South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Clemson Tigers

Transcription

1 South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Clemson Tigers USC Schedule N 21 at Clemson 8:30 p.m. N 24 APPALACHIAN STATE 7:00 p.m. N 26 MERCER 7:00 p.m. N 29 FLORIDA A&M 6:00 p.m. D 2 at Stetson 7:00 p.m. D 5 vs. So. Utah & 10:00 p.m. D 6 TBA & TBA D 14 at Charlotte 2:00 p.m. D 18 LA LAFAYETTE 7:00 p.m. D 20 vs North Carolina % 3:00 p.m. D 30 at Seton Hall 7:30 p.m. J 3 at Minnesota 4:00 p.m. J 11 at Alabama* 3:00 p.m. J 15 TENNESSEE* 7:00 p.m. J 18 ARKANSAS* 2:00 p.m. J 22 at Florida* 7:00 p.m. J 25 KENTUCKY* 2:00 p.m. J 28 at College of Charleston 7:00 p.m. F 1 at LSU* 2:00 p.m. F 5 MISSISSIPPI* 7:00 p.m. F 8 at Tennessee* 3:00 p.m. F 12 ALABAMA* 7:00 p.m. F 15 at Auburn* 3:00 p.m. F 19 at Mississippi State* 8:00 p.m. F 22 GEORGIA* (SEC-TV) 3:00 p.m. F 26 at Kentucky 7:00 p.m. F 29 VANDERBILT* 2:00 p.m. M 4-7 SEC Tournament# TBA All Times are Eastern * Southeastern Conference Game & Southwest Airlines Lobo Shootout (Albuquerque, NM) % ACC-SEC Challenge (Myrtle Beach, SC) # SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN) Game Information WHAT... South Carolina vs. Clemson When:... Friday, November 21, 2003; 8:30 p.m. tip Where:... Littlejohn Coliseum (Clemson, SC) Team Records...First game of the season for both teams Last Meeting:... South Carolina 72 Clemson 58, 11/22/02 (Columbia) Series History:... Clemson leads USC Radio AM - WISW; Andy DeMetra (play-by-play) Coaches USC: Susan Walvius (Virginia Tech, 1986); Entering 7th season at USC (record 96-78) and 13th year overall (record ). Clemson: Jim Davis (Tennessee Wesleyan, 1970); In 16th year at Clemson (record ) and 17th season in his career (record ). Last Season USC: Registered a 23-8 record in to complete back-to-back 20-win seasons over the last two years. Advanced into the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to host Penn State. Clemson: Suffered its first losing season in 16 years with a mark and a 5-11 record in ACC play. It was the first time in Coach Davis era that his Tiger team did not advance into postseason play. Tonight s Game For the second consecutive season, Palmetto state rivals South Carolina and Clemson open their respective seasons facing each other in the annual red-letter game. Last year, the Gamecocks welcomed the Tigers to Columbia on Friday, November 22nd to help USC open the brand-new Carolina Center. Tonight, Clemson will look to turn the tables on South Carolina in the newly-renovated Littlejohn Coliseum. The Gamecocks enjoy a strong opening night record as USC is 21-8 in regular season openers and 15-6 on the road. Since taking over the South Carolina program in 1997, head coach Susan Walvius is 5-1 in season openers with the only loss on the road coming at the hands of Rice in the 2000 Preseason WNIT. South Carolina is expected to send out a youthful team on Friday night when as many as two freshmen could crack the starting lineup. Freshmen Lauren Simms and Iva Sliskovic have all earned Coach Walvius praise for their hard work during the preseason and the two might start in their first collegiate game. Sophomores Sarah Burgess and Olga Gritsaeva are also expected to contend for starting nods as the duo have come back to school much improved after their strong freshmen year. Preseason All-America candidate Cristina Ciocan will start at guard for the Gamecocks and the senior is only 123 assists away from becoming the USC career record holder. LOOKING AT THE GAMECOCKS No. Name Pos. Cl. PPG RPG Worth Noting... 5 Lea Fabbri G Fr. - - Scored 16 points against the United States team in the World Championships this summer. 10 Kelly Morrone G Sr * Begins 3rd consecutive year as team captain. Recorded career-high 116 assists in Shannel Harris G Fr. - - Graduated from Collins Hill High School after leading Eagles to back-to-back GA State titles. 12 Sarah Burgess G So Tied SEC tournament record with her seven three-point baskets against Mississippi. 14 Iva Sliskovic F Fr. - - Teammate of Gamecock teammate Lea Fabbri on the Croatian National Team. 15 Cristina Ciocan G Sr * Preseason All American candidate who is only 123 assists away from school career mark. 20 Olga Gritsaeva F So Played in 20 games and started one in her freshman year at South Carolina. 