Nov. 25, 2009
Game Information
Radio: WISW 1320 AM and GamecocksOnline.com (Brad Muller)
Video: FOX College Sports Broadband Network (Brenda VanLengen)
Oklahoma Series: OU leads 2-0; In Columbia: OU leads 1-0; In Norman: OU leads 1-0
Notre Dame Series: SC leads 2-0; In Columbia: SC leads 1-0; In Notre Dame: SC leads 1-0
SDSU Series: 1st Meeting
South Carolina Notables
- This is the program’s 36th season as a varsity sport.
- The Gamecocks are 68-32 all-time in the month of November, including a 2-1 mark so far this season.
- This is South Carolina’s second trip to the Paradise Jam. The Gamecocks played in the event in 2002, picking up wins over Oregaon and then-No. 18 Boston College.
- The Gamecocks picked up the title in the last regular-season tournament they played, steaming past Ohio and UNC Wilmington to win the 2008 Cancun Thanksgiving Classic.
- With a double-double at Clemson Thursday night, Kelsey Bone became the first Gamecock freshman ever to open her career with back-to-back double-doubles.
- South Carolina plays its next three games at home, just its second appearance at Colonial Life Arena this season.
Notes
Last Time Out…
Playing its third game in seven days, South Carolina battled out a 63-56 victory over Penn State on Sunday. The Gamecocks got a team-high 18 points from junior guard Valerie Nainima and a double-double from sophomore Charenee Stephens, whose 17 points were a career high. With the game on the line late, the Gamecocks found strength on the interior.
Oklahoma Series Notes
The Gamecocks and Sooners have squared off twice before with Oklahoma winning both outings. The teams played a home-and-home series, beginning in Columbia on Dec. 7, 2006. The Sooners won that meeting 78-51 then went on to pick up a 96-63 victory in Norman on Dec. 30, 2007. This will be South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley’s first game against Oklahoma.
Notre Dame Series Notes
South Carolina leads the series with Notre Dame 2-0, although the teams have not meet since the early 1980s. The Gamecocks opened the series with a commanding 124-48 road victory on Jan. 31, 1981, and followed it with a 76-54 decision in Columbia on Feb. 20, 1982. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has matched up against Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw once before with the then-No. 8 Fighting Irish topping Staley’s Temple Owls 84-61.
San Diego State Series Notes
This is the first meeting between the Gamecocks and Aztecs.
Three, It’s a Magic Number
The Gamecocks offense has been most effective this season when having a three-pronged attack. South Carolina is 2-0 in games in which three players reach double figures but lost its outing in which four Gamecocks crossed the 10-point plateau.
Tourney Time
South Carolina is 89-54 all-time in regular-season tournaments, including a pair of wins in the 2009 Cancun Thanksgiving Classic. The Gamecocks won the title of that tournament, defeating Ohio and UNC Wilmington
Extra! Extra!
Playing extra time in its first two games of the season, South Carolina is now 12-12 all-time in overtime games. It marks the first time the Gamecocks have played multiple overtime games in a season since the 1995-96 campaign, during which South Carolina went 1-3 in four extra-period outings. It is the first time the Gamecocks have played back-to-back overtime games in program history.
The win at Charlotte was the Gamecocks’ second-straight overtime win as South Carolina knocked off Mississippi State 72-66 on Feb. 25, 2007. The win was the Gamecocks’ first overtime road victory since their 87-81 upset of then-No. 9 Duke on Nov. 25, 2001.
The double-overtime affair at Clemson was just the fourth such game in South Carolina history, and the Gamecocks are just 1-3 in those lengthy outings. The last time South Carolina was involved in a double-overtime game was a 97-91 loss at Georgia on Feb. 13, 2003, when the Gamecocks were ranked 15th in the nation and the Lady Bulldogs were No. 16. South Carolina’s lone double-overtime win was a 92-91 decision at then-No. 22 Florida State on Feb. 4, 1991.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is now 10-6 in overtime games in her career. The victory against Charlotte was her first OT win at the Gamecocks’ helm but was her third straight victory in extra time. The loss at Clemson was Staley’s first result in a double-overtime game.
Rare Air
With 32 points and 14 rebounds at Clemson, Kelsey Bone became the first freshman in South Carolina history to record back-to-back double-doubles to open her Gamecock career. Her 22-point, 11-rebound effort at Charlote to open the season made her the first Gamecock to debut with a double-double since Demetress Adams scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against High Point on Nov. 18, 2005.
Bone’s stats in her first two games already place her among the program’s top freshman. Her 32 points at Clemson are the third-most by a first-year Gamecock, trailing just Sharon Gilmore’s school-record 40 at Florida International (Feb. 7, 1983) and Schonna Banner’s 37 against Cincinnati (Jan. 9, 1987). With 14 rebounds at Clemson, Bone is the fourth Gamecock freshman to snag that many boards, the most recent being Iva Sliskovic against Charlotte on Dec. 14, 2003. Banner owns the program’s freshman record with 15 rebounds against Southern Miss on March 7, 1987. Bone’s 12 field goals made match Banner’s school record for freshmen (against Cincinnati Jan. 9, 1987), and her 23 field goal attempts match Jordan Jones’ Gamecock freshman record, which she set against North Carolina A&T on March 21, 2008.
Twice as Nice
With sophomore Charenee Stephens and freshman Kelsey Bone both posting double-digit rebounds (12 and 11, respectively) at Charlotte, it was the first time Gamecock teammates had reached the plateau since Demetress Adams and Ilona Burgrova pulled down 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, against Savannah State on Jan. 6, 2008. If Stephens had managed just one more point, the two would have become the first Gamecock tandem with double-doubles since Adams (16 pts/11 reb) and Jewel May (10 pts/12 reb) did it against High Point on Dec. 5, 2008.
Bone and Valerie Nainima netting 22 points against the 49ers also gave the Gamecocks a pair of players with 20 or more points in a game for the first time since Jordan Jones (31) and Brionna Dickerson (25) combined for the feat in the first round of the WNIT against North Carolina A&T on March 21, 2008.
Bone and La’Keisha Sutton went on to repeat the feat in the next game at Clemson with 32 and 22 points, respectively.
