Feb. 17, 2006
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THE BASICS
The South Carolina women’s basketball team (14-9 overall; 5-6 Southeastern Conference) is home to face Ole Miss (14-11 overall; 4-8 SEC) at 3 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday in what will mark the first of three games in five days for the Gamecocks.
ON THE AIR
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.
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Let’s Read With the Gamecocks. Over 2,900 students from 34 elementary schools in Midlands participated in the event, which is in its seventh year of existence. The program was designed for students to read as many books as possible over the Holiday Break. The top readers from every school will be recognized at halftime of Sunday’s game, along with the top reader in each grade from all schools combined. Meadowfield Elementary School, whose students combined to read 129,633 pages during the Holiday Break, will be recognized as the school with the students who read the most.
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 third year at Ole Miss, Carol Ross led the Lady Rebels to trips to the NCAA Tournament in each of her first two seasons leading her alma mater. Ross spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Florida, leading the Gators to nine NCAA trips after UF had never been to The Dance prior to her arrival.
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. Playing very well of late, Carolina has won five of its last seven games and has won its last four SEC road games, marking the first time since the Gamecocks joined the league that Carolina has accomplished that feat. 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.
OLE MISS FROM A DISTANCE
Ole Miss picked up a quality win over Rutgers during the non-conference portion of the schedule, claiming a 67-57 triumph over the Scarlet Knights in Oxford on Dec. 14, but have struggled with the upper half of the SEC, as each of Ole Miss’ four SEC wins came against the the three bottom teams in the conference standings. In Armintie Price, the Lady Rebels have one of most exciting and most dominant players in the SEC, as Price leads the team and ranks among the conference leaders in most statistical categories. Defense has been a question mark for Ole Miss this year, as the Lady Rebels rank near the bottom of the SEC in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, which can partly be attributed to the fact that the Lady Rebels are a bit undersized inside, with only five players taller than 6-0 and no player that would be considered as a pure shot-blocker. Standing 6-3, freshman Shawn Goff is Ole Miss’ tallest player. Her team-best 20 blocks would rank her sixth in that category among Carolina’s players.
A CAROLINA WIN OVER OLE MISS SUNDAY WOULD:
>> Mark Carolina’s sixth win in their last eight SEC games.
>> Further strengthen the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament chances. Carolina enters Sunday’s game with 14 wins and is ranked 49th in Jeff Sagarin’s latest RPI rankings. Should the Gamecocks continue to finish the season as strong as they have, they would have the RPI ranking, the win total and the hot ending to the season that are all favorable in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee.
>> Mark the first time the Gamecocks have won three consecutive SEC games since Carolina won five consecutive conference games at the end of the 2002-03 season.
>> Snap a three-game Gamecock losing skid against Ole Miss, as the Lady Rebels won both meetings between the two teams last year and won the year prior as well.
>> Mark Carolina’s sixth win over Ole Miss in the eight series meetings played in Columbia.
GAMECOCKS ARE SEC’S MOST IMPROVED
South Carolina is the most improved team in the SEC from a year ago when it comes to winning percentage. A year ago, Carolina was 8-21 overall and 2-12 in SEC play.
WHAT’S NEXT
South Carolina returns to action when it hosts Longwood College at 7 p.m. Tuesday 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.
