Jan. 4, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 5/5 South Carolina faces its first SEC road test of the season on Thursday night at Auburn. The Gamecocks (11-1, 1-0 SEC) are back in the top five this week, marking the program’s 47th appearance in the AP top five. Tipoff against the Tigers (11-4, 1-0 SEC) is set for 7 p.m. (ET).

South Carolina Notables

• South Carolina is 8-3 against Auburn in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), including wins in the last five meetings. Seven of the 11 games were decided by single digits, including four of the five played at Auburn.
• The Gamecocks continue to thrive in the middle quarters of games this season, averaging 22.0 and 22.4 points per quarter in the second and third periods, respectively. Those two are also the team’s most efficient quarters as the Gamecocks shoot 51.6 percent and 51.8 percent, respectively.
• In the SEC opener against Alabama, Alaina Coates collected her 50th career double-double. She is just the second Gamecock to reach the benchmark with the first, Sheila Foster, hitting it during the 1980-81 season.
• Four Gamecocks rank among the SEC’s top 25 in points per game despite not ranking among the league’s top 30 in minutes played. Junior A’ja Wilson leads the way with 16.9 points per game (4th) with senior Alaina Coates in 16th (15.0 ppg) and junior guards Kaela Davis (19th, 13.8 ppg) and Allisha Gray (22nd, 12.9 ppg ) rounding out the quartet.
• Freshman Tyasha Harris drew the start in her SEC debut against Alabama (Jan. 1) and responded just as Staley expected — matching her career high with six assists. The old-school style point guard has three games of six assists this season and, in the Gamecocks’ four games against ranked opponents, leads the team in assists with 10. Overall her 2.5 assists per game are third on the team.
• Freshman forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan showed off her offense early in the season, but her defensive presence has been more flashy recently. Learning quickly from her starting frontcourt, she is sixth in the SEC in blocks per game (1.5). In the last three games, she averaged 3.3 blocks, including a season-high four against Alabama. .

By the Numbers

1 Win needed by head coach Dawn Staley to reach 200 in her South Carolina career
3 Stats in which Alaina Coates ranks among the top 15 in the NATION — FG percentage (2nd, .690), rebounding (13th, 10.8), double-doubles (8th, 8)
7 Games this season in which South Carolina has out-scored its opponent in the paint by at least 20 points
11 Games scoring in double figures for A’ja Wilson, the most on the team this season
50 Career double-doubles by Alaina Coates, the most by a Gamecock since the 1980-81 season

Auburn Series Notes

The Tigers lead the series 21-20, but the Gamecocks are 8-3 against them in the Dawn Staley era, including wins in the last five meetings. Seven of the 11 meetings have been decided by single digits, though, and all three of South Carolina’s losses to Auburn have come by a combined 15 points. The teams met twice last season with the second-ranked Gamecocks picking up a 74-58 win at Auburn Arena on Jan. 21. Their paths crossed again in the SEC Tournament with South Carolina picking up a 57-48 victory in the quarterfinals en route to its second-straight tournament title. Both games featured pivotal second quarters as the Gamecock defense held the Tigers to just five points in the second period of each game while scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively, themselves. Against the Tigers last season, Alaina Coates led the team in scoring and rebounding with a pair of double-doubles yielding 15.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

Road Ready

The Gamecocks are 231-246 all-time in true road games, including a 59-35 mark under head coach Dawn Staley. In non-conference action, Staley is 21-9 on the road during her nine seasons at South Carolina.

Rankings Review

Ranked fifth in this week’s AP Poll, the Gamecocks are in the midst of the nation’s third-longest active top-10 ranking streak (60), trailing just UConn (223) and Notre Dame (116) and well ahead of fourth-place Baylor (45). South Carolina has appeared in the top 25 in each of the last 84 AP Polls. In the Staley era, South Carolina has collected 47 top-five rankings in the AP Poll, including 42 weeks in the top three and 12 weeks at No. 1.

Blocking Scheme

South Carolina leads the SEC and ranks seventh in the nation with 6.6 blocked shots per game and have blocked double-digit shots twice this season — 11 vs. Clemson (Dec. 15), 10 vs. Alabama (Jan. 1). The two driving forces of that defensive movement are also the program’s all-time career blocked shot leaders — A’ja Wilson (194) and Alaina Coates (192) — and the only two teammates among the top 15 on the NCAA Division I active blocked shots list.

Wilson broke the school record earlier this season (vs. Saint Peter’s, Nov. 22) but can hardly celebrate with Coates nipping at her heels. The duo may trade the record several times this season as Wilson is second in the SEC with 2.2 blocks per game, which ranks 37th in the nation, and Coates is closing in at 1.8 per game for fourth in the league. Freshman Mikiah Herbert Harrigan is following in her mentors’ footsteps, ranking in sixth in the league with 1.5 blocks per game behind a surge in the last three games, during which she blocked 3.3 shots per contest.

Helping Hands

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley likes to say that with good movement, the ball will find who is supposed to shoot it on any given possession. With four 1,000-point scorers on this season’s team, many observers wondered how the quartet would abide that philosophy.

Early returns are good as the Gamecocks rank lead the SEC and 28th in the nation in assists per game at 17.0. The quartet of 1,000-point scorers account for 9.3 assists per game of that average with Allisha Gray leading the way at 3.1 and Kaela Davis just behind at 2.9.