Nov. 25, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior guard Tiffany Mitchell and senior forward Aleighsa Welch were named to the watch lists for a pair of prestigious awards this week. Both appeared on the John R Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30 and WBCA’s Wade Watch, making the Gamecocks one of four programs to have two entries on both listings.

“I’m so happy for Tiffany and Aleighsa for getting recognized for everything they have contributed to our success on and off the court,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “Individual honors like this come as a product of our team’s success, and these two fully embody that.”

Mitchell was a finalist for both awards last season after earning SEC Player of the Year honors from the league’s coaches. This season, the versatile guard leads the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage (.692) and is among the conference’s top 15 in scoring (8th, 17.7 ppg), field goal percentage (8th, .615), assists (11th, 4.0 apg) and free throw percentage (5th, .857). She became the program’s first Associated Press Preseason All-American earlier this season.

Welch is a Preseason All-SEC First-Team selection by both the league’s coaches and media and was tabbed as the No. 7 player on the nation by espnW earlier this season. She is among the program’s all-time top rebounders and is one of just 12 Gamecocks to pull down at least 700 rebounds while also reaching the 1,000-point plateau. After ranking 14th in the nation in field goal percentage last season, she currently stands 12th in the country in the category, hitting 68.2 percent from the field. Welch is currently the team’s top shot blocker, ranking fourth in the SEC with 1.7 per game.

The Gamecocks are currently in the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam and are set to take on Wisconsin on Thu., Nov. 27, at 4:15 p.m. (ET) and face either East Carolina or nationally-ranked Syracuse on Fri., Nov. 28. Both games are scheduled to have live video available at JunkanooJam.com or can be heard on 107.5 The Game or GamecocksOnline.com.

South Carolina women’s basketball season tickets are available starting at $100 for a Family Four-Pack of four general admission tickets. Single-game tickets are also on sale now and are $7 for adults and $4 for youth (17 and under). Visit www.GameocksOnline.com/tickets or call 1-800-4SC-FANS to purchase tickets.