23 Melanie Johnson% F Fr. - - Redshirting the season. One of four South Carolina natives on the Gamecock roster. 24 Angela Hunter% G So. - - Columbia-native who transferred to USC last summer after one year at UT Chattanooga. 30 Lauren Simms G Fr. - - Five-year starter at Spring Valley where she led Vikings to the state playoffs in last four years. 31 Stacy Booker G Fr. - - High School teammate of Shannel Harris. Scored a school-record 31 points in a game. 40 Kasia Roszak F Jr Will miss first half of season (11 games) to fulfill NCAA requirements. 41 Lakesha Tolliver F Fr. - - Leader of the Dreher High School squad that won the 3A SC State titles in 2002 and Larissa Kulcsar G Fr. - - Romanian National Team member for last five years. Averaged 13 pts. and 8 rebs. last summer. * assists % Redshirting season

2 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Cl. Hometown (Previous School) 5 Lea Fabbri G 5-9 Fr. New Zagreb, Croatia 10 Kelly Morrone G 5-7 Sr. Syracuse, NY (Cicero HS) 11 Shannel Harris G 6-0 Fr. Lawrenceville, GA (Collins Hill HS) 12 Sarah Burgess G 5-10 So. Brook Park, OH (Regina HS) 14 Iva Sliskovic F 6-3 Fr. Zagreb, Croatia 15 Cristina Ciocan G 6-0 Sr. Bucharest, Romania (Aurel Vlacu HS) 20 Olga Gritsaeva F 6-2 Fr. St. Petersburg, Russia *23 Melanie Johnson F 6-2 Fr. Barnwell, SC (Barnwell HS) 30 Lauren Simms G 5-8 Fr. Columbia, SC (Spring Valley HS) 31 Stacy Booker G 5-8 Fr. Lawrenceville, GA (Collins Hill HS) 40 Kasia Roszak F 6-2 Sr. Szamotuly, Poland (Gulf Coast CC) 41 Lakesha Tolliver F 6-2 Fr. Columbia, SC (Dreher HS) 55 Larissa Kulcsar F 6-3 Fr. Cluj-Napoca, Romania *24 Angela Hunter G 5-8 T-So. Columbia, SC (Columbia HS) * Not eligible for the season Head Coach: Susan Walvius Assistant Coaches: Chris Brower, Ed Baldwin, Michelle Marciniak Director of Basketball Operations: Robin Muller Cristina Ciocan Leah Fabbri Olga Gritsaeva Larissa Kulcsar Kelly Morrone Iva Sliskovic Kasia Roszak Pronunciations Cho-CON Lay-uh Fab-BRE Grits-sigh-va KOOL-char More-own Eva Slis-ko-vich Kosha RO-ZHACK HOW THEY Re EXPECTED TO LINEUP South Carolina Gamecocks (0-0) F 14 Iva Sliskovic (6-5, Fr.) F 20 Olga Gritsaeva (6-4, So.) G 30 Lauren Simms (5-8, Fr.) G 10 Kelly Morrone (5-7, Sr.) G 15 Cristina Ciocan (6-0, Sr.) Clemson Tigers (0-0) F 22 Lakeia Stokes (5-11, Sr.) F 04 Maggie Slosser (6-2, Sr.) C 44 Amanda White (6-4, So.) G 30 Julie Aderhold (5-8, Jr.) G 12 Julie Talley (5-9, Sr.) Sports Information WBB Contact: Cheryl Harden (office) (803) (home) ( ) Cheryl.Harden@sc.edu SID fax: Press Room: Press Row: Website: Clemson Information Location: Clemson, South Carolina Enrollment: 17,101 Nickname: Lady Tigers Conference: ACC Colors: Orange & Purple Website: Basketball Information Head Coach (alma mater & yr.): Jim Davis (Tenn. Wesleyan 70) School Record: (16 yrs.) Career Record: (17 yrs.) Asst. Coaches: Tina Langely, Mike Hodge, Itoro Coleman Overall Record: ACC Record: 5-11 (7th) Starter Lost: Chrissy Floyd Letterwinners Lost: Tina Andrew, Monica Blackmon, Leah Roper, Tabitha Vasilas Key Returnees: Lauren Allen, Khaili Sanders, Lacey Shafer, Lakeia Stokes, Julie Talley Newcomers: Lauren Chauvin, Jill Justice, Maxienne White, Carrie Whitehurst Sports Information SID Contact: Sam Blackman blackmj@clemson.edu Office: (864) Fax: (864) Press Row: (864) South Carolina Women s Basketball

3 Tonight s Opponent For the second consecutive season, Palmetto state rivals South Carolina and Clemson open their respective seasons facing each other in the annual red-letter event. Last year, the Gamecocks welcomed the Tigers to Columbia on Friday, November 22nd to help USC open the brand-new Carolina Center. Tonight, Clemson will look to turn the tables on South Carolina in the newlyrenovated Littlejohn Coliseum. The Gamecocks enjoy a strong opening night record as USC is 21-8 in regular season openers and 15-6 on the road. Since taking over the South Carolina program in 1997, head coach Susan Walvius is 5-1 in season openers with the only loss coming at the hands of Rice in the 2000 Preseason WNIT. South Carolina is expected to send out a youthful team on Friday night when as many as two or three freshmen could crack the starting lineup. Freshmen Lauren