Gamecocks Back in Action Saturday vs Purdue

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 4/5 South Carolina wraps up play in the Elevance Health Fort Myers Tipoff with an 11 a.m. tipoff against Purdue on Saturday.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina continues to thrive in the paint, averaging 41.1 paint points this season and out-scoring its opponents in that space by 19.7 points per game.

• The Dawn Staley-led Gamecocks have always hung their hat on defense, and this season’s team is getting it dialed in. Only two opponents have shot over 40.0 percent from the field. South Carolina held #15/15 Iowa State to just 23.1 percent shooting – the lowest by an opponent this season and the second lowest by a ranked team in program history.

• South Carolina has three players averaging double-figure points and five other adding at least 6.0 points per game. Ten Gamecocks play at least 15 minutes per game, and four pull in at least 5.0 rebounds per game.

• Sophomore Tessa Johnson has been rock solid this season, especially thriving over the last three games. In that time, she is second on the team with 9.7 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting, including 5-of-8 (.625) from 3-point range. Defensively, she has blocked three shots in that stretch as well.

• Over the last three games, junior Ashlyn Watkins leads the team with 7.7 rebounds per game to go with 8.0 points per game. Defensively, she leads the team with five blocks and five steals in that period as well.

• Senior Sania Feagin has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field in each of the last five games, including three games of 75.0 percent shooting.

• Freshman Joyce Edwards posted her first career double-double against #15/15 Iowa State on Thursday, and her four double-digit scoring games is tied for the team lead. In three games against ranked opponents, she is second on the team with 9.0 points per game and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.

• Freshman Maddy McDaniel made her college debut on Nov. 14 after missing much of the preseason recovering from injury. In her five games since joining the lineup, she leads the team with .3.4 assists per game, including 4.0 per game against ranked opponents. The sure-handed newcomer has just two turnovers on the season and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field for 4.0 points per game.

By the Numbers
5 – Five Gamecocks have led the team in scoring in at least one game so far this season.

+40 – South Carolina’s 40-point win over No. 15 Iowa State was the largest margin of victory over a ranked team in program history.

45.5 – The Gamecock bench has corralled 45.5 percent of the team’s total rebounds this season.

The Purdue Series
The Gamecocks are 3-2 all-time against Purdue, but all three wins have come in the Dawn Staley era).

Staley’s first win over the Boilermakers was a 72-61 upset on Mar. 19, 2012, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette. It was Staley’s first career trip to the Sweet 16. Seven season later, the two teams opened a home-and-home series with an 82-73 Gamecock road win on Dec. 16, 2018. In the most recent meeting, then-No. 5 South Carolina posted an 85-49 win in Columbia on Dec. 15, 2019.

Bench Mob
Head coach Dawn Staley’s 13-player roster gives her the ability to make a full line change with little decline in production.

This season, the Gamecock bench is eighth in the nation with 37.3 points per game to account for 48.2 percent of the total offense. The South Carolina bench has out-scored its opponents’ bench by 23.4 points per game.

On the glass, the bench averages 18.9 rebounds per game, which is 45.5 percent of the total.

Glass Work
South Carolina has long dominated the glass with a full team rebounding effort. After an uncharacteristic effort on the boards in the season opener, the Gamecocks have returned to form, rising to 13th in the nation with 45.4 rebounds per game.

South Carolina’s 17.6 offensive rebounds per game rank eighth in the nation, and its 43.3 offensive rebounding percent is 12th, according to Her Hoop Stats.

Four Gamecocks average at least four rebounds on the season with junior Chloe Kitts leading the way at 8.3 to rank 11th in the SEC. Ashlyn Watkins is second at 5.8 per game, and freshman Joyce Edwards averages 5.7.