Women's Hoops Hosts LSU in Sunday Pink Game

#1/3 SOUTH CAROLINA (16-2, 11-0 SEC) vs. LSU (8-9, 6-5 SEC)
NOON   |  COLUMBIA, S.C.  | COLONIAL LIFE ARENA (3,500)

GAME DAY INFO | South Carolina Game Notes | WATCH: SEC Network | LISTEN: 107.5 The Game | Live Stats 

ABOUT THIS GAME

• South Carolina is hosting its annual Pink Game to raise awareness for finding a cure for and celebrating survivors of breast cancer. The team will wear pink accessories for the game.
• While LSU holds a 22-15 edge in the all-time series, the Gamecocks have won the last 11 meetings and are 12-5 against the Tigers in the Dawn Staley era including a 6-2 record in Columbia.
• A win tonight would be Staley’s 150th in SEC regular-season play. With 149 current such wins, she is second among active league coaches, trailing Texas A&M’s Gary Blair by one while coaching in the league for five fewer seasons. Staley’s 11.46 wins per season (including this season) are the most by a head coach in league history.
• South Carolina is looking for its 28th straight SEC regular-season victory tonight, which is the fifth-longest streak in league history. Tennessee holds the SEC record of 42 consecutive regular-season wins, which it did twice (Jan. 26, 1992 – Jan. 1, 1996; Feb. 7, 2002 – Feb. 6, 2005).
• A win tonight would be the Gamecocks’ 31st straight over an SEC opponent, including three in the 2020 SEC Tournament, marking the longest such streak in program history and tying for the second longest in league history. The longest streak in SEC history is 36 games by Tennessee (2010-2012). Of the Gamecocks’ current 30 wins, 13 came against a ranked team.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• South Carolina has out-rebounded its opponent in every game this season and ranks third in the nation with a +16.9 rebounding margin. The Gamecocks are especially effective on the offensive end, where they secure an SEC-best 44.8 percent of their own missed shots and average 17.4 second-chance points per game.
• Since Staley challenged her bench to step up following the Jan. 24 game at LSU, the Gamecock reserves have delivered in SEC action, averaging 24.0 points over the last four league outings to account for 30.4 percent of the team’s 79.0 points per game in that stretch.
• Unanimous AP Preseason All-America forward Aliyah Boston leads the Gamecocks with four 20-point games this season, scoring in double figures in 13 of her 18 games. She has registered a double-double in nine games this season, including the last two outings.
• Junior point guard Destanni Henderson shook off a tough outing at #2/5 UConn Monday to return to her well-rounded stat line against Missouri Thursday with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three assists, four rebounds and four steals. She scored six of her 11 points on the fast break, an area that has generated 45.5 percent of her points on the season (5.0 of her 11.0 ppg).
• Junior Victaria Saxton has scored in double figures in the last four SEC games, averaging 11.0 points on 53.1 percent shooting (15-of-32).
• LeLe Grissett turned some heads Thursday against Missouri with her first career 3-pointer on just her fourth career attempt (1-of-2 this season). Staley has challenged Grissett to provide more than a defensive spark off the bench and has taken advantage of the 6-foot-2 guard’s versatility. In the last four SEC games, Grissett has scored 9.0 points per game, including 11 points at #21/19 Mississippi State. She has blocked four shots over that stretch as well.
• Sophomore Zia Cooke remains on every national player of the year watch list as the Gamecocks’ to scorer (15.8 ppg). Over the last five games, her average has shot up to 16.6 points per game, including 42.1 percent shooting from 3-point range.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 Only four teams have scored more than 65 points against the Gamecocks this season.

5 The Gamecocks’ 411 free throw attempts are the fifth-most in the country.

8 All eight of South Carolina’s home games are among the NCAA’s top 10 in single-game attendance this season.

11 Of Aliyah Boston’s 22 career double-doubles, 11 have been against ranked teams, including one of her two triple doubles.

27 South Carolina has been ranked in the top five of the AP Poll for 27 straight weeks, the longest active streak in the country.