South Carolina looks for first win against ranked opponent
Three times the South Carolina women’s basketball team has played a ranked opponent, and three times the Gamecocks have fallen short.
USC will have another chance to get a “signature win” for the season when it hosts No. 5 Kentucky tonight at 7 p.m.
“It really is time for us to put two halves together and get a big win,” coach Dawn Staley said. “I think the buildup to this point makes us more prepared than probably any other time to do that because of the experiences that we’ve had with ranked opponents.”
The No. 18 Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2 SEC) have only lost to the three ranked teams they’ve played this year in Stanford, Tennessee and Georgia. Staley said getting a conference win on the road in the SEC is challenging, and with a trip to Kentucky (18-1, 6-0) still on the schedule, she emphasized needing to take advantage of being at home.
“I think it’s important to get all wins at this point,” Staley said. “Everybody that comes into Colonial Life Arena, we need to make sure we take care of ... When we have an opportunity to host a team like Kentucky, a ranked opponent, we need to take advantage of being at home.”
Since the 40-42 loss at Georgia, USC has rallied with two straight wins against LSU and at Florida, respectively. Through the start of the SEC slate, the Gamecocks have sputtered on offense at times, ranked 13th in the league with a 33.9 field goal percentage in conference games.
Staley said the way out of the scoring droughts USC frequently falls into is through confidence. Secure in her team’s defense, Staley has shifted more of the attention to the offense in practice.
“We’ve got to get our kids comfortable in pushing the ball up and down the floor and getting some easy buckets,” Staley said.
Against a Kentucky team that has scored at least 90 points seven times — and has reached 100 points twice — Staley said USC can’t make costly errors because the Wildcats are likely to capitalize.
As for Kentucky’s senior guard A’dia Mathies, the SEC’s reigning player of the year, it will be everyone’s assignment to defend her tonight because “she’s that good,” Staley said.
“We have to score the ball,” Staley said. “Once we’re able to score the ball, we’re able to set up our defense and kind of slow them down a little bit. Where they are most effective is scoring off of their defense, and if we’re able to take care of the basketball and get more shots up then they do, then I think we can make it a ballgame.”
Having played top teams in the country in Stanford, Tennessee and Georgia, sophomore forward Aleighsa Welch said those experiences have given the Gamecocks a taste of what it will be like to play the Wildcats, who have only lost to top-ranked Baylor.
With this being USC’s fourth opportunity at an upset against a ranked opponent, the Gamecocks aren’t downplaying the importance of succeeding.
“This is league play right here,” Welch said. “We’ve already lost two games and we’re jockeying for position, so we need every game we can get at this point.”