs 10 or more rebounds, the Gamecocks are 7-4.
>> Makes five or more steals, the Gamecocks are 7-0.
>> Leads the team in scoring, the Gamecocks are 8-3.
>> Leads the team in assists, the Gamecocks are 6-0.
CAROLINA GETTING DEFENSIVE
Through South Carolina’s first 22 games, only Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Georgia and Florida have shot 40 percent or better from the field. The Gamecocks have limited 10 different opponents to either 30 percent shooting from the field or lower this year and have held 12 of their last 16 opponents below their season field goal percentage entering the game.
WHAT’S NEXT
South Carolina returns to action when it hosts Ole Miss at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Colonial Center. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320-AM with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis.
