Sunday Night Showdown for Women's Basketball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 18/19 South Carolina will face its third top-10 opponent in three weeks when the Gamecocks (4-3) welcome No. 4/5 Baylor (6-0) to Colonial Life Arena on Sunday at 7 p.m. The game will be the last of this season’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which features 10 games between the two conferences, including eight taking place on Sunday.
SOUTH CAROLINA NOTABLES
• Tonight’s game features the only two women to play and serve as a head coach in the NCAA Women’s Final Four in South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Baylor’s Kim Mulkey. Staley is also the first NCAA Women’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1991) to win a national championship as a coach (2017).
• This season marks the third in which the SEC/Big 12 Challenge features 10 squads from the SEC against every team from the Big 12 and the second time the Gamecocks have participated in the event. South Carolina won its inaugural game for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, topping then-#14 Texas 76-67 in Austin on Dec. 1, 2016.
• Points in the paint may be hard to come by tonight as South Carolina and Baylor both rank among the nation’s top 15 in blocked shots per game. The Gamecocks’ 7.6 bpg are fourth in the nation, while the Lady Bears are13th at 6.0.
• South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was named 2018 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year last week, honoring her successful coaching of the U.S. National Team to gold at the FIBA World Cup in Tenerife, Spain. It is her second time capturing the award (2015).
• In this season’s two previous games against ranked opponents, the Gamecocks have found a bulk of their points in the paint – 60.5 percent of 64.5 points per game. Looking at made fields goals lifts the percentage even higher with 76.5 percent of 51 made baskets have come in the paint.
• The Gamecocks have won the battle of the bench five times this season with a 4-1 record in those games. South Carolina’s bench has out-scored that of its opponents 28.7-18.6 so far this season.
• The Gamecocks are forcing 20.7 turnovers per game, which they have turned into 23.4 points per game. Both are the highest for the program in the last five season. This season’s 1.1304 points per turnover forced is just slightly lower than last season’s 1.1333 mark.
• After a pair of big offensive games, junior guard Tyasha Harris is up to 11.4 points per game this season. Playing extended minutes against both Drake and Dayton, the Gamecocks’ point guard averaged 21.0 points on 53.3 percent field goal shooting over the two-game stretch.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 Gamecocks who rank among the SEC’s top 10 in free throw shooting – Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (.857, 2nd), Tyasha Harris (.857, 2nd), Te’a Cooper (.781, 8th)
5 Gamecocks who have led the team in scoring at least once this season
6.0 Rebounds per game from senior guard Doniyah Cliney over the last four games (2nd on team)
SEC/BIG 12 CHALLENGE
The 2018 SEC/Big 12 Challenge kicked off on Thursday night with a pair of wins for the Big 12. The remaining eight games of the event take place on Sunday, including five that feature at least one ranked team. Both teams are ranked in two of the scheduled battles as #6/6 Mississippi State travels to #10/10 Texas Sunday in addition to tonight’s matchup in Columbia.
This year is the fifth season of the Challenge, but just the third to feature 10 games. In 2016, the SEC edged the Big 12, 6-4, in the first 10-game slate. The Gamecocks first participated in the Challenge that season, adding to the SEC win column with a road victory at then-#14 Texas on Dec. 1. Last season the leagues split the Challenge, 5-5.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Gamecocks are 438-158 all-time on their home court, including a 195-64 mark in Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina is 131-30 at home during the Dawn Staley era and has lost just five times in its last 86 home games, including undefeated home seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15. The Gamecocks have won 40 of their last 42 SEC regular-season home games dating back to the 2012-13 season.
RANKED READINGS
With an 0-2 mark so far season, South Carolina is 59-54 against nationally ranked opponents under head coach Dawn Staley, although that record is skewed by the early seasons of her tenure. The Gamecocks are 44-15 versus ranked foes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. South Carolina is 18-11 against top-10 opponents during that time, including a 4-7 mark against top-five foes.
BLOCK PARTY
South Carolina has long been a shot-blocking force centered around dominant, physical post players. This season, the Gamecocks are fourth in the nation in blocked shots per game at 7.6 per game. Against Clemson (Nov. 15), the Gamecocks tied the school record with 16 blocked shots.
Junior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan leads the way with 2.0 blocks per game to rank fourth in the SEC and 41st in the nation. Freshman Victaria Saxton comes in eighth in the league at 1.8 per game. Eight other Gamecocks have recorded at least one block this season.
Saxton swatted away five shots against Clemson (Nov. 15), the most by a Gamecock freshman since A’ja Wilson blocked six at Kentucky on March 1, 2015.
