Women's Basketball . December 30, 2020

Women's Hoops SEC Opener Thursday on ESPNU

#5/4 SOUTH CAROLINA (5-1) VS. FLORIDA (7-1)
4 p.m. | COLUMBIA, S.C. | COLONIAL LIFE ARENA (3,500)

ABOUT THIS GAME

Today’s game marks the start of South Carolina’s 30th season in the SEC, during which the Gamecocks are 202-209, including a 138-52 (.726) mark under Staley.
The Gamecocks are 12-17 all-time in SEC openers, including an 8-4 mark under Staley with wins in the last seven conference openers. They have never started SEC play against Florida.
This is the second-straight season and the sixth time in the last seven seasons that South Carolina has opened SEC play at home, winning all six of those contests. The Gamecocks are 73-22 in SEC home games under Staley and 117-89 in such games all-time.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

South Carolina is third in the nation in rebounds per game (52.0) and rebounding margin (+19.2), leading the SEC in both categories. While forwards Aliyah Boston (9.7) and Laeticia Amihere (7.3) lead the way, crashing the boards is a team effort. Guards LeLe Grissett and Destanni Henderson are pulling down more than five rebounds per game – 5.4 and 5.3, respectively. Four different Gamecocks have led or shared the team lead in rebounding at least once, including two games for Henderson.
An early season area of concern for the Gamecocks was their scoring efficiency in the paint. Shooting just 45.0 percent in the paint during a three-game stretch, South Carolina turned things around to hit 68.2 percent from the paint in its last two outings (45-66).
Sophomore guard Zia Cooke was among the first Gamecocks to reach out to her head coach after the team’s uncharacteristic performance against NC State, and the young competitor quickly applied the lessons Staley provided in that moment. In the two games since, Cooke has averaged 21.0 points on 60.9 percent shooting (14-23), including 9-of-13 (.692) from 3-point range, and handed out 4.0 assists per game. The efficient offensive surge has moved her into sixth in the SEC in scoring (17.7) and 16th in the country in 3-point percentage with an SEC-best .552 mark on the season.
Junior guard Destanni Henderson has been growing into her starting point guard role, and seems to be finding the balance of points and assists. Tied for third in the SEC with 5.0 assists per game, she has handed out more than five assists in each of the last three game. Her 12 5 points per game are second on the team, and her 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio is 27th in the country.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 The Gamecocks are 4-0 all-time in games played on New Year’s Eve, including a pair of SEC wins. Three of the four games were at home.

9.5 Freshman Eniya Russell has averaged 9.5 points over the last two games, shooting 53.8 percent from the field.

18.0 South Carolina is 10th in the country with 18.0 offensive rebounds per game. Reeling in an SEC-best 46.0 percent of its missed shots, it averages 17.5 second-chance points.

19 Sophomore Aliyah Boston needs 19 points to reach 500 in her career.

20.5 The Gamecocks have handed out 20.5 assists per game over their last two outings, the two highest marks of the season – 21 at #23/18 Iowa State, 22 vs. Temple.

27.7 South Carolina’s 27.7 free throw attempts per game leads the nation. Their 17.2 made free throws per game ranks sixth.