Women's Hoops Exhibition Friday Night
Gamecocks preview 2018-19 season with 7 p.m. tipoff against Lander
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball hosts Lander in an exhibition game on Fri., Nov. 2. Admission is free with open seating for the game.
Parking Information
Parking will be available for Friday night’s exhibition for $10 in the Discovery Garage, as well as in Lot B. Additionally, season parking passes for Lots A and B will be honored.
On Exhibition
Since NCAA legislation changed to allow Division I schools to face non-Division I college competition (2009-10), South Carolina head coach has played an in-state school in that category in all but the first season, when they faced nearby Augusta State. Tonight’s exhibition against Lander is the second of the Staley era against the Bearcats, who lost to the Gamecocks 79-57 on Nov. 5, 2010. Other in-state exhibition opponents for South Carolina were Limestone (2011), Anderson (2012), North Greenville (2013), Coker (2014, 2017), Newberry (2015) and Benedict (2016).
Staley Staying Power
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is in her 11th season at the helm after guiding the Gamecocks into the postseason eight times, including the 2017 National Championship and six other Sweet 16 berths.
With a .716 (422-167) winning percentage over her 19 seasons as a head coach, Staley is 21st among active NCAA Div. I head coaches with at least 10 years of experience and is the best among SEC head coaches.
Staley is the third-longest tenured coach currently in the SEC, and her 10.9 league wins per season is best among the group. During the Gamecocks’ five seasons of dominance in the league (SEC regular-season champions 2014-17), the program won 14.2 conference games per season.
With her 100th SEC regular-season victory coming against Auburn on Jan. 11, 2018, Staley became the eighth head coach all-time to record at least 100 such wins with one school. Her 109 SEC regular-season wins rank her second among active SEC coaches in victories.
Going Guard
After five seasons dominated by post play, the 2018-19 Gamecock roster is significantly tilted toward guard play – and who better to lead such a squad than arguably the best point guard in U.S. basketball history. With the deepest guard lineup of her South Carolina career, Staley is looking to pick up the pace on offense and turn up the heat on defense. The seven Gamecock guards include fifth-year seniors Doniyah Cliney and Bianca Cuevas-Moore as well as junior Tyasha Harris. Sophomore Bianca Jackson is back after starting most of her freshman season. Staley and all of Gamecock Nation has been awaiting the return of junior transfer Te’a Cooper. Newcomers Nelly Perry, a graduate transfer from Clemson, and freshman Destanni Henderson complete the backcourt-heavy lineup that will give Staley the best chance to coach positionless basketball based on pro concepts rather than regimented plays.
Ranking Review
The Gamecocks came in at No. 10 in the Preseason AP Poll this week, marking the 88th-consecutive week and the 90th week of the Dawn Staley era ranked in the poll’s top 10. Overall, South Carolina has been ranked in 112 consecutive AP Polls – the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. The Gamecocks are one of just three teams to have stayed among the nation’s top 10 every week since the start of the 2014-15 season.
Schedule Strength
With the release of the Preseason AP Poll on Wednesday, the Gamecocks found out just how challenging their 2018-19 schedule is. Up to 11 future opponents are ranked in the top 25, including six in the top 10.
Six of the top-25 opponents are non-conference games as once again Staley has planned to test her team beginning with No. 6 Maryland (Nov. 18). The Vancouver Showcase could see South Carolina play No. 8 Oregon State in the second round a No. 1 Notre Dame in the title game. The Gamecocks return to Columbia to face No. 4 Baylor (Dec. 2) and a week later travel to No. 21 Duke (Dec. 9). A trip to No. 2 UConn rounds out the list of ranked non-conference games.
Five SEC teams are ranked in the preseason with South Carolina set to face No. 6 Mississippi State at home and on the road. The Gamecocks host No. 14 Georgia and No. 16 Missouri and will travel to No. 11 Tennessee and No. 20 Texas A&M.
Looking at Lander
The Bearcats return less than half their team from last season’s 25-8 squad with just five returning letterwinners, including just one starter. Junior guard Jessica Harris started 29 of 33 games last season, averaging 10.0 points and 7.7 assists. Lander welcomes the return of redshirt-senior Mylea McKenith who missed nearly all of last season but was the Peach Belt Conference co-Defensive Player of the Year while averaging 16.2 points in 2016-17. Senior Ariana Sanders has outside shooting range, hitting 34.2 percent from 3-point range last season en route to 7.7 points per game.
Lander opened its exhibition season at Clemson on Sunday, falling to the Tigers 84-53. McKenith led the offense with 13 points, followed by junior Symone Starks’ 12 points and 10 points from Harris. Clemson shot 51.5 percent from the field and out-rebounding the Bearcats 51-31.
The Bearcat roster features a local West Columbia product in freshman Abbriana Washington, who played at Airport High School. Four other South Carolina natives are part of the program as well – Sarah Crews (North Augusta), Karimah Jenkins (Charleston), Harris (Sumter) and Kennedy Taylor (Taylors).
