Lady Gamecocks Beat Jackson State 82-49

[gococks3111]

Freshman Jordan Jones led the team with 20 points.
Junior Demetress Adams narrowly missed a triple double: 12 points, 13 boards, and 8 assists.
Seniors Ilona Burgrova and Ebony Jones both chipped in with 12, while senior Lakesha Tolliver added 10.
Freshman Samone Kennedy dished out five assists.

This is an exciting team to watch, with several young talented players, as well as great veteran play down low. They are 7-2 on the year.

Next home game is December 19th against Alabama A&M.

[FoghornLeghornCock]

Posted on Sat, Dec. 08, 2007


Basketball | USC finishes strongly against Jackson State

Late stretch of turnovers halts after coach’s stern speech during a time out

By CHRIS DEARING - Special to The State http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/251830.html


Susan Walvius wanted to do something to get her team’s attention. It didn’t matter to the 11-year South Carolina coach that the Gamecocks were leading by more than 20 points against a team that played in the postseason last year.
Things had turned ragged and she probably gave her sternest timeout speech of the season. Whatever she said seemed to work as the Gamecocks regained control and cruised to an 82-49 victory against Jackson State Friday night at the Colonial Center.
The reason for Walvius’ concern was a stretch where every pass the Gamecocks threw had a better chance to find the hands of one of the Tigers. After committing seven turnovers in the first half, USC had 13 in the second half and one stretch where they committed turnovers on six consecutive possessions.
“We spend so much time on the spacing concept and that particular press break and we had people not in the right spot, not getting to the right spot and walking around aimlessly so I just tried to get their attention,” Walvius said. “All I said is, ‘come on guys, you are better than this.”
Even with that brutal stretch, the Gamecocks (7-2) won for the fourth consecutive game and head into the 10-day exam break before playing at No. 2 Connecticut on Dec. 17.
Ebony Jones came off the bench and scored all 12 of her points in the second half and helped calm the tide after the rough going. The senior has 4-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc.
Jones had plenty of help on the offensive end. Jordan Jones continued her hot streak and set a career high with 20 points to lead five Gamecocks in double figures. Demtress Adams, Ilona Burgorva joined Ebony Jones with 12 points and Lakesha Tolliver added 10. Adams just missed a triple-double as the junior finished with 13 rebounds and 8 assists.
The defensive pressure is what gave South Carolina control. Jackson State (2-6) stayed close for about eight minutes until the Gamecocks closed the first half on a 29-5 run that included a 19-1 stretch over the final 7:57 that gave USC a 43-19 halftime advantage.
During that time, the Gamecocks held the Tigers without a field goal for 13:07 and expanded a 3-point lead to 28 points.
“We definitely tried to focus in on the defensive end,” Ebony Jones said. “Once we got the defensive pressure going that left it open and we hit a couple of open shots and that got the game going in our favor.”
The Gamecocks will take the next couple days off after being together without a break for the past three weeks before they hit a stretch where they play four games before the end of the calendar year. Two of the games are on the road against the nationally ranked Huskies and Oklahoma —plus a trip to Clemson.
Walvius feels her team is in better shape than the past couple of years because they have already played two Big Ten schools and an ACC foe. This next stretch will prepare them for the rigors of the SEC slate.
“We’re going to spend some time on watching UConn and hopefully see how hard we have to play consistently throughout the course of a game,” Walvius said. “That’s the difference between great teams and good teams. We’re playing these caliber of teams so the young players on our team can understand, clearly, where we want to go as a program.”
KEY MOMENT: Jackson State hung around for the opening nine minutes before South Carolina closed the half on a 19-1 run. That was part of the closing stretch in which the Gamecocks outscored the Tigers 29-5 over the final 12:12 of the half to take a 43-18 lead.
STAR OF THE GAME: It is hard to go wrong with freshman Jordan Jones, who again set a career-high with 20 points, but Ebony Jones scored all 12 of her points in the second half. All of her points came on 3-pointers and helped USC right the ship after Jackson State made a brief run.
POINT OF EMPHASIS: Jackson State began the game in a zone, hoping to contend with USCs superior height advantage. But Jordan Jones changed that philosophy. The freshman connected on 3-of-5 from long range. That helped open the middle and the Gamecocks shot 60.8 percent from the field.
INJURIES: None reported.


Jackson StateMPFGFTRAFPt Chambwe131-20-00012 Trahan90-30-02010 Easley335-111-262411 Davis192-90-01016 Ross171-31-23003 Christian255-161-223211 McIn111-30-00012 Campbell50-20-01020 Gains171-81-21014 Dowdy131-10-03002 Johnson32-20-00005 Cooper190-10-04050 G. Jones130-13-41013 S. Jones30-00-00000 Totals20019-627-123151949 USCMPFGFTRAFPt Adams335-92-6138212 Tolliver224-52-551310 Burgrova306-80-240112 Kennedy293-70-01516 J. Jones395-77-822320 Falohun70-00-01100 Payne133-80-04006 E. Jones214-60-032112 May61-12-21004 Totals20031-5113-2337191182 3-pointers: Jackson 4-16 (Easley 0-1, Davis 2-8, McIn 0-1,Gains 1-5, Johnson 1-1); USC 7-10 (J. Jones 3-5, E. Jones 4-5. Turnovers: Jackson 20, USC 20. Officials: Tina Napier, EddieNovak, Doug Cloud. A: 1287.