The Gamecocks began their conference season on the road at Georgia. The Gamecocks played a masterful second half, dominating the Bulldogs--but it was not enough to overcome the 23-point hole they had dug for themselves in the first half. The Georgia team won 61-51.
Back home, USC beat LSU in a close contest, 63-61, again rallying from an early deficit of 18 points. The following home game, against Florida, was another close one but with a different result as the Gators took advantage of sloppy play in the final minute, stealing a lazy pass for a layup and a foul shot that provided the margin of victory, 65-63.
On the road again, the Gamecocks had 28 turnovers against the Kentucky Wildcats and lost 48-66.
The first road win came 3 days later, as the Gamecocks clawed out a 63-58 overtime win against Ole Miss. The next home game was against #5/6 Tennessee, who toyed with the Gamecocks before turning up the pressure with 5 miutes left in the game and extending their 5-point lead to the 15-point margin of victory, 71-56.
Alabama was next on the schedule. Senior forward Jewel May led the way with a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds and the Gamecocks prevailed 59-48. Georgia came to town for a rematch, 4 days later and were surprised to leave with their first SEC loss of the season, 57-48, thanks largely to the shooting of senior guard Courtney Newton, who scored 16 points on 5-5 shooting from 3-point range. With the win, USC evened it's conference record at 4-4.
The final game of January was at Auburn and the Tigers led most of the way. Though they faltered in the second half, the Gamecocks failed to capitalize on their own opportunities and the Tigers closed it out for a 54-47 win.
February found USC at 4-5 in conference play and headed back on the road to Arkansas, where they kept their cool during a wild overtime period to claim a 64-62 win. Returning to the friendly confines of the Colonial Center, the Gamecocks hosted #15/18 Kentucky and played an extremely solid game, resulting in a 66-61 win over the Wildcats. On the road at Mississippi State, the Gamecocks fought back from an 8-point deficit and delivered their third straight win 60-53. A trip to #4 Tennessee followed and the USC team hung tought until about halfway through the second half, when the Lady Vols surged to a 20-point lead and cruised to a 82-60 win. The bright spot? The Gamecocks were now 7-6 in the SEC with 3 games left to play, all against beatable teams that were also looking to improve their seeding for the upcoming conference tournament--making each game very meaningful.
The Gamecocks beat Auburn fairly easily, 65-49, to go to 8-6 in the SEC and set Gamecocks' fans imaginations whirling with the possibilities: a Top Four finish in the conference, which would mean a first-round bye in the SEC tournament. There was also widespread talk of how 1-2 wins in the tournament would affect the chances of an NCAA bid--lots of fans were counting their chickens (so to speak) before they hatched. Considering that both of the final 2 opponenets on the schedule (LSU, at LSU and Vanderbilt, at USC) were also eyeing that #4 seed, combined with the Gamecocks' erratic play over the year, it was pretty loose talk. And alas, the worst came to pass. In Baton Rouge, the Gamecocks' inability to hit clutch free throws cost them a 54-51 overtime loss to the Bayou Bengals. The final game of the regular season was Senior Day in Columbia: seniors Jewel May and Valerie Nainima were honored before the game; senior point guard Samone Kennedy was not. She had been dismissed from the team a week or so prior to the final game. The Gamecocks took the Commodores to overtime in a heated (and in my opinion, poorly officiated) game, only to lose by 14, 60-74, when they went completely cold in the extra period.
The Gamecocks ended regular season play with a 16-13 record, 8-8 in the SEC. The team tied for 5th place in the conference, earning the #5 seed in the conference tournament by beating out both LSU and Auburn through the tie-breaker process.
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