Gamecocks Aim for Ninth SEC Tournament Title Sunday

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 5/5 South Carolina will take on No. 1/1 Texas on Sunday with the SEC Tournament championship on the line at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Tipoff on ESPN is set for 3 p.m.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina has played in 10 of the last 11 SEC Tournament championships games with an 8-1 mark in those outings so far. Four of head coach Dawn Staley’s eight titles came against Vic Schaefer-led Mississippi State (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020).

• After a season that has seen the guards carry a bulk of the offense, postseason  play has seen the Gamecocks’ forwards rise to the forefront. The trio of Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards are three of the team’s top four scorers in the SEC Tournament and are shooting a combined 67.2 percent (41-of-61) from the field. Kitts (.842) and Feagin (.765) are the top two percentage shooters in the tournament overall.

• The Gamecocks have been crashing the offensive boards and turning those rebounds into points at a high rate in the SEC Tournament with 14.0 offensive rebounds per game becoming 19.0 second-chance points per outing for a sterling 1.36 points per offensive board.

• 2024 SEC Tournament MVP MiLaysia Fulwiley has been a huge catalyst for the Gamecock offense in this year’s SEC Tournament as well. In addition to her 17.0 points per outing, she ranks 11th in the event with 4.00 assists per game (tied with teammate Te-Hina Paopao). The combination means she has had her hands on 28.2 percent of the Gamecocks’ total offense. She also leads the Gamecocks with 3.0 steals per game and 2.5 offensive rebounds per outing in the tournament. The effort is a continuation of her strong close to the regular season as she is the team’s top scorer over the last five games (15.4 ppg).

• Senior Sania Feagin has been on a tear offensively over the last four games, pouring in 14.3 points per game on 76.5 percent shooting to go with 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

• Junior Chloe Kitts has four double-doubles in her last six games, including three of the last four. In the last six games, she has averaged 12.8 points and 9.3 rebounds on 63.3 percent shooting. She has fully stuffed the box score in that time, adding 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

By the Numbers
4 – Four Gamecocks average double-figure points in the SEC Tournament, including three scoring more than 15.0 per game.

+27.0 – South Carolina has outscored its SEC Tournament opponents in the paint by 27.0 points per game.

84.2 – Chloe Kitts has shot 84.2 percent from the field in the SEC Tournament, which leads the field.

The Texas Series
The Gamecocks are 3-3 all-time against the Longhorns, including a 3-1 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09) after the teams split their regular-season series in the Longhorns’ inaugural SEC season.

The Gamecocks struck first with a 67-50 win on Jan. 12 in Columbia behind a 17-point halftime advantage. The defense allowed the Longhorns to shoot just 15.4 percent in the opening quarter to set the tone.

In the rematch in Austin (Feb. 9), the Longhorns edged out a 66-62 victory. Texas took a nine-point lead into halftime before the Gamecocks knotted the game at the end of the third quarter. The Longhorns’ sharp shooting delivered the win.

Serious Scheduling
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has never been afraid to challenge her team to prepare it for the rigors of March and April. This season is no different.

The Gamecocks’ 30-game regular-season schedule included 13 games against teams in the national rankings at the time of the game – two more than any other ranked team. Six of the 13 games were against non-conference opponents.

The Gamecocks’ 11 wins over ranked teams, including postseason action, leads the nation with the average ranking of those teams coming in at 11.5. An NCAA-best six of those wins were over top-10 opponents. Their three losses came against top-10 teams, including two on the road.

Over the last 10 seasons, South Carolina has played an average of 10.0 regular-season games against ranked foes with this season’s 13 as the most in program history. The six against non-conference foes matches the 2021-22 schedule for the program high.

Paint Production
South Carolina has long controlled the paint, and this season’s numbers have upheld that standard.

With 52.7 percent of their points coming in the paint, the Gamecocks lead the nation with 42.7 paint point per game, according to CBBanalytics.com, and are out-scoring opponents in that space by 16.6 points per game. They are shooting 54.9 percent in the paint compared to opponents’ 41.8 percent accuracy. South Carolina has been outscored in the paint just twice this season (at UCLA, at Texas) and tied three times (Texas, at Tennessee, UConn), going 2-3 in those five games.

The Full-wiley
The generational talent that is sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley wow-ed fans last season with her creativity and athleticism. This season, the extremely coach-able guard, who was named SEC Sixth Woman of the Year and to the All-SEC Second Team, has shown off steady play between the “wow” moments and embraced her ability to impact the game on the defensive end as well..

Fulwiley is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game, including a 13.4 average in SEC action. She has three 20-point games, including 20 against #9/13 TCU (Dec. 8), and she has been the team’s top scorer seven times. Her .818 free throw percentage in SEC action is 10th.

In league play, Fulwiley’s defense was equally impressive, and she is 10th in the league with 0.94 blocks per game while ranking ninth in the SEC with 1.94 steals in league play, including eight games of at least three steals for the season (five against top-15 foes).