|
Home > SECWB News & More! > Our Staff & Contributors > Marilyn McManus > Gamecocks Welcome Arkansas Sunday
Gamecocks Welcome Arkansas Sunday
by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
Posted: February 2nd, 2008 @ 9:57pm
Arkansas began the year with a new head coach in Tom Collen. Departing head coach Susie Gardner now occupies an assistant slot at Florida, while Collen returned to the program where he served as an assistant coach during the mid-1990s. Collen had since worked at Colorado State, where he was the national coach of the year in 1999, and Louisville, before returning to take over the top spot at Arkansas.
The Lady Backs (I don’t know why they call themselves that, but they do) are 17-4 on the season and 2-4 in league play. The Backs got off to a roaring start this season, winning 16 games in a row and earning a national ranking–before reality hit in the form of conference play and an opening contest against LSU. During that same game, they lost senior post player Lauren Ervin to a career-ending ACL tear. Ervin had been the leading scorer, averaging 16 points per game, along with 11 rebounds per contest. Arkansas has gone 2-3 since that time, with their only wins over Alabama and Ole Miss.
In Ervin’s absence, the team is led by the scoring of Whitney Jones (11 points per game) and Ayana Brereton (10.9 ppg). Jones is currently the rebounding leader with 7 per game.
The Gamecocks continue to be led by freshman shooter Jordan Jones with 12.4 points per game, junior forward Demetress Adams with 11.4 ppg and junior guard Brionna Dickerson with 10.4 ppg. Adams also leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game and has 56 steals to lead the team.
Freshman point guard Samone Kennedy continues to lead the team with 77 assists, despite being only a part-time player, and is also second on the team with steals at 31.
The Gamecocks are still winless in the SEC and looking for a break that will get them on the right track. Arkansas provides that possibility. Despite their impressive 17-4 record, very few of those wins were against a team of any consequence (a debatable exception is the win over Texas Tech) and the statistics would lead one to believe that the Lady Backs are a reasonably good match for the Gamecocks. If there is a home team advantage to be had, this may be a chance for the South Carolina team to pull it all together and get over the winless hump. Super Sunday could provide a super opportunity for the winless streak to end.
Tipoff for the game is at 3 pm in the Colonial Center.
|
|
|
|
