Gamecock Gameday: Women's Hoops Set for Battle at No. 1 UConn

Feb. 12, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 6/6 South Carolina steps out of SEC action to start this week, traveling to No. 1/1 UConn for their third Big Monday game on ESPN2 this season. The Gamecocks (21-2, 10-1 SEC) are looking to continue their efficient offensive effort, shooting 51.3 percent over the last three games, while continuing their standing as one of the nation’s top defensive teams, allowing just 54.9 points per game.

South Carolina Notables

• In her ninth season at South Carolina, head coach Dawn Staley has led the Gamecocks to their sixth-straight 20-win season after the program had just two such seasons in the SEC era before her arrival. South Carolina has appeared in 92 AP polls in her tenure, nearly triple the 32 entries in the 17 SEC-era seasons before Staley took the helm for the 2008-09 season.
• Tonight marks South Carolina’s 14th game against a No. 1 team in the nation in program history. Three of those have been with Staley at the helm with all of those coming at Colonial Life Arena.
• Tonight’s game features two of the NCAA’s stingiest defenses and most efficient offenses. UConn allows 54.3 points per game to rank 11th in the nation, and the Gamecocks’ 55.8 opponent scoring average ranks 14th in the country. Offensively, the Huskies shoot an NCAA-best 52.3 percent from the field with South Carolina coming in 14th at 46.6 percent.
• Both offenses on the floor tonight generate a high volume of possessions against ranked opponents. In six games vs. ranked foes, the Gamecocks average 73.47 possessions, scoring 1.03 points per possession. In UConn’s eight games against ranked teams, the Huskies average 71.39 possessions, scoring 1.15 points per possession.
• South Carolina and UConn boast four of the NCAA’s top-25 field goal percentage shooters this season — Napheesa Collier (3rd, .687), Alaina Coates (4th, .670), A’ja Wilson (20th, .582) and Gabby Williams (25th, .566).
• In six wins over nationally ranked opponents this season, three Gamecocks’ scoring averages out-pace their production against unranked foes, and the frontcourt tandem of A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates also elevate their rebounding numbers. Wilson goes from 16.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game against unranked opponents to 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds vs. ranked teams. Coates’ numbers rise from 14.1 points and 11.0 rebounds to 13.7 and 13.0. Junior guard Allisha Gray goes from 12.6 points per game to 14.7.
• The only returning 2016 Naismith Trophy finalist in the country, A’ja Wilson continues to deliver, despite being the focal point of most opponent scouting reports. Her scoring and field goal percentages are up from last season both overall and in SEC action. In the last three games, she has poured in 18.3 points per game on 61.8 percent shooting.
• Senior center Alaina Coates is one of five players on a nationally ranked team averaging a double-double this season. Her numbers have exploded in the last three games, averaging 18.3 points and 18.0 rebounds while shooting an astronomical 79.3 percent from the field. The All-America candidate means more to the Gamecocks than just points and rebounds, though. In SEC action, she is second on the team in blocks and steals and is third in assists.
• Junior guard Allisha Gray has proven willing and capable of playing a number of positions for the Gamecocks, including the power forward spot in Staley’s small lineup. The team’s third-leading scorer at 13.2 points per game on 50.5 percent shooting, the transfer from North Carolina isn’t afraid to mix it up for rebounds (4.6 per game, third on the team), sees the floor well, handing out 2.7 assists per game (second on the team) and leads the team in steals (1.5).

By the Numbers

3 Current Gamecocks who played in South Carolina’s last game at Gampel Pavilion — Alaina Coates, Bianca Cuevas-Moore and A’ja Wilson
3.8 Assists per game by freshman point guard Tyasha Harris in SEC play, good for ninth in the league
8 Games this season in which free throws have made up at least 25 percent of the Gamecocks’ scoring, including five of the six games against ranked opponents
9 Games in which at least one opposing player has fouled out, including all six wins over ranked opponents
15.3 Rebounding average of Alaina Coates over the last three games
18.3 Scoring average of A’ja Wilson over the last three games
66.7 Percent of made field goals in the last three games have were assisted (54 of 81)

Five Second Count

South Carolina is one of three programs in the nation to appear in every AP top 10 since the start of the 2014-15 season. The Gamecocks have played in four of the last five NCAA Sweet 16s, including the 2015 Final Four. In the SEC, South Carolina is the three-time reigning regular-season champion, including last season’s 16-0 record, and claimed the last two SEC Tournaments. For her leadership, head coach Dawn Staley is the only coach in SEC history to earn three-straight league Coach of the Year honors from her peers.

UConn Series Notes

The Huskies have won all four games of the series with the Gamecocks narrowing the gap each season since the home-and-home series was renewed. The last two seasons have seen the teams square off as the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the nation, including the Gamecocks toting the nation’s top spot in their last visit to Gampel Pavilion.

After losing that game 87-62 (Feb. 9, 2015), a more veteran South Carolina team hosted the Huskies in front of 18,000 fans in a sold-out Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks battled through tough first and third quarters to fall 66-54, cutting their margin to the Huskies in half from the year before.

Ranked Readings

Under head coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina is 44-44 against nationally ranked opponents, including a 17-17 mark at Colonial Life Arena. That overall record is skewed by the early seasons of her tenure as the Gamecocks are 29-5 versus ranked foes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina is 13-3 against top-10 opponents during that time.

Staley’s Gamecocks are 16-14 against ranked opponents on their home courts after winning the last seven road games against ranked foes and 12 of the last 16 such contests dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season.

This season, the Gamecocks’ 6-0 record against ranked foes, includes just two home games and a neutral-site win over then-No. 4/4 Louisville (83-89, Nov. 27). In those six wins, South Carolina has out-scored its opponent by 11.5 points per game and out-rebounded its foe by 7.2 rebounds per contest. Of the Gamecocks’ 76.0 points per game, 50.8 percent came in the paint.

Second Effort

South Carolina has found itself in a single-digit game at halftime nine times this season. The Gamecocks were in the lead in five of those games, tied once and trailed three times — one of which they came back to win (Mississippi State, Jan. 23). While the defensive effort has remained steady in both halves of those games, the Gamecock offense was dramatically more efficient, especially in the seven wins, although scoring in the paint was nearly identical. The Gamecock making the biggest leap when it comes down to winning is junior guard Allisha Gray. In the seven wins, the quiet scorer who is always ready to do whatever the team needs, lifted her scoring average from 4.4 points per first half to 11.1 per second half and her field goal percentage from .367 (11-of-30) to .636 (28-of-44), which includes a 3-point range jump from 20.0 percent (1-of-5) to 41.7 percent (5-of-12). In the two losses, Gray’s scoring and field goal percentages also went up, but her shot volume stayed stagnant — 11 FGA in first halves and 10 in second halves.