Feb. 2, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” South Carolina junior center Alaina Coates is the SEC Player of the Week, the league announced today, for her effort in the Gamecocks’ pair of wins last week. The 6-foot-4 Irmo, S.C., product averaged 12.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and a team-high tying 4.0 assists against Ole Miss and then-No. 10/10 Texas A&M. After earning five SEC Freshman of the Week honors in 2013-14, Coates collects her first career SEC Player of the Week recognition today.

Coates posted her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season last week with 13 points and 14 rebounds against Ole Miss and 12 points and 10 rebounds at Texas A&M. She shot over 60.0 percent from the field in both games and has shot below that mark just once in SEC play this season. Coates grabbed nine of her 14 rebounds against Ole Miss in the first half and recorded five of the team’s last seven points in the half to establish a 14-point halftime lead. At then-No. 10/10 Texas A&M, she worked the defense for a career-high six assists to go with her double-double, including four in the first half alone. During a 10-0 fourth quarter run, Coates provided solid defense at the rim, grabbed three key defensive rebounds and drove to the basket to help turn a late four-point deficit into a six-point lead that the Gamecocks would not relinquish.

This season, Coates averages a double-double in SEC play with a league-best 11.0 rebounds per game to go with her 10.8 points per game. Six of her 11 double-doubles this season have come in SEC action. Overall, Coates averages 12.2 points on 68.9 percent shooting and ranks 34th in the nation with 9.9 rebounds per game. She is the SEC’s active leader in double-doubles with 33 in her career, which rank her fifth in South Carolina history. Coates is the first new entry in the Gamecock top five double-doubles list since Marsha Williams closed the 1992-93 season in second place.

No. 2 South Carolina hosts No. 18 Kentucky on Thu., Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena. The game will air on SEC Network.