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Women's Hoops Set for Early Tipoff Thursday vs Aggies
Women's Basketball  . 

Women's Hoops Set for Early Tipoff Thursday vs Aggies

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 2/2 South Carolina hosts its first SEC game of the season when Texas A&M comes to Colonial Life Arena Thursday for a 5 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2.

Fan Information

  • Single-game parking in lots immediately around Colonial Life Arena will be $20 per car as mandated by the University.
  • All doors at Colonial Life Arena will open at 4 p.m. The Fast Break Pass entrance will open at 3:30 p.m.

Gamecock Notables

  • South Carolina’s guards have been powering the offense early in SEC action, accounting for 55.9 percent of the offense through the first two league games.

  • The Gamecocks have made a living at the free throw line over the last five games, scoring 16.2 points per game on  81.8 percent from the stripe in that stretch.

  • South Carolina’s bench averages an NCAA-best 42.7 points. The group out-scores its counter parts by 28.7 points per game and its own starters by 2.0 points per game.

  • Senior Te-Hina Paopao was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 this week. The four-time all-conference performer is the Gamecocks’ top scorer with 11.6 points per game, including 13.5 per SEC game. In league play, her 3.0 made 3s per game are eighth in the conference and her 46.3 percent 3-point shooting is 10th.

  • Junior forward Chloe Kitts stamped her dominance on Sunday’s win at Mississippi State, posting her fourth double-double of the season. Her versatility has shown up in SEC action as she is second in the league with a 6.0 assist-to-turnover ratio that includes 3.0 assists per game, which rank 15th.

  • Sophomore Tessa Johnson shook off an outside shooting slump to hit four 3s at Mississippi State en route to a career-high 22 points. Her 16.0 points per SEC game have come on 44.4 percent 3-point shooting, which rank 15th and 12th in the league, respectively. Over the last three games, Johnson is the Gamecocks’ top scorer with 15.3 points per game.

  • Freshman Joyce Edwards continues her consistent play this season, ranking second on the team with 10.8 points per game on 52.5 percent shooting. Scoring in double figures in four of her last five games, she is the team’s top scorer over that stretch with 14.0 points per game on 60.5 percent shooting.

  • Redshirt-junior Raven Johnson has had her complete game on display over the last five games, averaging 8.2 points on 56.7 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.0 steals to go with a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

 

By the Numbers
.784 – South Carolina’s .784 defensive rebounding percentage in SEC games leads the league.

5 – Five Gamecocks have posted at least one 20-point game this season.

7 – South Carolina has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field seven times this season.

 

The Texas A&M Series
The Gamecocks are 12-4 all-time against the Aggies will all 16 games coming since Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012-13. Three of their losses came at the start of the series, leaving them as winners of 12 of the last 13 meetings, including the current five-game streak.

The two teams met twice last season with South Carolina claiming a 99-64 win in College Station (Jan. 21) behind five Gamecocks in double figures, led by MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 21 points. The Gamecocks shot over 60.0 percent in every quarter and set the tone early with a 25-8 advantage after the first quarter.

At the 2024 SEC Tournament (Mar. 8), South Carolina opened in the quarterfinals against the Aggies, who played the Gamecocks even in the second half but could not overcome a slower first half of the South Carolina 79-68 win.

 

Home Sweet Home
The Gamecocks are 536-166 (.764) in home games (some records prior to 1976-77 did not include location of games). Current head coach Dawn Staley is 224-34 at home for a program-best .868 winning percentage.

South Carolina currently has a program-record 65-game home winning streak, which ranks ninth in NCAA history, that began on Dec. 17, 2020.

Playing in its 23rd season at Colonial Life Arena, South Carolina boasts a 287-67 (.811) record in the building, including four undefeated seasons since 2013-14. Staley’s share of that record is 221-34 (.867).

In SEC action, South Carolina is 149-89 (.626) at home with Staley posting a 105-22 (.827) mark.

 

The Staley File
In her 25th season as a head coach, Dawn Staley has a .770 (626-187) winning percentage, which ranks ninth in the nation among active head coaches with at least 15 years of experience and 11th all-time.

Staley is one of just two women’s basketball coaches to lead their teams to multiple 40-game win streaks in NCAA history with the Gamecocks’ recent program-record 43-game streak ranking seventh longest in NCAA history. She is the first Black head coach to win multiple national championships in men’s or women’s basketball, the fifth women’s coach to win at least three NCAA titles and one of just 11 men’s or women’s coaches to hit that mark.

Now in her 17th season with the Gamecocks, Staley is the program’s all-time winningest coach (454) with a program-record 13 postseason appearances. She accounts for all six of the Gamecocks’ Final Four appearances (2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and the only NCAA National Championships in program history (2017, 2022, 2024).

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 201 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). She was the second-fastest to the 200-win mark in league history with her 255 games trailing Summitt’s mark of 229. Staley’s .785 SEC winning percentage (201-55) is second only to Summitt (.874) among coaches in the league at least five seasons.

 

It’s T Time
Sophomore guard Tessa Johnson saw her consistent effort and steady demeanor pay off in the biggest moments of her freshman campaign, and she has picked up right where she left off this season.

In the season opener against Michigan, Johnson was the steadiest guard offensively, pouring in 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, highlighted by netting seven points in an 11-5 run midway through the second half.

For the season, Johnson’s 9.8 points per game have come on 49.5 percent shooting, including seven double-figure scoring games and her first career 20-point outing with her 22 at Mississippi State (Jan. 5).

Over the last three games, Johnson is the team’s top scorer at 15.3 points per game on 51.6 percent shooting. Her 16.0 points per SEC game are 15th in the league.

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