Jan. 14, 2012
Game Information
Date: Sunday, January 15, 2012
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena
Tickets: $7 adult, $4 youth (17 & under)
TV: None Radio: Radio: WISW 1320 AM (Brad Muller and Marcy Girton)
Live Video: GamecocksOnline.com
Live Stats:
Kentucky Series: UK leads 28-18; In Columbia: SC leads 13-8; In Lexington: UK leads 17-5; At Neutral Site: UK leads 3-0
South Carolina Notables
- This is the 38th season of women’s basketball at South Carolina and the Gamecocks’ 21st season in the SEC.
- Today’s game pits the SEC’s highest scoring offense against its stingiest defense.
- The Gamecocks have defeated Kentucky at least once per season in four of the last five seasons, including each of the last two.
- South Carolina is ranked No. 24 in the nation in this week’s Associated Press poll. It is the first national ranking for the Gamecocks since closing out the 2002-03 season in the No. 16 slot. All-time South Carolina is 163-69 in games during which it is nationally ranked, a record that includes games in now 11 different seasons.
- South Carolina is second in the SEC in rebounding margin in conference games (+6.7) and has three players ranked among the league’s top 20 rebounders in league games, despite being one of just two teams in the league with fewer than two players who stand 6-foot-1 or taller.
- Freshman forward Aleighsa Welch, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, leads the SEC in field goal percentage, shooting 64.4 percent on the season. She is the Gamecocks’ top scorer in conference play, pouring in 12.8 points per game and has pulled in a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Notes
A South Carolina Win Would…
- Be the Gamecocks’ 15th of the season, the best season start since the 2001-02 team went 16-1.
- Make the Gamecocks 3-1 in the SEC for the first time since the 2001-02 team started league play with four straight victories.
- Be the Gamecocks’ second straight over Kentucky, following last season’s 66-61 decision over the then-No. 15 Wildcats.
- Make it the third-straight season in which the Gamecocks have won at least one of the two annual meetings with the Wildcats – all three of the wins would have come in Columbia.
- Be head coach Dawn Staley’s 15th this season, putting her just three away from her South Carolina high of 18 in all of 2010-11
By the Numbers
1 Game in which the Gamecocks did not attempt more field goals that their opponent – Alabama A&M (Nov. 14) which matched South Carolina’s 60 field goal attempts
2 National rank for the Gamecocks in scoring defense
3 Gamecocks that rank among the SEC’s top 20 rebounders in league games, despite being one of just two teams with fewer than three players who stand at least 6-foot-1
4 Categories in which freshman Aleighsa Welch ranks among the SEC’s top 15 in league games – field goal percentage (3rd), offensive rebounds (4th), rebounds (7th) and scoring (11th).
6 Categories in which South Carolina ranks among the SEC’s top three in league games, all of which are at least partially defense-related – scoring defense (2nd), 3-point field goal defense (1st), rebounding defense (2nd), rebounding margin (2nd), steals (2nd), turnover margin (2nd)
8 Gamecocks on the active roster of 13 who have recorded at least one double-digit scoring game
9 Gamecocks on the active roster of 13 who have played in every game this season, the deepest bench in head coach Dawn Staley’s tenure
11 Games this season that have been decided by more than 10 points, all won by the Gamecocks
15 Games in which South Carolina has had a lead at halftime, during which the Gamecocks are 14-1
16 Games in which the Gamecocks’ bench has outscored the starters
Last Time Out
South Carolina dropped its first SEC game of the season in a 58-48 loss at LSU Thursday night. The Gamecocks struggled shooting the ball in the second half and were plagued with a myriad of turnovers, which led to 19 LSU points in the final stanza.
Kentucky Series Notes
The Wildcats lead the series 28-18, but the teams have split their two annual meetings each of the last two season. South Carolina holds a 13-8 edge in games played in Columbia, including wins in the last two meetings. The Gamecocks won the most recent matchup, a 66-61 victory over then-No. 15 Kentucky on Feb. 10, 2011. A trio of guards the led offense in that outing as La’Keisha Sutton and Ieasia Walker each netted 17 points and Markeshia Grant added 12. Grant also tied for team-high honors on the glass with eight rebounds as South Carolina out-rebounded the Wildcats 37-32 and forced 18 Kentucky turnovers.
