Women's Hoops Hosts Alabama Thursday

No. 1/1 South Carolina hosts Alabama on Thu., Feb. 22, with a 7 p.m. tipoff at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks have just two regular-season home games remaining.

Fan Information

• Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal to participate in the Teddy Bear Toss at halftime. All stuffed animals collected will be shared with local organizations. Please no battery packs inside the stuffed animals, and no stuffed animals in boxes.

The Alabama Series
The Gamecocks are 31-15 all-time against the Crimson Tide including a 21-0 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09).

The teams last met on Jan. 29, 2023, in Tuscaloosa with the Gamecocks battling out a 65-52 victory. Then-sophomore Bree Hall broke out with a then-career high 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, including 13 points in the second half as South Carolina held off a late charge from the Crimson Tide.

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By the Numbers
8 – Over the last five games, eight Gamecocks have played at least 11.0 minutes per game.

10 – Ten Gamecocks have scored in double figures at least once this season, including seven who have hit the mark in at least 10 games.

+22.0 – South Carolina is out-scoring SEC opponents in the paint by 22.0 points per game.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina has proven to be a second-half team, especially in SEC play. The Gamecocks average more points (43.3-39.9) on a better shooting percentage (.509-.481) over the game’s final 20 minutes in league play. They have out-scored opponents by an average of 14.1 points in the second half compared to a +10.9 average margin at halftime.

• The Gamecocks’ diverse offense averages 4.8 players per game scoring in double figures, including seven games of six or more hitting that mark.

• National Player of the Year candidate Kamilla Cardoso averages a double-double on the season at 14.1 points and 10.1 rebounds, which rank 26th in the nation. Her .586 field goal percentage is 17th best in the nation, and her 2.9 blocks per game are seventh. She has 12 double-doubles on the season, including each of the last two games.

• Senior Te-Hina Paopao ranks among the nation’s best in 3-point shooting and in distributing the basketball. She is second in the nation in 3-point percentage at .484 and 29th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0. Her 3.7 assists per game rank 10th in the SEC.

• Sophomore Raven Johnson not only leads the Gamecocks in assists (5.0 per game to rank third in the SEC), she is the team’s top rebounding guard at 5.1 per game. In fact, she led the team in rebounding in three of the last four games, averaging 10.0 boards in that four-game stretch.

• Sophomore Ashlyn Watkins continues to rise in her bid to become the SEC 6th Woman of the Year. Three of her six double-doubles this season have come in the last six games. In that six-game stretch, she averaged 11.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.5 steals while shooting 64.3 percent from the field.

• Sophomore Chloe Kitts averaged 11.0 points on 56.8 percent shooting over the last four games.

Opponent Files
South Carolina’s regular-season schedule includes six games against teams ranked at the time of the game or in at least one of the two national polls this week, including five in non-conference action. Four of those games came in the first five weeks of the season – against #10/10 Notre Dame (W, 100-71),  #14/11 Maryland (W, 114-76), at #24/24 North Carolina (W, 65-58), against #11/7 Utah (78-69). South Carolina later added wins at SEC rival #9/9 LSU (76-70) and against #11/9 UConn (83-65.

The Gamecocks’  schedule is ranked the 28th toughest in the nation with opponents posting a .618 winning percentage. South Carolina’s NET non-conference strength of schedule is seventh, and its average opponent NET ranking is 21st. The Gamecocks’ 11 wins against NET top-50 teams are the most in the country.

Bench Mob
The quality of South Carolina’s depth ranks among the best in the nation. The Gamecocks’ six-woman bench is third in the nation with an SEC-best 32.4 points per game. The South Carolina bench has out-scored its opponents’ starters seven times this season, and the Gamecocks’ top scorer in a game has been off the bench seven times.

The Gamecock bench has outscored its counterparts by 19.2 points per game, including a +15.3 margin in SEC action. The group has been most dominant against ranked opponents, outpacing that group’s bench by 21.0 points per game. Only two opponents have had their bench out-score the Gamecocks’ – by 10 at Duke (Dec. 3), by 5 vs. Georgia (Feb. 18).

Paint Production
South Carolina has long dominated the paint, and this season’s numbers have upheld that tradition, despite all the attention to the Gamecocks’ 3-point shooting. The season kicked off with 70 of the team’s 100 points against #10/10 Notre Dame (Nov. 6) coming in the paint, and seven other games have included at least half the total points coming in the paint.

The Gamecocks are out-scoring opponents in the paint 47.6 to 23.0 (+24.6) for the season and by +22.0 points per game in SEC action (47.0-25.0). They are shooting 58.6 percent in the paint compared to opponents’ 37.7 percent accuracy inside. The Gamecocks have scored 54.8 percent of their points in the paint.

Last season, South Carolina averaged 43.8 points in the paint to account for 54.6 percent of its offense.