Feb. 25, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. No. 7/7 South Carolina closes out the regular season with a 2 p.m. tipoff against No. 22/- Kentucky with Senior Day ceremonies at Colonial Life Arena beginning at 1:40 p.m. A win over their SEC-rival gives the Gamecocks at least a share of its fourth-straight regular-season championship and the top seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.

South Carolina Notables

• South Carolina will honor its 2017 Senior Class, which is the new program leader in four-year SEC regular-season wins with 58 and is closing in on the four-year total wins record of 121 with 119. In their time in the Garnet and Black, Alaina Coates and Tiffany Davis have collected three SEC regular-season championships, two SEC Tournament titles and one NCAA Final Four appearance ââ’¬” all program firsts.
• With a win today, the Gamecocks will clinch at least a share of their fourth-straight SEC regular-season championship. South Carolina would join Tennessee as the only programs to win at least four consecutive titles. This marks the seventh-straight season the Gamecocks have finished among the SEC’s top five after doing it just twice in the previous 19 seasons in the league.
• In the Gamecocks’ and Wildcats’ annual home-and-home series that is among the best rivalries in the SEC, both teams have been ranked in each of the last 12 meetings, including today’s contest. With the win in Lexington earlier this season, South Carolina is 10-9 against Kentucky in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09)
• South Carolina and Kentucky have captured four of the last five SEC regular-season championships ââ’¬” Kentucky 2012, South Carolina 2014-16. The teams have also produced an SEC Player of the Year in each of the last seven seasons ââ’¬” Wildcats 2010-13, Gamecocks 2014-16. Both teams have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in three of the last five NCAA Tournaments (2012, 2014, 2016) with the Gamecocks claiming the deepest run in the tournament in the last seven seasons, reaching the 2015 Final Four.
• Today’s game features the only two players in the SEC averaging a double-double in league play in South Carolina’s Alaina Coates (12.6 ppg/11.2 rpg) and Kentucky’s Evelyn Akhator (17.1 ppg/10.5 rpg). Coates is the league’s top defensive rebounder with 8.3 per league game, while Akhator leads the league in offensive boards at 3.7 per SEC game. In the four career games the two have played head-to-head of the last two seasons, Coates has gotten the better of Akhator, averaging 17.3 points and 13.0 rebounds on 73.0 percent shooting while holding the Wildcat forward to 5.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.
• Since the start of the 2013-14 season, South Carolina is 33-11 against nationally ranked opponents, including a 6-1 mark this season against ranked foes. The Gamecocks lead the SEC in wins over AP Top-25 teams, including a league-leading four over top-10 opponents.
• The South Carolina defense has held an opponent under 60 points in just over half its games this season (14), including seven of 15 SEC contests. The Gamecocks have held an opponent to single digits in quarter 24 times, including 15 quarters over 10 different SEC games.
• National Player of the Year candidate A’ja Wilson is again among the SEC’s most productive players on both sides of the ball with 17.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. In seven games against ranked opponents, all of those numbers rise as she averages 18.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. In three games over the last 10 days, Wilson is averaging 18.0 points and 10.7 rebounds and is tied for the team lead with 10 steals.

By the Numbers

3 Stats in which Alaina Coates ranks among the nation’s top 10 ââ’¬” field goal percentage (3rd, .672), rebounds (7th, 11.2) and double-doubles (10th, 15)
3 Gamecocks who posted a career-high at Texas A&M (Feb. 23) ââ’¬” Bianca Cuevas-Moore six steals, Kaela Davis 11 rebounds, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan 13 points
3.8 Assists per game by Allisha Gray over the last five games, a team high
6 Players on nationally ranked teams who average a double-double this season, including Alaina Coates (13.4 ppg/11.2 rpg)
6.3 Rebounds per game by Kaela Davis over the last three games
8.9 Points per second half by Allisha Gray in games within single digits at halftime (12 games), a team high
9 20-point scoring games for A’ja Wilson this season, her career high, including the last two
10.0 Points per game by freshman Mikiah Herbert Harrigan over the last three games on 66.7 percent shooting
10.7 Rebounds per game by junior A’ja Wilson over the last three games
15 Of her career 57 double-doubles that have come against ranked opponents, including five in seven games this season
24.8 Points per game by which South Carolina won each game following a loss this season
67.5 Percent of the Gamecocks’ 80 points at Texas A&M (Feb. 23) that came in the paint, a season high

