Gamecocks at Alabama Monday Night
#5/4 SOUTH CAROLINA (6-1, 1-0 SEC) AT ALABAMA (8-0, 1-0 SEC)
7 P.M. ET | TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA | COLEMAN COLISEUM
South Carolina Game Notes | WATCH: SEC Network | LISTEN: 107.5 FM | Live Stats | Media Availability
ABOUT THIS GAME
- The Gamecocks and Crimson Tide are meeting in the second SEC game of the season for the second-straight season with both games being in Tuscaloosa.
- South Carolina has won its last 16 games against Alabama, which is every game of the Dawn Staley era.
- The Gamecocks are looking to start the SEC campaign 2-0 for the eighth straight season.
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- Dawn Staley’s 139 career SEC victories are tied for fifth all-time among league head coaches, matching former Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi. She is second among the league’s active head coaches, trailing just Gary Blair at 141 (through 12/31). Her .728 winning percentage is second all-time to Tennessee’s Pat Summitt. In her 13th season, Staley accounts for 72.0 percent of South Carolina’s all-time 193 SEC wins in its 30th season in the league.
- Unanimous Preseason AP All-American Aliyah Boston has scored in double figures in six of seven games this season with three double-doubles, but heading into SEC play, she was still searching for an attention-grabbing game. She delivered that against Florida (Dec.. 31), not just in raw numbers – career-high 28 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks, and three steals – but also in the WAY she scored. Boston was 4-of-6 from the paint, 4-of-7 from midrange and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. She ended the half by bring the ball full-court after a rebound and hitting a jumper as the time expired. She was the only Gamecock to make a 3 in the game, and her 28 points were the most by a Gamecock since Bianca Cuevas-Moore hit that mark at Tennessee on Feb. 24, 2019.
- Preseason All-SEC selection Zia Cooke moved up to fourth in the SEC in scoring at 18.9 points per game after averaging 22.7 points over the last three games on 53.3 percent shooting. Better shooting has her distributing the ball more, too, averaging 4.3 assists during that stretch.
- Junior point guard Destanni Henderson ranks 21st in the nation with an SEC-best 5.6 assists per game. She has handed out six or more assists in each of the last four games, including a career-high nine against Florida (Dec. 31). Her 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio is sixth in the SEC.
- Junior Victaria Saxton has been dominating the glass over the last three games, averaging 9.3 rebounds over that stretch, including tying her career high with 12 against Florida (Dec. 31). She has also blocked 3.3 shots per game over that time. Numbers that moved her into 15th and second in the SEC in rebounds and blocks, respectively.
BY THE NUMBERS
7.3 South Carolina is third in the nation with an SEC-best 7.3 blocked shots per game.
+18.1 The Gamecocks are fourth in the country with a +18.1 rebounding margin. They have not been out-rebounded this season.
23 South Carolina has been ranked in the top five of the last 23 AP Top 25 Polls, the longest active streak in the nation.
24.1 The Gamecocks’ bench averages 24.1 points per game, scoring at least one third of the team’s points in three games this season.
62.0 Over the last three games, South Carolina has assisted on 62.0 percent of its made field goals. That number was just 45.8 percent over the first four games.
62.5 The Gamecocks are shooting 62.5 percent in the paint over the last three games.
