Top-5 Road Battle Set for Sunday

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 1/1 South Carolina women’s basketball faces its second top-five road test of the season when the Gamecocks travel to UConn for a noon tipoff on Sun., Feb. 5, at the XL Center in Hartford. The sold-out game will air on FOX.

The UConn Series
The Huskies lead the series 9-3, but the Gamecocks have claimed three of the last four meetings. The lone loss in that stretch was a 63-59 overtime decision in Gampel Pavilion in their last trip to Connecticut (Feb. 8, 2021).

South Carolina swept a pair of neutral site games over the Huskies last season, claiming the Battle 4 Atlantis title 73-57 on Nov. 22, 2021, in the Bahamas and the NCAA title 64-49 on April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. 

By the Numbers

5.2 – In the last five games, Aliyah Boston has averaged 5.2 offensive rebounds.

23.9 – South Carolina has blocked 23.9 percent of its opponents’ 2-point field goals, which leads the nation.

40.1 – The Gamecock bench averages 40.1 points on the season, including 33.3 points per game against ranked opponents.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina’s elite rebounding effort includes a +20.0 margin over ranked opponents this season. In those four games, the Gamecocks have averaged 21.0 offensive boards, which have yielded 20.4 second-chance points. Overall this season, South Carolina leads the nation with a 49.9 offensive rebounding rate and a 63.7 total rebounding rate.

• The Gamecocks have out-scored opponents in the paint by 25.5 points per game. That mark includes a +12.0 margin in four games against ranked opponents.

• Reigning National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston is the only player in the nation ranked in the top five in both player defensive rating and player offensive rating, per Her Hoop Stats. A seven-game double-doubles streak has her averaging a double-double for the season (12.9 ppg/10.0 rpg) despite playing just 24.5 minutes per game. In four games against ranked opponents, her minutes rise to 29.2 as do her scoring and rebounding (15.3 ppg/12.5 rpg).

• Senior Zia Cooke is putting up career numbers this season. While her 15.1 scoring average ranks second among her four seasons, it translates to a career-best 24.9 points per 40 minutes and has come on career-high 41.4 percent field goal shooting.

• Senior Brea Beal is among the toughest defenders in the country, allowing just 3.7 points per game on 21.6 percent shooting, according to Synergy. She has married that effort with career-best outside shooting at 40.0 percent (22-of-55).

• Redshirt-feshman Raven Johnson ranks 23rd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.41) behind 3.3 assists per game.

• Junior Kamilla Cardoso is third in the country in offensive rebounding rate (.222). She averages 2.9 second-chance points on her 3.6 offensive boards per game.

Ranked Readings
Against ranked teams, South Carolina is 103-66 (.609) 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 88-27 (.766) against ranked teams, including a 40-6 mark (.870) since the start of the 2019-20 season.

Senior Aliyah Boston has thrived in her 46 career games against ranked opponents, averaging 15.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks while shooting 53.6 percent. Senior Zia Cooke’s offense is not far behind with her 13.9 points per game in those 46 outings, including a career-best 16.8 average in this season’s four games.

So far this season, South Carolina is 4-0 against ranked opponents, winning those games by an average of 21.3 points with a +20.0 rebounding margin.

Senior SZN
Now in its senior season, South Carolina’s first No. 1 signing class – Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Olivia Thompson – has shaped the program from the moment those five freshmen gathered on campus.

In careers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has reached the Final Four in both their NCAA Tournament appearances, including winning the 2022 National Championship, and has never been ranked outside the top 10. With a combined 115-8 record, they have won 93.5 percent of their games, including a 40-6 mark against nationally ranked opponents.

In SEC action, the class has lost a total of just three league games en route to two regular-season titles (2020, 2022). They have played in three SEC Tournament championship games, claiming the title in two of those (2020, 2021).

Now in its senior season, South Carolina’s first No. 1 signing class – Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Olivia Thompson – has shaped the program from the moment those five freshmen gathered on campus.

In careers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has reached the Final Four in both their NCAA Tournament appearances, including winning the 2022 National Championship, and has never been ranked outside the top 10. With a combined 115-8 record, they have won 93.5 percent of their games, including a 40-6 mark against nationally ranked opponents.

In SEC action, the class has lost a total of just three league games en route to two regular-season titles (2020, 2022). They have played in three SEC Tournament championship games, claiming the title in two of those (2020, 2021).

Boston’s Best
Reigning National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston continues to live up to that title thanks to the flattery of opposing coaches who create defensive schemes expressly designed to slow her down. 

Spoiler Alert: It hasn’t really worked. According to Her Hoop Stats, among those playing at least 20 minutes per game, Boston is the only player in the country ranked in the top five in both player defensive rating (1st, 62.1) and player offensive rating (5th, 137.5). She leads the SEC in both categories.

Despite the extra attention – double, triple and the occasional quadruple team – the program’s career double-doubles record holder (75) is fifth in the nation with 15 double-doubles, including a current streak of seven straight. She leads the Gamecocks in rebounding (10.0, 2nd in SEC, 25th in nation) and is second in scoring (12.9) – both numbers that go up dramatically against ranked opponents (15.3 ppg/12.5 rpg). Defensively, she remains locked in, ranking third in the SEC and 21st in the nation with 2.1 blocks per game, including an SEC-best 2.6 per conference game.

From her college debut triple-double in November 2019 to her sweep of the national player of the year awards – including Naismith Defensive Player of the Year – the 6-foot-5 St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., native has been among the best in college women’s basketball throughout her career. 

Boston is a three-time All-American, three-time winner of the Lisa Leslie Award, three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the 2022 SEC Player of the Year. She holds South Carolina career records for offensive rebounds (475), defensive rebounds (874), consecutive games started (123), rebounds in SEC games (678), offensive rebounds in SEC games (229), defensive rebounds in SEC games (449) and double-doubles in SEC games (39). She is also eighth among the program’s all-time scorers with 1,744 points and is second in rebounds (1,349) and blocked shots (303)..

A model of consistency, Boston has scored in double figures 105 times in her 123 career games (.854). Averaging a double-double for her career (14.2 ppg/10.9 rpg), she leads all active NCAA players, all divisions, in career double-doubles and rebounds. Her 303 career blocked shots are third among all active players. She is the SEC’s leading active scorer and rebounding leader.

In 46 career games against ranked opponents, her averages rise to 15.2 ppg and 12.3 rpg.

All that said, Boston’s impact on the Gamecocks goes beyond her own numbers. A three-time team captain, the senior is a constant communicator on the court and off it as well, keeping teammates organized on both sides of the ball and throughout the week.