Top-10 Sunday Showdown Set for Colonial Life Arena

#1/1 SOUTH CAROLINA (9-0) VS. #8/7 MARYLAND (9-2)
DECEMBER 12, 2021 |  3 P.M. ET |  COLUMBIA, S.C. | COLONIAL LIFE ARENA (18,000)

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• Today’s game is the third-straight top-10 matchup in the South Carolina-Maryland series and the fourth-straight top-25 matchup.
• South Carolina leads the nation with 13 scheduled games against teams in this weeks AP and/or USA Today/Coaches Polls. Five of those games are in non-conference play with three coming in the next 10 days. South Carolina is currently the only team with three wins over ranked opponents with all three of the Gamecocks’ wins coming against top-10 foes.
• A pair of Gamecocks could reach the 1,000-point plateau today in their 74 career game. Zia Cooke needs just three points to hit the mark, while Aliyah Boston is 12 away. It would mark the ninth time in program history that teammates reached 1,000 career points in the same season.
• South Carolina’s legacy as a defensive team continues even as the offense has gotten stronger this season. The Gamecocks are 11th in the nation in scoring defense (49.7 ppg) and in field goal percentage defense (.321). Only one team has scored more than 60 points this season.
• Junior Aliyah Boston has heard Dawn Staley’s message to be dominant every time she steps on the court. Over the last four games, the All-American has scored 21.0 points per game on 72.5 percent shooting (37-of-51), reeled in 11.5 rebounds per game and blocked 2.8 shots per game. Boston has scored 20 or more points four times already this season, a scoring mark she reached just eight times through her first two seasons.
• Junior forward Laeticia Amihere drew an array of comparisons to iconic point forwards with her effort against Kansas State (Dec. 3) as her 11-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist, 5-block effort led head coach Dawn Staley to question whether she has had Amihere playing the wrong position all along.

BY THE NUMBERS

3, 12 – Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston are three and 12 points away from 1,000 in their career, respectively.

10 – South Carolina and Maryland combine to return all 10 starters from last season’s conference championship teams.

71.7 – South Carolina post players have scored 71.7 percent of the team’s 38.4 points in the paint per game.

NOTES

The Maryland Series
The series is tied 2-2 after the teams have alternated wins each winning on the other’s home court for the last three matchups. Both teams have been ranked for the last three meetings, and today marks the third-straight top-10 matchup in the series.

In the most recent meeting, the #8/10 Gamecocks posted a 63-54 win over #4/5 Maryland in College Park on Nov. 10, 2019, behind a 54-38 rebounding advantage in the game and a defensive effort that led to a 16-9 second quarter that established a 34-24 halftime lead. It was the first “big time” game for the Gamecocks’ 2019 freshman class, and they delivered with Aliyah Boston pacing the offense with 14 points, Zia Cooke adding 10 and Brea Beal posting a team-high 10 rebounds, eight points and four assists.

In the Terrapins’ last trip to Colonial Life Arena (Nov. 18, 2018), it was also the second quarter that made the difference as #9/10 Maryland out-scored #10/11 South Carolina 23-7 in the period en route to an 85-61 victory.

Ranked Readings
Against ranked opponents, South Carolina is 88-66 in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), and even that mark is skewed by the early seasons of her tenure.

Since the start of the 2014-15 campaign, the Gamecocks are 73-27 against ranked teams, including a 25-6 mark since the start of the 2019-20 season.

This season, South Carolina’s three wins over ranked opponents (all top-10 teams) have come by an average of 14.0 points. Zia Cooke is the team’s top scorer against ranked opponents at 18.0 points per game, while Aliyah Boston nears a double-double in those games, posting 15.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Glass Ceiling
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Gamecocks have dominated on the glass, ranking among the NCAA’s top five in rebounds per game and rebounding margin every season and sixth in offensive rebounds per game each of the last two full seasons. South Carolina has not been out-rebounded since the 2019-20 regular-season finale against Texas A&M (43 games).

This season, South Carolina is second in the nation with an SEC-best +17.9 rebounding margin. The Gamecocks lead the SEC in rebounds allowed (27.6) and both offensive  rebounding percentage (.448).

Individually, Aliyah Boston leads the way with 9.0 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the SEC. Kamilla Cardoso is next on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game, and guard Brea Beal is third on the team at 4.8.

Block Party
South Carolina annually ranks among the best shot blocking teams in the country and leads the way this season at 8.6 blocks per game after finishing the 2020-21 season second at 7.0, including 7.6 in SEC play.

  Aliyah Boston’s 2.6 blocks per game lead the way at 18th in the nation and third in the SEC. Sophomore Kamilla Cardoso – the leading shot blocker in the ACC last season – is eighth in the SEC at 1.8 blocks per game, and Laeticia Amihere”s 1.3 blocks per game are 13th.