Women's Hoops Back at Home Thursday
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 6/6 South Carolina completes its three-game homestand Thursday night against Arkansas. Tipoff at Colonial Life Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Fan Information
- TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Road closures will affect traffic patterns around Colonial Life Arena. Greene Street will be closed from Park to Lincoln, and Lincoln Street will be closed from Devine to Greene.
- 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 6 p.m. The Fast Break Pass entrance will open at 5:30 p.m.
- This is another Chalk Talk presented by Atkins Law game. Season ticket holders who would like to attend (max. 300) can enter the arena via the College Street entrance at 5:30 p.m. and must proceed directly to the McGuire Club.
Gamecock Notables
South Carolina effectiveness on both sides of the ball in league play has it leading the SEC in scoring defense (57.75 ppg), field goal percentage (.470) and field goal percentage defense (.344). The Gamecocks are second in scoring (80.67 ppg).
The Gamecocks lead the nation in strength of schedule with past opposition winning 70.4 percent of its games and total opposition winning 69.5 percent. Both numbers are best in the nation.
South Carolina has controlled the paint for a bulk of the season, ranking fourth in the nation with 41.2 paint points per game and outscoring opponents in the space by 14.5 points per game.
The Gamecock bench remains the best in the country with 41.6 points per game, besting the second-place team by nine points per game. Three of the team’s top five scorers come off the bench, and, in addition to accounting for 51.9 percent of the offense, the bench has pulled down 41.7 percent of the team’s rebounds (16.0 per game).
The hometown duo of Joyce Edwards and MiLaysia Fulwiley have been pouring on the offense over the last month, with one or the other leading the Gamecocks in scoring each of the last nine games, including six against ranked teams.
Fulwiley has been a stat-sheet stuffer over the last five games, averaging 13.4 points, 2.0 assists and 2.8 steals in the stretch. In SEC play, she is eighth in the league with 2.0 steals per game and the top shot-blocking guard with 1.0 per game to rank 11th among all players.
Edwards’ efficiency continues to define her game. She is 16th in the nation with a .570 field goal percentage, which rises to an SEC-best .621 in league play.
Raven Johnson’s ability to quarterback both the offense and defense has been on full display in SEC action. She leads the league with a 3.64 assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play, during which she is 10th in steals per game (1.83) and 13th in assists (3.33). On the season her 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio is eighth in the country.
Chloe Kitts has seven double-figure rebounding games this season and ranks ninth in the league with 7.48 boards per outing. That number includes 2.76 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the SEC.
By the Numbers
8 – Nine Gamecocks average at least 20 minutes per SEC game.
+39.0 – In the previous two games after losses this season, South Carolina won by 39.0 points per game.
45.5 – Te-Hina Paopao shot 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from the 3-point line over the last four games, including 6-of-11 (.545) in the two home games.
The Arkansas Series
The Gamecocks are 27-18 all-time against the Razorbacks, including a 20-4 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), and have won the last nine meetings.
Last season’s 98-61 Gamecock victory in Fayetteville (Feb. 29) saw South Carolina pull away in the second quarter. A four-point lead after the opening 10 minutes became a 17-point margin at halftime thanks to a defensive effort that allowed Arkansas just nine points in the second quarter. Five Gamecocks scored in double figures, and South Carolina shot 60.6 percent from the field.
Dial Up uthe Defense
Head coach Dawn Staley has always put a premium on defense, and this year’s team has kept that tradition while facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
The Gamecocks are sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 34.9 percent from the field. That number drops to 34.4 percent in SEC games, which leads the league. Only six teams have shot at least 40.0 percent against the Gamecocks, and six have failed to reach 30.0 percent.
Bench Mob
Head coach Dawn Staley’s 13-player roster gives her the ability to make a full line change with little drop off.
This season, the Gamecock bench leads the nation with 41.6 points per game to account for 51.9 percent of the total offense, which rises to 57.9 percent of the offense against ranked opponents and 73.3 percent in SEC play. The South Carolina bench has out-scored its opponents’ bench by 27.0 points per game, including 18.8 against ranked teams and 26.1 in SEC play. The bench has outscored the opponent’s starting lineup 13 times, including three ranked teams.
On the glass, the bench averages 16.0 rebounds per game (41.7 percent of team total) compared to just 9.4 for their opponents’ bench.
Great Gamecock Fans
South Carolina fans have led the nation in average attendance in each of the last 10 seasons with an eye on tying Tennessee for the NCAA-record streak of 11 seasons after selling out of season tickets for the first time in program history – 13,152. They are currently leading the country in average attendance at 16,983, and the Gamecocks have played in front of the six largest crowds in college women’s basketball this season.
The Gamecocks have had at least one sellout of their 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena for eight straight seasons (excluding COVID-limited 2020-21 season) dating back to the first ever sellout of 18,000 on Feb. 8, 2016. After setting the single-season program record of five sellouts last season, the Gamecocks reset the mark this season with seven – vs. East Carolina (Nov. 17), vs. Texas (Jan. 12), vs. Oklahoma (Jan. 19), vs. LSU (Jan. 23), vs. Auburn (Feb. 2), vs. UConn (Feb. 16) and vs. Kentucky (Mar. 2).