Kentucky Series Notes

Kentucky leads the series 33-26, but the Gamecocks have won five of the last seven and seven of the last nine contests, including all three played at Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina is 10-9 against Kentucky in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09 season) with a 5-2 mark in Columbia.

In the annual home-and-home series that is among the best rivalries in the SEC, both teams have been ranked in each of the last 12 meetings, including today’s contest. South Carolina’s current four-game win streak over the Wildcats matches the longest in series history.

After the Gamecocks swept all three games in 2015-16, South Carolina continued the streak with a 75-63 win at Kentucky earlier this season as Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson continued their solid play against the Wildcats, each posting 20 points with Coates adding a then-career high 18 rebounds and Wilson recording five blocks. It was the Gamecock defense that caused the biggest challenge in the game as South Carolina out-scored Kentucky 22-8 in the second quarter to carry a 42-23 lead into halftime.

In nine career games against Kentucky, Coates averages 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in just 24.2 minutes. Wilson has faced the Wildcats six times with averages of 17.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.7 blocks.

Ranked Readings

Under head coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina is 44-45 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 29-6 versus ranked foes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina is 13-4 against top-10 opponents during that time.

Staley’s Gamecocks are 16-14 against ranked opponents on their home courts after winning seven the last eight road games against ranked foes and 12 of the last 17 such contests dating back to the start of 2013-14.

This season, the Gamecocks’ 6-1 record against ranked foes, includes just two home games and a neutral-site win over then-No. 4/4 Louisville (83-89, Nov. 27).

Rankings Review

Ranked fourth in this week’s AP Poll, the Gamecocks are in the midst of the nation’s third-longest active top-10 ranking streak (66), trailing just UConn (229) and Notre Dame (122) and well ahead of fourth-place Baylor (50). South Carolina has appeared in the top 25 in each of the last 88 AP Polls.

In the Staley era, South Carolina has collected 51 top-five rankings in the AP Poll, including 42 weeks in the top three and 12 weeks at No. 1.

Fourth Follow-Up?

The Gamecocks entered the 2016-17 season as the three-time reigning SEC regular-season champions, becoming just the third program to win three straight titles, joining Tennessee (2000-04 and 1993-95) and Auburn (1987-89).

SEC coaches and the media picked the Gamecocks to claim the conference title again this season. The league has had the same champion four straight seasons just once before when Tennessee claimed its fourth straight in 2003 en route to the league-record seven consecutive titles (1998-2004).

20/20 Vision

Five different Gamecocks have recorded at least one 20-point game this season ââ’¬” A’ja Wilson (9), Alaina Coates (4), Kaela Davis (3), Allisha Gray (2) and Bianca Cuevas-Moore (1) ââ’¬” across 14 games this season. Two Gamecocks have reached that mark in the same game four times, marking the most such games in a season since 2009-10. The 2001-02 team also record four such games. Five games in the 1990-91 saw multiple 20-point scorers, as did seven games in the 1985-86 season and 10 games in the 1988-90 campaign.

Great Gamecock Fans

With over 10,000 season-ticket holders for the second-straight season, South Carolina leads the nation in average attendance at 12,457 and is the only program drawing at least 10,000 fans per game.

The Gamecocks have posted the highest average attendance at the end of the last two seasons and have enjoyed steady fan growth over the last five years ââ’¬” 3,952 in 2012-13; 6,371 in 2013-14; 12,293 in 2014-15; 14,364 in 2015-16.