Gamecocks Set for Title Bout with UConn

#1/1 SOUTH CAROLINA (5-0) vs.  #2/2 UCONN (3-0)
NOVEMBER 22, 2021 |  NOON ET |  PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS  |  ATLANTIS RESORT

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• Today’s game is the fifth #1 vs. #2 matchup the Gamecocks have been part of in program history. Three of those have been against UConn, and this is the second-straight season the two teams have matched up with these rankings.
• The Gamecocks are vying for their seventh Thanksgiving-week tournament or tournament division title under head coach Dawn Staley today. It would be the second-straight for South Carolina, which won the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic last season in Sioux Falls, S.D.
• After their two highest-scoring games of the season, four Gamecocks are averaging double figures in the inaugural Women’s  Battle 4 Atlantis. All-American Aliyah Boston leads the way at 19.5 points per game to go with her team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. Zia Cooke’s 12.0 points per game have come on a team-best 63.6 percent shooting. Laeticia Amihere has the scoring average off the bench at 11.5 points per game, and Destanni Henderson rounds out the quartet at 10.5 points per game to go with her team-high 5.5 assists per game.
• Junior Laeticia Amihere is coming into the form that made her the No. 10 overall recruit in the country in the Class of 2019. In the Gamecocks’ two games against ranked opponents this season, she is second on the team with 13.5 points per game on 62.5 percent shooting and is also second with 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Only LSU’s Khayla Pointer ranks better than senior Destanni Henderson in the SEC in scoring and assists average. Henderson is 14th in the league in scoring (13.2) and fourth in assists (5.4).
• With a reputation for dominating the paint, South Carolina’s outside shooting has been a highlight early in the season, hitting 39.7 percent from 3-point range.

BY THE NUMBERS

39 – South Carolina has not been out-rebounded in its last 39 games dating back to the 2020 SEC Tournament.

52.5 – The Gamecocks are shooting 52.5 percent from the field in this weekend’s tournament, including 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

62.0 – South Carolina is shooting 62.0 percent in the paint to average 37.2 points in the paint on the season.

NOTES

The UConn Series
The Huskies lead the series 9-1 with eight of the games in the series featuring the #1 team in the country – three times South Carolina, five times UConn. Three games pitted #1 against #2, and this is the fourth time in the series that #1 has South Carolina has played #2 UConn. The Huskies have won all three of the previous such matchups.

The most recent meeting in the series is also the most recent #1 vs. #2 meeting – Feb. 8, 2021, in Storrs. The game saw seven lead changes and eight ties with neither team leading by more than seven at any point. The Gamecocks rallied in the fourth to send the game to overtime, but struggled from the field, shooting just 2-of-8 in the extra period.

On Feb. 10, 2020, then-#1/2 South Carolina scored a 70-52 win over then-#5/6 UConn in Columbia. The Gamecock defense allowed just two points in the first quarter and never looked back. Then-freshman Aliyah Boston finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

Schedule Strength
South Carolina’s 12 games against teams in either the AP or USA Today/WBCA Poll are tied with Stanford for the most in the country.  The Gamecocks’ six games against preseason top-10 teams are one behind Maryland’s seven.

Paint Production
South Carolina has long dominated the paint on both ends of the court. This season Staley has challenged her team to be more efficient in the paint as well, especially in transition.

Through five games, the Gamecocks average 37.2 points in the paint, accounting for 48.7 percent of their total offense, shooting 62.0 percent in that space. Post players have been the dominant scorers in the paint, accounting for 66.7 percent of the paint points with 25.2 such points per game.