Gamecocks on the Road for Top-20 Matchup
Feb. 14, 2018
#8/8 South Carolina at #20/19 Georgia
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 8/8 South Carolina travels to Athens, Ga., to face SEC border rival Georgia Thursday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+. It is the first of two games against nationally ranked opponents left of the Gamecocks’ schedule as the Lady Bulldogs are No. 20/19 in this week’s polls. Both teams are tied with Tennessee for second in the SEC and one game ahead of three other teams tied for fifth, the outcome of Thursday’s matchup will impact SEC Tournament seeding.
South Carolina Notables
When the Gamecocks and Lady Bulldogs meet, points are often at a premium. In the 16 games during the Dawn Staley era, neither team averages 60.0 points — South Carolina 56.7 ppg, Georgia 53.4 ppg. Tonight’s game looks to be no different as both teams rank among the SEC’s stingiest defenses in league play as the Lady Bulldogs are second with just 59.8 points per game allowed and the Gamecocks are fourth at 65.4 points per game allowed.
Including tonight, three of the Gamecocks’ last four games, including both road games, are against one of the seven teams battling for a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament, which would allow them to have byes into Friday’s quarterfinals.
Two of the nation’s top 10 shot blockers take the court tonight in the form of South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, who has blocked an SEC-best 3.6 shots per game to rank third in the nation, and Georgia’s Caliya Roberts, who is ninth in the country with 3.2 blocks per game.
Gamecocks’ senior forward A’ja Wilson continues to shine even as the defensive attention has intensified around her this season. Her scoring (22.7) and rebounding (11.4) average are both the highest of her career while she averages just slightly more minutes (29.0) than last season (28.4).
South Carolina sophomore guard Tyasha Harris averaged 17.5 points last week, shooting 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from 3-point range. She hit a career-high four 3s Sunday against Florida.
By the Numbers
1 SEC win needed by South Carolina to record its seventh-straight double-digit league win season
6.0 Average national ranking of the teams that have defeated South Carolina this season — #6 Notre Dame (Nov. 26), at #15 Missouri (Jan. 7), #6 Tennessee (Jan. 14), #1 UConn (Feb. 1) and at #2 Mississippi State
7 Consecutive 20-win seasons for the Gamecocks, who reached the mark Sunday against Florida (Feb. 11)
10 Double-digit scoring games in SEC play by sophomore guard Tyasha Harris
The Georgia Series
Georgia leads the series 33-14, but the Gamecocks have won the last seven meetings, including three contests last season, and eight of the last nine border battles. In the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), South Carolina leads the series 10-6 with at least one team ranked in 13 of those games, including four games in which both teams were ranked. In those four games, the teams are tied at 2-2. In the Staley era, the series has been notoriously low scoring with just one game seeing a team score 70 points and four games had neither team reach 60 points. During this segment of the series, the Gamecocks averaged 56.7 points while the Lady Bulldogs average 53.4 points.
Ranked Readings
With a 4-5 mark this season, South Carolina is 54-50 against nationally ranked opponents under head coach Dawn Staley, although that record is skewed by the early seasons of her tenure as the Gamecocks are 39-11 versus ranked foes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina is 17-8 against top-10 opponents during that time. Staley’s Gamecocks are 17-16 against ranked opponents on their home courts after winning eight the last 11 road games against ranked foes and 13 of the last 20 such contests dating back to the start of 2013-14. Senior forward A’ja Wilson leads the Gamecocks against ranked foes, averaging 21.4 points and 12.3 rebounds. Sophomore Tyasha Harris’ offense has been especially potent against the nation’s best teams as she is second on the team with 13.1 points per game while still averaging 5.6 assists. Both of her 20-point games have come against ranked teams, including her season-high 28 against #6/6 Tennessee (Jan. 14).
Buckets, Boards and Blocks
Few players in the country are as versatile as South Carolina senior forward A’ja Wilson. Averaging 22.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocks, she ranks seventh, 12th and third in the nation in those categories, respectively, making her the only player in the nation’s top 30 in all three of those categories. Only nine players in the nation are among the top 50 in both scoring and rebounding with only Megan Gustafson, Iowa (24.8 ppg, 1st/12.8 rpg, 5th) out ranking Wilson in both categories. Reading defenses more quickly than before, Wilson has also responded to her head coach’s challenge to expand her skill set, improving her ball-handling to allow her to rebound and immediately start the fast break and even run the offense from the point guard position at times and developing consistency on her outside shot, of which she has hit 5-of-11 from 3-point range. The growth in her game helps both the Gamecocks, as opponents will have a more difficult time locating her for double-teaming, and Wilson’s preparedness for the next step in her basketball career.
