Feb. 2, 2013

South Carolina Game Notes

Click here to watch videos of Karen Tanner and University First Lady Patricia Pastides discuss the importance girls and women in sports

Game Information

Date: Sunday, February 3, 2013
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena
Tickets: $7 adults/Free for youth (17 and under)
Special Events: National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Read with the Gamecocks winners
Live Video: GamecocksOnline.com
Live Audio: WISW 1320 AM (Brad Muller); GamecocksOnline.com
Live Stats:
Auburn Series: AUB leads 21-15; In Columbia: SC leads 9-7; In Auburn: AUB leads 12-5; Neutral Site: AUB leads 2-1

Game Notes

Fast Break

• South Carolina’s No. 15 ranking in this week’s Associated Press poll is the program’s highest mark since coming in at No. 15 the week of Feb. 10, 2003.
• Senior guard Ieasia Walker was named SEC Player of the Week last week for her efforts in the Gamecocks’ wins over then-No. 5/4 Kentucky and at Arkansas. She averaged 11.5 points, 3.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 5.0 rebounds.
• Through 21 games, the Gamecock defense has allowed just one opponent to score 60 or more points in a game to rank third in the country in scoring defense. South Carolina is allowing just 47.3 points per game, including just 50.2 points per SEC contest. No Gamecock opponents has scored its season average entering the game, and only four have come within 10 points of their season average. Seven have been held 30 or more points below their average, including two SEC opponents on their own home courts.
• Senior guard Ieasia Walker scored her 1,000th career point as part of her 24-point outing against LSU (Jan. 17). She is the 28th member of that club and just the 12th to also compile at least 200 career steals. She is one of just three active SEC players to have 1,000 career points in combination with 200 career steals and 200 career assists. Walker has an outside chance to reach 500 rebounds as well, sitting at 428 in her career.
• Senior forward Ashley Bruner is one of 26 Gamecocks to amass 500 career rebounds and has a chance to become just the 18th to record at least 600, needing 12 to achieve that plateau.

A South Carolina Win Would…

• Make the Gamecocks 7-2 in SEC play for the first time since the 2001-02 team opened league play with a 9-2 mark.
• Match the 2001-02 team’s overall 19-3 start to the season. The Gamecocks reached 21 wins before recording their fourth loss that season, finishing 25-7 in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

By the Numbers
1 Opponent that has scored 60 or more points against the Gamecocks this season, helping South Carolina to No. 3 in the nation in scoring defense
2 Gamecocks tied for 20th place in school history in career rebounds as senior forward Ashley Bruner’s seven-rebound outing at Arkansas tied her with Ilona Burgrova (2005-08) at 588 – Bruner needs nine more to match Shannon Johnson in 19th.
3 Gamecocks that rank among the SEC’s top 20 in rebounding – Aleighsa Welch (8.2, 7th), Ashley Bruner (7.3, 10th) and Tiffany Mitchell (6.3, 16th)
3.0 Points per game more scored by senior guard Ieasia Walker in SEC games this season than in non-conference play – 8.5 in non-conference, 11.5 in SEC
7 Times in program history the Gamecocks have defeated a top-five team, including last week’s win over then-No. 5/4 Kentucky, the first since Jan. 14, 1998
9 Offensive rebounds needed by sophomore forward Aleighsa Welch for 100 on the season, which would be just the ninth time a Gamecock reached the mark since the statistic was first collected in 1987-88 – Welch would be just the fifth individual Gamecock to get to the century mark.
11 RPI for South Carolina – one of six SEC teams among the top 30
12 Gamecocks all-time who have amassed 1,000 career points and 200 career steals after senior guard Ieasia Walker joined the club with her 24-point outing against LSU (Jan. 17) – She is one of just three active SEC players with 1,000 career points along with 200 career steals and 200 career assists.
13 Of the last 23 Associated Press polls that have included the Gamecocks, dating back to Jan. 9, 2012, and including this week’s appearance at No. 15 (the highest since Feb. 10, 2003)
15 Points by Khadijah Sessions at Florida (Jan. 20), the highest scoring output by a Gamecock off the bench this season
29.3 Points below their season average that South Carolina held the #5/4 Kentucky Wildcats on Jan. 24
76.8 Percent of the team’s 1,261 points this season scored by the starting lineup

The Auburn Series
The Tigers hold a 21-15 edge in the series, but the teams have evenly split the six games played in the Dawn Staley era. Additionally, the Gamecocks hold a 9-7 advantage in games played in Columbia. Auburn claimed the most recent meeting between the two, a 53-49 decision on the Tigers’ home court on Jan. 19, 2012. South Carolina has won the last two match-ups in Columbia, most recently a 65-49 effort on Feb. 20, 2011. Auburn’s last win over the Gamecocks in Columbia was an 80-76 decision on Jan. 8, 2009.

Gamecocks’ Five-Second Count
With a complementary blend of youth and experience, South Carolina opened a season 10-0 for the first time since the 1981-82 team also won its first 10 contests. The Gamecocks, now 18-3 overall and 6-2 in SEC action, have shown they have both inside and outside offensive options and are dominant on the glass this season while the defense has dropped off very little from last season’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 effort. Two Gamecocks average double-figure points with three others netting 5.0 or more per game. South Carolina ranks seventh in the nation with a +10.1 rebounding margin and has three players ranked among the SEC’s top 20 rebounders. Defensively, the Gamecocks are third in the nation in scoring defense, yielding just 47.3 points per game. South Carolina has held 16 of its 21 opponents this season to 50 or fewer points and limited seven of the 20 to under 30 percent field goal shooting, including Hampton (Nov. 22), which hit just 19.3 percent (11-57) from the field for the second-lowest opponent field goal percentage of the Staley era, and Vanderbilt (Jan. 10), which shot just 26.5 percent after coming into the game with the SEC’s second-highest field goal accuracy at 45.2.

Home Sweet Home
South Carolina is in its 11th season at Colonial Life Arena and enjoys a 114-57 (.667) record in that time. Overall, the Gamecocks are 359-154 (.700) all-time in home games. Head coach Dawn Staley has amassed a 49-24 (.671) home record in her fifth season at the helm.

Figuring On February
South Carolina is 180-139 (.564) all-time in the month of February, including a 12-16 (.429) record under fifth-year head coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks are 102-39 (.723) in home games during the second month of the calendar year, including an 18-16 (.529) mark at Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina is 60-83 (.420) in February road games and 12-9 at neutral sites during the month.

Front Runners
South Carolina has won each of the 16 games this season in which it has taken a lead into the locker room at halftime. In head coach Dawn Staley’s fourth season at the helm, South Carolina is 74-13 after leading at halftime and 3-5 when tied at the game’s midway point.

Locking It Down
South Carolina has held an opponent to 48 or fewer points 15 times this season, already exceeding last season’s school record of 14. In program history, the Gamecocks have lost just one of the 127 games in which they held an opponent to 48 or fewer points – 40-42 at Georgia on Jan. 13, 2013.

Good Hands
South Carolina is ranked 30th in the country in turnovers, committing just 14.2 per game. The Gamecocks have committed 10 or fewer turnovers seven times this season, including a pair of seven-turnover games that rank among the top five in the Dawn Staley era. South Carolina has turned it over more than 15 times in a game just seven times, while the defense has forced more than 15 turnovers 14 times. The Gamecocks’ 14.2 turnovers per game matches last season’s mark as the lowest average by the program since the 1983-84 team set the school record of 8.2.