Gamecocks Back at Colonial Life Arena Friday

COLUMBIA, SC – No. 2/2 South Carolina women’s basketball continues a three-game homestand with a Friday night tilt at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks will face Bowling Green at 7 p.m. with the game streaming on SEC Network+.

Gameday Information
Doors Open: 6 p.m. | 5:30 p.m. for Fast Break Pass
Giveaway: Dominion Energy 3-Point Cards

South Carolina Gamecocks (1-0)
Head Coach: Dawn Staley
Top Scorer: Ta’Niya Latson (20.0)
Top Rebounder: Raven Johnson (8.0)

Bowling Green Falcons (1-0)
Head Coach: Fred Chmiel
Top Scorer: Paige Kohler (18.0)
Top Rebounder: Lauren Gerken (10.0)

Gamecock Notables

• Friday night’s game is the second-straight welcome home for a former Gamecock assistant coach. Fred Chmiel was on the South Carolina sideline for eight seasons (2015-16 through 2022-23), helping the Gamecocks to a pair of National Championships, two additional trips to the NCAA Final Four, five SEC regular-season titles and six SEC Tournament championships.

• South Carolina’s trio of starting guards combined for 50 of the team’s 94 points in Monday’s season opener, but scoring wasn’t all they did. The trio combined for 14 of the team’s 19 assists in the game against just four turnovers. All three rank among the SEC’s top 15 in assist-to-turnover ratio as well, led by Raven Johnson’s 7.0 mark, which is fourth in the nation and tops in the SEC.

• Guards may have led the way in scoring, but the Gamecocks still build their success in the paint.  South Carolina, out-scored Grand Canyon 40-18 in the high-percentage area.

• Senior Raven Johnson wasted little time showing off all aspects of her game in Monday’s season opener. She poured in 11 points, including matching her career high with three 3-pointers, while leading the team in assists (7), rebounds (8) and steals (3).

• Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson’s team-high 20 points in Monday’s season opener – which rank her 10th in the SEC in scoring average – came on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, and her four assists were second on the team. Her .700 field goal percentage is eighth in the SEC

• Sophomore Adhel Tac tied her career high in rebounds with six Monday against Grand Canyon, coming in just 15 minutes on the court.

• South Carolina’s freshmen got their first look at college basketball Monday night, and neither were shy about making their presence felt. Agot Makeer’s three blocks have her ranked third in the SEC in blocks per game, and Ayla McDowell was efficient offensively with her nine points coming on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 accuracy from the free throw line.

The Bowling Green Series
The Gamecocks and Falcons have met twice before in women’s basketball with South Carolina winning both matchups. The most recent meeting was a reconnection of the two programs with then-first-year head coach Fred Chmiel welcoming is former Gamecock team and reigning National Champs to Bowling Green on Dec. 19, 2023.

South Carolina prevailed in that meeting 93-62 behind stellar 58.7 percent shooting, including 56.3 percent from 3-point range.  Just two Gamecocks eligible to play tonight remain from that team – Raven Johnson (5 pts, 4 assts) and Tessa Johnson (4 pts, 1 reb).

Home Sweet Home
The Gamecocks are 547-168 (.765) in home games (some records prior to 1976-77 did not include location of games). Current head coach Dawn Staley is 235-35 at home for a program-best .870 winning percentage.

Playing in its 24th season at Colonial Life Arena, South Carolina boasts a 298-68 (.814) record in the building, including four undefeated seasons since 2013-14. Staley’s share of that record is 232-35 (.869).

South Carolina’s longest home winning streak is 71 (Dec. 17, 2020 – Feb. 13, 2025), which is an SEC record and ranks fourth in NCAA history.