SECWB.com - The Blog

by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

Box Score

I thought the season opener against Penn State was ugly. The home opener tonight, against arch-rival Clemson, was much worse–I saw this one in person and got a horrible sense of deja vu as the Gamecocks dug themselves into a very deep hole and then worked themselves to the point of exhaustion, trying to climb back out.

The first half saw the home team get behind by 17 points at 10-27, then work their way back into the game (almost) by halftime, closing the gap to 7 points at 24-31.The shooting was horrible, again. The Gamecocks hit only 9 of 29 shots in the first half (31%), led by Miranda Tate’s 3 for 3 shooting from the floor and 1-1 from the free throw line and Cocoa Falohun’s 6 points on 2 for 3 shooting from the floor and 2-2 on free throws. Demetress Adams was unable to get her hands on the ball, most of the first half, except by grabbing a rebound. She led both teams in rebounding in the first half with 8.

On the other side of the floor, Clemson’s Lele Hardy, April Parker and Whitney Hood pretty much had their way with the Gamecocks, scoring 11, 8 and 8 points, respectively, and shooting nearly 44% in the first half. Hardy ended up as the leading scorer in the game with 17 points and 7 steals and Parker and Hood each had 10 for the contest.. Tasha Taylor led the Clemson team in rebounding with 6 and also led in assists, with 5.

The Gamecocks were wildly inconsistent for the entire game, turning the ball over too much and missing crucial baskets. There were only 6 assists for USC against 24 turnovers, which pretty well demonstrates the kind of chaos that was their offensive game. While they were able to tighten up the defense enough to knock Clemson’s shooting percentage down to 37% for the game, they were unable to improve their own shooting and ended with a shooting percentage of only 32.7%. But the biggest problem for the Gamecocks was the inability to keep the post players on the floor and in the game. Demetress Adams picked up 2 fouls early in the first half and was only marginally effective after that. Adams finished with 11 rebounds, but only 2 points. Cocoa Falohun was the leading scorer for the Gamecocks with 10 points; freshmen Tonia Williams and Miranda Tate each contributed 8 points.

When you look at Clemson’s box score, you would probably expect that they lost the game. They scored only 52 points, shot 37% from the floor and 17% from 3-point land and had 20 turnovers. But the Gamecocks were even worse in each of those categories.

At the conclusion of the game, head coach Dawn Staley got a microphone from the game announcer and addressed the crowd. She thanked the fans for being there and told the crowd that she knew that we had expected a better result than what we saw against Clemson and that the team was continuing to work hard and would need the continued support of the fans. She’s right. This is a work in progress and they need all the support that they can get.

The next game is Monday, November 24th against the Davidson Wildcats. The game starts at 7 pm.

—–DAWN STALEY INTERVIEW—–

An interview with South Carolina Gamecocks, Women’s Basketball Head Coach, Dawn Staley in her first season at USC (November 19, 2008).

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by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

Last spring, shortly after the completion of the college basketball season, two players on the South Carolina women’s basketball team were arrested on multiple charges of credit card theft and fraud and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Following the filing of charges against the players, they were dismissed from the women’s basketball program and suspended from the University, pending resolution of the charges.

This morning, former Gamecocks guards Jasmine Payne and Ashlie Billingslea appeared before Fifth Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs and pleaded guilty to multiple counts of financial card theft and fraud and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Both Billingslea and Payne also apologized in court.

Both were sentenced to five years of prison, suspended to 18 months of probation under the youthful offenders act, and were ordered to pay restitution to the victims whose credit cards and debit cards they stole from the Blatt P.E. Center last March. Payne must pay $391 in restitution and Billingslea owes the victims $351. Payne owes more restitution because she admitted to an additional theft. Both women will also be required to submit to regular drug and alcohol testing.

Ashlie Billingslea, who was expected to be South Carolina’s starting point guard for the 2007-2008 season, suffered a knee injury on the first day of practice and did not participate in a game until the conference season was well underway. Billingslea is now attending Chipola College in Florida, where she is playing on the basketball team. She has reportedly signed a letter of intent to attend Mississippi State University, with plans to enroll there next fall. No further information about the signing was available through the MSU Bulldogs website.

Jasmine Payne, who came off the Gamecocks bench in a number of games last season, is now attending Pensacola Junior College, where she is on the roster of the basketball team. She will be eligible to begin playing for the Pirates, next semester. She reports that she has had interest from a number of Division I schools.

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