We Back Pat
South Carolina is participating in the SEC-sponsored “We Back Pat” Week today. The Gamecocks are wearing special shooting shirts for the game, and fans will see several PSAs and other information on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund throughout the arena. The Gamecocks actually began their quest to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s back in October when they formed the “4 Coach Summitt” team for the Walk for Life at Finlay Park here in Columbia. The team’s donation page will remain active through the end of January as the team hopes to present the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund a check for $20,000 when the Gamecocks take on the Lady Vols in Knoxville on Thu., Feb. 2. Fans who want to help can go to: http://walktoendalz.kintera.org/columbiasc/4coachsummitt to make a donation.
Reading Is Fundamental
South Carolina women’s basketball is also celebrating the winners of the second segment of this season’s Read with the Gamecocks program. In its 13th season, the program is broken up into three segments for 2011-12. The second segment measured pages read from Nov. 28 through Dec. 9. The 43 schools/organizations that participated supervised 4,343 participants who read 2.8 million pages. The winners from each grade level as well as the overall school/organization winner will be recognized on the court at halftime. The final segment of the program has already concluded, and those winners will be recognized at halftime of the Feb. 12 game against Florida. For more information on the Read with the Gamecocks program, email readgc@mailbox.sc.edu or visit GamecocksOnline.com/readingprogram.
Reading the Rankings
South Carolina is ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll this week. It is the first ranking for the Gamecocks since the end of the 2002-03 season, which they closed at No. 16. South Carolina spent the majority of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons in the national rankings, peaking at No. 7 in the Jan. 21, 2002, poll. The Gamecocks have played 320 games while nationally ranked with a 163-69 (.703) record, including an 89-19 (.824) mark at home. While ranked, South Carolina boasts a 16-6 record against teams ranked below it in the polls and is 13-28 against teams ranking above it. Gamecock head coach Dawn Staley has led a nationally ranked team before as her Temple squads were in the rankings for a total of 26 weeks during her eight seasons at the helm. Staley is one of 37 coaches who have coached multiple teams in the national rankings, only 21 of which are currently still coaching at the NCAA Division I level.
Home Sweet Home
South Carolina has won 69.7 percent of its home games since the 1976-77 season (records did not include the site of games for the first two seasons of women’s basketball). That 345-150 mark includes a 101-53 mark in Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks turned in their most productive home season in 2001-02, winning 17 of their 18 contests in their final season playing at Carolina Coliseum. The team’s best home record at Colonial Life Arena came in 2006-07 when South Carolina went 15-5. Last season, South Carolina was 14-5 at home, the fourth-most home wins in school history. So far this season, the Gamecocks are 8-1 at Colonial Life Arena.
Life in the League
South Carolina is 84-187 all-time in its 21st season SEC regular-season play. The Gamecocks are 55-81 in SEC games played in Columbia with a 29-106 record on the road. The Gamecocks are 18-18 in conference play since head coach Dawn Staley’s first season in the league yielded a 2-12 mark. The Gamecocks’ 3-2 start to league action in 2009-10 was its best five-game open since the 2001-02 squad went 4-1. Overall, Staley boasts a 119-55 record in league play, including eight seasons leading her Temple teams to a 99-25 Atlantic 10 mark.
Rating the Ranked
South Carolina is 52-189 against nationally ranked teams in its 38th season of women’s basketball. The Gamecocks have collected 29 of those 52 wins in Columbia, including 11 in Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks are 16-99 all-time against teams ranked in the AP top 10 with their last win over a top-10 team coming in a 71-52 decision over then-No. 6 Vanderbilt on Jan. 3, 2002, in Columbia. South Carolina was ranked No. 14 in the nation at the time. The highest ranked team the Gamecocks have defeated in the Dawn Staley era was then-No. 14 Georgia on Feb. 25, 2010, when South Carolina left Athens with a 52-42 victory. In its basketball history, South Carolina’s highest-ranked victim was a No. 3-ranked foe, and there are two of those victories, both over Auburn. The first came by a 83-76 score at home on Dec. 29, 1990. The second was a 59-47 decision over the Tigers on Feb. 27, 1993 in the final home game of the season.
