Snake
12-17-2007, 08:01 AM
Gamecocks welcome rare test
USC hopes rugged SEC has prepped team for showdown with UConn
By JOSEPH PERSON - jperson@thestate.com (jperson@thestate.com)
South Carolina guard Brionna Dickerson claims tonight’s clash with No. 2 Connecticut is just “another game.”
But what are the chances the junior from Columbia, who has a stress fracture in her left foot, would rush back from an injury to face Alabama A&M, the Gamecocks’ next opponent after the Huskies?
Dickerson, who has missed the past four games, informed USC’s trainer that neither rain, nor sleet, nor a sore foot would keep her out of the lineup against one of the dominant programs in women’s basketball in Storrs, Conn.
“It doesn’t matter how my foot feels; I’m going to play,” Dickerson recalled telling team trainer Jenn Herod. “It does feel better, though.”
Even if Dickerson can play, the Gamecocks (7-2) face long odds against a UConn squad that has captured five national championships — including four in the past eight years — under longtime coach Geno Auriemma.
The Huskies (7-0) are winning by an average of 39 points this season, including a 26-point pounding of No. 9 Duke last month.
USC has never faced UConn, although the two share a common opponent in Virginia. While the Gamecocks nipped the Cavaliers 66-64 on Nov. 15, the Huskies beat Virginia 75-45 on Dec. 5 for their 20th consecutive regular-season victory.
“UConn is certainly a great basketball team, but our kids face that in the SEC every night,” USC coach Susan Walvius said. “But that’s why we play this game. There aren’t many people who can go into UConn and win. But if you don’t play them, you don’t have that opportunity.”
The Gamecocks have had plenty of chances against top-ranked teams, but they have yet to make good on one. USC is 0-19 against schools ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the country. All but one of those games came against SEC opponents.
“It’s going to be a big game, a big test,” said freshman guard Jordan Jones. “We’re playing against the best team in the country, arguably.”
But the Gamecocks say they are used to stiff competition. In the past five years, USC has faced a No. 1 team three times — twice against Tennessee and once against LSU.
“Look at our conference,” senior guard Ebony Jones said. “You’re talking about Tennessee. You’re talking about LSU. You’re talking about Georgia. ...”
UConn will return the game next year in Columbia, when Huskies guard Kalana Greene, of Saint Stephens, is a senior.
But first, the Gamecocks will try to slay the Big East giant on its home court. The Huskies, who split their home games between Hartford and Storrs, have won 202 consecutive games on their home courts.
Walvius, who coached at West Virginia for two seasons before arriving at USC in 1997, is familiar with Gampel Pavilion, site of tonight’s game.
“I understand what the facility feels like when it’s full,” Walvius said. “It’s just a great women’s basketball environment.”
Jordan Jones, a 5-foot-9 native of Suwanee, Ga., said the Gamecocks would try to do the little things — box out, hustle for loose balls, make free throws — to try to hang with the Huskies and steal a huge win.
“A lot of us have been in situations like that (in) state championship games,” Jones said of the big-game atmosphere at Gampel. “So hopefully it won’t get to us.”
http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/260072.html
USC hopes rugged SEC has prepped team for showdown with UConn
By JOSEPH PERSON - jperson@thestate.com (jperson@thestate.com)
South Carolina guard Brionna Dickerson claims tonight’s clash with No. 2 Connecticut is just “another game.”
But what are the chances the junior from Columbia, who has a stress fracture in her left foot, would rush back from an injury to face Alabama A&M, the Gamecocks’ next opponent after the Huskies?
Dickerson, who has missed the past four games, informed USC’s trainer that neither rain, nor sleet, nor a sore foot would keep her out of the lineup against one of the dominant programs in women’s basketball in Storrs, Conn.
“It doesn’t matter how my foot feels; I’m going to play,” Dickerson recalled telling team trainer Jenn Herod. “It does feel better, though.”
Even if Dickerson can play, the Gamecocks (7-2) face long odds against a UConn squad that has captured five national championships — including four in the past eight years — under longtime coach Geno Auriemma.
The Huskies (7-0) are winning by an average of 39 points this season, including a 26-point pounding of No. 9 Duke last month.
USC has never faced UConn, although the two share a common opponent in Virginia. While the Gamecocks nipped the Cavaliers 66-64 on Nov. 15, the Huskies beat Virginia 75-45 on Dec. 5 for their 20th consecutive regular-season victory.
“UConn is certainly a great basketball team, but our kids face that in the SEC every night,” USC coach Susan Walvius said. “But that’s why we play this game. There aren’t many people who can go into UConn and win. But if you don’t play them, you don’t have that opportunity.”
The Gamecocks have had plenty of chances against top-ranked teams, but they have yet to make good on one. USC is 0-19 against schools ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the country. All but one of those games came against SEC opponents.
“It’s going to be a big game, a big test,” said freshman guard Jordan Jones. “We’re playing against the best team in the country, arguably.”
But the Gamecocks say they are used to stiff competition. In the past five years, USC has faced a No. 1 team three times — twice against Tennessee and once against LSU.
“Look at our conference,” senior guard Ebony Jones said. “You’re talking about Tennessee. You’re talking about LSU. You’re talking about Georgia. ...”
UConn will return the game next year in Columbia, when Huskies guard Kalana Greene, of Saint Stephens, is a senior.
But first, the Gamecocks will try to slay the Big East giant on its home court. The Huskies, who split their home games between Hartford and Storrs, have won 202 consecutive games on their home courts.
Walvius, who coached at West Virginia for two seasons before arriving at USC in 1997, is familiar with Gampel Pavilion, site of tonight’s game.
“I understand what the facility feels like when it’s full,” Walvius said. “It’s just a great women’s basketball environment.”
Jordan Jones, a 5-foot-9 native of Suwanee, Ga., said the Gamecocks would try to do the little things — box out, hustle for loose balls, make free throws — to try to hang with the Huskies and steal a huge win.
“A lot of us have been in situations like that (in) state championship games,” Jones said of the big-game atmosphere at Gampel. “So hopefully it won’t get to us.”
http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/260072.html