Feb. 22, 2006

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THE BASICS
The South Carolina women’s basketball team (16-9 overall; 6-6 Southeastern Conference) plays its regular-season home finale when its hosts Mississippi State at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Colonial Center.

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.

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.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Faculty Appreciation; faculty receive wristband at admission with ID.

SENIOR SALUTE
Sunday’s game will mark the final home game in the career of Carolina senior Olga Gritsaeva. Gritsaeva will be honored prior to tipoff for her contributions to the Gamecock women’s basketball program.

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. Now in her 11th year at Mississippi State, Sharon Fanning was recognized as the SEC Coach of the Year in 2000 and ranks among the top 25 among active coaches in career victories. Fanning’s first head coaching job came at Tennessee-Chattanooga, where she patrolled the sidelines from 1976-87. She moved on to Kentucky, where she led the Wildcat program from 1987-95 before moving on to Mississippi State in 1995.

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 six 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.

MISSISSIPPI STATE FROM A DISTANCE
The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs (6-19, 1-11 SEC) came up short this past Sunday, falling to Kentucky, 51-46, after leading by as much as 11 points in the second half. The loss marked the 10th straight for the Lady Bulldogs and a school record for losses in a single season. State’s overall loss record is 11 games from Feb. 6, 1994 to Dec. 2, 1995. The loss also marked the fifth SEC game that MSU lost in the last five minutes. Senior forward Mamie McKinney and freshman guard/forward Robin Porter led MSU with 10 points each. Porter continues to lead State with 10.4 ppg. She is on track to become just the fifth freshman to finish the season leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring average.

LAST MEETING (2/5/06 IN STARKVILLE, MISS.)
Melanie Johnson scored a game-high 18 points and Ilona Burgrova just missed her first career double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds in leading South Carolina to a 51-46 win over Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum in the first meeting between the two schools. Carolina limited Mississippi State to 23.9 percent shooting from the field and blocked 10 shots in the contest. The Gamecocks created a little bit of separation early in the second half, opening up a 36-27 lead following a Lea Fabbri free throw. However, Amy Reeder breathed life back into the Lady Bulldogs with back-to-back three-pointers from the corner to cut the lead to 38-34. The teams traded points before MSU guard Miayorka Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws at the 2:39 mark to cut the Gamecock lead to 44-42. Mississippi State’s Blessing Chekwa went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game with just over a minute remaining, but she missed both attempts. Melanie Johnson then gave Carolina a four-point lead with a layup with 53.8 seconds remaining. A quick response from Robin Porter cut the Carolina advantage to 46-44. Lauren Simms knocked down a free throw to move the lead to 47-44 with 22 seconds remaining before Carolina got a key defensive stand, with Ilona Burgrova hauling in the rebound to seal the win. With the Lady Bulldogs forced to foul, Burgrova drained both of her attempts to extend the lead to five points with 11 seconds left and put the game out of reach.

A CAROLINA WIN OVER MISSISSIPPI STATE WOULD:
>> Mark Carolina’s seventh win in its last eight games overall.
>> Give South Carolina nine more wins than it had all last year, which would mark the largest improvement of any team in the six power conferences from a year ago (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Big East).
>> Complete a two-game season sweep of Mississippi State, as the Gamecocks handed the Lady Bulldogs a 51-46 defeat in Starkville earlier in the year. The last time Carolina beat an SEC opponent twice in the same year was in 2002-03, when the Gamecocks beat both Kentucky and Ole Miss twice.
>> Mark Carolina’s third win in its last four games played against Mississippi State in Columbia.
>> Give South Carolina one more win on its way to a possible NCAA Tournament berth. Carolina enters Thursday’s game with 16 wins and is ranked 43rd 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.

