Gamecocks Set for Vancouver Showcase
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 13/12 South Carolina (2-1) is spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Vancouver, B.C., for three games in the Vancouver Showcase at the Vancouver Convention Center. The Gamecocks are one of three nationally ranked teams in the field and could face #9/8 Oregon State and #1/1 Notre Dame in the three-day event. South Carolina opens the tournament against ETSU on Thu., Nov. 22, at 9 p.m. ET.
SOUTH CAROLINA NOTABLES
• South Carolina has previously faced six of the other seven teams in the Vancouver Showcase, lacking just previous experience against Gonzaga. Three of the eight teams in this weekend’s event – South Carolina, Rutgers and Notre Dame – also spent last Thanksgiving together competing in the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Gamecocks played both teams, topping Rutgers before falling to Notre Dame in the title game.
• A pair of Gamecocks have captured national award attention leading into the 2018-19 campaign. Junior guard Tyasha Harris is on the Citizen Naismith Trophy and Wade Trophy watch lists for the top player in women’s college basketball. She is also on the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list of the nation’s top point guards. Senior forward Alexis Jennings earned a spot on the Katrina McClain Award watch list of the best power forwards in the country.
• So much of the preseason conversation around the Gamecocks has focused on guard play, but the six forwards on the roster refuse to be overlooked. Two of the team’s top three scorers are forwards – Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (10.7 ppg) and Alexis Jennings (8.5 ppg). The collection of post players accounts for 42.4 percent of the Gamecocks’ offense so far this season. The group also has South Carolina on track defensively as South Carolina ranks second in the country in blocked shots per game (9.3), led by freshman Victaria Saxton, whose 3.0 blocks per game are 13th in the nation.
• Junior guard Te’a Cooper had 957 days between college basketball games, but wasted no time making a splash in her return to the court. She has scored in double figures in all three games this season, leading the offense in two of the three outings. She is 14th in the SEC in scoring at 14.3 points per game but impacts the game in other ways as well, averaging 2.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game as well.
• Even Staley’s plan for positionless basketball, senior forward Alexis Jennings continues to thrive in the traditional post position – and she’s still recovering from a nagging injury. In two games this season, she averages 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds while on the court in only short spurts for 16.0 minutes per game.
• With the addition of three signees, South Carolina landed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. Staley inked three top-13 recruits in the 2019 class – guard Zia Cooke (No. 7), forward Laeticia Amihere (No. 10) and wing Brea Beal (No. 13).
BY THE NUMBERS
27.0 Turnovers forced per game by the Gamecocks this season, which ranks ninth in the nation
66.3 Field goal attempts per game by South Carolina
YES, WE CAN-ADA
This season marks the eighth that the Gamecocks have spent Thanksgiving out of the country, but it is their first trip north to Canada for a holiday tournament.
South Carolina is 11-5 on international soil, including an 8-2 mark in the four such events in the Dawn Staley era. The Gamecocks won the 2008 Cancun Thanksgiving Classic in Staley’s inaugural season. In two trips to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., in 2009 and 2013, the Gamecocks went a combined 4-2. The most recent international trip was to the Bahamas in 2014, where South Carolina won both its outings.
AGAINST THE FIELD
The Gamecocks are a combined 19-5 against the other seven teams in the Vancouver Showcase field, led by their 10-1 mark against first-round opponents ETSU. South Carolina has previously faced both of its potential second-round opponents as well, winning the only previous meeting with Oregon State (78-69 on Mar. 25, 2014, in NCAA Tournament second-round action in Seattle) and Western Kentucky (65-64 on Feb. 27, 1987, in Anchorage).
South Carolina shared a Thanksgiving tournament field with Notre Dame and Rutgers last season as well with all three teams competing in the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Gamecocks topped the Scarlet Knights 78-68 in the opening round (Nov. 24) and fell to the Fighting Irish 92-85 in the championship game (Nov. 26). The Gamecocks are 2-1 all-time against Rutgers and 2-3 vs. Notre Dame in program history.
With a 3-0 all-time record against Drake, the only team in the tournament field that Gamecocks have never faced is Gonzaga.
VS SQUAD
Freshman forward Victaria Saxton was a top-50 recruit in the 2018 class and has shown early coachability and athleticism. She logged the most minutes of the three freshmen in the season opener at Alabama State (Nov. 11), hitting 4-of-5 from the field and picking up three steals in her 20 minutes on the court. Her confidence has continued to grow from that outing, as has head coach Dawn Staley’s confidence in her. Saxton leads the freshman class with 16.0 minutes per game and is the team leader in blocked shots per game (3.0 to rank 13th in the nation) and offensive rebounds (3.0 to rank ninth in the SEC).