Simms and Iva Sliskovic have all earned Coach Walvius praise for their hard work during the preseason and could earn a start tonight in their first collegiate game. Sophomores Sarah Burgess and Olga Gritsaeva are also expected to contend for starting nods as the duo have come back to school much improved from their freshmen year. One thing is certain, preseason All-America candidate Cristina Ciocan will start at guard for the Gamecocks and the senior is only 123 assists away from becoming the USC career record holder. Ciocan is the top Gamecock scorer and rebounder from last year s squad as she contributed 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in The Lady Tigers start a veteran team as four starters and nine letterwinners return for the season. Lakeia Stokes is the Lady Tigers' leading returning scorer with an 8.3 ppg. average. Amanda White also returns at center after earning freshman All- ACC honors. She led the Lady Tigers in rebounding last season with a 6.1 rpg. mark. Last year, the Lady Tigers had a record overall and a 5-11 mark in the ACC. Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis is entering his 17th season at Clemson. He has led the Lady Tigers to 14 NCAA Appearances and 11 top 25 seasons during his career. He has also coached the Lady Tigers to 11 seasons of at least 20 wins. Four Lady Tiger teams have advanced to the NCAA Final 16 and his 1991 team advanced to the NCAA Final Eight. Davis also led Clemson to ACC Championships in 1996 and Davis has a record at Tigertown in his previous 16 seasons. South Carolina did not play an exhibition games before tonight s season opener. The Tigers fell to Premier Players, 68-67, on November 9th in their only preseason contest. Last Time We Met The South Carolina women s basketball team opened up the Carolina Center in style with a win over in-state rival Clemson on November 22, The win was the Gamecocks first against the Tigers since 1994 and attracted 17,712, the largest ever crowd to witness a basketball game in the state of South Carolina and the fifth-largest crowd at a WBB game in the nation over the last year. USC opened up the game with a 21-6 lead and shot an impressive 45% from the floor in the first half. The Gamecock defense harrassed Clemson into 33% FG percentage on the night and forced 13 turnovers in the first half. South Carolina went into the locker room with a edge at halftime. In the second half, Clemson battled back to cut the deficit to seven with 13:14 left to play. The Gamecocks responded with a 13-2 run over the next three minutes. The relentless Tigers would charge back but they would not get any closer than nine points. South Carolina was led by Jocelyn Penn and Cristina Ciocan who both recorded 23 points. Penn s 23 points moved her into 16 th place all time in USC history. Freshman Sarah Burgess, in her first game ever as a Gamecock, tallied SERIES Information Series Record: Clemson leads In Columbia: USC leads 13-9 In Clemson: Clemson leads 20-4 Neutral Sites: USC leads 2-0 Last Meeting: USC 72 Clemson 58 11/22/02 (Columbia 1/10/76 L H 2/23/76 L A 1/22/77 L H 2/23/77 L A 12/10/77 W H 1/7/78 L A 1/14/78 L A 12/6/78 W H 2/3/79 L A 3/7/79 W N 12/5/79 L A 2/2/80 W H 3/1/80 W N 12/6/80 L* H 2/7/81 L A 3/10/81 W A 12/12/81 W A 2/6/82 W H 12/8/82 W H 2/16/94 L A 12/8/94 W H 2/5/96 L A 12/18/96 L H 1/22/83 L A 12/3/83 L A 2/11/84 L H 12/5/84 L H 2/25/85 L A 12/7/85 L A 2/3/86 W H 12/6/86 W A 2/11/87 W H 1/30/88 L H 2/10/88 L A 1/26/89 W H 1/28/89 L A 12/9/89 W H 1/8/90 W A 12/8/90 L A 1/16/91 W H 2/12/92 L A 2/3/93 W H 11/25/97 L A 12/17/98 L H 11/29/99 L A 11/29/00 L H 11/28/01 L A 11/22/02 W W nine points on three treys. Kelly Morrone added 10 while Petra Ujheyli chipped in four and Koretha Johnson added three. Colonial Center Opener South Carolina makes its home debut on Monday, November 24th when the Gamecocks host the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. All fans who present their football ticket from the November 22nd Clemson-South Carolina football game, receive a ticket for only $2. Gamecocks on the Air Follow South Carolina on the road and at home by tuning into WISW 1320 Sports. The flagship station of the Gamecocks will feature live South Carolina basketball games this season. Andy