No. 1 Gamecocks Head to the Plains Thursday

No. 1/1 South Carolina heads back out on the road this week, traveling to Auburn for an 8 p.m. ET tipoff on Thu., Feb. 1.

The Auburn Series
The Gamecocks are 29-21 all-time against Auburn, including a 17-3 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09). South Carolina has won 14 straight in the series.

The teams played twice last season with South Carolina winning by an average of 43.5 points. In the 83-48 win at Auburn (Feb. 9, 2023), the Gamecock defense held the Tigers to just seven points in the opening quarter and never looked back.

By the Numbers
7.2 – The Gamecocks’ 7.2 made 3s per game are the most of the Staley era and the most since the 2003-04 team averaged 7.2.

+11.1 – South Carolina has out-scored its opponents in the second quarter by an average of 11.1 points, helping it trail at the half just twice this season.

+26.6 – The Gamecocks’ +26.6 scoring margin in SEC play leads the league and includes just one game decided by single digits (at #9/9 LSU).

Gamecock Notables

• Thursday’s game pits the SEC’s top offensive team – South Carolina 88.4 ppg vs. SEC teams – against its top defensive team – Auburn 61.1 ppg allowed. The Gamecock defense sits just below the Tigers’, though, allowing just 61.9 points per SEC contest.

• The Gamecocks’ high octane offense has been by committee with just six games having a 20-point scorer, and even that number is diverse with four Gamecocks having at least one 20-point game.

• South Carolina leads the nation in rebounding margin (+13.8), including a +7.4 margin in SEC outings (2nd in the league).

• The Gamecocks average 16.5 second-chance points off their 13.6 offensive rebounds per game.

• Over the last five games, the Gamecocks have shot 55.1 percent from the field behind five players shooting over 60.0 percent – Sania Feagin (.760), Sakima Walker (.667), Chloe Kitts (.621), Ashlyn Watkins (.615) and Kamilla Cardoso (.604).

• Improved 3-point shooting has not diminished the Gamecocks’ paint dominance and focus with 54.7 percent of their points coming inside.

• National Player of the Year candidate Kamilla Cardoso picked up her third USBWA National Player of the Week honor this week. She continues to rank among the nation’s top 20 in blocks per game (7th, 2.8), field goal percentage (15th, .603) and double-doubles (19th, 10).

• Junior Bree Hall has made the road her home this season, leading the team in true road games with 13.1 points per game on 65.5 percent shooting, including 70.0 percent from 3-point range.

• Senior Te-Hina Paopao is the nation’s top 3-point percentage shooter (.505).

• Cardoso and Paopao were named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 this week.

SEC Sayings
South Carolina has been the benchmark in the SEC over the last decade, amassing seven regular-season titles since 2013-14 and finishing no lower than second in that time. Since that season, the Gamecocks have a 152-15 record (.910) in league action.

The Gamecocks have also had a lock on the SEC Tournament, winning seven titles since claiming their first in 2015. They became the first program to win four consecutive tournaments, claiming the crowns 2015-18.

In the last decade, three Gamecocks have been named SEC Player of the Year a combined seven times, two have collected six SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, two have been the league’s Sixth-Woman of the Year, three have been the league Freshman of the Year, one has been the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Staley has been the Coach of the Year six times.

Both the coaches and media picked South Carolina to finish second behind LSU this season.

Bench Mob
The quality of South Carolina’s depth ranks among the best in the nation. The Gamecocks’ six-woman bench is fourth in the nation with an SEC-best 34.1 points per game. The South Carolina bench has out-scored its opponents’ starters six times this season, and the Gamecocks’ top scorer in a game has been off the bench five times.

Three for All
Long the Achilles heel for the Gamecocks, outside shooting has become a steady weapon for this season’s team. The Gamecocks lead the nation in accuracy, hitting 42.5 percent from 3-point range behind the nation’s top percentage shooter in Te-Hina Paopao (.505). Bree Hall is close behind at 48.0 percent. In SEC action, those numbers rise to 44.3 percent for the team, with Hall hitting an SEC-best 60.9 percent and Paopao third at 57.7 percent.

South Carolina’s 3-point volume has gone up as well, ranking third in the SEC with 7.2 made threes per game, including four games of double-digit made 3s. While the program record for made 3s per game is 9.2 set in 1993-94, the Staley era high is 5.8 in 2018-19.

Paopao’s 2.6 made threes per game are second in the SEC, and she has hit at least two threes in all but two games this season with four games of four made threes.

Hall’s 1.9 per game are eighth in the SEC, and that number rises to 2.1 makes per game in SEC action, which ranks fifth in the league.