Jan. 6, 2018
#4/5 South Carolina at #15/15 Missouri
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 4/5 South Carolina is back on the road Sunday to take on #15/15 Missouri at Mizzou Arena at 2 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2. The Gamecocks (13-1, 2-0 SEC) will look to avenge their last loss of the 2016-17 season, while the Tigers (13-2, 1-1 SEC) hope to bounce back from Thursday night’s loss to LSU.
South Carolina Notables
Staley enters today’s game with 99 SEC regular-season victories, ranking her third among active SEC head coaches and 11th overall in league history. Those 99 wins represent 60.7 percent of the Gamecocks’ 163 wins in their 27th season in the league.
Sophomore guard Tyasha Harris has taken her game to another level this season, showing steady balance in scoring and distributing as well as an instinctive defensive eye. She ranks among the nation’s top 35 in assists per game (6.4, 17th), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8, 20th) and steals per game (2.9, 35th) while scoring 10.2 points per game. She has three double-doubles this season and has handed out five or more assists in each of the last eight games.
The next milestone up for senior forward A’ja Wilson is 2,000 career points, from which she is just 14 points away. On track to add 1,000 career rebounds to that scoring output, Wilson has been most proficient against ranked opponents, averaging 17.5 points over those 45 games (accounting for 786 of her career points). This season she has added assists to that impressive output against the nation’s best, averaging 3.3 assists in four games against ranked foes.
By the Numbers
1 Gamecocks averaging double-figure points against ranked opponents this season ââ’¬” Wilson (27.3), Jennings (12.8), Harris (11.5), Cliney (10.0),
8 Consecutive games in which sophomore guard Tyasha Harris has handed out at least five assists, during which she has a 4.2 assist-to-turnover ratio
14 Points needed by A’ja Wilson to reach 2,000 in her career
18.1 Assists per game by the Gamecocks this season, which leads the SEC and ranks 20thi n the nation
The Missouri Series
The Gamecocks lead the series 4-2, including a 3-2 record since the Tigers joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season, with both losses coming at Mizzou Arena. Offense has been tough to come by for the two teams in the three games played at Mizzou Arena with the Gamecocks averaging just 59.3 points in the SEC’s western Columbia and the home team netting 58.7 points per game. In the most recent meeting on the Tigers’ homecourt, unranked Missouri used a strong fourth quarter and a last-second shot to knock off then-#6 South Carolina 62-60 on Feb. 19, 2017. The loss looked to knock the Gamecocks out of the SEC regular-season title race, but it was the last loss of the season as they went on to win both the SEC regular-season and Tournament titles as well as the NCAA National Championship.
Ranked Readings
With a 3-1 mark this season, South Carolina is 53-46 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 38-7 versus ranked foes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina is 17-5 against top-10 opponents during that time. Staley’s Gamecocks are 17-14 against ranked opponents on their home courts after winning eight the last nine road games against ranked foes and 13 of the last 18 such contests dating back to the start of 2013-14.
Heart of a Champion
Despite having the fifth-best scoring margin in the nation this season (+27.2), the Gamecocks have played five games this season in which the margin was under 10 in the fourth quarter ââ’¬” at #15/13 Maryland (Nov. 13), vs. Rutgers (Nov. 24), vs. #6/6 Notre Dame (Nov. 26), #22/21 Texas A&M (Dec. 31) and at Ole Miss (Jan. 4). In each of those games, fans saw senior forward A’ja Wilson step up to show why is the most impactful player in the nation. In the fourth quarter of those five games, Wilson averaged 10.8 points on 60.6 percent shooting to go with 3.2 rebounding, 1.4 block and 1.4 assist averages.
Spanning the Distance
Senior transfer Lindsey Spann brings solid experience and leadership to the Gamecocks’ young roster, but the biggest impact the 1,000-point scorer from Penn State will have will likely be from 3-point range. Claiming eighth place on the Lady Lions’ career made 3s list, the 5-foot-6 guard got off to a quick start from long range ââ’¬” leading the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (.550) and ranking second in the league in made 3s per gam (3.1) before missing five games due to injury. Her first field goal attempt upon her return ââ’¬” against #22/21 Texas A&M (Dec. 31) ââ’¬” was a 3. She went on to hit back-to-back 3s early in the fourth quarter at Ole Miss (Jan. 4) to spark the decisive run to victory. Overall on the season, Spann is shooting 53.2 percent from 3-point range to average 11.8 points per game on 2.8 3s per game to go along with 2.3 assists per game.
