Jan. 4, 2007
Post Game Notes
South Carolina started Iva Sliskovic, Ilona Burgrova, Melanie Johnson, Stacy Booker and Lauren Simms for the sixth consecutive game. The Gamecocks are 5-1 with this lineup, with Thursday’s loss snapping the season-high five game winning streak.
Lakesha Tolliver finished with a team-high 14 points. She scored six of South Carolina’s first 10 points to help keep the game close in the opening 10 minutes.
Tolliver collected 2 blocks in the game, giving her 91 for her career and moving her past teammate Melanie Johnson (90 blocks) for seventh place on the all-time blocks list. Tolliver has at least two rejections in each of Carolina’s last five games. Teresa Geter holds sixth place with 99 career blocks.
Iva Sliskovic, South Carolina’s leading scorer heading into the game at 10.2 ppg, did not score for the first time since she went scoreless in seven minutes against Alabama on January 20, 2005. Including Thursday’s loss, Sliskovic has only gone scoreless in three games in her career – the other against Florida A&M on Dec. 14, 2004 (she did not attempt a shot in that game).
Sliskovic has 102 career blocks, which puts her one behind the third place holder – Schonna Banner (103) and within reach of Petra Ujhelyi (116) in second place.
After cutting the Kentucky lead to one point (13-12) on Brionna Dickerson’s first basket with 10:00 remaining in the first half, the Wildcats halted the USC offense on a 20-5 run over the next nine minutes.
In its five game winning streak, South Carolina shot over 50% from the field. The Gamecocks only connected on 39% of their shots Thursday after hitting 34% in the first half and 43% in the second.
Thursday’s game was South Carolina’s second television appearance of the season. The Gamecocks lost 78-51 to then-No. 3 Oklahoma on Dec. 7. They are currently scheduled for three more televised games this season, the next coming in the game at Ole Miss on Thursday, Jan. 18.
South Carolina went 2-1 in televised games last season, winning two regular season games and dropping the SEC Tournament opener. The last televised victory was in the 58-46 win at Auburn on Feb. 16, 2006.
Thursday’s game was a match-up of two of the SEC’s top defensive teams. The Wildcats rank second in FG% defense (.344) and third in scoring defense (53.4 ppg). The Gamecocks rank second in scoring defense (52.4 ppg) and third in FG% defense (.338). The Gamecocks also rank at the top with 14.0 steals per game (2nd in SEC) and 5.57 blocks per game (3rd in SEC).
South Carolina did not hit a three-point field goal until Stacy Booker hit one from beyond the arc with 59 seconds remaining in the game to cut the Kentucky lead to 55-50. Brionna Dickerson then hit another with 13 seconds remaining, cutting the Kentucky lead to 57-53. Carolina went scoreless behind the arc in two games – against North Carolina State and Samford.
South Carolina entered the game ranking first in the conference and sixth nationally in rebounding margin (+13.3). The Gamecocks outrebounded the Wildcats 41-31.
Thursday was South Carolina’s fourth road game of the season. They are 1-3 in road contests this season, dropping contests against Penn State, North Carolina State and Kentucky. They defeated UNC-Wilmington last week on the road.
South Carolina and Kentucky have met 37 times with Kentucky owning a 23-14 all-time series lead. The Wildcats are 14-4 in games played in Lexington, Ky.
