Conference play is finally here and suddenly, every game means so much more than the 15 or so games that have already been played. Those are important, of course every game is important, in some fashion. Some games are scheduled to pad the number of wins and build up the team s confidence, some are scheduled to pose a serious challenge (with the added benefit of boosting the team s RPI and/or Strength of Schedule rating), some are traditional matchups and some are just convenient.

But starting this week, every game becomes a "must win" game. And of course, it is rare to win every game.

SEC teams have a disturbing tendency to go for the jugular and the Gamecocks sometimes expose their weaknesses more than is wise, under those circumstances. More attention needs to be paid to the point guard position. It has been a problem since Cristina Ciocan graduated in 2004; the Gamecocks now have a few bonafide point guards, but 2 are benched with injuries and Samone Kennedy is still coming off the bench, while the other guards combine efforts to direct the action on the court. When faced with the kind of pressure that comes in the closing minutes of a close game, it is questionable whether that will work. It was not wildly successful during the past 3 years. Press breaking is another area that needs continuing work, as well as better decision-making. Too many passes are more of a prayer than a statement, especially when the passes are concentrated on hitting the low post. Much better to keep working the ball around than to chunk passes at the feet of a 6-4 player or simpl y loft the ball into the general area; most SEC teams have several players who can intercept that pass. The defense is generally good, but the team is still adjusting to having 7 new players, so some on-floor combinations are better than others. The freshmen have made good progress in their defense, but occasionally someone gets lost and a shooter is left wide open. That will be deadly in conference play.

But, let s move on to the Alabama game, the kickoff to the Gamecocks conference season. The Crimson Tide is incredibly young; of 13 roster players, 10 are either freshmen or sophomores. There are also 2 seniors and 1 junior on the active roster. Youth does not equate to inexperience, though; most of the sophomores saw significant playing time, last season. The current scoring leaders are Tierney Jenkins (13.6 ppg) andDaleisha Carn (9.8 ppg); both players are freshmen. Sophomore Talisha Chandler and Jenkins are the rebounding leaders, with 9.3 and 8.1 per game, respectively.

Another problem is that Alabama has been short several players, already this season, due to injuries. Those players are returning, but have missed some of the tuneup games leading into the conference season. The non-conference schedule has not been extremely challenging, either, and the Tide has fallen to some teams (like my alma mater, East Tennessee State University, Samford, Belmont and Arkansas State) that they really should probably have beaten. This does not bode extremely well for the second half of the season. If the athletic administration is patient, coach Stephany Smith may have time to develop all of these young and experienced players and show some serious results in the coming 2-3 years. Time will tell.

The Gamecocks head into conference play with freshman Jordan Jones leading the scoring at 13.1 points per game, followed by junior Brionna Dickerson with 12.1 and junior Demetress Adams with 11.9 points per game. Adams leads the rebounding with a n average 8.7 of per game, followed by senior center Ilona Burgrova and senior forward Lakesha Tolliver hauling in 6.9 and 5.7 per game, respectively. Tolliver leads the team in blocked shots, with 35, with Adams right behind her with 33 blocks. Adams leads the team in steals, with 45, trailed by freshman point guard Samone Kennedy with 27. Kennedy, who averages just over 21 minutes of playing time, also leads the team in assists with 59, while Adams is second with 36 assists. The Gamecocks boast a balanced scoring attack and strong defense; of late, rebounding has picked up tremendously. All road games in the Southeastern Conference are a challenge, none of them are easy. However, against Alabama, that should be enough.

After the Alabama game, South Carolina returns home to the Colonial Center for a match against the University of Tennessee on Sunday, January 13.