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Gamecocks' SEC Tournament Starts Friday
Women's Basketball  . 

Gamecocks' SEC Tournament Starts Friday

No. 1/1 South Carolina is set for SEC Tournament action in Greenville, S.C. The Gamecocks will play the winner of the Thursday game between Texas A&M and Mississippi State on Fri., Mar. 8. Tipoff a Bon Secours Wellness Arena is set for noon with the game airing on SEC Network.

The Mississippi State Series
The Gamecocks are 27-19 all-time against the Bulldogs, including wins in the last six meetings. In the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), South Carolina is 18-6 in the series, including an 85-66 win in Columbia earlier this season.

 

The Texas A&M Series
The Gamecocks are 11-4 all-time against Texas A&M with 11 wins in the last 12 games, including the last four. All games have been played in the Dawn Staley era at South Carolina (beginning 2008-09).

 

By the Numbers

4 – Four Gamecocks on an All-SEC team tied the program record, originally set in 2015.

7 – South Carolina has won seven SEC Tournament titles in the last nine seasons.

8 – The Gamecocks have used eight different starting lineups this season.

9 – South Carolina has nine players averaging at least 14 minutes per game.

14 – The Gamecocks’ 14 wins over NET top-50 teams leads the nation.

65.2 – In the last five games, South Carolina assisted on 65.2 percent of its made field goals.

Gamecock Notables

  • South Carolina enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third-straight season and the eighth time in the last 11 seasons. The Gamecocks went on to win the title sevens in the last 11 tournaments.

  • Four Gamecocks picked up All-SEC honors, matching the 2015 team for the most in program history. Kamilla Cardoso was on the first team, while Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao and Ashlyn Watkins were on the second team.

  • Cardoso became the fourth Gamecock to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Year, making it five straight seasons a Gamecock has claimed the title.

  • Dawn Staley was named SEC Coach of the Year for the third-straight season and seventh time overall, which trails only Pat Summitt’s eight selections.

  • South Carolina is out-scoring opponents by 24.1 points per game in the paint (47.2-23.1).

  • The Gamecock bench is second in the nation in scoring at 33.2 points per game and is out-scoring its counterparts by 20.4 points per game, including 18.5 per SEC game.

  • South Carolina has mastered “one more” in ball movement this season, ranking seventh in the country with 19.1 assists per game. It has been especially locked in of late, assisting on 65.2 percent of its made field goals over the last five games.

  • Kamilla Cardoso is second in the SEC in both offensive and defensive player rating this season, and she closed the season strong averaging 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds over her last three outings.

  • Te-Hina Paopao continues to lead the nation in 3-point percentage and the SEC in player offensive rating. Third on the team in scoring and second in assists, she has her hands on 23.2 percent of the Gamecock offense (20.3 ppg).

  • Raven Johnson’s 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio is ninth in the nation. She is third in the SEC with 5.0 assists per game, including 15 games of five or more assists.

  • Ashlyn Watkins has been on a tear since drawing her first career start on Feb. 1, logging five double-doubles in the last 10 games of the regular season en route to 12.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on 61.4 percent shooting in that stretch.

  • Over the last four games, Bree Hall has been hot offensively, averaging 12.0 points on 52.5 percent shooting.

SEC Tournament Take
South Carolina is 31-25 all-time in the SEC Tournament since joining the league for the 1991-92 season. Head coach Dawn Staley is 28-8 in the event with seven championships, all coming in the last nine years.

The Gamecocks have reached the tournament championship game eight times. With titles in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, South Carolina is the only program in league history to win four consecutive SEC Tournament title, and the Gamecocks added three more titles in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

 

The Staley File
In her 24th season as a head coach, Dawn Staley has a .764 (603-186) winning percentage, which ranks 10th in the nation among all active head coaches and sixth among those with at least 20 years in the position.

The unanimous 2020 National Coach of the Year, Staley became the first person to win both Naismith Player of the Year and a Naismith Coach of the Year and the first Black head coach to win multiple national championships in men’s or women’s basketball. She has been named national coach of the year by at least one organization four times, including three times in the last four seasons.

In her 16 seasons with the Gamecocks, Staley is the program’s all-time winningest coach (431) with a program-record 12 postseason appearances. She accounts for all five of the Gamecocks’ Final Four appearances (2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023) and the first NCAA National Championships in program history (2017, 2022).

Staley won her 600th career game as a head coach with a 72-44 win over Alabama (Feb. 22, 2024), needing just 104 games to go from her 500th win (vs. Mercer, Mar. 21, 2021) to the 600th.

Staley’s eight SEC regular-season championships trail only Pat Summitt’s 16 in league history, and her seven SEC Coach of the Year awards trails Summitt’s league record by just one. Staley’s 199 SEC regular-season wins are the most among active league coaches and third all-time – behind just Summitt (Tennessee, 306) and Andy Landers (Georgia, 273). Her 12.4 SEC wins per season is the best in league history among coaches with more than three years in the league, and her .783 SEC winning percentage (199-55) is second only to Summitt (.874) among coaches in that group.

All About Balance
South Carolina’s success this season has been built on its balance in all aspects of the game.

The Gamecocks are ranked among the nation’s top 15 in both scoring offense (3rd, 87.0 ppg) and defense (11th, 54.8 ppg) and are the only team among the top 30 in both.

South Carolina is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage (.501) and first in field goal percentage defense (.314). In SEC action, the Gamecocks led the league in all four categories – 84.3 ppg, 57.9 ppg allowed – .491 field goal percentage, .334 field goal percentage allowed.

The Gamecock offense is balanced as well with 54.3 percent of points coming in the paint (47.2 ppg). The guards are scoring 52.9 percent of the points (46.0 ppg). South Carolina averages 42.4 points in the first half and 44.5 in the second.

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