Nov. 3, 2011
Game Information
Date: Friday, November 4, 2011
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Columbia, S.C. Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Admission: Free
TV: None
Radio: None
Live Video: GamecocksOnline.com
Live Stats:
South Carolina Notables
- This is the Gamecocks’ 38th season as a varsity sport.
- The 2011-12 season is the fourth at the helm for South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. Her teams have improved by four wins each of the last two campaigns, capped by last season’s 18-15 mark.
- The Gamecocks are 3-0 in exhibition games under head coach Dawn Staley after defeating Lander 79-57 last season when the Lady Bearcats entered the game ranked as the No. 4 team in NCAA Division II.
- South Carolina was 14-5 at Colonial Life Arena last season, the program’s fourth-most home wins and the most since the 2006-07 squad put together 15 in 20 tries.
- The media selected the Gamecocks to finish eighth in the SEC in 2011-12, despite South Carolina’s fifth-place finish in 2010-11. The SEC coaches’ preseason poll is scheduled to be released on Tue., Nov. 8.
- The Gamecocks officially open the 2011-12 season on the road, the third-such season opener in head coach Dawn Staley’s tenure in Columbia. South Carolina split Staley’s first two season openers on the road. The team dropped her Gamecock debut at Penn State on Nov. 16, 2008, but rallied to beat Charlotte in overtime on Nov. 19, 2009.
Notes
We’re Back…
South Carolina returns eight letterwinners from last season’s Women’s NIT team. All are juniors and seniors, including three starters. Additionally, the group includes the top two in points, rebounds and assists for the season. The two seniors that departed in May provided vast leadership and experience, but did not necessarily have a significant game-to-game statistical impact. The returning Gamecocks accounted for 74.5 percent of last season’s scoring, 63.1 percent of rebounding and 81.4 percent of assists. The group of five seniors and three juniors amassed 103 starting assignments a year ago.
Fresh Look
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley added five student-athletes to her roster this season, providing depth and height on the backcourt while building a foundation for the frontcourt. As a group, the newcomers have accumulated two state titles, eight all-conference selections, six all-state honors and six player of the year awards.
Strength of Schedule
After finishing the 2010-11 campaign with the nation’s 19th-toughest schedule, the Gamecocks are facing another challenging slate in 2011-12. With both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches preseason polls released this week, South Carolina will play seven games against nationally ranked teams. Another five games will be against teams that also received votes in one or both polls. Seventeen of the Gamecocks’ 29 games wthis season will be against teams that participated in the 2011 postseason, including nine who were in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 24 opponents on the schedule, eight finished the 2010-11 season with an RPI in the top 50. Six others closed with an RPI between 51 and 100.
Watching the Gamecocks
Fans can catch up with the Gamecocks on television 12 times this season, including a pair of games on the ESPN family of networks. South Carolina will also live stream video of all of its non-televised home games for free via its official athletics website, www.GamecocksOnline.com. The television schedule opens with four non-conference games on SportSouth, beginning with the Penn State game on Nov. 20. The station also will air games against College of Charleston (Nov. 23), Presbyterian (Nov. 27) and Furman (Dec. 11). The SEC package kicks in on Jan. 22 with the contest at Vanderbilt airing on ESPNU. Fox Sports Net will show the home game against Ole Miss (Jan. 26), and SEC Network will air the Mississippi State tilt (Jan. 29). Following the CSS broadcast of the game at Tennessee (Feb. 2), ESPN2 comes to Columbia for the Florida game (Feb. 12). The games against Georgia (Feb. 16) and at Alabama (Feb. 19) will air on FSN, and SEC Network closes out the string with the regular-season finale against Arkansas (Feb. 26). South Carolina was 9-5 last season in games televised live, including a 5-3 mark in SEC action.
Scouting Limestone
The Saints come to Columbia buoyed by the votes they received in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Preseason Poll, the first in the history of othe program. Limestone turned in a 19-9 overall record last season, including a 14-6 mark in Conference Carolinas action, and are picked to win the league’s Western Division in 2011-12. In 2010-11, the team set the school record for scoring defense, holding teams to just 59.4 ppg, and all five starters return for the 2011-12 campaign. Leading that group is junior guard Marla Young, who earned a spot on the preseason Women’s Division II Bulleting Super 16 All-America Team after leading Conference Carolinas with 19.5 ppg and 80 3-point field goals last season. Junior Tia Williams earned second-team all-conference honors last season, and senior guard Lauren Pace is on track to break the school record for assists this season.