IN BOX WE TRUST
There was a new addition to the Carolina bench in the Gamecocks’ win over Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 12, 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. The box accompanied the team to Auburn, and sure enough, the Gamecocks claimed a win over the Tigers and outrebounded Auburn, 39-38 despite the fact that the Tigers held a height and size advantage. Freshly adorned with a South Carolina jersey of it’s own (Number 00), the box was on the bench for the Gamecocks’ home win over Ole Miss, with the Gamecocks holding a hefty 47-30 rebounding edge over a Lady Rebel team that entered the game ranked second in the SEC in rebounding. It was more of the same in Carolina’s win over Longwood, as the Gamecocks held a 47-32 rebounding advantage over the Lancers with the box present.

WHO’S GOT THE HOT HAND LATELY?
>> Redshirt sophomore Lakesha Tolliver set a career high with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field last Sunday vs. Ole Miss, then came back to pass that mark with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field vs. Longwood Tuesday, putting her scoring average at 17.5 points per game on 14-of-17 shooting from the field (.824 pct.) in the last two games.
>> Junior Shannel Harris has become a clutch scorer for the Gamecocks of late, as she drained a pair of back-breaking jumpers to lift Carolina to a win at Auburn, then came back the next game to hit a pivotal three-pointer from the corner to dash Ole Miss’ hopes of a comeback at a crucial juncture of the Gamecocks’ win over the Lady Rebels. Harris averaged 9.0 points per game on 7-of-13 shooting from the field (53.8 percent) in Carolina’s two wins last week. Prior to those two contests, Harris averaged 2.5 points per game on 36.4 percent shooting from the field.
>> Junior Melanie Johnson enjoyed a career day in lifting the Gamecocks to an 81-63 win over Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 12. 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. Johnson posted another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds in Carolina’s win over Ole Miss last Sunday. During the last seven games, Johnson averages 14.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
>> Freshman Demetress Adams scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds vs. Longwood Tuesday. She scored a career high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds against Kentucky on Feb. 9, then came back to score 18 more points and collect nine rebounds in the Gamecocks’ win over Florida in Gainesville. Adams converted on 14 of her 19 attempts from the field in those two games (73.7 percent.) Including her efforts in those three games, Adams has now scored in double figures in 11 games this year, with the Gamecocks winning nine of those contests.

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 back to her early-season form, highlighted by back-to-back 18-point performances over Kentucky and Florida and a 15-point, seven-rebound effort against Longwood.

DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING ARE KEYS
Most coaches will tell you that defense and rebounding win games, and an examination of Carolina’s stats certainly illustrates that point. In the Gamecocks’ 16 wins, they have limited the opposition to 47.4 points per game on 29.1 percent shooting from the field and hold a +12.8 rebounding margin. In the Gamecocks’ nine losses, the opposition averages 69.0 points per game on 41.7 percent shooting from the field, with Carolina’s rebounding margin dipping to -0.1.

THE BENCH MOB
Through South Carolina’s first 25 games, the Gamecock bench averages 34.9 points per game against 17.2 points per game from the opponent’s bench. During South Carolina’s seven-game winning streak earlier this season, 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.

CAROLINA GETTING DEFENSIVE
Through South Carolina’s first 25 games, only Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Georgia and Florida have shot 40 percent or better from the field. The Gamecocks have limited 11 different opponents to either 30 percent shooting from the field or lower this year and have held 16 of their last 20 opponents below their season field goal percentage entering the game.

THE SWAT TEAM…TALK TO THE HAND
Carolina’s height was a contributing factor to the Gamecocks shattering the single-season school record for blocked shots in 2004-05. Carolina swatted 176 shots on the season (6.1 per game), shattering the previous record of 115 blocks set in 2001-02. That number has held true in 2005-06 as well, as Carolina is on pace to break the record it set last year, as the Gamecocks have blocked a whopping 171 shots in 25 games this year (6.8 per game).

WHAT’S NEXT
South Carolina returns to action when it travels to Vanderbilt for the regular-season finale, to be played Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time at Memorial Gym in Nashville. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320-AM with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis.