Feb. 3, 2008
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COLUMBIA – Junior Demetress Adams broke a 33-year-old school record with 26 rebounds to go with her game-high 18 points, leading South Carolina to a 59-50 win over Arkansas this afternoon at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks (12-10, 1-6 SEC) picked up their first league win by dominating on the boards and playing aggressive defense. The Lady Razorbacks (17-5, 2-5 SEC) matched Adams’ total with 26 rebounds, while the Gamecocks grabbed 56 in the game, including 19 on the offensive end.
Neither team could wrest control of the game in the first half as the lead changed four times in the period. The Gamecocks led most of the way but could not put away the Lady Razorbacks despite shooting 43.5 percent to Arkansas’ 31 percent and out-rebounding them 22-11.
Leading 21-19 at the break, South Carolina’s Jordan Jones opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the left wing. Ayana Brereton answered with a triple from the right baseline, and Sarah Pfeifer tied the game 24-24 with a turnaround jumper at the free throw line. South Carolina pounded the ball inside, either feeding the post to getting dribble penetration to build a 10-point lead with 14:02 left in the half. Ilona Burgrova opened the run with a jumper, and Jones and Brionna Dickerson kept things going with driving layups. Ebony Jones hit a 3-pointer from the right baseline off a feed from Adams, and Burgrova capped the spurt with a free throw.
The Lady `Backs clawed back into the game as Pfeifer drained a 3-pointer from the left win, Brereton hit a pair of free throws, and Whitney Jones sank a jumper from the free throw line extended to pull within five at 38-33 at the 12-minute mark. Dickerson stemmed the tide with a driving layup, but Jones converted a traditional three-point play to bring the Lady `Back within 40-36 with 10:34 in the game.
As the Gamecocks continued to dominate on the boards, Adams hit the first of two free throws with Burgrova collecting the offensive rebounds on the miss. After Burgrova put up a pair of shots, Adams zeroed in on the offensive rebound, the third of the possession, and hit a jump shot from the free throw line. Arkansas looked for another rally, but could not control their rebounds and allowed the Gamecocks to maintain an eight-point lead or better over the final five minutes of play.
With 26 rebounds, Adams became the first Gamecock since 1993 to bring down 20 or more rebounds and broke Denise Nanney’s record of 24 boards against Anderson on Jan. 28, 1975. Adams also tied Mississippi State’s Sophie Ratliff’s 26 against Shorter in 1988 as the most by an SEC player since the league began officially sponsoring women’s basketball in 1982-83. The official SEC record is 31 by Florida’s Quientella Bonner against Georgia Southern in 1977.
Adams completed her eighth double-double of the season with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and handed out four assists. Dickerson netted 15 points for South Carolina, while Jordan Jones also scored in double figures with 10.
The Gamecocks head to Nashville, Tenn., to face Vanderbilt on Thu., Feb. 7, before returning to the Colonial Center for a 3p.m. matchup with Mississippi on Sun., Feb. 10.