DeMetra begins his first year as the voice of the Gamecocks. The Palmetto State The Gamecock roster features four South Carolina natives (Melanie Johnson, Lauren Simms, Lakesha Tolliver, Angela Hunter). Coach Walvius has signed three former SC Players of the Year since taking over the Gamecock program (Teresa Geter , Shaunzinski Gortman , Koretha Johnson ). What s Up Next on the Gamecock Schedule!!!!! Monday, Nov. 24th vs. Appalachian State 7:00 p.m. $2 WBB ticket with USC-Clemson ticket stub Wednesday, Nov. 26th vs. Mercer 7:00 p.m. $2 WBB ticket with donation to the Salvation Army Clothing Drive Saturday, Nov. 29th vs. Florida A&M 6:00 p.m. Family Day - $10 ticket admits 2 adults and 2 children 2002 & 2003 NCAA Tournament

4 Nearing the Century Mark With a record of at South Carolina, head coach Susan Walvius needs only four victories to reach the 100-win plateau. Now starting her 13th year as a head coach, Walvius owns a career mark, needing only six wins to reach 200. New Assistant Coaches The Gamecocks welcome three new faces to the bench this season as the team lost assistant coaches Linda Hill-MacDonald and Shell Dailey to the WNBA s Washington Mystics and San Antonio Silver Dollars, respectively. Third-year assistant coach Chris Brower will instruct the number two and three guard positions when not out recruiting more nationally-ranked freshmen. Over the summer, South Carolina added a wealth of basketball knowledge when 18-year veteran Ed Baldwin joined the staff. Most recently, Baldwin served for two years as Dawn Staley s top assistant at Temple but his reputation for coaching and recruiting excellence was built during his 13 seasons as the head coach at UNC Charlotte where he led the 49ers to a national ranking and postseason appearances. Baldwin also served as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow at NC State for three seasons. Baldwin will work with the Gamecock post players and assist in recruiting. Former Tennessee standout Michelle Marciniak begins her first year of coaching and will offer invaluable insight to the Gamecock players. The MVP of the 1996 NCAA Final Four, Marciniak helped lead the Lady Vols to the 1996 National Championship during her senior year. She also played professionally in the ABL and the WNBA before joining the coaching ranks this summer. A point guard during her playing days, Marciniak works with the USC point guards in addition to helping with the recruiting. USC made another step to improve its basketball program by establishing its first-ever director of basketball operations position. The Gamecocks hired former head coach Robin Muller to coordinate the day-to-day basketball details. Muller was the head coach at Winthrop University for seven years and worked as an assistant coach on Walvius Virginia Commonwealth staff for two seasons. Cristina Ciocan Cristina Ciocan established herself as one of the top point guards in the country last year by dishing a career-high 207 assists over the 31 contests. A senior with 473 career assists, Ciocan is fifth on the school s all-time list and is only 123 away from becoming the school s all-time assists leader. Ciocan has finished second in assists in the SEC in the last two seasons and has recorded 10 games with double figures assists. With her 14 assists against Vanderbilt on January 3, 2002, Cristina Ciocan set a new career high and tied a South Carolina record (Mindy Ballou (twice), Martha Parker and Cheryl Autry) for most assists in a game. Ciocan successfully passed the 14 assists with only one turnover. Here are the top five career assist leaders at USC and their pergame averages. Player (years) Total Assists Avg. Mindy Ballou ( ) 595 (115 games) 5.2 Martha Parker ( ) 543 (124 games) 4.4 Sharon Rivers ( ) 512 (122 games) 4.2 Lisa Diaz ( ) 498 (126 games) 4.0 Cristina Ciocan (2000-present) 473 (89 games) 5.3 Shannon Johnson ( ) 467 (109 games) 4.3 Career Assists Leaders at South Carolina 595 Mindy Ballou, Martha Parker, Sharon Rivers, Lisa Diaz, Cristina Ciocan, present 467 Shannon Johnson, Sherry David, Karen Middleton, Marsi McAlister, Nikki Miars, South Carolina Head Coach Susan Walvius Enters her seventh season at the helm of the Gamecocks...Walvius has led South Carolina to backto-back 20+ win seasons and two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances...in , the Gamecocks reached the Elite Eight before falling to Duke in the East Regional Final...In , South Carolina defeated UT-Chattanooga in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Penn State on their home court...since taking over the South Carolina rebuilding project in 1997, Walvius has attracted four top 25 recruiting classes to the USC campus with the and freshmen classes both ranked as the tenth-best in the country...prior to coming to South Carolina, Walvius was the head coach at West Virginia University for two years and led the WVU squad to its first winning season in five years with a record...her ability to rebuild a program was again evident during the five years she spent as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth...In 1995, Walvius squad earned a post-season berth to the WNIT after posting a record... Named as the 1995 Virginia State Coach of the Year and was nominated for National Coach of the Year in District 3...Graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor s degree in urban studies...one of the most successful players ever at Tech...School leader in blocked shots, second in field goals made and third in scoring and rebounds. THE WALVIUS FILE COACHING RESUME Asst. Coach, Bradley Univ Asst. Coach, Rhode Island Head Coach, VCU Head Coach, West Virginia Head Coach, South Carolina PLAYING EXPERIENCE Position - Center, Team Captain Virginia Tech All-Decade Team Virginia All-State All-Metro Conference Converse All-American Street & Smith All-American WALVIUS' ALL-TIME RECORD Virginia Commonwealth Virginia Commonwealth Virginia Commonwealth Virginia Commonwealth Virginia Commonwealth WNIT West Virgina West Virginia South Carolina (3-11 SEC) South Carolina (0-14 SEC) South Carolina (3-11 SEC) South Carolina (6-8 SEC) South Carolina 25-7 (10-4 SEC) South Carolina 23-8 (9-5 SEC) Career Record (12 years) : USC record (6 years) : South Carolina Women s Basketball

5 USC Freshmen Class For the fourth time in six years, head coach Susan Walvius and her staff signed another top 25 recruiting class. This year s eight freshmen were named as the 10th best group in the nation by All Star Girls Report. The class includes three of the best high school players from the state of South Carolina (Columbia s Lauren Simms and Lakesha Tolliver and Barnwell native Melanie Johnson) and two high school teammates from Lawrenceville, Georgia, (Stacy Booker and Shannel Harris) who turned down other offers to attend USC. Committed to finding the best players in the world, Walvius also signed two standouts from Croatia (Lea Fabbri and Iva Sliskovic) and Larissa Kulcsar, who played with Cristina Ciocan on the Romanian National Team. Fall Signee University of South Carolina women s basketball head coach Susan Walvius announced on November 12th the signing of Ilona Burgrova to a national letter of intent during the fall early signing period. Burgrova is a native of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic and is a 6 6 center. Ilona has played on the Czech Junior National Team and National Teams for the past six years, said Gamecock coach Susan Walvius. We have watched her progress each year during the summer evaluation period. We are absolutely thrilled to have Ilona coming to USC. She will bring a great deal of size and strength to our inside game. To give people an idea of her talent, Ilona travelled on a touring team from the Czech Republic last year as a sophomore in high school. She scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and scored 14 points in the win over Ole Miss. Ilona is arguably the best post player in Europe at her age. Rainin Three s The Gamecocks have a streak of 61 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer dating back to the USC-Missouri contest on 11/ 24/01. USC had a streak of 40 games with a trey but it was snapped in the November 18, 2001 game against Louisiana-Lafayette (1/23/ 00-11/24/01). The South Carolina record is 85 consecutive games which occurred from the season through the season. Consecutive Games With A 3FG 85 2/27/93-11/23/ /23/00-1/16/ /9/90-1/6/ /20/87-2/28/ /24/01 - present 14 2/24/97-1/2/ /6/98-1/20/ & 2003 NCAA Tournament