March 7, 2006
South Carolina Profile in PDF Format (One Page)
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South Carolina Gamecocks (17-11; 7-7 SEC)
NCAA Tournament Profile
Quality Wins: No. 14 Minnesota (79-61 on December 13); at Florida (81-63 on February 12)
Record in Last 10 Games: 7-3
In addition to playing in the nation’s No. 2 conference in terms of conference RPI, the Gamecocks stepped out of conference to play games against traditional powers Texas, Purdue and Minnesota.
Facts about South Carolina, the SEC and the NCAA Tournament:
>> South Carolina finished the regular-season as one of the SEC’s hottest teams, as the Gamecocks won five of their last six regular-season games. The Gamecocks have won seven of their last 10 games overall and were victorious in four of their last five SEC road games.
>> South Carolina finished with a 7-7 record in the SEC.
>> Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1994, of teams that finished the season with a .500 SEC record and had a winning record overall, only 2002 Alabama (19-12; 7-7) and 1998 LSU (19-13; 7-7) did not go to the NCAA Tournament. The 1998 LSU squad lost six of its last nine games, including a loss to Southern University in the penultimate regular-season game and lost to an unranked South Carolina team by 15 points in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The 2002 Alabama team lost three of its last five and four of its last 10 games, including a first-round loss at the SEC Tournament. Neither the 1998 LSU squad or the 2002 Alabama squad had as many road SEC wins as the 2006 South Carolina team, nor did they finish the season near as well as the 2006 South Carolina team.
>> The SEC has placed six or more teams in the NCAA Tournament in 12 of the last 13 years, and has placed seven teams in the NCAA Tournament seven times in the last 13 years.
>> Of South Carolina’s 11 losses, nine were to opponents that have been ranked in the top 25 this season.
>> South Carolina picked up quality wins over then-No. 14 Minnesota and over Florida in Gainesville. The Gamecocks handed the Golden Gophers a 79-61 setback on December 13 and claimed an 81-63 win over the Gators on February 12.
Injury To Demetress Adams Made A Significant Difference
South Carolina’s Freshman All-SEC selection Demetress Adams injured her hand less than a minute after stepping on to the floor vs. Western Carolina on Dec. 29 and required 11 stitches in her shooting hand. She was forced to wear a bulky and cumbersome bandage to protect her hand in each of the next five games. The Gamecocks lost four of those five contests. Adams got the bandage off prior to Carolina’s game at Alabama, and the Gamecocks have won eight of their last 12 games since.
Team record prior to Adams’ injury: 7-3
Team record while Adams had 11 stitches in her shooting hand: 2-4
Team record since: 8-4
Adams prior to injury: 10.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, .569 FG pct.
Adams while injured: 4.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, .500 FG pct.
Adams since bandage came off: 9.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, .639 FG pct.
Life in the SEC
Ole Miss entered the SEC portion of the schedule with a 10-3 record and wins over Texas Tech and Rutgers. The Rebels were ranked in the top 25 in the coaches poll at the time, but went on to go 5-9 in the SEC and will likely not be in the NCAA Tournament. Their success out-of-conference but struggles within the league provides an illustration of the strength of the SEC and the fact that a lower-tier team in the SEC would be fare much better if placed in a different league. Take for example the America East Conference. Entering the America East Conference Tournament, RPI No. 31 Stony Brook played 18 teams with RPIs out of the top 100 and played six games against teams with RPIs outside of the top 200, yet their strength of schedule is No. 32, according to CollegeRPI.com. Stony Brook won nine of its last 11 games, but nine of its last 11 games were played against teams with RPIs ranging from 115-to-289. Also entering the America East Conference Tournament, RPI No. 38 Hartford has played 19 teams with RPIs outside of the top 100, and has faced only four top-100 teams in its last 17 games. Meanwhile, nine of the 12 teams in the SEC have RPIs ranking among the top 100 in the nation, including five teams with RPIs ranking among the top 25 in the nation and a sixth team ranking No. 30 nationally. When that is all considered, South Carolina’s 7-7 finish in the SEC and its four road SEC wins become more impressive
