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Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Teams > Florida > SEC Tournament Preview Game One (Gamecocks vs. Gators)
SEC Tournament Preview Game One (Gamecocks vs. Gators)
by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
Posted: March 2nd, 2008 @ 11:28pm
The South Carolina Gamecocks finished the season in 10th place and will play the #7 seeded Florida Gators, yet again! This will be the third meeting between the teams this season; each team won on the other’s home court, previously. The first meeting was in Columbia, SC, in January and the Gamecocks let the game slip out of their grasp, the Gators crawling home with a 60-57 win. Just over a week ago, in the rematch, South Carolina prevailed 69-65. It was their first conference win on the road and the first game in which they had a lead at halftime. They still had to withstand a furious rally from the Gators and hold on, making free throws, to seal the win. That win should have been a confidence builder, as was today’s win against Kentucky on their home court.
For the first time all season, the Gamecocks will field a relatively healthy team. That is, all of the players that are currently on the active roster are basically healthy. They are still a few players short of the roster that started the season, but with everyone else available, they have had some chances to work on chemistry and consistency. It seems to be working, or at least, it works very well when they also put effort into defensive intensity. There have been some very well-played games, late this season, but when there are letdowns, the results are unfortunately very similar–often, a very close game, but also a Gamecock loss. This team has overcome many obstacles and accomplished a lot to get to their 15-14 record, make no mistake about that, but this team has to work HARD for everything they get. The freshmen are still adjusting to the game and the veteran players are still adjusting to the freshmen–partly because the lineups have been affected by illness and injury, all season long. When they get to the point where playing team defense seems easier, the wins will come easier. May that time come soon.
The Gamecocks are led by Jordan Jones, Demetress Adams and Brionna Dickerson, averaging 12.1, 10.9 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Adams continues to lead the team in rebounding, hauling down 9 per game and also leads the team in steals, with 62. Ilona Burgrova contributes on both ends, scoring 9.3 points per game and grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game. Lakesha Tolliver has returned to the lineup and averages a similar 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds, though everyone associated with the team is hoping she’ll have another breakout game like today’s double-double (21 points and 12 rebounds.) Freshman point guard Samone Kennedy continues to lead the team in assists, despite playing very few minutes in several games, including today’s win at Kentucky. She has 92 assists and 38 steals (third best on the team) and still ranks in the Top 10 in the SEC in the assists category, as well as assists-to-turnovers ration.
Marshae Dotson, Depree Bowden and Sha Brooks lead the Gators in scoring with 14.3, 13.3 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Dotson also leads the team in rebounding with 8.3 per game. Sha Brooks is the assists leader, with 73, and has 51 steals on the season.
If the Gamecocks have resigned themselves to the fact that winning games (for now, anyway) takes a lot of hard work and respond appropriately, they should win the opening round game against the Florida Gators and move on to Round Two. The Tennessee Lady Vols await the winner of the USC v. Florida matchup. Yeehaw.
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