SECWB.com - The Blog

by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

The Dawn Staley Era was kicked off last night with an action-packed, come-from-behind 78-69 win against Peach State Elite at the Colonial Life Center. No matter that it didn’t count in the standings, fans got what they came for: a glimpse of what Gamecocks women’s basketball will look like, this season and in the foreseeable future. It was a bit different than expected, beginning with the starting lineup of Demetress Adams, Brionna Dickerson, Jewel May, Lakeisha Sutton and…Lauren Falohun? Yes, Cocoa started the game and played 23 minutes (after having played 89 minutes the entire 07-08 season), scoring 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 monster blocked shot on a Peach State player going in for a lay-up. Seven turnovers from her were a disappointment, but otherwise, Cocoa appeared focused and energetic and provided a harassing presence on defense.
It was no surprise that Adams and Dickerson were in there to lead the way and their senior leadership is going to be needed, all season long. Dickerson barely got a chance to breathe, playing 38 minutes and leading the scoring with 16 points. Adams scored a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Three other players, all freshmen, scored in double figures with 10 points apiece: Sutton, Miranda Tate and Sada Wheeler.

The Gamecocks had to work hard for this win. The visiting team had a 10-point lead in the first half, thanks to a huge advantage in the number of free throws attempted (18 for Peach State, 5 for the Gamecocks) and shooting 94% from the free throw line. But the Gamecocks turned up the effort a couple of notches and were able to climb back into the game, trailing by only 1 point at halftime 37-36.

Now, let’s take a brief timeout for just a few words about the officiating. I’m pretty sure I am not alone in characterizing it as poor, at best. And, despite the extreme difference in the number of first-half fouls that were called, I am not implying that the officiating was biased–just bad. There were phantom calls, there were missed calls, there were silly calls–something for everyone. This is nothing new, but it does make me wonder: is the NCAA ever going to take this seriously? Coaches and players are not free to speak about the problems associated with the quality of officiating and the fans are dismissed as biased whiners. Whose opinion does matter? I’m just asking…and now it’s down off of the soapbox and back to the game.

In the second half, Carolina gained the lead and held off a Peach State run to get it back. With less than 2 minutes left to play, Peach State got to within 6 points, but could get no closer as Adams and Dickerson led the way down the final stretch.

Unfortunately for the U.S.C. fans who were looking forward to seeing her, former Gamecock guard Stacy Booker was a non-factor in the game. She arrived at the bench shortly before halftime and entered the game immediately. Then, after a minute and a half of play (1 rebound and 1 missed shot) she went down hard–and got up, limping. Booker did not return to the game, but was stretched out on the bench for the rest of the game.

Kadie Riverin (Rice, 2008) led Peach State Elite with 23 points, including 13-13 from the foul line. Three other players joined her in double figures: Nikki Luckhurst with 13, Maurita Reid with 12 and Alisha Tatham with 11 points and 8 rebounds..Chinata Nesbit also had 8 rebounds for Peach State Elite.

Overall, the Gamecocks looked pretty good. With the pressure on, they never appeared panicked, either charging back from the 10-point deficit or protecting their own lead in the last minutes. The players appeared focused throughout the game, though there were a few lapses on the offensive end, when the action slowed to a crawl–until some choice words/screams from the bench got them jump-started again. A couple of players looked a tiny bit winded after a few trips up and down the court and there were a few enthusiastic errors (as opposed to sloppy or lazy errors) but the effort was solid and the chemistry is coming along. There is plenty of reason for optimism.

On the downside, Courtney Newton spent the game on the bench, along with Charenee Stephens (reportedly in Staley’s doghouse) and Tonia Williams. Newton has some concerns with her knee and will apparently be out for up to a couple of weeks.

The Gamecocks’ season opener is at Penn State on November 16.

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by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

2008-2009 Gamecocks Debut is Thursday

On Thursday night, the Dawn Staley Era (un)officially begins at the Colonial Life Center. Unofficial, because this is an exhibition game that will not count in the won-loss record or standings. It will, however, give us the chance to see our new team (and our new coaching staff) in action in a game situation.

