Last SEC Road Game Thursday for Women's Hoops
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 6/6 South Carolina hits the road for the final time in SEC regular-season action, traveling to Ole Miss for a 9 p.m. ET tipoff on Thu., Feb. 27, on ESPN.
Gamecock Notables
South Carolina’s defense has allowed just 57.1 points per game this season and ranks ninth in the nation in opponent points per possession at just 0.679. The Gamecocks are fifth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.347).
The Gamecocks are fourth in the nation with 18.3 fast break points per game this season, and they have allowed opponents to score just 7.5 per game.
South Carolina is most successful when winning the paint battle. The Gamecocks are third in the country with 41.7 paint points per game and have been out-scored in the space just twice this season (at UCLA, at Texas). In SEC games, South Carolina is out-pacing opponents in the paint by 11.9 points per game.
Forward Joyce Edwards picked up her fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday after averaging a double-double in a pair of Gamecock wins last week with 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She is the Gamecocks’ top scorer on the season and is 17th in the SEC with 15.3 points per league game. Shooting 57.5 percent on the season, she is 19th in the NCAA and fourth among the nation’s freshmen.
Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley has scored in double figures in eight straight games and lifted her scoring averages to 12.1 points overall and 14.0 points per SEC outing (20th in the league). Scoring hasn’t been her only contribution in that time as she has posted 2.13 steals and 1.88 assists in that stretch. Over the last five outings, she has a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. In SEC action, she has been a stat stuffer, ranking ninth in steals (1.93) and 11th in blocks (0.93)
Over the last three games, more than half of Chloe Kitts’ 8.0 rebounds per game came on the offensive end (14 of 24). The effort has her ranked eighth in the league in offensive rebounding on the season (2.93).
Senior guard Te-Hina Paopao is on the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award Top 10 behind her 10.3 points per game, 2.9 assists per outing and 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. In SEC action, her 1.96 assist-to-turnover ratio is sixth in the conference, and her assist numbers rise to 3.2 per game.
After facing her former team, transfer forward Maryam Dauda has rediscovered her confidence, averaging 6.0 points and 7.5 rebounds on 57.1 percent shooting against Arkansas and Vanderbilt last week.
By the Numbers
13 – South Carolina has won at least 25 games 13 times in the 17 seasons of the Dawn Staley era.
56.0 – The Gamecock bench averaged 56.0 points last week, more than its two opponents averaged as a team (54.5 ppg).
60.6 – Over the last three games, MiLaysia Fulwiley has shot 60.6 percent from the field.
The Ole Miss Series
The Gamecocks are 31-17 all-time against the Rebels, including a 21-2 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), and have won the last 19 meetings.
In last season’s 85-56 victory (Feb. 4), the Gamecocks used the second and third quarters to create separation after a tight opening 10 minutes. South Carolina shot 56.0 percent from the field in the second half and saw six players scoring in double figures.
The Gamecocks needed overtime to win in their last trip to SJB Pavilion (Feb. 19, 2023), claiming a 64-57 victory in the only game decided by single digits since another OT win in Oxford on Jan. 16, 2011.
SEC Sayings
Picked by league coaches to win its fourth-straight SEC title this season, South Carolina has been the benchmark in the league over the last decade, amassing eight regular-season titles since 2013-14 (11 seasons) and finishing no lower than second in that time. Since that season, the Gamecocks have a 174-16 record (.916) in league action, including an 90-4 mark (.957) since 2019-20. South Carolina set a new SEC record with its 43rd-consecutive league victory with its win over Georgia on Feb. 18, 2024, and went on to make that new mark 57 consecutive regular-season conference victories. The streak, which is tied for the sixth-longest in NCAA history, spanned three seasons, beginning on Jan. 2, 2022, with a win over Mississippi State and ran through a win at Georgia on Feb. 6, 2025.
The Gamecocks have also had a lock on the SEC Tournament, winning eight 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, three have collected seven SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, two have been the league’s 6th-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 seven times – one shy of Pat Summitt’s league-record eight selections.
Ranking Review
South Carolina is ranked No. 6 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches’ Poll this week.
It marks the Gamecocks 113th consecutive entry in the AP top 10, beginning with the 2019-20 preseason poll. It is the longest active streak and tied fro the eighth longest in the history of that poll (7th is 137, Baylor). Their 244 straight appearances in the AP Poll, dating back to Dec. 10, 2012, marks the second-longest active streak in the nation and is the eighth longest all-time (7th, Texas Tech, 248).
In the USA Today/WBCA Coaches’ Poll, South Carolina has been in the top 10 since claiming the No. 10 spot in the 2019-20 preseason poll.
Freshman Favorite
Dawn Staley has laid down her marker for Joyce Edwards becoming an elite college basketball player in her career, thanks to her tireless work ethic and passion for the knowledge and experience needed to become great. The Gamecocks’ top scorer is already among the best in her class, while logging just 21.2 minutes per game on the Gamecocks’ deep roster. Edwards is second among freshmen in win shares per 40 minutes (0.25) and third in offensive win shares per 40 minutes (0.17).
Edwards’ 25.2 points per 40 minutes is sixth among freshmen nationally and second in the SEC. Her 57.5 percent shooting on the season is 19th in the nation overall and fourth among freshmen (min. 5 FGA/gm). All of that production while her usage rate is just 27th.
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 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 8.3 points per game have come on 46.7 percent shooting, including 11 double-figure scoring games and her first career 20-point outing with 22 at Mississippi St. (Jan. 5), which included 14 points (4-of-5 3FGs) in the pivotal second quarter
In SEC action, she averages 8.6 points on 48.8 percent shooting, including 40.9 percent from 3-point range.
