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Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Teams > Mississippi > Gamecocks Continue to Slide, Lose to Ole Miss 74-61
Gamecocks Continue to Slide, Lose to Ole Miss 74-61
by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
Posted: January 21st, 2008 @ 11:13pm
Source: View Box Score
The South Carolina Gamecocks went into Oxford, Mississippi looking to jumpstart the conference portion of the season, but sputtered down the home stretch and lost 74-61. This leaves them at 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference and looking for a way out of the hole, before it’s too late.
The game started slowly and the Gamecocks led early on, but soon let the Mississippi team grab a small lead– and then the Lady Rebels went on a couple of small runs to end the half up by 12 points, 39-27. After the break, it was more of the same, with the Lady Rebels extending the lead to 19 points at 14:15.
Still, the Gamecocks rallied and chipped away at the lead and found themselves down a mere 3 points with 1:35 left to play. And that’s when the wheels fell off. Ole Miss had a 10-0 run to finish the game, aided by the Gamecocks shooting 0-2, with 4 turnovers and 7 fouls down the stretch (most of them purposely committed, using my least favorite game strategy). The Lady Rebels hit 7 of their 10 free throws in the last minute and a half to seal the win.
The Ole Miss Rebels had 5 players in double figures. Shawn Goff, Kayla Melson and Elizabeth Robertson each had 14 points to lead the scoring, with Goff also adding 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots. Bianca Thomas and Denetra Forrest added 13 and 11 points, respectively. The Lady Rebels shot 45 percent for the game and edged out the Gamecocks for a 37-36 rebounding advantage, as well.
The Gamecocks were led by Jordan Jones, with 18 points, and Demetress Adams with 13 points. Adams also had 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Ilona Burgrova had 8 points and 7 rebounds, with 2 blocked shots. Brionna Dickerson scored 8 points, despite a miserable shooting day, going 3-14 from the field. Samone Kennedy had only 2 points, but she also had 4 rebounds (have you seen how tall she is?) and 2 steals and a game-high 6 assists, against only 2 turnovers. Freshman Jewel May, who played just over half the game, had a nice showing with 7 points and 5 rebounds. She also displayed her speed, with one sequence where she made a steal and tipped it out to a guard, then sped downcourt fast enough to get a return pass for the layup at the other end. Unfortunately, May also had a few turnovers in the last couple of minutes. The timing was terrible, but her turnovers were no more significant than the other 16 committed by the Gamecocks Sunday night. If she can put those mistakes behind her and concentrate on learning from them, she’ll be fine. Remember, she IS a freshman–a freshman who is not intimidated and plays with tremendous energy, one who seems to love to rebound. The positives far outweigh the negatives and she will be a special player to watch in future games and seasons. So don’t be hard on yourself, Jewel.
Another Gamecock who had a rocky game was Ashlie Billingslea, returning from an injury suffered just prior to the official start of the season. While South Carolina can use all the help it can get at the point guard position, I don’t know if it was a good idea to throw her into the middle of a must-win situation for the first game of her career. Well, there’s a problem, though. Every game from this point on counts as a “must win” situation and Billingslea needs to start getting some minutes to adjust to the pace of the game, as it is played in the Southeastern Conference. Eight turnovers and 3 personal fouls in 10 minutes of play is probably the worst game she’ll have in her career, so again, let’s all put it behind us and move on.
Actually, that advice applies to the whole team. It doesn’t get any easier, but this is no time to give up. There are still eleven conference games on the regular season schedule and a tournament, after that. There is plenty of time to get it all together and get on the right track. The first opportunity to do that comes later this week. The Gamecocks welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to the Colonial Center on Thursday night.
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