Thursday’s opponent is Peach State Elite. Previously known as the SEHR All-Stars, Peach State Elite is serving as a college exhibition tour team, designed to help former college players stay in shape as they prepare for professional play. Another goal is to provide the colleges and universities on their schedule with a quality opponent in the preseason. Peach State Elite will be playing six games this preseason, in a span of 10 days. Interestingly, 3 of their other 5 opponents are on South Carolina’s regular-season schedule: Clemson, Georgia and Mississippi. However, don’t expect these contests to mean very much or to have any predictive value. Traveling teams like Peach State Elite are together for a short period of time and are playing a LOT of games in that short time. Even though the college teams are still working the kinks out of their game and team chemistry, they have the advantage: home arena, team unity and familiarity, more coaching consistency, etc. And the college teams are getting their first chance to take out their frustrations on someone other than a teammate. That can’t hurt.

Peach State currently has only 9 players on their roster and they are a fairly short team. Only two players are over 6 feet tall. From this alone, I believe we can expect them to be a fairly quick team and also that they will all be playing a lot of minutes. If our Gamecock players have mastered the kind of pressure defense that Coach Staley wants them to play, I think Peach State Elite could be a little overwhelmed by the Gamecocks attack. After a couple of furious runs, if the Gamecocks stick with their game plan, I believe that USC will build a comfortable lead and maintain it until the final buzzer.

Gamecock fans will find one of the Peach State Elite guards to be a familiar face: guard Stacy Booker, who played at U.S.C. from 03-04 through 06-07. Stacy averaged 7.1 points and 2.6 rebounds over the course of her playing career at Carolina, averaging 19 minutes a game. She’s fast and furious and somewhat inconsistent. When she’s ON, she can score at will and keep the other team back on their heels. When she’s OFF, she may throw a few passes/assists to the opponent. A few of the other players on the Peach State Elite roster sounded a bit familiar–and, if this were a regular season game I would have been googling them all, to bring you some interesting information about them. Since this is just an exhibition, I’m taking the easy way out and letting you judge for yourself. They’re very young and I don’t expect that they’ve had enough time working together to compete successfully (for the 40 minute duration of the game) against a team that knows each other fairly well. At least, this Gamecock team should know each other fairly well, by now. I think Peach State will push the Gamecocks, but not beat them.

I’m not going to provide an in-depth analysis of the Gamecocks, either–yet. I want to watch this team in action against Peach State Elite, first, and hopefully see some of the new kids play against them. We already know that we have a solid nucleus of players returning: guards Brionna Dickerson, Cocoa Falohun, Courtney Newton and Samone Kennedy, post players Demetress Adams, Jewel May and C. J. Pace, sort of. Pace has played the guard position and can hit a 3-point shot, but she also has good size and strength and could end up playing just about anywhere. Adams and Dickerson have been solid performers for the past 3 years and should be expected to provide some senior leadership for the younger players.

The new players, Walvius recruits, are the Georgia trio of Tonia Williams, Sada Wheeler and Charenee Stephens. All three are highly regarded players who helped the last Walvius recruiting class (along with Becky Burke, who requested a release from her scholarship and Taylor Dalrymple, who failed to qualify) acquire a #7 ranking among recruiting classes. But that was then and this is now. To fill the last-minute vacancies left by transfers, Coach Dawn Staley brought in 3 more players: Long Island University transfer Valerie Nainima, Lakeisha Sutton (an LIU recruit who requested a release to play at Carolina) and Miranda Tate, who was recruited for Temple and decided to follow her chosen coach to the University of South Carolina. Nainima will have to sit out a year, to satisfy transfer requirements, and will be a junior when she is eligible to play.

Basketball season is officially underway! Not a minute too soon, either. I think most of us have been a bit more distracted than usual, this off-season, thanks to the high drama of the 2008 Presidential Election that is taking place right at this moment. And I certainly hope that every one of you took the time to exercise your constitutional rights and cast a ballot for the candidate of your choice. Stepping back off of the soapbox now and looking forward to seeing all of you at the exhibition game against Peach State Elite, Thursday night at 7 pm. Go Gamecocks!

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